2.
Avalon’s POV
As Radnor climbed into the car and drove off without looking back, I casually tossed the so-called “gift” he’d left behind—that hand-me-down dress from Sharice—straight into the trash bin.
Then, I made two phone calls.
“Do you have time next week? Come with Mom to an engagement party.”
The twins agreed without hesitation. My heart softened with warmth. Zion and Zeniah were smart, thoughtful, and driven—so filial to me. Ever since I adopted them, my life had been full and content.
A few days later, as promised, I attended the grand engagement party.
The moment I stepped into the lavish lobby of the five-star hotel, I spotted the Ralston twins—Radnor and Shawna—alongside their father’s beloved woman: my ex-best friend Sharice.
She was now over sixty, yet still wore her blonde hair elegantly styled. Dressed in a champagne-colored evening gown with a silk shawl draped gracefully over her shoulders, she stood at the entrance, beaming warmly as she welcomed the guests.
When she saw me, her lips curled into a smug smile as she walked over.
“Avalon, after all these years, you finally decided to come see Rufus and the children again,” she said sweetly, linking her arm with mine. Then she deliberately raised her voice, just enough to catch the attention of those nearby. “I heard from Radnor that you’re working as a maid in someone else’s home? Oh dear. If you ever need money, you could’ve just come to us.”
All at once, curious guests turned their heads to look. Their gazes were layered with mockery and thinly veiled disdain.
Rufus had always kept up appearances and never publicly admitted that Radnor and Shawna were actually Sharice’s children. To those attending the event, I was nothing more than a woman who had once kidnapped her own son and, for years, completely neglected the children.
I knew Sharice was trying to humiliate me, so I kept my mouth shut.
Just then, Radnor, who had been standing nearby, noticed I wasn’t wearing the used dress he’d given me. His face darkened in displeasure. He strode over to Sharice and theatrically pulled out a pearl necklace.
“Mom, I picked this out for you during my business trip. Look—aren’t the pearls beautiful?”
Sharice looked delighted. “Oh, honey, you’re so thoughtful! This necklace is gorgeous. It must’ve cost a fortune?”
With a showy smile, she turned and let Radnor clasp it around her neck, deliberately showing off in front of me. Her smugness practically overflowed from her eyes.
“Well, the family company is doing well. You’ve sacrificed so much for us all these years. Now it’s my turn to repay you,” Radnor replied dutifully.
Watching this picture of motherly love and filial devotion unfold before me, I gave a cold, silent smile. He certainly was a devoted son—just not to me.
Suddenly, a voice called out from the entrance, “Avalon, how have you been these years? You’ve lost so much weight.”
It was an elderly man in his late eighties—Bowden, Rufus’s father, my former father-in-law.
His eyes held a flicker of guilt as he looked at me. And he should feel guilty. When I met Rufus, their family business was on the verge of collapse.
It was me who poured every last cent of my savings into rescuing the Raltrex Prime.
It was me who endured humiliation and sat through endless drinking sessions with clients—until my stomach bled and I was hospitalized—just to secure the deal that saved their business.
Once the company stabilized, I quietly withdrew from the spotlight and took on the role of the dutiful housewife, managing everything behind the scenes.
But what did all that sacrifice amount to?
They lived comfortably off my labor and money—money that was used to send Sharice to study at an Ivy League school.
Sharice, poised and cultured, looked every bit the refined lady of the house. And me? I was just a rough, unfashionable woman who wasn’t presentable enough.
Even when Rufus attended social functions, he always brought her along.
The truth was, I was the one who helped resurrect the Raltrex Prime, the one who raised the children, the one who gave everything.
And yet I didn’t know: on the night of our wedding, my husband had already crawled into my best friend’s bed.
The day the affair was exposed, even Bowden—who had always treated me the kindest—stood on her side.
“Avalon,” he said, his voice full of shallow justification, “Sharice is the mother of the children. She’s family. She’s educated, gracious—she’d make a wonderful matriarch for the Ralstons.”
Radnor stood there, sizing me up with cold detachment.
“Exactly, Mom. In families like ours, appearances are everything.”
Shawna nodded in agreement. “Besides, you’re not our real mom anyway. Dad supported you for twenty years. What more do you want?”
It was only then that I realized, ‘The whole family has known about Rufus and Sharice for years. I’m the only one kept in the dark.’
Rufus didn’t bother pretending anymore. He draped his arm around Sharice’s waist with intimate ease.
“Sharice has worked so hard to earn a name for herself in the entertainment industry,” he said. “You can’t ruin her future just because you’re selfish, right?”
The way the two of them leaned into each other, so cozy and blatant, made my eyes burn with unshed tears.
Bowden looked away, his tone evasive. “Just let Sharice take your place as Rufus’s wife.”
Each word, each phrase, struck like a knife straight to the heart.
In the end, without a legal proof of marriage to protect me, I was cast out of that home with nothing to my name.
