Chapter 3

Just as they were still going on and on, the restaurant manager walked over and handed me a microphone.

"Today is a birthday party and a celebration of their college acceptance. As their mother, please say a few words and share some parenting wisdom." I took the microphone.

"Thank you all for attending the college acceptance celebration for my sons, Gabriel and Eric. Today..."

"Today, my two sons got into Harvard. On such a wonderful day, what kind of celebration is it without their biological parents here..."

I was halfway through my speech when I was interrupted.

A man and a woman, holding hands, walked in. I looked up.

Even after eighteen years, I still recognized them:

One was Giovanni, supposedly dead for many years, and the other was Christine, Giovanni's first love.

The hall immediately erupted in gasps, followed by murmurs of discussion.

Ivan and Ruth, seated at the head table, didn't seem excited to see their son, supposedly returned from the dead; instead, they were unsettlingly calm. They even pulled Christine to their side and had her sit down.

Giovanni, who had been dead for 18 years, came over to me.

"Elliotte, you might not have been a great wife, but you were a damn good mother."

At this point, my two sons finally snapped out of their daze, watching the scene unfold.

"What's going on?"

Giovanni pointed at Christine. "She's your real mother. This woman is nothing but a barren old hen."

"If she hadn't threatened to die if I left her, our family wouldn't have been separated for eighteen years!"

Before I could say anything, Giovanni's family members started talking over each other to my two sons:

"That's right, Elliotte dragged her feet and refused to divorce Giovanni back then, which is why you were separated from your biological parents for eighteen years..."

"Don't let Elliotte fool you; she might have raised you well, but she's got a wicked heart."

"Now it's all good. You two are grown and got into Harvard, and our family can finally be reunited."

My sons were confused, standing there bewildered, unsure what to do. Christine pulled her sons' hands, crying softly, and then pulled out her phone:

"I'm your biological mother! I'd send you gifts every year. I even secretly watched you after school."

As she spoke, she turned to me. "Elliotte, thank you for raising my two sons so well."

Giovanni put his arm around her shoulders, and his eyes held a flicker of mockery as he looked at me.

"Come with me to file for divorce. It's been eighteen years. I'm going to marry Christine and give her what she deserves."

Everyone expected me to disagree, even to throw a fit. But facing the dozens of Giovanni's relatives gossiping and the onlookers' staring eyes, I just smiled faintly.

"Fine! I agree. We'll go get divorced tomorrow, so your family of four can be reunited."

My words stunned everyone in the hall. All eyes were on me, dumbfounded. Would I really just hand over the sons I'd painstakingly raised for 18 years?

Even Giovanni and Christine stared at me in disbelief. They thought I'd rant and rave, crying dramatically, but they never expected me to agree so readily.

Giovanni looked at me incredulously, asking, "What the hell is wrong with your head?"

Facing his accusation, I simply said, "What? Not happy about it?"

Christine immediately tugged Giovanni's arm. Giovanni understood. He quickly pulled out an agreement from his bag, afraid I'd change my mind.

"Then sign the divorce agreement. From now on, the two sons have nothing to do with you, and you are not to see them again." I didn't even read the agreement, simply signing my name at the bottom.

"Mom? Mom, you don't want us anymore?"

My sons looked at me sadly, not understanding why I'd signed so easily. Christine carefully put away the agreement.

"Elliotte, thank you for making us complete." "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to live it up so freely all this time."

Looking at my two sons, Christine grinned, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Alright, you're done here. You can leave now," Ivan said impatiently, waving his hand to dismiss me.

"Wait," I began. "Now that the agreement is signed, it's time for you all to know the truth."

"What do you mean?" Christine asked, confused.

I sighed in relief. I had waited eighteen years for this moment. It was time for it all to end.

Then I clapped my hands and spoke towards the main entrance:

"Come in."

A few seconds later, two figures appeared in the hall...