My Wife’s Secret Family Picked the Wrong Man to Humiliate

Everyone in my daughter’s parent group chat was frantically tagging me. “Lily’s dad, it’s her teacher’s twins’ birthday today. All her husband asked you to do was come set off a hundred celebratory fireworks. Was that really worth blowing us off?” I opened the photos in the chat. The venue was packed with parents who had come to celebrate. “Sorry. I have a $200 million contract to sign this afternoon. I’ll hire someone to handle the fireworks.” The chat immediately filled with sneering replies. “Keep pretending! You’d think he ran some huge business!” “If you can’t afford to come, just say so. A $200 million contract? Who would believe that?” Derek Hayes scoffed. “Afraid I’ll make you pay for the fireworks? What kind of man are you, you broke loser? Or are you scared to show up because you’re jealous I have a son and a daughter, while all you have is an adopted girl?” Then he deliberately showed off the photo pendant around his neck, displaying a picture of his family of four. I pulled out the matching pendant hanging around my own neck and froze in shock. The woman in both photos was Vanessa Reed. I stood rooted to the spot, my heart turning to ice. My wife, who had agreed to remain child-free with me for ten years, had secretly started a family with another man—and given birth to twins? The parents in the chat were still mocking me. “Now that we’ve exposed him, he’s got nothing to say! Look how happy Ms. Reed’s family is. Some people will never have that!” “Ms. Reed isn’t some ordinary teacher. She’s the Hawthorne Group’s heiress and future CEO. She’s only teaching to experience life among regular people.” “Derek isn’t just happy. He hit the jackpot! Every anniversary, Ms. Reed gives him and the kids expensive presents. Shopping malls, amusement parks, mansions, yachts, even their own stars. She’s been doing it for ten whole years!” No matter how I thought about it, it seemed impossible. There had to be some misunderstanding. Derek interrupted them, pretending to be kind. “Lily’s dad, just get over here. If you’re really that broke, I can spare you a few bucks. Consider it a good deed in honor of my twins’ birthday.” “All I have to do is whisper a few sweet words to my wife, and she’ll give me the money. That’s still better than pretending to be rich in your adopted daughter’s parent chat.” I frowned at the messages. When I looked up, my wife, Vanessa, walked into the room carrying her massage kit. She knelt in front of me with practiced ease and reached to take off my socks. “Honey, you didn’t sleep well last night. Is work wearing you out, or is something bothering you? I just learned a new pressure point for foot massages. Let me help you relax, okay?” I gave her a cold look and pulled away from her touch. “I have to go out soon. Some other time.” Vanessa gave an uneasy smile, then pulled up a video on her phone to show me. “Honey, the children’s home where I grew up is short-staffed. The director asked me to volunteer for a few days and help look after some of the new kids. You don’t mind, do you?” She took my hand and swung it gently, coaxing me the way she always did. I nodded. With my permission secured, she fluttered away like a butterfly. A volunteer mother at a children’s home? The Hawthorne Group’s heiress? Or my wife of ten years, who had promised to stay child-free? I no longer knew which version of her was real. This was the tenth year since Vanessa and I had met. Ever since I was kidnapped ten years ago and suffered kidney damage, she had devoted herself to caring for me. She was the one who suggested we never have children. Back then, she had sworn that as long as I recovered, she would gladly spend her whole life without a child. The doctor said my recovery would take years of careful care. Vanessa insisted on getting up at four thirty every morning to make me a different nourishing soup. She had kept it up for ten years. I closed my eyes, picturing the family photo Derek had shown me. All this time, in a world I knew nothing about, her life had been perfect. And I was nothing but a fool surrounded by counterfeit happiness. Unable to shake the anger churning inside me, I called my assistant. “Get my private aircraft ready. I’m going to that birthday party. Now.”Even from a distance, I could see flowers covering the sprawling estate. Colorful balloons lined the road. On a giant screen outside the mansion, videos played of the birthday twins growing up. The parents from the class chat handed over thick envelopes of cash and showered Derek with congratulations. “Derek, happy tenth birthday to your little ones!” “You’re really winning at life! Will the next party be to celebrate you and Ms. Reed taking over the Hawthorne Group?” “Guess we’ll have to start calling you Mr. CEO! You really knew what you were doing when you landed an heiress like Ms. Reed. Don’t forget us when you make it big!” Derek wore a custom Chanel suit, looking smug from head to toe. The homeroom teacher joined the chorus of flattery. “Derek, you’re the most capable parent in our class. I insisted on making you president of the parent committee, and you’ve really brought everyone together!” The other parents crowded around him, eager to outdo one another with praise. From the aircraft, I stared at the twins who looked so much like Vanessa, and memories flooded back. When I first met Vanessa, she was the youngest cleaner at our company. One day, while I was out shopping, a thief stole my wallet. Vanessa happened to be nearby and chased him for ten blocks before getting it back. Her willingness to help a stranger had touched me deeply. After that, whenever I saw the senior cleaners forcing her to scrub toilets, or overheard them plotting new ways to bully her, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. An eighteen-year-old girl should have had a whole future ahead of her. To thank her for recovering my wallet, I paid for her to continue her education. After she graduated, I arranged a teaching position for her at an international school. I never imagined that the life I had helped her build would become a weapon for someone else to humiliate me. Once the aircraft landed safely, I stepped out. The parents burst into mocking laughter when they saw me. “I thought some big shot had arrived. Turns out it’s Lily’s dad, our resident liar!” “Did you borrow that toy from an amusement park? Couldn’t afford to rent a luxury car, so you found some weird gimmick instead?” “Lily’s dad! Ms. Reed’s family is throwing a classy birthday party. Showing up in that toy aircraft makes the whole event look cheap! Have some shame!” “So what if someone called you a broke loser who can’t have kids and had to adopt? It’s the truth. You can’t crash their party just because you’re jealous of their happy family!” Their words made my blood boil. Derek stormed over, his face dark with anger. He grabbed the pendant around my neck and shouted, “You little bastard! How dare you lust after my wife!” He held on tight. “Why do you have my wife’s necklace? You’ve never shown up before, but today you come to my kids’ birthday party? Are you trying to break up my family?” “Don’t think I don’t know what you want from her! If you’re looking for a rich woman to leech off, take a good look in the mirror first!” “Vanessa gave that to me herself,” I said coldly. Derek ripped the chain off my neck. “She gave it to you? A photo together proves nothing! You probably edited it. The necklace she gave me is the real thing!” The other parents hurried over. “Could this be a misunderstanding?” Derek took off his own photo pendant. On the front was the picture of his family of four. Then he flipped it over for everyone to see. A collective gasp went through the crowd. On the back was a photo of Vanessa in a skimpy bikini, half-reclining against Derek. The parents watching immediately decided they understood the relationship between the three of us. And once again, they rushed to defend him. “Lily’s dad, you can be poor and still have some self-respect! You can’t destroy someone else’s family just to get ahead!” “Derek and Ms. Reed have been married for ten years. Their kids are ten! You still insist on forcing your way in? That’s disgusting!” Their support only worked Derek into a greater frenzy. He swung a fist at me and unleashed a stream of abuse. “So that’s why you act so important in the chat! You think my wife will back you up! I’m telling you, I won’t let you get away with this!” The homeroom teacher was closest to me. Instead of stopping him, she kicked me too. “To think we have a parent like you in our class! I’m reporting this to the school. Lily Brooks is out!” With the teacher leading the way, the others swarmed me, insulting and kicking me until thick drops of blood ran from my forehead.Still not satisfied, Derek slapped my face lightly. “Had enough? Learn your place. Otherwise, every time I see you, I’ll teach you another lesson!” I spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered. “You? Who the hell are you to teach me anything?” His eyes burned red. “You really don’t know when to quit! I’m Vanessa Reed’s rightful husband. Challenge me in public, and I’ll make you regret it!” He snatched a culinary torch from one of the outdoor chefs and charged toward my private aircraft. Flames scorched enormous, ugly words across its white body. “ETHAN AND LILY BROOKS: HOMEWRECKING TRASH!” I stared at him, my gaze icy, and raised my voice. “You’ve got some nerve. I hope you’re still this confident in a few minutes!” Derek backhanded me across the face. “You bastard! Since you love breaking up families so much, I’ll give you something to remember!” His face flushed with rage. He had lost all reason. He picked up a wooden club from the ground and swung it at me without hesitation. I cried out and collapsed. Then he grabbed the torch and ran into the aircraft’s cabin, setting fire to everything that would burn. The parents ignored me lying injured on the ground. They followed Derek and began tearing my aircraft apart. Watching black smoke billow from it, I said coldly, “I swear every one of you will pay for what you’ve done today.” Derek grabbed me by the collar and tried to force me to apologize. A desperate scream rang out nearby. “Stop! Let go of my dad!” Derek’s eyes lit up when he saw my daughter running toward us. “Your adopted kid’s pretty attached to you, huh?” I pulled her behind me. “Don’t you dare touch her.” Derek called his twins over and gave me a pointed look. “See? A woman has children with the man she loves. These two are the most precious gifts Vanessa ever gave me!” “For their birthday this year, she even bought them a set of jade pendants worth millions. What do you have? You and your adopted brat edited my wife into your photo and thought you could take our places? What a joke!” The twins, Mason and Mia Hayes, burst into shrill laughter. “Are you two that desperate for money? You want to steal our mom? She says she loves us more than anyone and will never leave us!” I stared at the jade I had bought at auction, now hanging around their necks. Those two faces looked so much like Vanessa’s, yet every word out of their mouths cut into me. Had ten years of love earned me nothing real from her? Did she love Derek so much that she was willing to break her promise to remain child-free, just to give him children? Seeing the devastation on my face, the people around us roared with laughter again. “A homewrecker showing up to humiliate himself in front of the real husband. Is he arrogant or just stupid?” “Look at what Ms. Reed spends on Derek and the kids. We all know who she really loves!” My daughter clung to me, tears streaming down her face. “Stop saying that! My dad isn’t a homewrecker!” Derek spotted her bracelet and seized her wrist. “Where did you get that jade bangle? Did you steal that from my wife too? Can lowlife trash like you survive without stealing? Take it off!” Mason and Mia immediately grabbed at her arm. I shook with rage and shouted, “I told you not to touch my daughter! And that bracelet is off-limits! Lay another finger on her, and I swear none of you will walk out of here!” Ten years ago, my mother and I had been kidnapped on our way home. The kidnappers tortured me to force my family to pay an enormous ransom. In the middle of the night, Mom managed to cut through her ropes and tried to get me out. I would never forget how that frail woman hid me in a nearby cave. To keep the kidnappers away from me, she led them in the opposite direction. Even as they tortured her to death, she kept pointing them farther away. Her blood stained that jade bracelet red. A baby abandoned in the nearby grass seemed to sense the grief and cried without stopping. My mother’s sacrifice bought enough time for rescuers to find me. That day, I lost the mother who loved me most. But I also found my daughter, Lily Brooks. I wiped the blood from the bracelet and gently slipped it over her tiny wrist. Both of us had been given a new life. They were treasures I would protect with my own life. I summoned every ounce of strength I had and rammed into Derek and his children, knocking them away from my daughter. Derek staggered. Then he turned in a fury, wrenched the bracelet off her wrist, and smashed it to pieces. My eyes widened, and I roared, “Derek Hayes, I’ll kill you!” Just then, a hundred Maybachs pulled up in formation outside the mansion. Hundreds of bodyguards in black suits lined up on either side as one person stepped out of a car…