Foolish Devotion, Mere Illusion
But that night, Neo didn't come home. Instead, for the first time, I felt the baby kick.
In that split second, the desire to die vanished.
I took the most expensive car in the garage, drove to the edge of the property, and triggered the explosion remotely.
Bathed in the orange glow of the flames, I drove straight to the airport.
From that night on, the Mrs. GuAnnawho had become the laughingstock of New York's elite, ceased to exist.
Five years later, we met again in the lobby of a historic inn in a quiet riverside town.
He stared at me as I politely handed him a room key, his eyes losing focus.
"Anna? You look... different."
I didn't answer. I simply smileda practiced, hollow curve of the lipsand wished his family of three a pleasant stay.
1.
The key card hovered in the air between us. Neo didn't move to take it.
My wrist began to ache from holding the pose. I cleared my throat.
"Mr. Gu, your key."
"I'll take it, babe."
A gentle, melodic voice drifted from behind him, shattering the frozen tension.
It was his lawfully wedded wife, Mindy.
My gaze snagged on the massive diamondthe size of a pigeon's eggglittering on her ring finger before colliding with her beautiful eyes. The same eyes that had haunted my nightmares for years.
"Didn't I tell you to wait on the sofa? You never listen. You make me worry."
Neos reaction was instinctual. He took her purse, his arm circling her waist protectively. He placed the back of his hand against her forehead, his voice dripping with a tenderness I had never known.
"Good, the fever's down."
"You must be exhausted. Take our son upstairs to rest. I'll go out and buy you some hot soup."
Mindy leaned into his chest, her smile widening as she glanced at me. It was a look of pure assessment.
"Okay. I'll wait for you."
I averted my eyes as they embraced. At that moment, a delivery driver walked in, struggling with a heavy shipment of cat litter.
While I was checking the order on the tablet, Neo had already bent down and hoisted the box.
"I've got it. Where does it go?"
"Don't bother."
I reached out to take it, deliberately stepping back to create a chasm of distance between us.
I glanced at his bespoke Italian suit, now dusted with grime from the box. I turned to the register, pulled out two bills, and held them out.
"Dry cleaning fee. Take it."
"No, I offered to help."
Neo reached out to stop me. His fingertips grazed my wrist, and I recoiled as if burned.
His hand froze in mid-air. His voice dropped, thick with an emotion I couldn't place.
"Really, Anna. Keep it. I have to go."
He turned sharply, nearly colliding with Bella, my young employee, who was returning with a bag of roasted chestnuts.
Bella watched his retreating figure, eyes wide. She grabbed my arm, practically vibrating with excitement.
"Anna! Wasn't that Neo Gu? The tech mogul from New York? God, he's gorgeous in person!"
"I saw his interview in Forbes. Self-made billionaire, and every third sentence was about his late wife. Powerful and devoted? Thats a unicorn right there."
A few guests in the lobby chimed in, nodding eagerly.
"Right? I heard his ex-wife was insane. She supposedly attacked people with a knife. Belonged in jail, honestly."
"He was too soft-hearted. Gave her a massive settlement and only divorced her when he couldn't take the abuse anymore."
Hearing the slander again, after five years, I felt nothing. My heart was a stagnant pool of dead water.
Only the jagged scar on the web of my hand began to throb.
2.
I rubbed my thumb over the centipede-like scar between my thumb and forefinger. The memories flooded back, unbidden.
Neo wasn't always a titan of industry. Once, he was just the charity case at our prep school, bullied for his poverty.
I remembered a winter day, freezing cold. A group of rich heirs had cornered him in an alley. Blood streamed down his forehead, staining his threadbare uniform crimson.
I was the one who grabbed a piece of lumber and charged in to save him.
In the chaos, a broken bottle sliced my hand open. It tore down to the bone. Twelve stitches.
Neo had tried to sneak out of the emergency room. I chased him down, only to realize his pockets were empty. He didn't even have the money for the copay.
He had an alcoholic father and a mother struggling with severe mental illness.
From that day on, I became his shield.
He remained silent, brooding, but he would stay late after school to help me with advanced calculus.
The year we graduated, he got into an Ivy League university on a full academic ride, but he almost didn't go because he couldn't afford the room and board. I begged my father to sponsor him.
When he started his first company during senior year, the same rich bullies tried to crush him with lawsuits. My father intervened, brought Neo into our family business, and mentored him.
Neo had a terrifying gift for business. Complex data streams that gave others headaches made perfect sense to him at a glance.
I used to sit beside him, chin in my hand, watching his profile as he worked. My eyes were full of hero worship.
My father saw right through me. Even knowing Neo only felt gratitude towards me, he funded Neo's startup after graduation.
Within a year, Neo Gu was a name to be reckoned with in New York.
Later, when my mother fell ill and my father made risky investments to pay for experimental treatments, our family company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. It was Neo who stepped in and saved us.
My father used to say, "Neo is our benefactor now. The debts are paid. Let him live his life."
But Neo knelt before my father, his expression solemn, swearing an oath.
"Sir, I can never repay what you've done. Please, give Anna to me. I will take care of her for the rest of my life. She will never suffer, not for a second."
The old scar on my hand pulsed again.
I looked down at the ugly, raised skin and felt a bitter laugh bubble up in my throat.
Humans are so tragically naive. We mistake gratitude for love every single time.
After that, I didn't even need a formal title. I acted like Mrs. Gu. I spent time at his office, silently marking my territory.
Neo never objected. He even let me interview his personal assistants. "Just pick a sharp guy," hed said.
But the day of the interviews, my eyes landed on Mindys resume. It was average. Single, divorced, no kids.
But her eyes. They were identical to Neos late mothers eyes.
Neo's mother, in her lucid moments, had been the only light in his dark childhood.
So, I didn't ask questions. I hired Mindy.
When Neo saw her, he lost his composure. His eyes turned red.
That night, he held me, trembling, whispering thank you over and over.
I felt sorry for him. I invited Mindy to our home for dinner. I created opportunities for them to bond, thinking I was helping heal his childhood trauma.
I didn't know I was digging my own grave.
3.
The gossiping crowd dispersed. I shook off the memories and picked up a framed photo of my daughter, wiping a speck of dust from the glass.
Bella, munching on a chestnut, leaned over the counter.
"Anna, these remainders are still warm. Why don't you ever eat them? They're delicious."
My hand froze on the frame. The pain hit me like a physical blow.
My mother and I used to love roasted chestnuts.
Every winter, my father would bring home a paper bag of them, steaming hot. Mom would peel them, blow on them to cool them down, and feed them to me.
The year Mom was dying, in a moment of terminal lucidity, she whispered that she wanted chestnuts.
Dad drove out into a blizzard to buy them. Halfway back, the hospital called to say she was crashing.
In his panic, he sped up. He hydroplaned into an oncoming semi-truck. He died instantly.
The bag of chestnuts, still hot, was found scattered across the icy asphalt, stained with my fathers blood.
That snowy day, I lost both of my parents.
Bella listened to the silence, her eyes tearing up. She realized shed stepped on a landmine. She pushed the bag away, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Anna... I'm so sorry. Lily and I aren't going anywhere. We'll always be with you."
"Lily gets out of school soon. Maybe we can take a walk by the river tonight..."
She stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes locked onto the photo of my daughter, then widened in shock.
"Anna... Lily's father... the one who disappeared... is it...?"
I nodded once.
Bella wrestled with herself for a moment before asking, her voice trembling with righteous indignation.
"Then... the rumors... Anna, how much did you have to endure?"
I paused. A sudden sting in my nose threatened tears, but I blinked them away.
I smiled.
Actually, we had a few sweet years.
The day my parents died, Neo proposed to me.
He brought a lawyer to the funeral home and signed over all his shares in his company to me.
He knelt on one knee, swearing he would give me a new home, a new family. He begged me to stop crying because it was breaking his heart.
When I fainted from grief, he handled the double funeral arrangements himself.
We eloped. No wedding, just plain bands wed bought during college. I was content. I thought I was the luckiest woman alive.
I poured my soul into Neo.
I knew he was busy building an empire, so I asked for nothing.
If he worked late, I left a light on.
If he traveled, I packed his bags.
And for a while, he didn't disappoint.
New York was envious of how he doted on me. The billboards in Times Square, the front pages of society papershe used them all to declare his love.
"I love Anna" was his public mantra.
Just as I was finally healing from the loss of my parents, drowning in his affection, the news broke.
Billionaire Gu Caught in Affair.
The photos were clear. Neo and Mindy, embracing in the rooftop garden of a revolving restaurant. Kissing.
It was my birthday.
I had cooked a feast of his favorite dishes. I was wearing the dress he bought me. I waited all night.
Every time I called, he answered, voice tender: "I'm in a meeting, baby. Be good. I'll be home soon."
Mindy had even sent me a gift that daya jewelry set bought with her year-end bonus. The card read: Happy Birthday to my best friend.
That night, surrounded by cold food and "happiness," I thought I had everything.
I didn't know the two people I loved most were holding the knife behind my back.
4.
When I saw the news, I snapped. I got in my car and drove like a maniac, tears blurring the road. I almost crashed twice.
I didn't care. I just wanted answers.
I screeched to a halt in front of the restaurant just as Neo was opening the car door for Mindy like a gentleman.
I ripped my door open and sprinted toward them. Neo instinctively stepped in front of Mindy, shielding her. His eyes were cold, devoid of guilt.
"Anna, what the hell are you doing causing a scene here?"
Mindy peeked out from behind him, smiling sweetly.
"Hi, Anna."
Around her pale neck hung a ruby necklaceone I had admired for months but felt was too extravagant to buy.
Right next to the ruby, a dark hickey bloomed on her skin. It stung my eyes more than the gem.
I lunged at her, screaming. "I treated you like a sister! I gave you everything! Why?!"
Mindy started sobbing, shrinking into Neos arms, but her eyes danced with triumph.
Neo shoved me. Hard. Then he turned to check on Mindy, his voice soft, cooing at her tears.
I fell to the pavement, clutching my stomach as a sharp cramp seized me. I watched them hold each other, and my heart shattered.
Neo turned back to scold me, but then he froze.
Blood was pooling beneath my dress.
I miscarried.
Our first child, killed by his hand.
He took me to the hospital. He sat by my bed, looking just as devastated and loving as he used to. He apologized a thousand times.
"Anna, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I promise, I will never hurt you again."
I slapped him. I clawed at him. I screamed that he was a monster.
He took it all silently, eyes red. "Don't agitate yourself," he whispered. "Your health comes first."
But I wasn't done. I screamed that I would destroy Mindy.
That was when Neos face changed. He slapped me across the face.
His voice was ice. "Anna, if you touch a hair on her head, I will make you wish you were dead."
Seeing him protect the mistress ignited a hatred in me that burned hotter than love ever did.
After that day, he stopped visiting. He paraded Mindy around town openly.
My phone was flooded with photos of them in bed, sent by anonymous numbers, accompanied by vile insults.
I smashed everything in our penthouse. I burned our wedding album.
When my body healed, I called in every favor my father had left behind. I blacklisted Mindy from every industry in the city. I leaked the details of the affair to the press.
For a week, Mindy was a pariah.
Then Neo retaliated.
He locked me in a hotel room for months. He tied me to the bed. He forced himself on me, recording my screams and my breakdowns, careful to blur his own face.
He leaked the videos.
Overnight, the narrative flipped. Mindy was the victim of a crazy woman. I became the "deranged wife," the "slut," the joke of New York.
My friends abandoned me. My fathers old company, which had been hanging by a thread, lost its last investors because of my reputation. It went bankrupt.
The day my dignity was completely destroyed, Neo let me go.
I was hollowed out by hate. I took a knife and marched into his headquarters.
I managed to slash Mindys arm and graze Neos shoulder before security tackled me.
While I was pinned to the floor, screaming like a banshee, Neo sat at his desk and signed the papers to sell my fathers company for pennies on the dollar.
My fathers legacy, gone.
I begged him to stop. I invoked my fathers name, the man who saved him from the streets.
Neo looked down at me with pure contempt.
"Anna, that debt was paid the moment I kept the company afloat this long. You hurt Mindy. Now Im going to take my time destroying you."
That was the day I saw their son, Mason.
He was already walking. I realized then that their affair hadn't started recently. It started the moment I hired her.
My lack of a wedding, my cheap ringit wasn't thriftiness. It was Neo saving money for her.
Even the "I Love Anna" billboards? Mindy booked the ad space. It was all a smokescreen to protect their little family while I played the fool.
That night, I rigged the gas line. I wanted to end it all.
But then, the nausea hit. I took a test.
Pregnant again.
Hope is a dangerous thing. It cut through the darkness. I triggered the explosion to fake my death and vanished into the night.
Bella was sobbing into her sleeve. I wiped her tears and walked to the door to wait for the kindergarten bus.
Bella followed me, voice hoarse, cursing Neo to the high heavens.
I took my daughter's small hand as she hopped off the bus. I turned aroundand slammed straight into a familiar gaze.
Neo was standing there. The container of soup he had gone to buy slipped from his fingers and splattered on the floor.
His pupils constricted to pinpricks. He stared at Lily.
"That child... whose is it?"
5.
I pulled Lily behind me, shielding her with my body. My voice was steel.
"This is my daughter. She has nothing to do with you, Mr. Gu. Your wife and son are waiting upstairs. Don't keep them waiting."
Neo took a step forward.
Bella, bless her heart, lunged like a feral cat. She shoved him back with surprising strength.
"Are you deaf? She said get lost! We don't welcome trash in this B&B! Get your people and get out!"
She dragged him by his expensive sleeve toward the door. Neo stumbled, offering no resistance, but his head remained turned, his eyes locked on Lily with a burning intensity.
"Mommy, let's go," Lily tugged at my hand, oblivious to the undercurrents. "Uncle Ethan is waiting for us to eat pizza!"
Ethan. My landlord. The man who had silently stood guard over me for five years.
I looked over and saw him waiting by the entrance of the pizza place down the street. His eyes were warm, steadylike a harbor in a storm.
I relaxed. "Okay, sweetie. Let's go."
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