You’ll Stay With Me, Won’t You?Chapter 3

To my relief, Henry wasn't home.

The driver explained he'd gone abroad for a business deal that morning and wouldn't be back until next week.

My phone was accidentally smashed in the fire. After swapping the SIM card into a new phone, a torrent of messages flooded in the moment I powered it on.

The screen even lagged for a second.

I was startled.

A carrier message showed my phone account had been topped up with a huge sum.

Most of the missed calls and unread messages were from the same familiar number.

I bit my lip and opened them.

Scrolling from top to bottom.

"Arden Chen, you slept with me and then ran off?"

"I'm not angry, come out, stop hiding."

This timeline would have been the months after my family, the Chen family, dragged me back and kept me locked in the attic, forcing me to secretly give birth to the child.

My phone was confiscated then, and I was cut off from everyone.

"...They said you died, I didn't believe it."

"The Chen family traded the child for those plots of land on the east side of the city. I gave them what they wanted."

"How much do I have to give for you to reappear?"

"The child looks a lot like you."

"Today someone impersonated you to scam Alan out of two hundred dollars."

"Idiot, if you don't show up soon, your son will be scammed."

...

The last message was from two years ago.

"If you see this, call me."

After that, silence.

I thought, perhaps this was when Scarlett successfully "redeemed" Henry.

So Henry finally gave up on messaging me.

I lowered my gaze, a dull ache in my chest, almost suffocating, though I couldn't pinpoint why.

I actually saw it.

Standing on the street, waiting for Alan to arrive, I saw the advertisement on the giant screen at the mall.

I stared up blankly then, seeing Scarlett endorsing a brand under Darcy Enterprises.

Tears inexplicably fell.

No matter how much I wiped, they wouldn't stop.

It turned out that no one truly couldn't live without another.

Now they were happy; my appearance would only be a disruption.

Just then, as I was about to leave, Alan happened to appear before me.

And by some twist of fate, I ended up in the car, back at the Darcy house.

I checked my card balance. I didn't know if the Chen family simply didn't care for my meager savings or truly didn't care about me.

After my "death" six years ago, they hadn't even closed my account.

With the reassuring balance in my pocket, I planned to transfer money for the phone and clothes to the Darcy family's housekeeper to pass on.

Then I would leave.

...Since everyone was happy, there was no need to disturb them anymore.

As I pushed open the door.

Alan, standing outside the door, instinctively stepped back, startled by me.

He raised his chin, asking in a childish voice, feigning nonchalance:

"Where are you going?"

I had already downloaded a translation app in the room, typed out my message, and played it aloud.

"Thank you, I'm leaving now."

Time is a truly wondrous thing.

An infant who was wailing in my arms just a few hours ago could now skip and jump around.

His eyes widened slightly, then suddenly reddened. He clutched my hand, panicked and frantic, shouting:

"No! You still owe me money, you can't leave!"

All his previous forced coolness was gone.

I knelt down, meeting his gaze.

Very carefully, very gently, I stroked his soft black hair.

I had seen that future.

In that future, everyone was happy.

Alan had a perfect mother, growing up safe and joyful.

He wouldn't have a manipulative maternal grandfather, nor a mute, unlikable mother.

I pressed play, and the calm, robotic voice echoed in the hallway.

"I'll transfer the money for the phone to you."

Alan stared at me, stubbornly clutching my hand, refusing to let go, crying uncontrollably, shaking his head and saying:

"Not that."

"You messaged me, asking me to transfer two hundred dollars."

"I secretly ran off after school that day, and waited for you on the bridge for a long time."

"You lied to me, you didn't come."

His somewhat jumbled words still reminded me of Henry's text message, mentioning someone impersonating me to scam Alan out of two hundred dollars.

My eyes felt a little sore. I wiped away the tears from Alan's soft cheeks with my hand.

It wouldn't be good if Scarlett came back and saw this.

She was Alan's beloved new mom; I absolutely didn't want any friction between them because of me.

Perhaps later she and Henry would have their own children, and she would have her own favorites, but the first one would always be special.

I didn't want her to see Alan with annoyance or disgust because of me in the future.

I wanted to leave before Scarlett returned.

As I turned around, Alan sprang forward and wrapped his arms around one of my legs.

I swallowed the bitterness in my heart, looking down helplessly at Alan, who was clinging to me, but then heard a rustling sound ahead.

I looked up, instinctively.

And met a pair of dark eyes.

In the long corridor, someone stood, travel-worn, at the end of the stairs, his trench coat soaked from the heavy rain, his voice hoarse.

Henry said:

"...Arden Chen."

"How can you bully a child?"