Chapter 1 · Drowned By My Own Sons

A single night of passion left me pregnant with twins.

Yet I was met with scorn and accusations of stealing my sister's man through underhanded means.

I knew that even if the wealthiest man in Ahutx City never married me, these twins would bind him to me for life.

So I ran away.

For twenty years, I raised my sons alone through hardship and toil. One grew into a top university scholar, the other a piano prodigy.

When they discovered their father was a business titan, they were determined to find him, deaf to my protests.

I tried to stop them, but they turned on me with vicious words.

My eldest, Marcus, looked at me with pure disgust. "No wonder Dad left you. You're poisonous. You tore me and Elise apart and got her killed. I've waited years to make you pay for that."

My youngest, Felix, stared at me with hatred. "I never loved the piano! You forced me to play for eighteen years just because you liked it. Do you have any idea how much I suffered? I wanted to smash every piano I saw! Who gave you the right to control my life?"

Shortly after they reunited with their father, I was kidnapped. The ransom was three hundred thousand dollars.

I thought they would save me. I was their mother, after all.

But they left me to drown.

They refused to pay a single cent.

After death, my spirit returned home, only to witness them bidding six hundred thousand dollars on a jade bracelet for my sister.

They even asked her to be their godmother.

The overwhelming bitterness and resentment trapped me between worlds.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day they demanded to meet their father.

This time, I didn't refuse. Instead, I said, "Give me a full accounting for every dime I ever spent on you. Once your father pays me back, we are done. Forever."

*****

"Why do you always have to chain us to your side? We're individuals, not your possessions. We won't fall for your emotional blackmail..."

"I mean it." I lifted my head and met the gaze of my eldest son. Standing over six feet tall and wearing glasses, he appeared scholarly, but his eyes held a venomous glare as he looked at me.

Felix let out a cold laugh. "So, after controlling us for so long, it all comes down to money. Dad warned us you were greedy, but we didn't believe him. We thought you took us away from the Howell family out of necessity. Now we see you were just hiding us away to maximize your profit."

I remained silent.

Years ago, when the Howells found out I was pregnant, they were convinced I had schemed behind the scenes, trying to leverage the children for status and wealth.

They forced me to get an abortion. But the doctor warned that my body couldn't handle it; terminating this pregnancy might mean I could never conceive again.

I was terrified.

I went to beg Steven, even getting down on my knees, pleading for him to speak the truth—that the reckless night wasn't my fault alone, that someone else had manipulated the situation.

Steven only said, "Get rid of them."

I was literally dragged to the hospital by two bodyguards.

Just as it was my turn for the operating room, a fire broke out on the floor. Chaos erupted, and I seized the chance to escape.

That fire later claimed over a dozen lives, becoming the biggest news story of the year.

They said sons could never truly empathize with their mothers. I used to scoff bitterly at that notion.

In my previous life, unable to forgive the Howells for what they did to me, I refused to let my sons meet their father. They disregarded my feelings completely, insisting on the reunion on their birthday.

When I gave birth to them, it was in a small clinic in a remote area. I nearly died in labor; if not for an experienced doctor who happened to be there, all three of us would have perished.

And that didn't even touch on the kidnapping later.

Three hundred thousand dollars ransom.

It wasn't a large sum for either of them.

Marcus attended a prestigious university and, with my help, started his own studio, earning nearly thirty hundred thousand a year.

Felix earned several hundred thousand for a single performance. As his manager, to preserve his talent, I limited him to just five concerts a year.

I worked tirelessly to nurture them, to help them become accomplished.

And in the end? They both resented me to the core.

Chapter 1

A single night of passion left me pregnant with twins.

Yet I was met with scorn and accusations of stealing my sister's man through underhanded means.

I knew that even if the wealthiest man in Ahutx City never married me, these twins would bind him to me for life.

So I ran away.

For twenty years, I raised my sons alone through hardship and toil. One grew into a top university scholar, the other a piano prodigy.

When they discovered their father was a business titan, they were determined to find him, deaf to my protests.

I tried to stop them, but they turned on me with vicious words.

My eldest, Marcus, looked at me with pure disgust. "No wonder Dad left you. You're poisonous. You tore me and Elise apart and got her killed. I've waited years to make you pay for that."

Shortly after they reunited with their father, I was kidnapped. The ransom was three hundred thousand dollars.

I thought they would save me. I was their mother, after all.

But they left me to drown.

They refused to pay a single cent.

After death, my spirit returned home, only to witness them bidding six hundred thousand dollars on a jade bracelet for my sister.

They even asked her to be their godmother.

The overwhelming bitterness and resentment trapped me between worlds.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day they demanded to meet their father.

This time, I didn't refuse. Instead, I said, "Give me a full accounting for every dime I ever spent on you. Once your father pays me back, we are done. Forever."

*****

"Why do you always have to chain us to your side? We're individuals, not your possessions. We won't fall for your emotional blackmail..."

"I mean it." I lifted my head and met the gaze of my eldest son. Standing over six feet tall and wearing glasses, he appeared scholarly, but his eyes held a venomous glare as he looked at me.

I remained silent.

Years ago, when the Howells found out I was pregnant, they were convinced I had schemed behind the scenes, trying to leverage the children for status and wealth.

They forced me to get an abortion. But the doctor warned that my body couldn't handle it; terminating this pregnancy might mean I could never conceive again.

I was terrified.

I went to beg Steven, even getting down on my knees, pleading for him to speak the truth—that the reckless night wasn't my fault alone, that someone else had manipulated the situation.

Steven only said, "Get rid of them."

I was literally dragged to the hospital by two bodyguards.

Just as it was my turn for the operating room, a fire broke out on the floor. Chaos erupted, and I seized the chance to escape.

That fire later claimed over a dozen lives, becoming the biggest news story of the year.

They said sons could never truly empathize with their mothers. I used to scoff bitterly at that notion.

When I gave birth to them, it was in a small clinic in a remote area. I nearly died in labor; if not for an experienced doctor who happened to be there, all three of us would have perished.

And that didn't even touch on the kidnapping later.

Three hundred thousand dollars ransom.

It wasn't a large sum for either of them.

Marcus attended a prestigious university and, with my help, started his own studio, earning nearly thirty hundred thousand a year.

Felix earned several hundred thousand for a single performance. As his manager, to preserve his talent, I limited him to just five concerts a year.

I worked tirelessly to nurture them, to help them become accomplished.

And in the end? They both resented me to the core.