Chapter 2

2.

My cousin still looked worried. "Cousin Sadie, if something's wrong, you have to tell us. Don't suffer in silence."

"Danny Miller always pulls dirty tricks on us. He's the best at playing the victim and making everyone think we're the ones bullying him."

Danny Miller.

Just thinking about that ungrateful snake, who took after his father in every deceitful way, sent chills down my spine.

I looked up, only to see Danny hiding timidly behind our front gate.

"Sadie, don't you want to be my mama anymore?" he whimpered.

Tears welled in his big eyes, and his patched clothes hung loosely on his frail frame, making him look pitiful.

It was this exact helpless facade that had won all my sympathy and unconditional love in my past life.

After marrying Chester, I treated Danny like my own flesh and blood, shielding him from every hardship.

On the surface, he acted like a sweet, devoted son who called me "Mama" with the warmest smile.

Behind my back, when I finally conceived my own child, he secretly spiked my herbal tea with heavy doses of toxic herbs.

He not only destroyed my unborn baby, but he also robbed me of the chance to ever become a mother again.

Years later, after I had nurtured him into a successful scholar, he kicked me onto the streets without remorse.

He even brought up the incident with a cold, disgusted smirk on his face.

"I deliberately waited fifteen minutes before calling for help back then," he had sneered.

"You were just a maid hired to serve our family. Did you really think you were worthy of carrying a Miller child?"

Only then did I realize that beneath his angelic face lay a rotten, black heart.

Looking into those falsely innocent eyes now, I felt nothing but intense revulsion.

I turned my face away and spoke with complete detachment.

"I never intended to be your mother."

"Your real mother is right down in town. Go look for her yourself."

Seeing my cold reaction, Danny flopped straight onto the ground and began wailing at the top of his lungs.

"Waaah! Sadie is a liar! You came to our house every day and promised you loved me most! You said you'd be my mama!"

"You even stayed in my daddy's bedroom with the door shut tight for hours! How can you abandon me now?"

"What kind of filthy lies are coming out of your mouth, you little brat!"

Aunt Clara trembled with rage, pointing a finger straight at Danny's nose.

Neighbors quickly gathered around our gate, whispering and pointing fingers at me.

"Danny, stop this nonsense at once."

Right as the front yard turned into total chaos, Chester rushed over.

He walked up, pulled Danny off the ground with a performative frown, and scolded him lightly.

"How dare you speak to Sadie like that? Apologize right now!"

Then he turned to me, his gaze full of helpless sorrow.

"Sadie, I know you're still angry with me. We can negotiate the wedding costs, but there's no need to take it out on a child."

He sighed loudly enough for every curious neighbor to hear.

"I know I'm a divorced man, and I'm asking a lot of you."

"But making a scene like this will ruin a young woman's reputation. I worry what your future in-laws might think if these rumors spread…"

With just a few sentences, he painted me as a greedy woman who had secretly engaged in scandalous affairs and was now throwing a tantrum over money.

The surrounding whispers grew louder.

"Sadie, Chester is the only college student in our valley. He's going to be an important official in the city, so what more do you want?"

"Don't push it too far. Marrying an educated man is the biggest honor a country girl could ask for."

"If you ruin your own name like this, who else would ever want you?"

A smug glimmer flashed across Chester's eyes.

He looked at me in front of the crowd and offered another solemn promise.

"Trust me, Sadie. As long as you marry me, I swear I'll give you a comfortable life in the city!"

He was convinced he had me trapped, since a girl's reputation was everything in this town.

I looked at his smug face and suddenly let out a sharp laugh.

"Alright then."

"Since you and your boy insist on dragging my name through the mud, let's settle this properly."

"Why don't we march down to the police station right now and let the sheriff investigate your defamation and indecent conduct?"

"I'm just an ordinary girl with nothing to lose, but as for you, Mr. College Scholar…"

I dragged out my words with venomous glee. "Your glorious academic future will be flushed right down the toilet."

Chester's face instantly turned paper-white, and cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

He panicked immediately, his voice cracking with fear.

"Sadie, don't take it the wrong way! It was just a child talking nonsense! Kids make up stories all the time!"

Danny didn't understand the legal consequences and shouted anxiously, "I didn't lie! Daddy, you said―"

Smack!

A crisp slap cut Danny off mid-sentence.

Stunned, Danny clutched his burning cheek and burst into loud wails.

Chester dragged his screaming son while bowing repeatedly to the crowd.

"I apologize to everyone! The kid was just making up stories out of foolishness!"

"Sadie and I are completely respectable! My mother was at home the entire time and can vouch for us!"

Yet the doubtful glances from the neighbors lingered.

I gave a mocking sneer.

"So this is how things work around here now?"

"Whenever a girl refuses to marry a man, he can just spread filthy lies to ruin her name and force her hand?"

I shifted my gaze toward the older neighborhood women who were watching the spectacle.

"I only helped them out occasionally because I felt sorry for a struggling father and son."

"Every single time I stopped by, I brought my cousins with me, and both kids can testify to that."

"All the young women in town better take note. Be careful doing any favors, or you might end up trapped by an ungrateful parasite."

Hearing this, the mood in the yard shifted instantly.

Putting themselves in my shoes, none of those mothers wanted their own daughters to face such dirty traps.

The crowd immediately turned their scorn on Chester.

"Chester, with all that education, how could you be so wicked?"

"Exactly! You can't even teach your own kid to stop telling vile lies!"

Chester cared more about his reputation and future career than anything else.

Being publicly condemned made his face burn like a beet.

He grabbed Danny and fled in utter humiliation.

Aunt Clara put her hands on her hips and barked at the remaining onlookers.

"Have you all seen enough?"

"If anyone dares to spread vicious rumors about Sadie, I'll haul them straight to the town council for harassing a fallen soldier's orphan!"

Seeing that there was no more drama to consume, the crowd dispersed in silence.

Aunt Clara turned around and poked my forehead with affectionate exasperation.

"You silly girl! Look at the mess you brought upon yourself! That Chester is clinging to you like a tick!"

I linked my arm through hers and gave a sweet smile.

"Don't worry, Aunt Clara. I know exactly how to handle him."

She sighed softly, clearly unconvinced.

"When your uncle gets back tomorrow, I'll have him set up a proper blind date with a decent man to settle this once and for all."

I simply smiled and didn't argue.