Chapter 3
I locked myself in my room. I was too afraid to come out. Terrified, I realized that I was experiencing symptoms of early menopause.
I had no choice but to rush to the nearest hospital. The doctor said that my ovaries were failing.
She sounded apologetic as she said, “Your symptoms are unusual. You’re very young for this. We’ll need to run more tests to understand the cause.”
I knew that this issue would not be solved by medical science.
Someone had snapped a photo of Harriet and me picking up takeout and posted it online.
[Do you all remember Emery Chase, the woman Gordon’s been looking for? This is what she looks like now.]
[Goodness, who’s that hag? Was there a mistake? Emery’s the other woman, right?]
The photo went viral. Something inside me broke when I saw the two women side by side in the photo.
I looked at the white hairs that had started to appear at my temples and the liver spots on the backs of my hands.
I could not deal with it anymore. In a frenzy, I barged into Harriet’s room and ripped the mask off her face.
“What did you do? How are you getting younger while I’m aging overnight? How are you reaping every benefit of my skincare routine?” I asked.
Harriet’s expression twisted with rage before she slapped me. “What are you going on about, you wretch?”
The noise brought Warren running into the room.
He did not say anything when he saw me but slapped me hard.
“Didn’t I tell you to go on a diet? Look at you! You looked pathetic! If Gordon doesn’t like you, I swear you’ll marry that bald guy back in our hometown! You’re such a waste of space!”
I covered my face and glared at him. “You think I haven’t tried? Why don’t you look at her? Tell me this isn’t strange to you! After I turned twenty, whatever skincare I did only benefited her!
“You hit me so openly. Why don’t you ask her what she’s done?”
Warren shot Harriet a look.
In the past, he always cursed at her and called her a hag. He always said that he could not take her anywhere with him because he could not stand looking at her.
But that had changed. Harriet’s skin was fair and smooth. Her figure looked like it belonged to a young woman.
Warren looked shocked.
Harriet cried and said, “Have you seen a doctor? You must have some kind of disease. That’s why you look like this now! How could you come in here and blame me for this?”
Warren nodded. His eyes were glued to Harriet, like he could not bear to look away. He suddenly moved and pulled Harriet into his arms.
He no longer treated her like a hateful hag. He looked at her like she was a goddess.
He turned and kicked me in disgust. “Shame on you! How could you blame your mother for this? You’re just jealous that she’s prettier than you!
“Look at yourself! You don’t look like you’re twenty. You look way worse than your mom.”
I could only scoff as I looked at them. “You keep hitting me and yelling at me. Aren’t you worried I’ll cut you both off once I marry into a wealthy family?”
Warren seemed to be stunned by the fact that I would say such a thing. His expression changed as he looked at me in disbelief.
Harriet covered her face and sobbed loudly. “What a horrible daughter! After everything we’ve done for you, you dare to turn your back on us! Warren, I don’t think we should let her stay here anymore. Get her out of this house so we don’t have to see her again!”
Chapter 4
When I heard what she said, I felt afraid for some reason.
In the previous timeline, after I ran away from home, the unnatural aging had accelerated, and I had died out there.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I could not make sense of what was going on.
If it were a trade or an exchange, it did not add up. Harriet was in her forties, so why did I look more than fifty years old?
I hurried back to my room and locked the door. It was not the time to run away from home yet.
But what shocked me even more was seeing Gordon post online that he had found the one meant for him and would soon host the wedding of the century.
Netizens were all buzzing in excitement as they marveled at how quickly he had secured his love.
But I had never even seen Gordon after that one night.
Outside, I could hear Harriet talking sweetly with Warren.
“I’m only going out with him for a bit to string him along. Do you really think Emery can hold his attention looking like that now? I’ll keep him in place for a while. Once Emery’s back to normal, we’ll just swap back.”
On the day of the wedding, I saw Harriet get into the stretch Bentley limousine and leave with all the fanfare.
The entire wedding was being livestreamed. Before it even started, hundreds of thousands of viewers were already waiting to watch it online.
When Warren got home, I showed the stream on my phone.
“Dad, Gordon is getting married today, but the bride isn’t me. Who’s he marrying?”
Warren’s expression shifted dramatically. He searched the whole house but could not find Harriet. He tried calling her, but his call did not go through.
He dragged me to the wedding venue.
The place was extravagantly decorated.
By the time we arrived, the couple was exchanging rings.
Seeing the dazzling figure of Harriet on the stage, Warren shouted, “Hold on a moment! You’ve made a mistake!”
Warren shoved me in front of the camera. “Mr. Frost, the person you want to marry is my daughter. She’s right here! The woman on the stage is my wife!”
The camera swept over my face, and the netizens made snide remarks about my looks.
[Who’s this fat and old hag?]
[Goodness, how can someone just drag a random person to impersonate Emery? They must be super desperate to marry into a rich family!]
Seeing how Gorgon was looking at me with disgust on his face, I took out the cufflinks.
“You gave me these that night! You said I could use them when I came to find you.”
When people online saw the cufflinks, comments started flooding in.
[She does kind of look like Emery Chase. She could be her mother.]
[What kind of mother would try to steal her daughter’s limelight? Did she really think she could take Emery’s things and fool Gordon? Maybe she should take a good look at herself first!]
[She’s a fat and ugly hag. She must be Emery’s stepmother! Bugger off! I want to watch the couple of the year get married.]
Harriet hid behind Gordon and looked at me in smug delight.
The guests below the stage all reacted negatively.
“There’s no way Gordon has such strange tastes. The woman on the stage is much better. If his choice is really this old hag, I want a refund.”
Gordon’s face darkened when he heard that. He glared at Warren coldly.
“I’ve verified it repeatedly. This is the person I was looking for all along.”
Warren was enraged. He grabbed a knife from a nearby table and rushed to stab Gordon.
“How dare you sleep with my wife? I’ll kill you!”
The bodyguards quickly rushed to stop Warren, and the scene onstage devolved into chaos.
I had been away from home too long. I felt suffocated. My heart thumped painfully in my chest.
This was an early sign of heart failure.
I did not want to die right in front of Harriet. My gaze slid over the diamond bracelet on her wrist.
Then, it hit me! I instantly understood what was going on.
The comment section in the livestream had changed.
[Wow, look! What happened to Emery’s face?]
When she saw herself on the big screen, Harriet suddenly let out a scream and rushed to shut down the livestream.
I collapsed on the floor and finally let out a relieved breath.
I could see very clearly that Harriet’s face had regained some of its age spots.
At the same time, Warren turned to me in rage.
“You useless wretch, what did you do to your mother?”
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