Chapter 1

When my daughter told me for the tenth time that she wanted a new mother, I did not get angry.

I simply looked at her and asked in a calm voice who she wanted instead.

Without a second thought, she blurted out Valerie's name.

Valerie Cole was her private tutor.

She was also the unforgettable first love my husband had never truly gotten over.

At my daughter's birthday party that evening, she had publicly thanked Valerie in front of all our guests, claiming Valerie took care of her like a real mother.

Looking at her innocent little face, I finally accepted the cold truth: my own daughter despised me.

So, I stopped catering to her and my husband as I had for years.

Instead, I turned around and signed up for a classified national research initiative.

Rather than wasting my life on people who did not value me, I chose to serve my country.

……

After she asked for a new mother that tenth time, I quietly walked back into my bedroom.

I opened the top drawer and pulled out the confidential government agreement.

As a senior researcher in a federal defense laboratory, I had always been dedicated and highly capable.

When the classified initiative was first launched, the director personally approached me and invited me to lead the project.

At the time, I worried that Riley was still too young and Darren was constantly busy with his corporate career.

I feared no one would look after her properly.

Besides, taking the assignment meant being cut off from the outside world for over a decade, causing me to miss her entire childhood.

Because of that, I initially turned down the offer.

My director had urged me to reconsider, which was why I brought the paperwork home in the first place.

I never expected that Riley did not care about me at all. Her heart belonged entirely to Valerie.

At her lavish birthday banquet, Riley had held the microphone and announced to everyone that Valerie was the one who truly mothered her, asking if Valerie could replace me.

All our friends and family turned to stare at me, their eyes burning with pity and judgment.

I did not lose my temper. I only asked Riley who she wanted as her mother.

"Aunt Valerie," Riley answered instantly without hesitation.

I turned around and walked out of the banquet hall.

That night, Darren and I had a vicious fight. He accused me of being unreasonable and making a scene over a child's harmless comment.

I stared at him with cold detachment.

"What should I care about then? Should I care about what is going on between you and her?"

Darren probably assumed I loved him too much to ever leave, which was why he never hid how much Valerie meant to him.

We had met in college, fallen in love, and built our life together from scratch.

We had a luxury home, nice cars, and substantial savings.

After seven years of marriage, we seemed to have everything anyone could ever dream of.

That was before I discovered the hidden photo in Darren's desk. It showed Valerie in her teens with a ponytail, looking breathtakingly pure.

When I first saw that picture, I wanted to confront Darren. Yet, thinking of our daughter and our years together, I forced myself to swallow the pain.

I tried to convince myself that their past was dead and buried.

Now, I finally realized how foolish I had been.

Letting out a soft sigh, I picked up my phone and called my colleague and close friend, Leah Scott.

"Hey, Leah. Please let the director know that I accept the assignment."

With that, I uncapped my pen and signed my name on the dotted line.

"What? I thought you turned it down because of your family."

Leah worked in the same lab as me, and her name was on the roster for the project as well.

When the selection list first came out, she had asked if I was going, but I declined for Riley's sake.

Hearing my sudden change of heart left her completely shocked.

Anyone who knew me understood how deeply I prioritized my family.

No matter how demanding my research was, I always squeezed out time to rush home and take care of them.

"I have thought it through," I said quietly.