Daddy, Gone Viral

The A-list actor Aaron Brown was going to be my son’s “Dad for a Day.”
The entire internet was holding its breath for him.
But when the live camera finally landed on my son, the chat exploded.
【Be honest, Aaron. Did you make a donation to a sperm bank a few years back?】
【OMG, what an adorable little marshmallow! He’s literally a miniature Aaron Brown.】
Thanks to his cute face and impossibly calm demeanor, my son and the movie star became the internet’s new favorite duo.
I was in the middle of haggling with the production team over my son’s appearance fee when he suddenly toddled over to me—just another staff member in the crowd—wrapped his arms around my legs, and chirped in his sweet, milky voice:
“Mama!”
Across the room, Aaron Brown, the man I’d ghosted three years ago, looked like he’d been struck by lightning.

1
Backstage, the production team was scrambling.
It was the first day of the reboot for the reality show Dad for a Day, and for the first time ever, it was being broadcast live. But the child star they had booked was a no-show, and the program was minutes away from a disastrous dead-air debut.
After hearing the automated message, “The number you have dialed is currently unavailable,” for the hundredth time, the director slammed his script on the floor in a fit of rage.
The impact was so forceful it sent the tower of building blocks my son, Finn, had just finished constructing, tumbling to the ground.
The clatter of plastic drew everyone’s attention. Based on years of experience with child-centric reality shows, they all braced for the inevitable—a high-pitched, ear-splitting scream from a toddler in his sensitive phase for order, turning the already chaotic backstage into a living nightmare.
But Finn just blinked his big, curious eyes, stunned for a single second.
Then, he picked up the fallen script from the floor, wobbled over to the director, handed it back to him, and calmly returned to his blocks to start rebuilding his castle.
No tears. No tantrums. Just pure, unadulterated chill.
The director looked as if he’d found his savior. He dropped to his knees in front of me, where I was busy applying foundation to an actress.
“Leah, I’m begging you! You have to help us out!”
To reassure me, he promised, “The camera angles and the tasks will be super kid-friendly, I swear. No malicious editing, no online hate mobs. We’ll protect him.”
That wasn’t what I was worried about.
Finn’s emotional stability rivaled that of a capybara. Even if the producers had the guts to try and stir up drama, they wouldn’t be able to get a single negative clip of him. As for his looks, I was even less concerned. I occasionally posted photos of him online, and the comments were always a flood of excitement:
【OP, just ask me the question! You know the one!】
【YES! Your kid can absolutely be a child model!】
…
What I was worried about was running into a certain someone who was also scheduled to be on this show.

2
I never thought Aaron Brown would accept an offer from our network.
Traditional media had been on the decline for years, and Dad for a Day was the only show our station had that was still worth anything. But last year, the director had gotten a taste for controversy. The show became a cycle of malicious editing and deliberately casting difficult children to create viral clips of celebrities having meltdowns.
The backlash was so severe that the show was temporarily canceled.
Aaron had just won a prestigious acting award for his latest film. He was the hottest star in the industry. The production team had sent him an offer as a long shot, never dreaming he would actually say yes.
After endless pleading from the director, I finally relented and agreed to let Finn be a backup guest. Besides, he could barely talk yet. Even if he did run into Aaron, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
More importantly, the one running into him right now was me.
I stood in Aaron Brown’s private dressing room, my head bowed, staring at the floor. I’d been roped in at the last minute to do his makeup.
“Your assistant said you were bringing your own makeup artist, so the station didn’t assign anyone…”
“Aren’t you someone?”
Aaron’s deep, velvety voice washed over me from above.
“Leah. Raines.”
He read the name on my staff ID, a name that was both familiar and strange on his lips, and let out a cold, humorless laugh. A wave of guilt sent a tingling numbness across my face.
“I… I don’t know how to do makeup for men.”
It was a lie, of course. Aaron’s face was so perfectly sculpted that he could have gone on camera without a drop of makeup and still looked flawless.
“Haha, Leah’s just being modest! She’s the best makeup artist at our station!” the director chimed in, pulling me aside. He lowered his voice. “I’ve already hyped you up. You know what to do.”
He leaned in closer. “There’s only one Aaron Brown, but the station can hire a new makeup artist anytime. And there aren’t many places that will let you bring your kid to work, are there?”
I had no choice but to bite the bullet.
Aaron’s skin was pale, and it took me a while to find the right shade of foundation. Just as I was about to start, his assistant stopped me with a frown.
“Is that a used makeup brush?”
I was a staff makeup artist. Of course, my tools were shared.
“Aaron is allergic to other people’s… residual skin cells. Didn’t you do your research?”
“…”
“They’ve all been sanitized,” I mumbled. “And his allergic reaction isn’t that severe. It’s usually just a little sensitive around his lips.”
She reacted like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
“Can you take responsibility for that statement? If something happens to Aaron’s face, do you know how many projects it will affect? Can a little makeup artist like you afford to pay for that?”
The live broadcast was about to start; the director was already counting down the seconds. I glanced at my personal makeup bag next to my suitcase and sighed.
“This is all I have on hand… unless you want me to use my personal kit.”
“Then use yours.”
I froze.
Aaron glanced at me, his tone strictly professional. “There’s no other choice, is there?”
The director, terrified of being held responsible, scurried over. “Leah rarely wears makeup, but she must have used her tools a few times, right? Isn’t there still a risk of an allergic reaction?”
“It’s fine,” Aaron said, his voice casual. “I’ve built up a tolerance.”
His words landed like a torpedo in the small backstage room.
Every single pair of eyes swiveled to look at me.
My heart hammered against my ribs, threatening to leap out of my throat. Terrified of being assassinated by his fans at the station, I stammered, “We… we’re not a thing…”
The air hung thick and still for a second.
Then, Aaron’s expression turned icy.
“I meant, I took my allergy medication.”
Someone in the room snickered.
“Leah, who asked you? As if Aaron Brown would ever look twice at you!”

3
She was right. Why would Aaron Brown ever look twice at me?
He was now the Aaron Brown, the award-winning actor whose live broadcast could attract over a million viewers in the first minute.
The live chat was already overflowing with sympathy for him having to appear on this show.
【His garbage agency is really pimping him out for views. Making him go on this trashy show… I still have PTSD from that screaming kid last season.】
【Some of these kids just throw things when they don’t get their way. Aaron, honey, make sure you hide your favorite guitar somewhere safe!】
【Oh god, the doorbell’s about to ring and my child-hating instincts are already kicking in.】
The camera followed Aaron as he moved. He was so tall that he completely blocked the cameraman’s view, leaving only a corner of a butter-yellow suitcase visible in the shot.
It was a matching parent-child set with the one I used for my makeup tools.
Aaron seemed to pause, lost in thought for a moment, before shaking his head with a self-deprecating smile.
He knelt down to talk to Finn.
“Hey there, little guy.”
His smile was warm and inviting, but this was Finn’s first time interacting with a stranger all by himself. He was a little scared.
His little mouth puckered, and his eyes welled up with tears.
The director, watching from the sidelines, started freaking out into his walkie-talkie.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Is this kid gonna work out? Crying the second he’s on camera is going to kill our viewership!”
“If it gets bad, just keep the camera locked on Aaron’s face.”
But the cameraman didn’t seem to hear him. After a close-up on Aaron, he panned the camera directly onto Finn’s tear-streaked face.
The director was about to unleash a torrent of curses when he noticed the live chat’s tone had suddenly shifted.
【HOLY S***!!! Aaron, be honest, did you make a donation to a sperm bank a few years back?】
【OMG, what an adorable little marshmallow! He’s literally a miniature Aaron Brown.】
【Did he just make a little ‘maa’ sound? Was that for Mama? Baby, your auntie is right here!】
【This is the first time I’ve ever heard a baby cry without it being ear-splitting. I want one. Can someone just leave one on my doorstep?】
In the blink of an eye, the number of online viewers soared past ten million.
The director started to panic. Worried about offending Aaron, he had planned a series of simple, easy tasks. It was fine for the fans, but he was afraid it wouldn’t be enough to keep casual viewers interested.
“Should we… maybe increase the difficulty?” he mused.
The moment he spoke, I raised my eyebrow razor and made a sharp, throat-slitting gesture.
I was the station’s resident pushover, someone anyone could boss around. But when it came to my son, I would not yield an inch.
Finn was still sniffling softly, and Aaron, who had zero experience with kids, was completely overwhelmed. He grabbed his guitar from the side, hoping to distract him.
Even though Finn desperately wanted me, he sat attentively and listened to the entire song. He even provided ample emotional support, letting out happy little coos since he couldn’t speak.
But the moment the song ended, it was as if his main quest objective reloaded. He started whimpering again.
“Mama…”
Thankfully, the popcorn I had prepared was finally passed to Aaron. The instant the sweet kernel touched his tongue, Finn’s eyes lit up. After finishing one piece, he immediately started scheming for more.
He squeezed his eyes shut, and two perfect teardrops rolled down his cheeks. In front of the monitor, the entire crew melted into adoring smiles.
Aaron couldn’t help but laugh.
“Nope. Little guys can’t have too many sweets.”
He placed the popcorn bowl in a high cabinet.
Based on past experiences, everyone braced for a full-blown meltdown.
But Finn simply wiped his tears with the back of his hand and sat quietly on the sofa like a perfect little doll. His soft, pale skin and slightly pink nose made him look like a delicate, translucent shrimp dumpling.
The live chat went into a frenzy.
【This is officially the easiest parenting challenge in the show’s history. Can we get this kid a global tour?】
【As a professional babysitter, I can confirm this child is an angel. He doesn’t scream, and he doesn’t throw a fit when you take away his snacks.】
【Forget a smooth delivery, I want a smooth pickup. I’ll take this one!】
Aaron was completely smitten. He tried to ask for his name, but Finn didn’t know how to say his own name yet. All he could say was “Mama.”
I was busy arguing with the director about the appearance fee, not noticing the door had been left slightly ajar.
Finn spotted my pink sweater, toddled over, and hugged my leg, his voice sweet and clear.
“Mama!”
Three years ago, Aaron Brown, the man I’d ghosted, stared at me, his face a thundercloud.
“How old is he?”

4
The word “one” was still caught in my throat when the director jumped in.
“He’s two and a half, I think. I remember seeing it on the forms.”
I suddenly remembered that when I was job hunting last year, I’d intentionally aged Finn up by a year so potential employers wouldn’t see me as a liability on maternity leave.
But I really didn’t want to get entangled with Aaron again. I had to correct him.
“He’s not two and a half. He’s one and a half.”
The director scratched his head, completely oblivious. “Oh, is that right? My mistake then.”
And just like that, the light that had just begun to dawn in Aaron’s eyes was extinguished, leaving behind the wreckage of a storm.
“…”
“You’re lying to me, aren’t you?” he asked later, during a commercial break.
I tried to keep my distance, busying myself with tidying up and placing a large box between us. But he was tall and imposing, casting a long, dark shadow over me that made the cramped storage room feel even more claustrophobic.
“Why would I lie to you?” I forced a casual smile. “I’m just stating a fact.”
“Besides,” I added, “have you ever seen a two-and-a-half-year-old who can only say ‘mama’? If that were the case, I’d be the one crying my eyes out.”
“But—” Aaron pulled out his phone and showed me the trending topics. The top three were all about him and Finn.
“Then how do you explain this? The internet doesn’t lie! They’re all saying he’s my spitting image. How could he not be my son?”
For a moment, I was tempted to pull out Finn’s birth certificate to prove it. But as my eyes moved away from the screen, I caught sight of his “suggested for you” search history.
【Is it normal for a two-and-a-half-year-old not to be able to talk?】
【Is it possible to be pregnant for a year and a half?】
【What are the chances of getting back together after a brutal breakup?】
What an idiot.
But that was exactly what I’d fallen for—that unguarded, all-in passion.
The problem was, the “me” he had fallen for wasn’t the real me.
Back then, betrayed by both my boyfriend and my own family, I was afraid I was losing my mind. I dropped everything and escaped to a rustic ranch retreat in the countryside. I adopted a new name, a new personality, and surrounded myself with people who knew nothing about my past.
The Leah I was there was sunny, confident, and radiant, capable of creating her own happiness.
The real me was plain, insecure, and timid, constantly plagued by self-doubt.
So, on the train ride back to the city, terrified that Aaron would eventually fall for someone else, I broke up with him over a text message.
Though we had met again by a twist of fate, since he had forgotten, I had no intention of bringing it up.
I curved my stiff lips into what I hoped was a relaxed smile.
“My son doesn’t just look like you.”
I casually let my phone screen light up, showing an incoming call from “Arthur Brown.”
Aaron’s uncle.

5
Arthur Brown did not approve of me.
But the moment he heard that the only heir of his late older brother wanted to get back together with me, he drove thirty miles straight to the TV station.
The entire studio held its breath as he strode onto the set. It was almost jarring to see another face as handsome as Aaron’s. Years as a titan of industry had given Arthur a refined, aristocratic air that was uniquely his own.
The online viewership numbers hit a new record.
【Did the show change formats? What other surprises are they hiding from us?】
【I don’t mind watching two handsome men raise a baby together. This is the kind of content we women need to get through the day!】
【So which one of them is the donor? The government wants us to have more kids, can we just get them to do a global donation tour?】
The director, who had been annoyed by the unexpected interruption, was now grinning so wide the wrinkles on his face could trap flies.
“The ratings are secured!”
His smile vanished a second later. Arthur’s assistant was ordering him to shut down the live stream.
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that eighty-five percent of your station’s advertising revenue for the past two years has come from the Brown Corporation.”
The Brown Corporation’s sponsorship had started last year, right after I joined the station. Finn had been seriously ill, and I was desperate for money, but the struggling station was asking us to take a pay cut.
At my lowest point, Arthur had suddenly appeared. He paid for all of Finn’s medical bills and then tried to give me hush money.
I refused it. I never had any intention of telling Aaron about the child.
But Arthur was cautious. He kept in touch, always finding some pretext to check in on me.
“So the baby is yours, Uncle Arthur?”
“When did you two get together? Are you married? How come I never knew?”
Aaron fired off a volley of questions, grinding his teeth so hard I thought they might crack.
“We’re not married. It was just a one-night stand.”
I stirred my juice with a straw, wanting to end this entanglement as quickly as possible. The words slipped out, light and careless.
Beside me, Arthur seemed to turn to stone. He was only five years older than Aaron and had been a strict, paternal figure to his nephew ever since his brother passed away. He was meticulous about his reputation, terrified of setting a bad example.
In that single moment, the dignified, reserved image he had cultivated for years crumbled into dust.
After a long pause, he finally picked up where I left off.
“Heh, that’s right.”
“Miss Raines and I will handle the child’s affairs together. Since you two have already broken up, it’s best you keep your distance.”
“Keep my distance?” Aaron scoffed, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt. “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you, Uncle?”
“Bringing a child into the world and then abandoning him, not even giving his mother a proper title…” He caught himself, quickly backtracking. “No, that’s not right. Anyway, since you two have no feelings for each other, I think it would be best if I raised the child. A proper moral upbringing is important, after all.”
Arthur nudged me with his elbow. I thought he was annoyed at my reckless comment.
Instead, he pulled out a diamond ring the size of a pigeon’s egg.
“You’re right. Which is why I’ve been considering giving the child a complete family.”
“Miss Raines, will you marry me?”
Me: ?
Aaron: !!!

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