02
I resumed my previous job as a doctor, working at the clinic during the day and continuing my medical studies at night.
One day, as I was coming home from work as usual, I found a boy covered in blood in the grass by the roadside.
His arms, thighs, and half of his abdomen were bitten by wild dogs, and his internal organs were faintly visible. But miraculously, he was still alive.
Fortunately, I had a first aid kit with me.
I applied a bandage to stop the bleeding and quickly rushed him to the hospital.
I thought that with such severe injuries, he would hardly survive, but he surprisingly endured a seven–day fever and opened his eyes on the eighth day.
His clear eyes were deep and pure.
“Who are you?” he asked weakly, then muttered to himself, “Are you my mother… Then who am I?”
From that day on, there was a child named Leonardo Bright in my small house.
Leonardo survived the attack of wild dogs and had a stubborn nature like a little wolf cub.
He was an orphan of unknown origin, and I was a single mother who had just moved in, which inevitably drew gossip from the neighbors.
I
After experiencing the contempt of the Austin family, such rumors meant nothing to me, but Leonardo couldn’t tolerate them and always defended me.
One night when I was taking a bath, I heard a noise outside, followed by a scream.
I quickly put on a bathrobe and went out to see Leo holding a broom and beating a drunkard fiercely.
From then on, every time I took
door.
a bath, he would sit on a small stool outside the bathroom
“Mom, you’re not alone. I can protect you.”
Leo got up before dawn every day, filling the water tank with a small bucket trip after trip, brewing coffee and making breakfast, tidying up the room, and only waking me up when the sun rose for breakfast.
He fed the chickens and ducks with the leftover vegetables, strengthened the fence of the yard with a thin rope, and climbed onto the roof with tools to repair the leaks.
“You don’t have to do this. I’m the mother…”
“Because you are the mother,” Leo put the peeled egg on my plate and said matter–of–factly, “it’s only natural for a son to take care of his mother.”
I thought of my son and daughter far away in Santarisom.
Those two children were given to Vera Bright, Albert’s mother, to raise after they were bor… They would only come to greet me on my birthday every year, behaving politely but appearing so distant.
7 17:16 Sun, 23 Feb
so distant.
xa
I cut the egg in half and gave Leo one half.
“And it’s only natural for a mother to take care of her son.”
Seeing my smiling face, Leo lowered his head and finished the egg in a few bites. Not long after, I sent Leo to school.
There were many naughty children in the rural school, but Leo always sat upright and studied diligently.
The teacher, seeing his hard work, often kept him after class for extra tutoring and taugh him more knowledge.
That day, heavy snow prompted me to pick him up with an umbrella, fearing he might struggle to get home.
Reaching the classroom door, I heard the teacher ask him, “Why are you so diligent?”
Leo’s young but steady voice rang out. “I know I’m not related to my mother by blood, but s raised me alone with great care, treating me as her own child. If I don’t study hard and succee in giving my mother a good life, how can I repay her kindness?”
I watched the snowflakes fall, feeling the cold outside yet warmth in my heart.
Day after day, year after year, Leo graduated from the village primary school and entered key middle school in the county.
Because of his excellent academic performance and reputation, the school specially waive
his tuition fees.
Leo had two days off every week and could come home from the county.
“Mom, I was the top student in the monthly exam last week again. It’s been seven consecutive months. The principal said that university admission officers will come to select students for early admission to key universities in a few days, and I’m on the shortlist. He hopes you can come to the school to discuss it.”
Sun, 23 Feb
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This was good news.
So on the weekend, Leo and I went to the county together.
The school principal was very polite to me und kept praising Leo as outstanding, intelligent, and having a promising future. “The admissions officer who came this time has been picking students in our county for three consecutive years but hasn’t selected anyone. They not only value the students‘ academic performance but also the parents‘ qualities. For Leo’s future, Ms.
Bright, please be well–prepared.”
I nodded and followed the principal to the door of the meeting room.
At the door, the principal whispered, “Sir, Leonardo’s mother has arrived.”
The doors opened, and I straightened my clothes, walking in slowly. “Hello, I’m Irene Bright,
Leo’s mother.”
I was about to extend my hand when I suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath and the crisp sound of a cup hitting the ground.
this.
1 instinctively looked up and met a pair of familiar eyes, dazed, stunned, with endless silence.
Unexpectedly, I reunited with someone I hadn’t anticipated seeing again.
He looked thinner, and his face was gaunt, full of sorrow and exhaustion.
He approached me, jaw clenched, eyes bloodshot.
I lowered my head and stood respectfully, just as everyone did when facing him.
The way a nobody and a big shot should handle each other was like this, and it should be like
“Irene!”
Albert’s voice was low as if suppressing a torrent of anger and deep pain.
He looked very emotional, and I was surprised to see him lose control.
Albert and I were worlds apart.
The Austin Group, once on the brink of collapse, was rescued by my father, earning deep
gratitude from Paul Austin, who vowed to repay him, leaving an equity certificate.
But my father’s rescue of the Austin Group brought about retaliation from business rivals. On
his deathbed, he asked me to go north and seek the protection of the Austin family.
After going through countless hardships and narrowly escaping death, I finally arrived at the Austin Group’s building.
Paul, overwhelmed by guilt for my father’s death, believed marriage to the Austins would secure my comfort and compensate for my loss.
Therefore, Paul introduced me to Albert.
In the winter, I stood in the company’s lobby and saw a tall figure approaching from afar.
Amid the falling snow, he wore a black windbreaker, standing tall and with an outstandi
presence.
When I met Albert, he was already a business tycoon.
Facing such an extraordinary person, I felt admiration, which was natural.
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However, I knew I was not his match.
I politely declined Paul’s offer and suggested that he use generous compensation and an apartment in the city center as repayment. That would be
nough for me.
I studied medicine with my father since my youth, aspiring to a worry–free life, seeking little else.
My straightforward request made Vera, who was dissatisfied with this engagement, sneer and mock me as taking advantage of the situation. “I’m glad she has some self–awareness. How could such an elite from a prestigious family like the Austins marry a country girl like her? Besides, everyone in the business world knows that Albert and the Paisley family’s daughter have grown up together and love each other. They are going to get engaged and married as soon as Lindsey graduates. They are a perfect match, not something a bumpkin who can’t even tell high–end brands apart can interfere with.”
I never intended to interfere.
Paul pledged to arrange the compensation and apartment after Christmas upon realizing my decision.
On Christmas Day, the Austin Group’s building was brightly lit.
Vera hosted a dinner party and invited many celebrities and dignitaries to gather on the top–floor observation deck, with Lindsey Paisley at the forefront.
I held a glass of champagne, avoiding the crowd and enjoying the moon alone in a corner when suddenly I was pushed to the edge of the swimming pool by a force.
