The tea base was running low, and my mother asked me to go get more. I didn’t know that errand would lead me straight into Dominic Scott, the governor’s son, and his gang of bullies. He cornered me outside, his words dripping with arrogance. “So, have you made up your mind yet?
” he said. “Be my woman. The only hard work you’ll need to do is in bed to please me. ”
I tried to walk away, but he grabbed me.
“You lowly piece of trash,” he spat. “I can crush your mom who runs that milk tea stall with just a lift of my finger. ”
I stood my ground. “My mom earns money with her own hands.
We’ve never been lowly or worthless. However, you are a cowardly individual who displays arrogance only when shielded by your family. ”
He laughed, but then my mom arrived. She pulled me away, but Dominic and his friends followed us.
They surrounded us, and Dominic’s crony suggested I was putting on an innocent act to seduce him. My mom stepped in front of me. “Who gave you permission to talk to my daughter like that? ”
Dominic sneered.
“Who gave you permission to talk to my daughter like that? ” he mimicked. Then he slapped her. Everything froze.
My mom didn’t flinch. She looked at him and said, “How dare you hit me? Do you know who my father is? ” he screamed.
My mom replied, “I don’t care who he is. Raising a son like you, he’s already failed. ”
Then she grabbed him. “Apologize to my daughter.
”
His friends tried to intervene, but my mom was faster. She held Dominic in a grip he couldn’t break. “This is the internet age,” she warned. “You wouldn’t want public opinion causing trouble for your dad, would you?
”
“If my dad finds out about this, you’re all dead! ” he shouted. “Apologize now,” she said. “Get moving.
”
He refused, so she twisted his arm until he screamed. His friends rushed at her, but she took them all down. Then a man appeared, a powerful figure everyone called the Blood Marquis. He recognized my mom, and he forced Dominic and his friends to apologize to us before sending them away.
That was Saul, a man my mom knew from long ago. He was now a war marshal, the youngest one. He’d come to ask my mom for help with a martial arts competition, something our old teacher had requested. She agreed, but only once.
“After this, if you bother me or my daughter again,” she said, “damn Saul. ”
Dominic was furious. He was humiliated, and he blamed my mom. He decided to get his revenge while Saul was away at the competition.
The next night, I was alone when Dominic and his gang grabbed me. They dragged me to a secluded warehouse. I screamed and fought, but there were too many of them. The things they did to me that night… I can’t describe it.
I just remember my mother’s voice on the phone, her crying, and then everything went dark. I woke up in the hospital. My mom was there, her face pale and tear-streaked. She asked me who did this, but I couldn’t speak.
The trauma had taken my voice. The doctor said it was psychogenic mutism. I couldn’t tell her it was Dominic. I couldn’t tell her anything.
But my mom knew. She found out where Dominic was hiding, and she went after him alone. Saul tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. She was a mother protecting her child, and nothing would stand in her way.
At Dominic’s estate, she found him and his friends laughing, bragging about what they’d done. Dominic even offered to pay her for me, as if I were a piece of property. “If your daughter satisfies me, I’ll pay whatever you want,” he said. My mom didn’t say a word.
She just moved. She took them all down, one by one. When Dominic’s father arrived, he tried to protect his son, but my mom was relentless. She told him, “If you can’t teach your son right, someone else will do it for you.
”
Saul arrived, and he backed her up. He was stripped of his command for defying orders, but he didn’t care. He promised to protect me, but he said he’d failed. He took responsibility for everything.
But the nightmare wasn’t over. Dominic’s father, Wilbur, was a powerful man. He had connections, and he used them. He spread lies about me online, doctored videos and photos, making it look like I was a gold digger who seduced Dominic.
The internet turned against me. My school expelled me. People I thought were friends turned their backs on me. My mom tried to shield me from it all, but the hate was everywhere.
Then the threats started. Wilbur put a bounty on our heads. Fifty million dollars for me and my mom. People came to our home, demanding we turn ourselves in.
But my mom wasn’t just a milk tea seller. She was a former war goddess, the strongest weapon humanity had ever known. She’d saved countless lives, including those of powerful people like Mr. Price and Mr.
Jenkins, who owed her everything. When they found out about the bounty, they came to our aid. They offered her their empires, their protection. But my mom refused.
She said she’d handle her own problems. She confronted Wilbur at his estate, but he was protected by a mysterious figure, a man named Nigel Harrison. Nigel was the one pulling the strings, using Wilbur as a puppet. He had evidence of my mom’s past, and he used it to try to destroy her.
But my mom had her own secrets. She told me the truth that night, after everything had calmed down. She told me that my father wasn’t dead. He was alive, and he was Nigel Harrison.
I couldn’t believe it. The man who’d been trying to kill me and my mom was my own father. But he didn’t know I was his daughter. My mom explained everything.
My birth mother was Emily, Nigel’s first victim. He’d raped her, and she’d died giving birth to me. My mom and her husband, Toby, had taken me in to protect me from Nigel’s cruelty. Toby had been killed by Nigel when he got too close to the truth.
My mom had been hiding from Nigel ever since, living as a simple single mother to keep me safe. But now, the truth was out. Nigel had to be stopped. My mom and I, along with Saul and our allies, set a trap for him.
We exposed him on live television, revealing his crimes to the entire nation. He tried to fight back, threatening to blow up the city with hidden bombs, but we found them all in time. In the end, Nigel was arrested. He was a monster, but he was my father.
I felt a strange mix of anger and sorrow. But my mom was there, holding my hand, telling me it was over. After everything, Saul asked my mom to marry him. She said yes.
And on their wedding day, I watched my mom, the strongest woman I’d ever known, walk down the aisle in a beautiful white dress. She was happy. Finally, she was happy. I looked at her and thought about everything we’d been through.
She’d given up so much to protect me. She’d hidden her true self, lived a simple life, and faced monsters without flinching. And now, she was getting the happiness she deserved. “Mom,” I said, “you’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.
”
She smiled, and for the first time in a long time, I saw peace in her eyes.
