Chapter 1 Take the Money and Get Lost

A pack of banknotes was smashed into Mia Smith's face. However, although Mia's face hurt sharply, it was the pain in her heart that was killing her.

A well-dressed, middle-aged woman sat opposite Mia, wearing delicate makeup and looking at the latter like a proud queen.

The expression in the woman's eyes was contemptuous. It seemed that she felt an intense loathing for the young woman and did not want to say much to Mia as it would damage her nobility.

Still, the middle-aged woman could not help but curse the young lady.

"Collect the money and get lost. It should be enough for you to squander for a while. I'm telling you the last time. Stop seducing my son. He is getting married. I don't mind if you want to be an underground lover of his. But with your status, you're absolutely not allowed to marry him!"

An underground lover? Getting married?

Mia felt like her head was about to explode. Her classmates chattered around her, but Mia could not hear what they were saying. She only knew that her heart hurt badly.

The man she loved for three years was getting married.

The mother of the man she loved for three years hit Mia with a pack of money to humiliate her in public and force her to stay away from the man.

Where was Luke Powell, the man Mia loved for three years?

Was he holding his fiancée in his arms? Did he know that his mother came to humiliate Mia but deliberately ignore it?

Mia laughed at herself. Wherever Luke was, he would marry a young lady from a powerful family.

Mia should know about this long ago, did not she?

Only it happened slightly earlier than she expected.

"Don't worry. I won't bother him!"

Mia sneered. No one knew whether that sneer was for herself or the woman across from her.

In fact, Mia thought that the other woman was quite pathetic and that there was nothing else but money in the latter's mind.

Mia bypassed the middle-aged woman, stepped on the banknotes, and left without looking back. From beginning to end, she did not spare a glance at the bills on the floor.

After the farce, Mia knew she had to stay away from campus for a short period.

Unexpectedly, that was just the beginning.

Mia initially thought she would be left in peace once she was home. However, before entering her place, she found that nudie photos covered the familiar alleyway walls.

And it was Mia in those photos.

Mia widened her eyes open in shock. She knew well that the body in those photos was not hers, but it was indeed her face matching that body.

Mia ignored the photos and rushed home. A vehicle was parked in front of the door.

Mia instantly recognized that it was the same car before the school entrance a while ago.

"Tell your daughter to stop seducing my son. Even if she doesn't mind being a mistress, I care about the Powell Family's reputation! Take the money on behalf of her as compensation for her youth spent on my son. If she continues pestering him, I'll let her pay the price in addition to those nudie photos."

Mia realized that it was Luke's mother speaking.

The arrogant, domineering woman behaved like a queen and humiliated Mia's mother contemptuously.

Seeing the aged features on Mia's mother's face, the woman intuitively touched her own and mocked, "Look at you. You should be in your forties, but you horribly look like in your fifties or even sixties. Oh my gosh!"

The woman waved her handkerchief and wanted to say something else. However, the other woman with a slightly older looking suddenly rolled her eyes and fell in a faint.

"Mom, what happened?"

Mia hurried to hold her mother. But no matter how she cried, her mother did not wake up.

"Mom, wait. I'll call an ambulance. I'm calling an ambulance."

Mia took out her mobile phone nervously, her finger trembling. The young woman tried hard. However, she could not stop her hand from shaking.

Her Mom was a patient with hypertension and coronary disease. For years, Mia kept Mom in peace and from irritation.

She was worried that Mom would never wake up.

And Mom was the only family member Mia had.

With tears blurring her eyes, Mia eventually called the hospital and anxiously stated their address. Just then, a wedding invitation was thrown upon her head.

"Don't forget to come to the wedding. Then you'll get a clearer idea of the huge status gap between you and Luke."

With that, the haughty woman wiggled away in high heels.

The freezing look in her eyes said that she did not give a damn about Mia's mother's life or death.

An ambulance soon arrived. Mia followed the ambulance to the hospital and waited outside the operating room, feeling like a nightmare.

The lights in the operating room stayed on.

One hour, two hours, three hours... For ten hours, Mom did not come out.

With her tears dried up, Mia sat on a bench as if she had lost consciousness.

When Mia had lost track of time, the door to the operating room was finally opened. The young woman rushed over to tug at the doctor's sleeve.

The doctor, however, shook his head apologetically at her.

In an instant, Mia felt the whole world collapsed. She sat back on the bench and stayed motionless like a corpse.

She did not even blink her eyes.

She could not believe or accept Mom's death. Mom said that she wanted to see Mia get married and give birth to a lovely child.

Mom also said that they would go on a trip when Mia entered the work world and made some money.

Mom once promised that she would witness Mia make dreams come true.

"Mom, how could you leave me alone?" Mia asked helplessly.

Mia broke down and cried hysterically. For that moment, the entire whole was a wasteland to her.