With no way to restore my original records, I had no choice but to register temporarily under the Wilson family's address. And that decision came with consequences I never could have imagined.
Due to that registration switch, my family's farmland, which spans over eighty acres, was seized by the state.
Just like that, it was gone.
And my job? I lost that, too. Not having legal status meant I couldn't work. I was stuck, trapped in a marriage far from home with no options and nowhere to go, and forced into becoming a full-time housewife, shackled to my mother-in-law's daily insults and endless torment.
Years dragged by.
And when Nathan turned eighteen, he failed the college entrance exam and missed the cutoff by exactly fifteen points.
I remember the way Eleanor clutched his score report in her hand, her voice dripping with blame as she shoved the failure in my face.
"If your selfish mother hadn't refused to register you under her name, you wouldn't have to suffer through this awful repeat year, my poor grandson."
That was the moment everything snapped. How dare she blame me when it was she who had refused to let my son be registered under me in the first place?
Right then, all the bottled-up resentment, disappointment, and bitterness finally erupted.
My son, my own flesh and blood, grabbed a fruit knife and lunged at me.
The blade glinted, a flash of silver coming straight for my face.
I barely had time to scream. "No—!"
"Patient is regaining consciousness. The newborn's vitals are stable. Surgery complete."
The anesthesiologist's voice floated near my ear, pulling me back into the light.
My eyes flew open in a panic, my heart pounding as I scanned the room, desperately searching for my newborn son.
"Bring the newborn out so the family can see," I heard one of the nurses say. "Seriously, doesn't that old woman ever get tired? She's been yelling for two straight hours."
I saw her turn toward the door, cradling my baby in her arms.
A surge of adrenaline shot through me, cutting right through the haze.
I cried out, forcing my voice past the rawness in my throat. "No! Please don't take him out. Please, I beg you!"
The staff froze mid-step. Their expressions shifted instantly, their eyes flicking toward each other, unsure and a little suspicious.