My Adopted Son Harms My Whole Family

I, Katrina Walker, had been given a second chance at life.

In my previous existence, I married into the Louis family and became the widow of the late Adam Louis. I held the crumbling Louis family together as a devoted daughter-in-law, raised my stepson, and used the resources and influence of my own family, the Walkers, to help my adopted son rise to a prominent position.

But it turned out it was all a grand deception—I was just a stepping stone for my stepson, George Louis.

Now, my resurrected husband has reappeared, flaunting his mistress and stripping me of my power while threatening my life and targeting the Walkers.

With my new lease on life, I was watching the Louis family with a steely gaze. No more playing the charity case. I was eager to see how that trio continued their charade of carefree living.

I died the day George became a high-ranking official.

I could have dragged out my illness until spring, but George couldn’t wait. Blood spilled from my mouth and stained the putrid bed.

In my pain, I gasped, “Why?”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. George was the child I raised, thanks to my family's help. How could he be so ungrateful?

“If it weren’t for me if it weren’t for the Walkers, you’d be nothing but a beggar I picked up from the streets!” I shouted in rage, trying to push myself off the bed.

“Are you really that clueless?” George sneered. “This was all orchestrated by my great-grandmother. I’m a blood relative of the Louis family. Look behind me—”

I recognized my husband Adam, who should have been dead for fifteen years, now holding the hand of a delicate woman. Adam’s face was one of contempt, while the woman beside him gave a weak curtsy. “Finally, I have the chance to meet you. Thank you for raising our child.”

Fury made me cough up blood as I yelled, “Adam, I’ve been a widow for twenty years for you, and yet you’ve been enjoying life with your mistress and sent your illegitimate child for me to raise. You deceitful scoundrels—you don’t deserve…”

Before I could finish, Adam kicked me in the chest.

Adam looked down at me coldly, “Five years ago, I didn’t even fight in that battle. The emperor has decreed the exile of the entire Walker family. It’s time for you to go!”

As I bled and raged, I shouted, “Adam, may you suffer a terrible death. You’ve ruined me and my family. I’ll haunt you even in death!”

*****

Soon, the fire consumed the courtyard, and my voice was swallowed by the flames.

A sudden thud jolted me back from the brink of death.

It seemed fate had given me another chance—I didn’t die. Not only did I survive, but I had also been sent back fifteen years into the past. This year marked the fifth year since I married into the Louis family.

“Oh my gosh, that poor child!” came the concerned voice of a servant from outside the carriage.

The coachman leaned in and reported, “Mrs. Louis, a little beggar, about five years old, just ran in front of the carriage and collapsed.”

It was exactly as I remembered from my past life, down to the very words the coachman used.

That child outside the carriage was George.

That frail and pitiful little beggar was actually Adam’s son with his mistress.

No wonder Adam’s mother had insisted on adopting this beggar into my household, forcing me to raise him as if he were a legitimate heir.

Judging by George’s age, Adam must have gotten his mistress pregnant even before I married into the Louis family.

The whole Louis family had tricked me into this marriage!

“Take him to the clinic and make sure he’s well cared for,” I said, barely glancing at the child before turning away.

This time, I wanted to see how Joyce and Adam would handle things without me bringing him back to the Louis Residence for treatment.

When we returned to the Louis family estate, I didn’t follow my usual routine of visiting Joyce at Elderwood Manor. Instead, I went straight to my own quarters and instructed Cindy to lock up the storeroom and change the locks.

For years, I’d been the one managing the Louis family, keeping the household together, and using my own savings to rebuild the family from the brink of ruin. I’d even unknowingly funded Adam and his mistress.

All that money was hard-earned by my brother, who risked his life in business. From now on, I’m not giving them another penny.

In those final years, I suffered so much—stripped of my power, abandoned by everyone I loved, and left to die alone in bed.

But now, I’m back.

At Elderwood Manor, Joyce greeted me with a sweet smile, holding a Bible as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. “I heard that on your way back to the Louis Residence, your carriage ran into a child. People are already talking, saying the Louis family hit someone and just left them there. To protect our reputation, I had Wendy bring the child back here for treatment.”

Right on cue, Wendy walked in with the child, now cleaned up and looking much better.

I cast a cold glance at the boy.

He looked so much like Adam—delicate features, healthy complexion.

Clearly, Adam had been living quite comfortably on my money.

I turned to Joyce. “I had already arranged for Cindy to take him to the clinic and even gave him some compensation. But you brought him back here without thinking that if his parents couldn’t find him and accused the Louis family of kidnapping, how would we deal with that?”

Joyce’s face went pale. “I asked him earlier—he has no parents, which is why I brought him back to the Louis Residence.”

“Really? No parents?” I raised an eyebrow and looked at the child.

The boy met my gaze and nervously shrank back.

“Speak up. Do you have any family left?”

The child, clearly scared, stammered, “I… I came here with my parents to find relatives, but they died on the way. I’ve been begging ever since.”

I frowned, pretending to be sympathetic. “Poor thing. He seems fortunate to have been found by Mrs. Joyce Louis. He can stay at the Louis Residence and do some light work. That way, he won’t have to sleep on the streets anymore.”

Work!!!

Joyce almost lost her composure.

She had gone through all this trouble to bring the child back to the Louis Residence so he could live a comfortable life, not to make him a servant.

No way! Joyce nearly bit through her lip in frustration, but she didn’t dare show it.

Joyce kept her smile, gazing at the child with a warm expression. “This boy looks so much like Adam did when he was young. You've been a widow for five years now, and the Louis family owes you. I think this child is meant for you. Why don’t you take him in, raise him as your own, and let him call you ‘Mother’? He could be your son.”

I thought to myself, of course, he looks like Adam—he’s the son Adam had with his mistress.

I didn’t hesitate to refuse. “I can’t make such a big decision on my own. The Louis family has plenty of potential heirs. Adam’s uncle’s children will take over the family business when they’re old enough. If I adopt this boy, will he inherit the title, or will it go to a legitimate Louis heir?”

“What if people start thinking this boy is Adam’s illegitimate child, raised outside the family?”

Joyce almost dropped her coffee cup, her face showing a mix of panic and discomfort. Realizing she was losing ground, she quickly changed the subject. “Katrina, I heard you had the locks changed in your quarters?”

“Yes, I’ve used a lot of my own savings over the years to keep up the Louis family’s lifestyle. I can’t keep relying on my family for support. If people found out, it would ruin the Louis family’s century-old reputation.”

Joyce’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

She had always known that the lavish spending of the Louis family was funded by my wealth from the Walker family, but no one had openly acknowledged it—until now.

With this revelation, the pretense was over.

“Our Louis family has always stood proud. We would never tarnish our ancestors' honor for the sake of a few coins. I’ll sort out the accounts and repay the money we borrowed from my family. That way, no one can say the Louis family is living off a widow’s savings,” I said with a calm demeanor.

Joyce looked like she was choking on her words.

I had articulated my point so well that she was momentarily speechless.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll return to my quarters to handle the accounts,” I added.

Not long after I got back, Joyce hurriedly left.

I switched to a nondescript carriage and followed her. The carriage stopped in front of an unremarkable house on Peach Blossom Lane.

Wendy knocked on the door, and it wasn’t long before the owner answered.

As expected.

I observed calmly as Adam and the woman by his side came into view.

So, they couldn’t manage to put the child under my name this time. They must be planning something else.

I peered through the slightly open curtain at the house, now closed. The property was registered under Joyce’s name.

Joyce had clearly set this up. Adam would pretend to have memory loss as an excuse for his desertion, and Victoria would play the hero who saved him from the battlefield.

As long as I, Katrina, am here, I won’t let them get away with it so easily.

I gently lowered the curtain and told the coachman to drive away.

As we passed a restaurant, I turned to Cindy and said, “Get some money and find a storyteller. Have him tell a tale to the people in this city.”

The next morning, Wendy came back from the restaurant with breakfast, looking troubled.

She couldn’t keep it from Joyce and recounted what the storyteller had said.

“Mrs. Katrina married Mr. Adam, who threw himself into the battlefield. Despite this, the noblewoman kept her vows, holding onto Mr. Adam’s memorial tablet and staying a widow for five years. One day, Mrs. Katrina accidentally hit a beggar with her carriage. Seeing his pitiful state, she took him back to the Louis Residence to care for him.”

“Mrs. Joyce Louis saw the boy and thought he resembled her late grandson. Believing it was fate, she decided he should be raised by her daughter-in-law. Mrs. Katrina took a liking to him and named him George.”

“Mrs. Katrina had high hopes for George and brought in a famous tutor from her family to educate him.”

“Years passed, and George lived up to expectations, becoming a top scholar and earning the favor of the new prince. He quickly rose to a high-ranking position.”

“While Mrs. Katrina should have been enjoying her life, she fell ill and was bedridden for three years. All her loyal servants died, leaving her alone. It turned out she had spent all her savings raising an ungrateful child!”

“George poisoned her with a slow-acting toxin, making her illness seem like a regular sickness.”

“By the time Mrs. Katrina was bedridden, George showed up with his parents in front of her!”

“Guess who his parents were? They were Mrs. Katrina’s deceased husband and his mistress!”

“George was the child of her resurrected husband and his mistress. The Louis family kept this secret from the Walker family, and Mrs. Joyce secretly used Walker family funds to support the mistress and her former husband, living a carefree life abroad.”

“After Mrs. Katrina’s death, Mr. Adam claimed he was severely injured in battle, lost his memory, and only recently remembered who he was, returning to handle the Walker family’s mourning.”

“And the mistress smoothly became the new lady of the Louis family!”

Joyce slammed her hand on the table in frustration. “How dare that storyteller spin such a tale!”