Our Son Died While You Bought Your Mistress Diamonds

After marrying my billionaire husband, Marcus, I couldn't even afford to eat. Because all of his assets were managed by Chloe, his financial advisor and first love. Every single penny I spent required her prior approval. Even to buy a box of cold medicine, I had to endure the pain and submit a 1,000-word requisition form first. I only dared to eat one meal of plain white rice a day, yet Chloe still accused me of wasting money. Until my son was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded eight million dollars, threatening to kill him if I didn't pay. Frantic with worry, I rushed to Chloe for the money. But she just tossed a blank sheet of paper at me. "How many times do I have to tell you? If you want money, you have to write a request. Write a 10,000-word proposal first, and I'll review it." "Ten thousand words! That's too much! By the time I finish writing, it will be too late!" My voice cracked with panic, my eyes red as I begged her to approve the funds to save him. She let out a cold laugh. "You really know how to burn through cash, don't you? Eight million dollars right out of your mouth. Who knows if you're actually using this money to feed some bastard child of yours?" I didn't want to waste time arguing with her. A child's life was on the line. I quickly called Marcus. Before I could even speak when he picked up, Chloe jumped in to complain, accusing me of wasting money. Marcus's voice immediately turned impatient. "Everything goes by Chloe's rules. Besides, that adopted brat of yours deserves to die anyway. Stop bothering us with this nonsense!" My heart froze. But there was one thing they didn't know. The child taken by the kidnappers wasn't some random orphan I had adopted. He was the biological son Marcus and Chloe had secretly conceived via surrogacy abroad years ago! I hung up the phone and sent a message to the kidnappers, telling them I was still putting the money together and begging them to wait. I took a deep breath, trying to reason with Chloe one last time. "Chloe, a child's life is at stake. Can you really be this heartless?" "I am begging you. Just release the eight million to save him." Eight million dollars was pocket change to the Vance Group—just a few days of revenue. But without it, my boy would lose his life. Chloe was sitting in Marcus's executive chair, leisurely brushing her toy poodle's fur. Her tone was dripping with disdain. "Is this how you beg for a favor? I told you, if you want money, follow the rules. Didn't I give you the paper already?" Just as I was about to explain, a video message popped up on my phone from the kidnappers. In the video, five-year-old Leo was tied to a steel pillar in an abandoned factory, covered in blood. A sharp knife was pressed against his tiny cheek. "Eight million dollars to this account within an hour." "For every minute you're late, I'll carve a line on his body." "How many cuts do you think he can survive?" My hands shook so violently that my phone slipped and clattered onto the floor. Chloe looked at her freshly done manicure and spared a careless glance at the screen. "Must be an AI deepfake. Looks pretty realistic, though. You really went all out just to scam some money." My voice trembled violently as I pleaded. "It's real! This isn't fake! If we don't send the money in an hour, they will really kill him!" Chloe scoffed. "He's just an adopted street rat. Is he really worth eight million? If he dies, he dies." Her tone was so indifferent, as if she were talking about throwing away a piece of trash instead of a human life. A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. I clenched my fists. Marcus and I had found Leo at a charity gala. Even though he was sick back then, his eyes were so bright and full of life. Both Marcus and I wanted to adopt him. But in the end, Marcus told everyone that I was the one who insisted on adopting a sickly orphan. I didn't care about the rumors. Once I chose Leo, I treated him as my own flesh and blood. Yet, Chloe always looked down on him. Every time she came over, she called him "bastard" and "trash." But now was not the time to argue. Saving his life was all that mattered. My eyes welled with tears. "I am begging you, please give me the money. Treat it as a loan! I'll sign an IOU to Marcus and pay him back with interest! Just please!" "Otherwise, he's really going to die!" Chloe remained completely unmoved. "Rules are rules. As the wife of the Vance family, how can you be the first to break them?" At that moment, another message from the kidnapper flashed on my screen. [Fifty minutes left.] I couldn't waste another second begging. I lunged forward to grab the security token fob on the desk. Chloe snatched it first, holding it tight, and slapped me hard across the face. "You're trying to steal it now? Do you know that's a felony?" My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning with pain. But I didn't care about the pain. I needed that money. I looked up at Chloe's smug face. "You want the eight million? Fine." "Kneel right there and write the ten-thousand-word fund requisition form. Once you're done, I might consider approving it." "Short by even one word, and you won't get a single dime!" I stared at her in utter disbelief. "There's no time for that! You are murdering him!" Chloe sneered. "Murdering him? I'm just doing my job." "Marcus trusted me with the family finances. I have to be responsible." "If you don't want to write it, then get the hell out and let your little street rat die." The countdown on the screen ticked down to forty-five minutes. I had no time to argue. I grabbed a pen and paper, fell to my knees, and started writing furiously on the floor.My wrist ached so badly it went numb. My tears splashed onto the paper, smudging the ink. Chloe casually sipped her expensive bird's nest soup, scrolling through her phone and laughing. Passing employees whispered outside the glass door. "Why is Mrs. Vance kneeling on the floor writing something?" "I heard she's begging for money for that adopted kid. Director Chloe is just following company policy." "Eight million for some sick kid with no blood relation? She must be out of her mind." Every single whisper pierced my ears. I bit my lip so hard it bled, forcing myself to write faster. For thirty grueling minutes, I wrote until I had a thick stack of pages. I held the papers up to Chloe. "I'm done... the word count is more than enough." "Please, transfer the money now!" Chloe set down her soup, using her long, red-manicured fingers to pinch the stack of papers with sheer disgust. She glanced at the messy handwriting. "This is so sloppy. Do you think I'm running a garbage recycling center?" With a rip, she tore the papers to shreds and threw them in my face. I froze, my heart stopping. "What are you doing?!" "Your attitude is unacceptable. Rejected. Rewrite it." Chloe laughed mockingly. "If you're begging for a favor, act like it. This application of yours isn't even as good as my baby's." She patted her poodle's head. The dog immediately barked at me, ran over to the torn paper on the floor, and peed all over it. "Chloe! Are you giving me the money or not!" My eyes turned bloodshot. I lost all control and lunged at her, trying to claw the security token from her hand. Right then, the office door was kicked open. "Evelyn, what the hell is wrong with you!" Marcus walked in, his brow furrowed in deep annoyance. The moment I saw him, it was like finding a lifeline in a storm. I scrambled up, rushing over to grab his expensive suit sleeve. "Marcus, tell Chloe to transfer the money! Leo was kidnapped! They want eight million! There are only twenty minutes left before they kill him!" "He's a child! Save him, please!" Marcus shoved my hand off with absolute disgust. "Save him? For what?" "You made such a scene in my company just to get money for that stray kid?" Chloe immediately clung to his arm, looking hurt and fragile. "Marcus, thank god you're finally here." "Evelyn came in demanding company funds, completely ignoring the rules. I asked her to fill out a standard form, but she screamed at me and tried to attack me." She lifted her wrist. "Look, she scratched me." When Marcus looked back at me, his eyes held nothing but raw hatred. "Evelyn, who gave you the right to throw a tantrum in my company and lay a hand on Chloe?" I stared at him, my heart breaking. "Marcus, do you even have a heart?" "Is this really the time to fight about this? The kidnapper's knife is at Leo's throat!"I shoved my phone in front of Marcus's face, displaying the bloody video. "Stop using these cheap deepfakes to disgust me." "Eight million? That defective kid you brought home is riddled with congenital diseases." "I've tolerated feeding him for five years. That's generous enough." "Now you hire a few actors to put on a show just to scam eight million from me?" "Do you think I'm a charity?" It was nauseating. At that moment, I wanted to rip my own heart out just to stop the pain. He actually thought I was lying for money. "I am not lying! If you don't believe me, call the police! Or FaceTime the kidnappers directly!" "Call the police? Are you insane?" Chloe shrieked, cutting me off. "Vance Group is signing a ten-billion-dollar merger this afternoon." "If the police get involved, our assets will be audited and frozen. If the deal falls through, can you afford the loss?" Marcus nodded in agreement with Chloe. "For a bastard child who doesn't even share your blood, you want to ruin my multi-billion-dollar project?" "Evelyn, you are malicious to the core." "Chloe is managing the funds properly. You won't get a single penny." "If he really got kidnapped, then he deserves to die." "At least it saves us the medical bills for his chronic illnesses in the future!" My entire body went numb. Actually, two weeks ago, I had found his birth certificate hidden inside Leo's medical files. I had tried to tell Marcus several times who Leo really was, but he never listened. But before I could speak, Chloe thrust her phone screen in front of my face. "Still acting?" The kidnapper had sent the final message. [Time is up. If I don't see the money in ten minutes, prepare to collect his body.] Attached was a photo. A bloody pinky finger lay lonely on the dirty concrete floor. I collapsed to the ground, letting out a gut-wrenching scream. "Money... give me the money!" "That's his finger!" Like a madwoman, I clung to Marcus's leg. "Marcus, I'll beg you! I'll beg you on my knees, okay!" I threw myself to the floor, my forehead slamming against the cold marble again and again. Blood quickly seeped out, blurring my vision. "Please, just transfer the money!" "Even if it's a loan, I'll pay you back with my life! Just send the money!" Marcus didn't even look at me. He took a disgusted step back, annoyed that my blood was ruining his custom leather shoes. "Degrading yourself to this point for a stray orphan." "Evelyn, you make me sick." Chloe covered her mouth and giggled. "Evelyn, save your breath." "Marcus's money must be spent wisely." "That nameless brat isn't worth eight million dollars, even if he's chopped into pieces." She leaned into Marcus's chest, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Marcus, it's our tenth anniversary today. Can you take me to pick out that pink diamond this afternoon?" "Of course. If you like it, what's eight million? I'll buy you the twenty-million-dollar one." They flirted right in front of me. Meanwhile, the countdown on my phone kept ticking. Five minutes. Three minutes. One minute. I lay flat on the floor, watching them. My tears and blood mixed together, drying on my skin. They would rather spend tens of millions on a piece of rock than eight million to save a child's life.[Time's up.] The screen lit up one last time. The kidnapper sent a fifteen-second video. In the abandoned factory, a man raised his boot and kicked the blood-covered Leo into the roaring, rapid river nearby. The water splashed. The tiny body was instantly swallowed by the currents, disappearing completely. I stared blankly at the screen. At this moment, I didn't scream, and I didn't cry. He was dead. The little boy who held my hand every day and called me "Mommy" in his sweet, soft voice was really dead. Seeing that I had stopped crying, Marcus sneered and adjusted his wrinkled suit. "What? Done with your little show?" He kicked my phone away. "I told you, I've seen plenty of these extortion scams. Only an idiot like you would make such a fool of herself for a stray kid." Chloe linked her arm through his, ready to leave. As she passed me, she intentionally pressed her high heel hard onto the back of my hand. "Evelyn, stop playing dead." "It's good that the brat is gone. Now no one will waste the Vance family's money on medical bills, and you're finally free, right?" I pushed myself up from the floor. Watching their departing figures, I didn't bother to wipe the blood from my face. "Marcus, you will regret this." "Regret? Over your dead stray? What a joke." Just as the words left his mouth, the private phone in his pocket began to vibrate violently. Only a select few knew this number. Marcus frowned and picked up. His assistant's panicked voice blared through the receiver. "Mr. Vance! The police just called!" "They just pulled the body of a five-year-old boy from the river on the outskirts of the city!" Marcus's frown deepened. "You're calling me about this?" "It's just the little beggar Evelyn adopted. Tell them to send him to the crematorium and bury the ashes wherever." The assistant's voice was shaking uncontrollably. "No... No, Mr. Vance!" "The police found a premium jade medallion on the boy's neck with the letter 'V' engraved on the back." "They ran his DNA against the genetic data you submitted to the database years ago..." The assistant took a sharp breath, almost screaming the next words: "That boy... is your biological son!"