“I think those twins are Billy’s biological kids—with that homewrecker,” someone muttered.

“Is there even a doubt? Why else would he push Crystal to transfer all the assets to them?” another chimed in.

“Poor woman. She was completely played.”

Whispers spread like wildfire through the banquet hall, voices thick with judgment and disbelief. What had started as a festive send-off had morphed into a full-blown public spectacle—and I was at the center of it all.

My mother clutched my arm, her tear-streaked face trembling. “Crystal, this is exactly what we warned you about,” she cried. “We told you he was calculated. He’s always been after our money! That man never loved you. And those kids—you don’t even know where they came from! But you wouldn’t listen!”

Dad had stormed off earlier, livid. Now he returned, face thunderous, voice shaking with fury.

“How could I have raised such a foolish daughter? Why the hell would you give up everything for a man? You already gave up your career, your womb, even your assets! Crystal, you’re a disgrace to the Oldford name!”

Surrounded by murmurs and judgmental stares, I looked down at the divorce papers in my hands. No one noticed the faint, almost amused curve of my lips.

“Crystal,” Billy said, using that faux-gentle tone I’d come to despise, “you can’t blame me. I’m just a man. You had your uterus removed—you can’t have children anymore. What choice did I have?”

I let out a dry laugh, cold and humorless. “You’re the one who asked me to do it—so we could live a child-free life together. You told me we’d never regret it. You swore that if I sacrificed my ability to have children, you’d stay with me forever.”

Billy shrugged, careless. “Well, that was then. Things changed. I want a family now. I want children. And since you can’t give them to me, I’ll find someone who can.”

“Exactly.” Denise stepped forward like she was auditioning for a soap opera, her smile perfectly practiced. “What’s the point of keeping a woman who can’t give you kids? And what good is all that fortune if there’s no one to pass it down to?”

Around the room, heads began to nod in quiet agreement. Whispers rose again, this time backing her heartless words.

Unable to stomach it any longer, my mother stepped forward, eyes blazing, finger trembling as she pointed at Billy. “You,” she spat. “Have you forgotten where you came from?”

“You came out of some dead-end town with nothing but lint in your pockets. Couldn’t even afford college. You were holed up in a dorm room, living off ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches.”

“If Crystal’s father hadn’t stepped in and paid your mother’s hospital bills, she wouldn’t have made it through the month. We didn’t ask for a dime in dowry when you married Crystal. Instead, we gave you a house and a car.”

“When she found out you liked slow-cooked ribs, she didn’t just order them—she hired a chef to get the recipe right, then spent weeks learning how to make them herself. Just to make you smile.”

“And when your brother lost his job and his wife left him? Crystal begged her father to help. He gave your brother a cushy job—General Manager, full benefits, five-figure salary. We treated you like family. And this... this is how you repay us?”

The room went silent.

Billy gave a humorless laugh. “Why are you bringing up the past? That’s got nothing to do with this.” Then he turned to me. “Well, Crystal? Are you just gonna stand there and stare at the agreement?”

He smirked. “Not like it’ll change anything if you don’t sign. The estate’s already been transferred to the kids. And there’s barely a few hundred in our joint account.”

“Tell you what,” he added, voice mocking, “you can keep it. Consider it a thank-you for all the sacrifices you made for me and the kids. Should be enough for your retirement.”

Gasps and low murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“If it weren’t for Crystal,” someone muttered, “his mother wouldn’t have survived. He’d still be a-nobody and not the richest man in the city.”

“The Oldfords dragged him out of poverty and he cleaned them out. Played his cards right. Poor Mr. Oldford.”

“Yeah, and now he’s grinning like he won the damn lottery.”

Billy’s smug smile stretched so far it looked like it might split his face in half.

Then—smack!

“You bastard!” The slap sound echoed through the banquet hall like a gunshot. My father had stormed forward, hand raised and slapped Billy so hard his head snapped to the side. He was furious thinking of what I’ve been sacrificed to be with that scumbag and now he made fool of us. 

Dad roared. “She gave up her womb for you, gave you status, gave you a life you never could’ve built on your own—and this is how you repay her?”

Billy’s face turned red, more from humiliation than pain. He waved his arm and shouted, “Security! Get this old man out of here!”

Like trained dogs, a group of security guards charged forward, surrounding my father with threatening eyes and clenched fists. 

The same guys who were all smiles earlier, helping my dad carry boxes for the party, now turned on him in an instant.

“You lay a finger on me and you’ll regret it,” my dad warned, his voice sharp.

One of them scoffed. “Why wouldn’t we? Who do you think you are?”

They hesitated—intimidated by the fire still burning in his eyes.

Then Denise, gleeful in her role as the villain, marched up and slapped my father hard across the face.

He froze.

This was a man who’d once been president of the State Business Council. He knew governors, senators, CEOs. Now he’d been humiliated by the woman who stole his legacy.

He was about to explode, but I grabbed his arm, pulling him back before things spiraled further.

“This is too much,” someone whispered. “They even hit Mr. Oldford?”

“How could they disrespect Mr. Oldford like this? Mr. Oldford is a great man. He’s a philanthropist! He’s funded schools, helped veterans and rebuilt homes for seniors. How dare they?”

“Crystal threw her life away for that man. Doesn’t she know women can’t undo that choice? Men can be fathers into their seventies, but a woman…?”

“If my daughter had done this,” another voice muttered, “I’d have smacked her senseless.”

“This couple—Billy and Denise—they’re disgusting. And now they’re the richest people in the city?”

Everyone was angry. Fingers pointed. Voices rose. Some cursed Billy. Some pitied me. But Billy was unfazed.

“Are we done yet?” he asked the room.

Everyone went silent.

He turned back to me. “So, Crystal? You signing, or what? Hurry! We don’t have all day for your decision.”

“Fine,” I hissed. “I'll sign it.”

I couldn’t hold a chuckle when I read what’s in the agreement. It was so ridiculously simple. Basically, it left me with a few grand—barely enough to cover a few months' rent. It was a clean exit. No assets. No rights. Nothing.

I picked up the pen and signed my name with a few quick, emotionless strokes.

Billy snatched up the papers and skimmed them, then let out a mocking laugh. “Good. Great. Crystal, you’re our biggest benefactor! Thank you so much—for handing us a billion-dollar fortune. My family and I will be living off your generosity for generations.”

Denise, glowing with triumph, lifted her glass and downed the champagne. “Seriously, Crystal, you’re like my fairy godmother! I ought to toast to you every year!”

I smiled.

Good. Let’s see how long that smile lasts.

Then it happened.

My father, still watching them bask in their victory—watching the family business passed down for five generations fall into someone else’s hands—suddenly coughed violently.

And then—

He collapsed, spitting up blood.

“Dad!” I screamed, rushing to his side.

“James!” my mom cried, kneeling beside him.

My relatives surged forward—someone tilted his head up, someone else tried to get water down his throat, another pressed his pressure points.

Panic exploded around us.

I looked at him—his pale face, his trembling hands. His heart had always been fragile. He nearly had a stroke when I had my hysterectomy for Billy’s sake. This might just break him completely.

Billy stood there watching the chaos, barely blinking. Then he spotted someone rushing in to help—a tall man in a sharp navy suit.

“Theo Jones?” Billy narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you doing here? Don’t tell me you're into Crystal now. She’s not exactly the flavor of the month.”

Theo and Billy had grown up together. Same small town. Same poor beginnings. Billy used to tease Theo all the time—called him a hayseed, a nobody.

Theo just offered a cool, polite smile. He didn’t bother looking at Billy.

My father came to, groaning weakly. People helped him up and escorted him to a quiet room to rest.

“Where are the twins?” someone asked. 

“I think they’re off taking their admission letters.”

Just then, the front doors opened and in walked two teenagers in school uniforms.

Chloe and Caleb.

They’d put on a little weight over the years, but still had the same bright, familiar smiles. Only now, when they spotted me, their expressions soured. They turned their backs on me and ran to Billy.

“Dad!” Chloe beamed, hugging him tight. “Aunt Denise! We did it! We both got in!”

Billy grinned, proud. “I knew you would. I’m so proud of you.”

After hugging each twin, he gently guided them to sit down and said softly, “Kids, from now on… don’t call Denise ‘Aunt’ anymore. Call her ‘Mom.’”

The twins’ eyes lit up like it was the best news they’d ever heard. They turned to Denise with huge smiles and shouted in unison—

“Mom!”

“Mom!”

My heart dropped.

“Mom,” I echoed under my breath. Hearing the children I raised—my children—call another woman “Mom” felt like being hit by a wrecking ball.

I was the one who packed their lunches every morning. I was the one who stayed up through the night during flu seasons, who held their hands through heartbreaks, who sat through every parent-teacher conference, who kissed scraped knees and calmed tantrums.

Denise gave a dazzling smile, brushing their hair affectionately and cupping their cheeks. “My kids. Now I don’t have to sneak around school like some criminal just to see you anymore.”

My mother couldn’t take it anymore. Her voice cracked as she shouted, “Chloe! Caleb! Your mother is right here!”

She pointed to me, eyes blazing with disbelief.

“She gave up eighteen years of her life raising you! And now you’re calling the woman who destroyed our family ‘Mom’? Where is your sense?”

“Caleb,” my mother said, her voice trembling, “you were a sickly baby. You had constant fevers. One night, your temperature shot up to 104 and your mom ran out in the middle of a storm, carrying you through the rain just to get you to a doctor.”

She turned to Chloe. “And you—when you started high school, you got involved with some rough kids. That night, they drugged your drink. If your mom hadn’t barged in with help at just the right time, God knows what would've happened. She ended up getting stabbed ten times trying to protect you. If it weren’t for her, you’d be ruined by now.”

“And when you got your first period, who taught you how to deal with it? Who sat with you and explained everything, so you wouldn’t be scared?”

The room fell silent. The kids had no answer—because deep down, they knew it was true. I took care of them like my own.

A moment passed before Chloe rolled her eyes. “Think I care? Whatever she did doesn’t count—she’s not my real mom.”

Caleb sneered. “Exactly. Look at her. You think this broke woman deserved to be our mother? Not in a million years.”

Then he slapped down a folder on the table—a paternity test.

Just like that, the truth was out. They were Denise’s bastard kids.

Everyone gasped, even though the rumors had been swirling for a while.

“I knew it,” someone whispered.

“Come on, it was obvious. They said they didn’t want kids, then came back with twins? Please.”

“God, poor Crystal. She raised someone else’s kids for eighteen years, gave them a billion-dollar inheritance and they turn around and call the woman who wrecked her marriage ‘Mom’.”

All eyes were on me—mocking, pitying. I was the joke of the night.

They thought I’d lose it, start screaming or throw a fit. But instead, I pulled out a folder of my own and tossed it on the table.

“Since you say so,” I said calmly. “Let’s cut our ties here.” Gasps rang out again. No one expected that.

“You’re just going to give them up? After everything you’ve done?” someone whispered.

Chloe laughed. “That’s exactly what I wanted.”

They signed without hesitation, then strutted over to Billy and Denise. The four of them smiled at each other like they’d just won the lottery.

Finally, they could play happy family in the open, without sneaking around like criminals.

“Great,” I said, smiling too.

I gave them a chance. If they had even a sliver of decency, I might’ve shown mercy. But human nature is blinding—like staring at the sun. You’ll go blind if you look too close.

No one could figure out how someone like me—a woman who’d built an empire worth billions—ended up raising another woman’s children like some tragic fool.

“Crystal, this party has nothing to do with you anymore,” Billy said coldly. “You can leave. And please tell your parents to pack up as well. The mansion is now in my kids’ names.”

“Not so fast,” I said with a sly smile. “This is still my kids’ graduation party. The celebration hasn’t even started. Why would I leave now?”

Then I turned to the door. “Kids, come on in.”

Everyone turned toward the entrance.

Two students in school uniforms walked in.