Chapter 1
Chapter 1 – A Birthday Night and a Tragedy
Lively music echoed beneath the dazzling lights strung across the grand living room of the Liang family’s mansion. Lucas Liang’s 23rd birthday party was like a miniature ball: golden lights glimmered warmly, laughter rang out, and the faint aroma of wine lingered in the air.
Miller Ethan sat quietly in a corner, a glass of juice in hand, his cold gaze sweeping over the fashionable crowd. Despite his tailored black suit and strikingly handsome face, he exuded an aura of distance and unapproachability.
Lucas ran over, patted him on the shoulder, and grinned. “Hey, Ethan! It’s my 23rd birthday today—why are you standing here like a statue? Come out and dance, those hot girls are watching you!”
Ethan curved his lips slightly in a stiff smile. “I’m not interested. Go ahead and have fun, I’ll just stay here.”
Lucas shook his head in exasperation. “Always as cold as ice. No wonder the girls like you but don’t dare approach. At least smile tonight—for my sake.”
Just as Ethan let out a faint chuckle, his phone buzzed. Seeing his mother’s number on the screen, he immediately picked up. A woman’s voice spoke urgently on the other end: “Miller Ethan, your mother suddenly collapsed after eating chocolate. She started convulsing and coughing hoarsely—we helped her up and called an ambulance right away. You must come immediately!”
His heart clenched. The glass slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor—the sound of breaking crystal tearing through the festive atmosphere.
At a luxurious café across town, Linda Tran—Ethan’s foster mother—was laughing and chatting with her close friends. The air buzzed with excitement, glasses of wine clinking merrily. In the midst of the joy, she proudly pulled out a box of chocolates—a gift from Vivian Lam. “My future daughter-in-law gave this to me!” she declared cheerfully.
Without a second thought, she popped a piece into her mouth. But the moment she chewed, something felt terribly wrong. The filling was peanuts—the very thing she was severely allergic to.
Her hand trembled, her eyes widened, her face turned pale. A suffocating sensation overwhelmed her. “Linda! What’s happening?!” someone cried in alarm.
She struggled to swallow, her body convulsed, a hoarse cough broke out—and then she collapsed. Agonizing pain wracked her body as cold sweat poured down. Chaos erupted, voices screamed for help, and the shrill sound of someone dialing emergency services cut through the café.
The road home felt endless. Ethan’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, palms drenched in sweat. Memories flooded back—his gentle mother’s embrace the day she found him, a forsaken child abandoned on a lonely road. She wasn’t his birth mother, but to him, she was his only mother, the one who had sheltered and raised him all these years.
“Please, Mom… don’t leave me… I beg you…” His whisper was hoarse, his eyes burning.
When his car screeched to a halt at the gate, the flashing ambulance lights pierced the night. His heart plummeted. He rushed inside—only to freeze at the sight before him. Doctors were shaking their heads, and a white sheet already covered the face of the woman he loved most.
A nurse said softly, “I’m sorry. We tried everything. But her allergic reaction was too severe. By the time she was brought in, it was already too late.”
“No… no, this can’t be!” Ethan roared, collapsing to his knees. Tears streamed as he tremblingly lifted the sheet, revealing his mother’s now lifeless face. “Mom…”
His heart shattered into pieces.
The funeral was veiled in heavy incense smoke. Ethan knelt silently before her portrait, his shoulders trembling. Years ago, an accident had taken his father, and now his mother had followed. In that moment, he truly realized—he was an orphan, utterly alone in the world.
His face grew gaunt, his eyes bloodshot and hollow, as if all tears had been drained. Deep inside, he knew what had killed her—peanut-filled chocolate. Everyone knew Linda Tran’s severe allergy, and yet, the fateful box of chocolates had come from his girlfriend—Vivian Lam.
The night after the funeral, Ethan’s apartment was swallowed in silence and darkness. He sat at the dining table, simple dishes laid out, but his throat was too tight to swallow. It was his first meal in a world where he no longer had a mother to return to.
The phone buzzed, breaking the stillness. He picked it up, opened a folder of photos—and froze.
Vivian Lam… with Tony Liu. They were kissing, intimate as though flaunting their love. The next photo showed her lying on a bed, her neck marked with hickeys, her expression one of cruel satisfaction.
Ethan’s heart, already bleeding from his mother’s death, was shredded into dust. The phone slipped from his hand and hit the table with a hollow thud.
From that night on, something inside him died. To him, Vivian was no longer his lover—not even someone worthy of existing in his life.
The next morning, as Ethan returned to his mother’s house, he noticed a familiar figure at the gate. Vivian Lam stood there, her face pale, her eyes swollen as if she had cried all night.
She had barely slept. When she woke up that morning, she had been horrified to find her bed littered with photographs—the same vile pictures Ethan had received. Her hands trembled as she picked them up, her breathing ragged. “What… what is this?!” she stammered.
Behind her, a low voice answered. “A gift from me. And also for Miller Ethan.”
Vivian spun around to see Tony Liu, his smile sinister. “You… you already sent them to him?!”
He stepped closer, his gaze burning with possessiveness. “Yes. From now on, don’t even think of being with him. You can only belong to me.”
Smack! A sharp slap rang out. Vivian’s tears spilled as she struck him furiously. “You’re insane! A twisted monster! I will never forgive you!”
Without waiting for his reaction, she fled, hailing a taxi straight to Linda Tran’s house. Her heart carried only one thought—she had to see Ethan, explain everything, clear her name.
But when she arrived, the house was shrouded in grief. Linda Tran had passed, the funeral was over, and Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
Vivian stood in despair before the gate, her heart in turmoil. She thought, today was the day his mother was laid to rest—surely he would return. And so, she waited through the cold night, shivering as the wind cut her skin.
The next morning, when Ethan finally returned, her weary figure stumbled forward. Her pale face, red-rimmed eyes—she had clearly cried all night. “Ethan, I didn’t…” she choked, reaching desperately to grab his sleeve.
But his heart had already turned to stone. The grief of losing his mother and the knife-like betrayal of those photographs carved him hollow. He coldly brushed her hand aside, his voice hoarse but merciless: “From this moment on… we’re finished.”
Vivian sobbed, panicked, blocking the doorway as he tried to go inside. Her fragile hands clung to him, as though letting go would mean the world collapsing. “Please, just listen to me once!”
Their eyes met—hers pleading in despair, his burning with fury and grief. For a fleeting moment, his heart wavered. But reason crushed it. He shoved her away, slammed the door shut, and ended it all.
Inside, the house fell into silence. Ethan entered his mother’s room, where her gentle fragrance still lingered. On the desk, a family photo stood neatly—a portrait of the three of them, and another of Linda smiling amid a snowy backdrop.
His trembling hands lifted the frame, tears sliding silently down his face. Pain, hatred, and despair weighed upon his already broken soul.
The door’s slam had drawn an unbreakable boundary between him and Vivian Lam. And all that remained… was silence.
