No Pain, No Gain

I chase my six-year-old daughter out of the house on a cold winter day.

I cut her new clothes to pieces and dirty her dainty little face with mud. Then, I give her all my savings.

She looks at me tearfully and reaches out for me, wanting me to hold her. However, I harden my heart and push her away, saying, "Leave! Go to Bowen Group and look for their CEO, Logan Bowen. Show him my death certificate and your DNA test—he'll take you in."

She sobs while looking at me. "Don't you want me anymore, Mommy? Let's go look for Daddy together."

After a brief silence, I say, "I can't go with you. I lied to him back then to have you."

Yes, I'm a liar. I orchestrated everything from meeting Logan, dating him, to ultimately leaving him with his child in my womb. Even the death certificate I've given my daughter is fake.

From beginning to end, I've lied to him about everything except our daughter.

My daughter, Lumi Bowen, truly suffered while living with me.

Her clothes were a bit small for her, but they were clean. Her hair was always tied back with a snowflake hair tie I gave her two years ago. That was the only hair accessory she had.

She didn't go to school and would spend her time plastered to the windows so she could watch the other kids play. However, she never played with them, because the moment she went over, the other kids would surround her and tease, "Look! Lumi's here! It's the girl with no dad!"

I looked at her a little apologetically, but she comforted me instead.

"I don't like playing with them either."

She was but a six-year-old child, yet childlike joy was rarely ever seen on her face. Instead, her little brow was often furrowed while she reminded me to take my medication.

I needed to make sure that a daughter as great as her would have a better life.

I placed my forged death certificate and the results of a paternity test into her little backpack, then gave her all my savings—a mere 200 dollars—and asked her to store it carefully.

"Go. Find your father. Mommy is going to die soon. Do you know what cancer is? I might close my eyes and never wake up again. I won't be able to take care of you any longer."

Lumi's face was covered in tears, and her little hands clutched my clothes desperately.

"I won't go. I'll stay with you, Mommy! If you won't open your eyes, then I'll just wake you up, Mommy…"

She was still too young, and she probably didn't know what death meant. There was no waking the dead.

I explained to her patiently, "Find your father. Then, your bedroom will be bigger than this entire house. No one will dare bully you anymore, and no one will tease you for having no dad."

Lumi cried for the longest time, but she finally