Chapter 4
But when I finally found my food truck, I was completely stunned.
The once clean and tidy food truck was now smashed to pieces, and the bright glass windows were scrawled with red paint in messy, distorted letters: "Homewrecker" and "Slut."
My last hope was gone.
I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse.
But it wasn't over yet.
Before I even had a chance to break down, that chilling ringtone started ringing from my phone again.
It rang for what felt like an eternity, like a death knell.
"Anastasia, I told you, leave Mollie alone," Bentley's voice came through the phone.
Everything suddenly clicked in my mind.
"It was you!" I shouted.
Bentley was clearly enjoying my anger. He admitted it, totally unfazed.
Bentley said, "That's right. I told you to keep things civil. It's better for everyone. But you wouldn't listen, so I had to make you pay for it.
"And don't even think about that 300 thousand dollars. Did you really think I'd just let it slide after the way you treated Mollie?
"One last thing. From now on, don't show your face around Stephen unless I give you permission."
My attention snapped to his final demand.
"Why? He's my own child. I carried him for nine months and gave birth to him! What gives you the right to keep me from seeing him?" I shouted.
Bentley's cold voice suddenly showed a nasty streak. "Anastasia, ever wonder why?
"Stephen's your own flesh and blood, so why did I take him back to the Gordon Group? And why does he call Mollie 'Mom' like it's the most natural thing in the world?"
A wave of dread crawled up my spine.
Whatever Bentley was about to say... it was not just bad. It was going to be a nightmare.
He said, "Stephen was never your son. He's mine and Mollie's.
"Come on, you know it yourself. There's no way someone like you could ever give birth to a kid as smart and cute as him.
"You only managed to give birth to a girl. As soon as she came into this world, I personally dumped her at an orphanage.
"Honestly, after all these years of you groveling like a dog for our little family, I could've thrown you a bone out of pity.
"But you don't even know how to be human—just greedy and shameless. So now, see for yourself what kind of miserable life you would've had without me!"
The call ended with a beep.
The screen switched to the lock screen.
Staring at Stephen's bright smile on the screen, I couldn't help but think of my daughter, the one who was taken away the moment she was born, the daughter I never even got to meet, whose existence was hidden from me.
Tears streamed down my face in an instant.
Ignoring the strange looks from passersby, I crouched down by the roadside, burying my face in my hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
On the freezing, windswept street, I had nowhere left to go.
The person I loved, my job, my money, my career, even my own child—everything disappeared in a single day.
Cars rushed by in a blur, and as I stared at them, my heart hardened with a cold, stabbing hatred.
Bentley always thought I was nothing, hiding behind the Gordon Group and playing with other people's lives like it was his birthright.
But take away the Gordon Group, and what was he left with?
He wrecked my world, and he still thought he could sit pretty as the golden boy, living his cushy life?
I was going to make you face reality.
Without the Gordon Group, he was lower than a stray dog.
The Linvault System was my own creation, an intelligent companion for child development that I poured eight years of hard work into.
Bentley and I used to talk about what we'd do if we ever had kids.
I was always busy, and Bentley had no clue how to handle kids.
So, Linvault was born.
To be honest, my knack for coding was something I inherited from my mom.
She was the kind of housewife everyone praised—diligent, virtuous, always working behind the scenes, never making waves.
From the outside, we looked like the textbook perfect family. People would always say we had the ideal setup.
Dad was the big shot at work, mom kept everything together at home, and I was the clever, adorable daughter everyone admired.
But Dad and I both knew that Mom was the one with true talent and the wisdom to make real decisions.
She willingly stayed in the background, letting Dad enjoy the achievements and recognition that were really hers.
When I was a kid, I couldn't help but wonder—Dad always got praised for those amazing projects, but it was Mom who stayed up late, working her magic behind the scenes. Why did he get all the credit, and his name on every single one?
Mom would wrap her arms around me and explain, "Dad's the face of our family. He represents us to the world. It's our job to make him shine, so everyone admires us.
"You need to study hard too, Anastasia, and make your dad proud, okay?" she said softly.
I nodded, still puzzled like any little kid.
Mom was always right.
If a woman wanted a perfect family, that was just what she had to do.
Sometimes, she just had to endure and compromise.
But it wasn't until I was stumbling down this bleak, icy street, hauling my suitcase with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, that it finally hit me.