Chapter 1

At the family reunion dinner, my father pointed at his mistress decked out in designer brands and told me to call her "Mom."

My real mother rushed in, just like in my previous life, only able to wipe away her tears.

She had put on her most presentable outfit, yet still looked poor, haggard, and timid.

She didn't even dare to speak up and say she was my birth mother.

My heart ached, but I restrained myself from offering her a tissue.

I couldn't choose her again, or we would both die horribly.

So when Mandy, the mistress who clearly wanted me gone, fake-affectionately hugged me and said, "Emily, we've kept your room just as it was," I saw my chance.

I made sure the cameras were on me as I threw myself into her arms. "Mom, I'll move in tonight!"

My father was stunned, a flicker of embarrassment in his eyes.

I knew he wasn't truly looking for me - he was just using the guise of a family reunion to craft a public image and make money.

When I was three, he slapped me for playing with toys that disturbed his nap.

My mom quickly took me out to play, afraid I'd keep crying and get hit again.

In that brief moment while she bought me candy, I was kidnapped.

My always fashionable mom became disheveled after that.

She handed out flyers everywhere, kneeling before strangers to beg for help.

Soon my father grew to resent her.

"Searching for a child is a bottomless pit - even two companies and six houses can't fund your wasteful spending!"

"Besides, you lost the child - why should I suffer for it?"

My father constantly blamed my mom. When she suggested selling a house to fund the search, he finally exploded:

"Let's divorce. You leave with nothing and go search on your own!"

Out of guilt, my mom really did divorce him and leave empty-handed.

Not only that, she naively believed my father's words were just spoken in anger.

She thought if she found me, we could be a family again.

But my father didn't wait for us at all. He immediately married his mistress.

Unexpectedly, the mistress was even more extravagant. She wore designer clothes, bought limited edition bags, and only drank $200 imported French water. In just three years, she nearly bankrupted my father.

It was then that a parent went viral online while searching for their child, accidentally becoming rich and famous.

My father was tempted. He jumped on that trending topic, gaining both fame and fortune.

Money was so easy to make this way, my father definitely wanted to keep searching for me. To keep searching, but never actually find me.

Unfortunately, I was a DNA match in the database. He had no choice but to host this grand reunion dinner.

To maintain his image, he came up with this farce of passing off the mistress as my birth mother.

But the mistress had her own agenda. She felt my father was already worth over $100 million - why bother making more money from netizens?

Besides, she had given my father a son. She didn't want anyone else coming to split the inheritance.

"That woman in the shabby dress is your real mother..." Mandy whispered in my ear, avoiding my father's gaze.

Of course I knew the haggard woman standing in the corner, crying and smiling as she looked at me, was my birth mother.

I also knew that to raise money to find me, she delivered food and collected recyclables, suffering in a basement apartment.

So what? I didn't want to live a life of poverty.

My eyes stung.

I pretended not to hear, hugging Mandy tightly as I cried, "Mom, I'm willing. I'm willing to officially register as part of the family."