Chapter 1

I was born as an illegitimate child after a billionaire drugged my mother.

My mother and I have always been ridiculed, even humiliated by my aunt's family.

"You shameless woman, and your daughter is nothing but a bastard."

Unable to bear the insults any longer, my mother took me to seek help from my wealthy father. To our shock, he refused to acknowledge us and even accused us of extortion!

"You bitch, I know you're just after my money. I won't give you a penny. Take that bastard child and get out of my house!"

Not only that, but the billionaire's son even beat and insulted us, throwing us out onto the street like stray dogs!

I endured it all silently, until the billionaire's son met with an accident, and I became his sole heir!

"Mom, I'm home. School ran late today," I called out as I returned home, but I didn't see my mother's familiar silhouette busy in the kitchen.

"Mom?" I searched the house but found no trace of her. I decided to check with the neighbors.

"Mrs. Zhang, have you seen my mom?" I asked at the neighbor's kitchen window.

"I saw your aunt come by earlier. I guess your mom went out with her," she replied.

My heart sank. My aunt had always been at odds with us, looking down on my mother. Why would they go out together?

Sensing trouble, I hurried down the street. Sure enough, I found them in front of a shoe store, locked in a heated argument.

"Wendy, stop playing innocent! You're nothing but a shameless slut. Quit acting like a victim!" My aunt was pointing at my mother, her nose in the air, looking utterly disgusted.

"What are you doing?" I rushed forward, shielding my mother behind me, glaring fiercely at my aunt.

"Well, well, look who it is. The bastard child herself. Like mother, like daughter. You both make me sick," my aunt pretended to cover her nose, clearly repulsed by our presence.

It wasn't just my aunt's family. My grandparents, all of my mother's relatives – almost none of them liked to associate with us. All because I was born out of wedlock.

My mother had just started working when she got her first project with a billionaire named Lucas Wilson. He was a difficult client, and my mother's project team had to drink with him several times before he even agreed to look at the contract.

They thought Lucas just enjoyed drinking, but it turned out he was also a lecher. He set his sights on my mother from day one. During the final drinking session, he had his assistant drug her drink and took her away. What happened next goes without saying.

The bastard didn't even take responsibility afterward. He didn't even sign the contract! He even blamed my mother, saying she was incompetent. Her boss, being an inconsiderate jerk, fired her on the spot. My mother, still naive and inexperienced, had no way to fight back. She could only return home, devastated.

Soon after, she discovered she was pregnant. Accusations and insults came at her from all directions. Everyone thought she had been promiscuous. But she still endured the pressure and gave birth to me, naming me Zoe.

"If you want to insult someone, insult me. Leave my daughter out of this!" My mother stepped forward, glaring angrily at my aunt.

"Oh, spare me your mother-daughter act. You're both just trash discarded by men. I was kind enough to offer you a job at the hair salon, and you refused. Now you dare to act high and mighty with me? Know your place!" My aunt rolled her eyes.

I let out a cold laugh. "I think you were trying to sell my mother out. Everyone in the neighborhood knows the salon owner is a greedy pervert who's had his eye on my mom for ages. I bet you got some kind of kickback for this 'kind' offer. Don't insult the word 'kindness'."

Seeing her scheme exposed, my aunt became even more furious. She pointed at us and started hurling insults like a fishwife.

"Zoe, you little bitch! Don't think you're innocent in all this. A slut's daughter is bound to be a man-stealing vixen too. Aren't you ashamed? How dare you talk back to me? I'm your elder!"

"So what if I am a vixen?" I sneered. I'd heard this kind of insult countless times since middle school. It no longer had any effect on me. I looked at my aunt challengingly and said with contempt, "At least I inherited my mother's good looks. Unlike you – your face could ward off evil spirits if we hung it on the door for New Year's."

My aunt's eyes bulged with rage, her face contorted, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"That's enough, Zoe." My mother took my hand. She hated it when I insulted myself like this. "Let's not stoop to her level. Let's go home."

My mother tried to lead me away, but my aunt, still stinging from my retort, wasn't about to let us leave. She lunged forward and grabbed my mother's hair, and the two women began grappling in the street.

The commotion drew quite a crowd of neighbors, gathering in small groups to watch the spectacle.

"What's going on? Why are they fighting?"

"It's just more drama from Wendy's family. Her sister's come to shame her again."

"Shame her? It's just the truth. If she hadn't messed around and had a bastard child, would her sister be this angry? She must be upset about the family losing face."

"Really? Wendy always looks so prim and proper. Who knew she was actually loose behind closed doors? And so careless too!"

"Exactly! Her sister comes to make a scene every other day. I heard..."

The gossiping neighbors' cruel words pierced our ears painfully.

"Enough!" I rushed forward to separate the fighting women. "Rachel! If you hate us so much, just stop coming around. Don't take out your frustrations with life on us. We don't owe you anything!"

My voice shook as I shouted at my aunt. This was the first time things had gotten so out of hand.

"Bullshit! If I wasn't standing up for the family, if Mom and Dad weren't hanging their heads in shame in front of the neighbors, why would I waste my time dealing with trash like you? You loose woman! Shameless!" My aunt spat on the ground, utterly disgusted.

"What will it take for you to leave me and my mom alone?" I was tired of arguing with her. They had believed from the start that my mother was in the wrong. At this point, no amount of explaining our innocence would convince them. They'd just think we were making excuses for our "dirty deeds."

"That's easy." My aunt looked down her nose at us, fixing her disheveled hair. "Get out of our family. Get out of this neighborhood. Never let me see your faces again. You're an eyesore!"

My aunt's demands were completely unreasonable. My mother and I were already living hand to mouth. If we left this neighborhood, we'd have nowhere to live.

"Impossible! Zoe is still in her first year of high school. This house was given to me by Mom and Dad. Why should I leave?" My mother protested, ready to continue arguing with my aunt.

"Fine then. If you won't leave, I'll make sure everyone at school knows about this. Let's see how your daughter holds her head up then. Being called a bastard every day won't be pleasant, especially one born to such a shameless, loose woman. Don't come crying when people bully your daughter."

My aunt had found my mother's weak spot. A few words were all it took to break down my mother's psychological defenses.

"It's okay, Mom. We don't want to stay here anyway!" My mother had become very timid after everything she'd been through, but I was different. I was tough, and I wasn't about to let us face any more abuse in this neighborhood. I accepted my aunt's unreasonable demand.

After this incident, my mother could no longer show her face in the neighborhood. Moving away was our best option. I used the money I'd earned from part-time jobs and what my mother had saved over the years to rent a place outside the neighborhood. It was just a one-bedroom apartment, but it was enough for the two of us.

"Mom, we can't keep living like this. We have to go find that bastard and demand justice!" This was the first time I'd ever suggested confronting Lucas Wilson. He had always been my mother's worst nightmare, so I'd never brought it up before. But now the time was right. We had to make him take responsibility for what he'd done.

"He won't acknowledge you. That beast probably doesn't even remember who I am. Why should we go looking for more trouble?" My mother had become very introverted after everything that had happened. She didn't have the courage to stand up for herself, so of course she rejected my suggestion.

"But he's the one who did wrong!" I stood up, agitated. "Why should we be the ones suffering? We're being punished for his actions. It's not fair! We need to get some kind of resolution – money, recognition, even just an apology. There has to be some kind of result!"

I had made up my mind. We couldn't keep being trapped in this whirlpool. If not for myself, then for my mother's sake, I had to make that bastard pay.