I Am Not a Mistress

Your mom was a mistress, so what does that make you?

Liam Vance asked, as he slid a custom-made wedding ring onto my finger.

I stared at him, bewildered. Liam, what are you talking about?

It makes you a mistress too, baby.

I was speechless, but he looked completely serious. Be my secret lover.

There's a new secretary at the company. She's very capable and beautiful. She's more suited to be my wife.

"Then what am I?" I asked, my eyes wide.

He put on a fake apologetic face. "If your mom could be someone's mistress, why can't you?"

It took a moment before I finally said, "My mom is my mom, I am me. I'm not going to be a mistress."

"Oh really?"

He sneered. "Then we break up."

"Fine, we break up." I'd sworn to myself that I would never be a mistress in this life.

But Liam didn't know that.

He gently stroked my head. "Don't be childish, you fool. How would you survive without me?"

"Your mom was cyberbullied until she took her own life, and your dad disowned you. Only with me will no one dare to mock you."

I let out a bitter laugh. Who said only with him would no one dare to mock me?

I had an Aunt Vivienne. Her business was huge now, and she was incredibly powerful overseas.

Last week, she found me and asked if I'd be willing to go abroad with her.

I hadn't gone because I couldn't bear to leave Liam.

Now

I sent Vivienne a message.

[Vivienne, I've thought it through. I'm coming with you.]

Vivienne replied instantly: [Fantastic! I'll send a private jet to pick you up in three days.]

It should have been happy news, but tears streamed down my face without my control.

My chest ached, like I'd been bitten by a poisonous insect.

I had originally planned to tell Liam about Vivienne as a surprise.

Now, it seemed unnecessary.

Liam saw me crying and thought I couldn't bear to break up with him. He reached out to wipe away my tears. "See? You cry at the mere mention of breaking up. If I ever truly left you, wouldn't you just fall apart?"

"Don't play games with me; it won't end well. Just continue to be good and listen to me, and you won't be alone and helpless again."

I sniffled but didn't speak.

Liam thought he'd convinced me. He started the engine, but halfway through, he suddenly stopped.

"Oh, right. From today on, you'll sit in the back seat when you ride with me. Scarlett said that only she can sit in the passenger seat from now on, and I promised her. I can't go back on my word."

He turned to look at me. "You know, I've always been a man of my word. I promised to take care of you for life, and even if I marry someone else, I'll still look after you."

He smiled. "You don't know yet, do you? In three days, I'm getting married to her. I had to practically beg and plead for ages before she finally gave in. I can't risk making her angry again. She's not as easy to appease as you are. She says she's a red rose; if you love the flower, you have to accept its thorns."

Liam was lost in his sweet thoughts of her, but I felt truly pricked by a rose's thorn. A sharp pain shot through my palm.

I looked down. Turns out I'd hit an earring when unbuckling my seatbelt, and its sharp point had cut me.

I opened my palm, and blood immediately welled up.

Liam saw it too, and exclaimed, "How could you be so careless?"

I thought he was worried about me. I was about to say it was nothing, that this pain was less than a thousandth of the pain in my heart.

But Liam's next words plunged me back into despair.

"That's her earring. She's a germaphobe. If she knew her precious earring got dirtied by your blood, she'd be furious."

So, my blood was dirty in his eyes. My head spun with pain. I stared at him blankly for a long time before he finally seemed to register a flicker of apology.

He lowered his gaze. "I'll cover for you this time. Just don't touch her things in the future."

Then, I watched him pull out a disinfectant wipe and carefully clean the earring.

My palm was still bleeding. I could faintly feel it dripping onto my leg, but I was numb, like an idiot. I couldn't speak, couldn't move to tend to it.

I just sat there, motionless.

After he finished wiping it and carefully wrapped it in a clean tissue, placing it in the car's front drawer, he finally turned to me.

"What are you still doing sitting there? Didn't you hear me tell you to move to the back seat?"

My mind finally cleared a little.

"No need. I'll just take a taxi!"

"Alright," Liam said. "There's a company banquet tonight, and I need to go help her pick out a dress. You can just head home."

With that, he let me out of the car, slammed on the gas, and sped past me.

He didn't care that it was pouring rain outside.

He didn't even throw me an umbrella.

I walked to the bus stop, completely soaked. Everyone looked at me like I was an idiot.

And I was. Even at this moment, my mind was replaying all the good things Liam used to do for me.

The news about my mom being a mistress broke when I was eighteen.

She drove his wife, and the baby in her womb, to their deaths, thinking she could take her place. But after his wife and child died, that man had a complete change of heart and cut off all ties with my mom.

Even when my mom tried to use me to threaten him, he remained unmoved.

In the end, my mom was forced to give birth to me.

The reason the story resurfaced eighteen years later was because the man posted a letter of repentance online.

While condemning him, netizens also dug up my mom's past.

After my mom was exposed, I was dragged into it too.

Even after my mom was cyberbullied to the point of jumping to her death, those women who had suffered because of mistresses didn't let me off the hook.

It happened both inside and outside school.

The classmates in school were milder; they'd just point at me and say "mistresses deserve to die" to my face.

But some of the middle-aged women outside school were much more violent. Every day, a group of them would wait by the school gate to throw rotten eggs and vegetable leaves at me.

They'd say, "A mistress's daughter will definitely turn out to be a mistress too!"

"Look at her, with that seductive air, even more brazen than her mother!"

I knew my mother was guilty, and I wasn't innocent, so I never resisted. I let them vent their anger on me.

This went on for half a year, until Liam stepped in and saved me.

"Who says a mistress's daughter has to become a mistress?"

He grabbed one of the middle-aged women and asked, "What does your daughter do?"

The woman proudly replied, "My daughter is an accountant at a big company."

Liam then asked, "And what about you?"

The woman stammered, unable to answer, so another woman answered for her. "Oh, she sells burgers at a construction site."

Liam said, "See? Your daughter is different from you."

After that, fewer and fewer people came to harass me.

My life gradually returned to normal, and then Liam began his intense pursuit of me.

He held an umbrella for me when it rained and shaded me when it was sunny.

Every evening after study hall, he would quietly walk me to my dorm building.

When we ate in the cafeteria, sometimes I'd see a few classmates indignantly splash leftover food and drinks onto my seat.

He would also step up and lecture them, "Which of you chose your parents before you were born?"

The students were silenced.

Liam continued, "And let me ask again, can you guarantee that all your parents and ancestors were upstanding individuals?"

The students bowed their heads in shame, and I, too, was captivated by his twisted, yet incredibly persuasive, way of looking at things and his eloquent speech.

I agreed to start dating him.

To be honest, before meeting him, I hadn't even thought about dating. My mother's situation had left me with severe psychological trauma.

He was like a light, gradually shining on that shadow, making it completely disappear.

And now, standing in the pouring rain, I was utterly confused.

How could someone who used to be so, so good, turn into this?

Suddenly, my vision went black, and I collapsed.

When I woke up, it was already night. I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip in my hand.

The doctor said, "You were too emotional. You need to calm down and get some good rest."

I said, "Okay."

Just then, my phone rang.

It was Liam. After much hesitation, I answered.

"Scarlett's dress got dirty. Go get that 'Starry Night' dress I ordered for you and bring it over. I need it for Scarlett."

So, her name was Scarlett. I silently repeated it to myself.

The 'Starry Night' dress was custom-made for me by a designer, commissioned by Liam. He intended for me to wear it at our wedding reception.

Before, he wouldn't even let anyone touch it, saying it would defile our love.

Now, he casually told me to give it to someone else.

Actually, it didn't matter anymore.

It was just that

"Liam, I'm on an IV drip right now."

"You're perfectly fine, why are you on an IV? Don't you dare throw a tantrum now, or you'll regret it."

Fine, I'll do one last thing for you, consider it repaying the kindness you showed me back then, when you saved me.

Without waiting for the IV to finish, I asked the nurse to remove the needle. Once again, I braved the downpour, got into a taxi, went home to get the dress, and rushed to deliver it to him without delay.

Liam said, "Scarlett's waiting for you by the entrance. She wants to thank you. Be respectful."

I mumbled "Mmm" and hung up.

But the woman named Scarlett didn't give me thanks; she gave me a slap.

Caught off guard, I was stunned. I spun half a circle, and the dress fell to the ground.

Scarlett immediately started to cry, feigning distress. "Scarlett, if you didn't want to, you could have just said so. Why ruin the dress?"

I'm a straightforward person, so I didn't understand her game at all.

But Liam seemed to understand perfectly and immediately walked out of the hotel.

Scarlett immediately confronted him, "Liam, is this what you meant by her being obedient and understanding, that she wouldn't make things difficult for me?"

Liam glanced at the dress on the floor, thinking he understood everything.

Another slap landed on my face. "It seems I've really spoiled you. Apologize to Scarlett immediately."

I was so angry I laughed. "Liam, you're being so judgmental! Do you know how I got the slap mark on my left cheek?"

Scarlett didn't hide it either. She tugged at Liam's sleeve. "I hit her, Liam. You're not mad at me, are you? I was so angry that she threw the dress on the ground, I couldn't help but hit her."

"You know how bad my temper can be."

Liam instinctively put his arm around her waist. "No, I'm not mad. Good for you."

Scarlett shot me a triumphant smile.

Tears welled in my eyes as I smiled back bitterly. I was so stupid.

But no matter how stupid I am, you two only have three days left to humiliate me. Once those three days are up, I'll be gone from your world forever.

Liam, I hope you don't end up like that man my mother had an affair with.

Repenting online eighteen years later.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hayes, I shouldn't have thrown your dress on the ground."

But Scarlett wasn't about to let me off the hook. "An apology needs to look like an apology, otherwise I'll think you're insincere."

"Then how should I show my sincerity?"

"Say, in front of everyone, that you want to be Liam Vance's mistress, that you're as brazen as your mother Oh, no, that you're even more brazen than your mother."

"I don't want to be a mistress. I've already broken up with Liam."

I even took off the ring, the one meant for our wedding, right in front of her.

"Here, take it back. We're completely done."

Liam froze, not reaching for it, and the ring fell to the floor.

"I said you want to, so you want to!"

Scarlett grabbed my hair and dragged me into the hotel.

"Everyone, come look! Here's a woman practically begging to be someone's mistress!"

Someone asked, "Isn't that Mr. Vance's girlfriend?"

"Not anymore," Liam said. "My girlfriend now is Scarlett Hayes, the new secretary at the company."

"I see." Everyone exchanged knowing smiles.

A woman stepped forward and said, "I told you a mistress's daughter would inherit the same tendency. And here I thought Mr. Vance used to defend her."

Scarlett chimed in, "Exactly! She even slapped herself twice to gain sympathy."

"But our Liam is an upright gentleman; he's not fooled by her seductive tricks."

As Scarlett said this, she leaned closer into Liam's arms.

I saw Liam's expression falter, but he still echoed Scarlett, "Baby's right."

I felt another pang. Just as I was about to explain, someone splashed a drink on me. "You're an embarrassment to women. Are there no other men left, that you have to chase after someone else's?"

The drink was aimed almost directly at my open mouth. I choked, unable to utter a single word, and started coughing violently.

Then others followed suit, splashing another drink directly on my face.

"Die, mistress!"

Then countless more drinks came, some hitting my chest, some my head.

Someone even grabbed my jaw, forcing my mouth open, and continuously poured alcohol down my throat.

I was being openly tormented as a 'mistress,' while Scarlett Hayes, the real mistress, laughed gleefully in Liam's arms.

I couldn't even cry out that it was a setup before I was pushed to the ground. After the drinks, they started kicking and punching me.

It was happening. The thing I feared most was happening.

My mom went through something similar before she died. In the end, unable to bear the humiliation, she climbed to the hotel rooftop and jumped.

The reason I broke up with Liam so decisively was because I was afraid of this day.

But it still came, framed as my fault.

The shadows that Liam had once dispelled gathered again, engulfing me in darkness. My world had no more sunlight.

The light that once shone on me was now shining on someone else.

I saw Liam smiling at Scarlett, tears in his eyes.

How happy must he be?

Liam, why were you the one who saved me from the depths, and also the one who threw me back into them?

Suddenly, like a madwoman, I broke free from the crowd, got into the elevator, just like my mom, and went straight to the hotel rooftop.

Perhaps also reminded of my mom, Liam, who had followed me, suddenly looked panicked and shouted, "Rose, no"

But I didn't imitate my mom and jump.

Instead, I went up, climbing step by step onto the rope ladder lowered by a helicopter.