Chapter 3

As she spoke, I forced a smile at her, telling myself that what I heard last night hadn't happened.

But what greeted me was still her almost degrading words.

"Mom, I've always considered you..."

"Don't call me Mom. I'm not privileged enough to be the mother of a high-society princess like you."

"They say no one can have it all. Look at you – such a good family background, but you lost your mother young, and then your dad died too."

"Have you ever considered that the wealth you have now is just a trade-off for your parents' deaths?"

Martha's next words made me burst into tears.

I had always considered her my mother, yet she was hurting me like this.

Just then, Ryan walked over, his face grim. He sat beside me and pulled me into his arms.

He whispered soothingly, "Evelyn, don't listen to her nonsense. To me, you're the most important person. No one compares to you. So what if we can't have kids? As long as I can be with you, I'll be content."

Ryan's words made my anxious heart finally begin to settle. At least someone cared about me.

Then, Ryan pulled a medical report from his pocket and pushed it towards Martha. "It's my problem, not Evelyn's. Don't make things difficult for her!"

Martha froze, her hand trembling as she picked up the report.

Ryan cupped my face and asked, "Evelyn, I can't have kids. Will you divorce me?"

I shook my head, crying as I did so.

Ryan continued, "We can adopt a child."

He said that as long as we could be together, no problem was truly a problem.

Then, ignoring my objections, he sent Martha away.

Later, I discovered the medical report was fake. Ryan then confessed the truth to me – he simply couldn't stand to see me wronged, so he fabricated it for Martha.

I was touched beyond words, feeling so lucky to have him.

Some time after that, Martha passed away.

When Ryan and I returned, he cried terribly.

The villagers said Martha died of a broken heart.

They didn't say it explicitly, but I knew my presence was part of her grief.

I kept vigil in the mourning hall, fainting several times from crying.

Finally, Martha's nephew, Julian Brooks, took me back home.

After returning, Ryan suggested we adopt a child, and I agreed.

Then, he brought home a five-year-old boy, naming him Leo Hayes, after my family name.

But Ryan and I were both very busy with work, so we couldn't care for Leo very well. That' s when Ryan's 'cousin,' Vanessa Reed, came from out of town.

Vanessa's personality was very similar to Martha's - always taking good care of people.

But no matter how busy I was, I always made sure to have Leo with me often.

I even had him sit in on company board meetings.

Leo was incredibly bright and talented at everything. I often said he was quite like Ryan, who was also a person of extraordinary talent.

As the company hit a bottleneck and urgently needed to expand into new ventures, Martha's nephew, Julian Brooks, joined me.

He was a talent agent with over a dozen aspiring stars. He told me a few of them had potential, and with some development, they could at least support an entertainment company's initial stages, even if they didn't become A-listers.

So, I got the board's approval to establish "Evelyn Hayes Entertainment" and began producing web series.

Web series were still exploding in popularity, with low barriers to entry, low costs, and minimal demands for acting or production quality.

Even the scripts could be simplistic, even absurdly over-the-top.

As long as they delivered intense satisfaction or heartbreaking drama, they would quickly generate revenue.

Seeing Leo's talent, I brought him to set with me.

His schooling didn't suffer; he had a private tutor following us.

This made Ryan a bit unhappy. He kept saying that a child's most important thing was still their studies.

Even Vanessa chimed in, saying children should focus on school.

I told them that my ability to grow the company to its current size proved my judgment was good, and I had my own ideas about Leo' s education.

After all, this house was still my house, so they didn't say anything more.

Leo didn't disappoint me. His small guest roles were astonishing.

I even created social media accounts for Leo, where he'd post daily updates, including photos of his tutor helping him with homework on set.

Leo never missed a chance to post about his perfect life online and the adoration for his mom.

Every video ended the same way, with him beaming at the camera, "I love your most, my most beautiful mom, Evelyn Hayes!"

I never held back on promoting Leo, taking him to various events, and posting about him daily on my own social media.