PART 1: THE SILK DRESS AND THE WILL

Chapter 1: Seduction or Trap?

The grandfather clock in the main hall struck twelve, its heavy resonance echoing throughout the Harrington family mansion. Outside, the first blizzard of the season was burying the city of Boston in a mournful white.

I, William Harrington, had turned 18 exactly four hours ago. I sat in my room, staring at the photo of my father – real estate tycoon Edward Harrington, who had passed away from a sudden stroke three years ago.

Father’s departure left me with two things: A massive fortune being contested by greedy relatives, and a beautiful young stepmother named Victoria.

Victoria was only 12 years older than me. She was a B-list model before she “trapped” my father. In my eyes, and in the eyes of Boston’s high society, Victoria was the quintessential gold digger. She was beautiful, sharp, spent money like water, and always appeared in the most lavish outfits, even at her husband’s funeral. For the past 3 years, she and I lived under the same roof but like strangers, communicating only through disdainful looks and cold silence.

Knock. Knock.

A gentle knock sounded on the door.

“William, are you still awake?” Victoria’s voice.

I frowned. It was midnight. “I’m sleeping,” I replied curtly.

“Open the door. I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

Something in her voice made me curious. It lacked her usual arrogance; instead, it sounded trembling, urgent.

I opened the door.

And I was stunned.

Victoria stood there, not in the modest, luxurious attire of a noble widow. She was wearing a wine-red silk spaghetti strap nightgown, flimsy and hugging every curve of her body. Her shiny blonde hair cascaded down her bare white shoulders. The scent of heavy Jasmine perfume filled my nose.

For a second, the mind of an 18-year-old boy like me was paralyzed. But immediately after, disgust rose up. What was she planning? Seducing her husband’s son to manipulate the inheritance rights? A cheap and sick script.

“What do you want?” I stepped back, eyes full of suspicion. “If you’re planning some depraved act, I will call the lawyer and the police immediately.”

Victoria didn’t get angry at the insult. She stepped into the room, quickly closed the door, and locked it. That action only made me more panicked.

“Don’t look at me like that, William,” Victoria said, her voice choking. She walked to the desk, where the yellow lamp was lit. Under that light, I realized she was trembling violently. Not from cold, but from fear. On her bare arm, I glimpsed a large bruise.

“Sit down,” she ordered, but it sounded more like a plea.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my hand secretly gripping the phone in my pocket.

Victoria took a deep breath, then suddenly… she slipped one strap of her dress down.

“You’re crazy!” I shouted, turning my face away.

“Look! Look closely!” Victoria shouted, her voice so steely I had to turn back.

She wasn’t intending to seduce me. She was taking out something secretly sewn inside the lining of the nightgown, right next to her left breast – the safest and most discreet place.

It was a small titanium key and an electronic chip.

She placed them on the table, then adjusted her dress as modestly as possible.

“This is the key to your father’s secret safe in Switzerland, and the chip contains all the evidence of the black funds that your biological uncle – Marcus – has been searching for over the past 3 years.”

I was dumbfounded. “What?”

“Happy 18th birthday, William,” Victoria said, her eyes brimming with tears she refused to let fall. “I have waited for this day for the past 1,095 days. Waiting until you were legally of age to stand in your own name and protect your assets.”

Chapter 2: The Veil of Secrets

“I don’t understand,” I stammered. “Why… why are you giving this to me? You are the legal wife; you are entitled to inherit at least 50%.”

Victoria smiled, a bitter smile I had never seen before.

“Do you think I married your father for money?” She asked. “Yes, initially, that was it. I was a poor girl yearning to change my life. But Edward… your father was the only man who truly respected me. He knew he had heart disease; he knew Marcus was plotting to seize the corporation. He needed someone to play the ‘trophy wife,’ a greedy stepmother to divert Marcus’s attention away from you.”

Victoria pulled a thick file from the pocket of the robe she had brought along (draped over her arm).

“This is the deed transferring all shares, real estate, and cash under my ownership to you. I have already signed it. My private lawyer – the only one I trust – will come here tomorrow morning to notarize it.”

I picked up the file. Victoria’s signature was decisive, strong.

“You’re keeping nothing?”

“No,” Victoria shook her head. “I’m keeping my life, and your life. That was my agreement with your father before he died.”

She stepped closer to me; this time I didn’t back away. I saw faint crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes – signs of chronic sleepless nights.

“William, listen carefully. Your Uncle Marcus isn’t just a businessman. He has ties to the underworld. For three years, I had to play the role of a promiscuous woman, spending lavishly so he would think I only cared about shopping and parties, that I was a fool who knew nothing about accounting books. I had to make him despise me so he wouldn’t be on guard.”

I looked at the bruise on her arm. “This wound…”

“He came to find me this afternoon,” Victoria said, voice icy. “He knows you turned 18 today. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t hand over this chip. He thinks I hid it to blackmail him. He didn’t expect I hid it to give to you.”

“Why did you have to wear… this?” I pointed at the nightgown.

“To fool Marcus’s bodyguards guarding the gate. If I wore proper clothes and carried a file to your room at midnight, they would report to him immediately. But if I wear this…” she laughed bitterly, “…they will just think I’m a slutty stepmother trying to seduce her stepson to dig for a little more gold. Their contempt is our safest shield tonight.”

My heart clenched. I had despised her. The whole world had despised her. But she used that very humiliation as a weapon to protect my father’s legacy, and to protect me.

“Now,” Victoria said quickly, pushing the file and the chip into my hands. “Pack your things. Only the essentials. There is an old car I prepared at the back door, where the camera is broken. You must go to New York tonight, meet Judge Anderson – your father’s old friend. He will protect you.”

“What about you?” I asked, panicked. “Will you come with me?”

Victoria looked at me, her gaze strangely gentle. For the first time, I saw the image of a mother in those eyes.

“No, William. If I go with you, Marcus will find out immediately. I have to stay to buy time. I will continue to play the spoiled stepmother, making a fuss tomorrow morning that you stole my jewelry and ran away. That will give you more time.”

“But he will kill you!”

“He won’t kill me as long as he hasn’t found the chip. He will think I still have it. Go!”

She pushed me towards the closet.

I grabbed a few clothes, my laptop, and wallet. When I turned back, Victoria was standing by the window, looking out at the white sheet of snow. Her back looked lonely and heartbreakingly fragile.

I stepped forward, taking her cold hand.

“Victoria,” I said, voice trembling. “I… I’m sorry.”

She turned, placing her hand on my cheek.

“Don’t apologize. Survive. Become the man your father expected. And… if you ever remember me later, don’t remember this dress. Remember that I truly loved your father.”

She kissed my forehead lightly, then pushed me out the door.

“Run, my son.”

I rushed out of the room, ran down the dark stairs, escaping through the back door like a thief in my own home. As the old car started and plunged into the stormy night, I looked up at my room window. The light was off. But I knew, up there was a woman betting her life so I could have a future.

That was the night I lost a “stepmother,” and found a real Mother.

PART 2: THE RETURN OF THE HEIR

Chapter 3: Three Years of Exile

I arrived in New York safely. Judge Anderson, a dignified and righteous man, took me in. With the evidence in the chip, he secretly froze Uncle Marcus’s overseas accounts, but didn’t announce it yet to ensure Victoria’s safety.

However, the news from Boston left me dead inside: Victoria Harrington suffered a severe car accident, traumatic brain injury, and fell into a vegetative state. Police concluded she was driving under the influence.

I knew it wasn’t an accident. Marcus had acted. He didn’t find the chip, and he took his anger out on her. Or perhaps, he kept her half-alive as a hostage, waiting for the day I appeared.

I wanted to return immediately to fight him to the death. But Judge Anderson stopped me.

“William,” he said. “Right now, you are just an 18-year-old kid with a pile of papers. Marcus has money, power, and guns. If you go back now, you die, Victoria dies, and her sacrifice becomes meaningless. You have to be stronger. You have to become an alpha wolf to defeat that old wolf.”

I swallowed my tears and hatred. I listened to him.

Three years passed.

I was no longer the weak William of the past. I used the secret capital my father left (unlocked by the key Victoria gave me) to invest in Silicon Valley. With the guidance of my father’s old friends, I quickly built my own power base. I studied law, martial arts, and learned how to be ruthless in business.

Every night, I looked at the only photo I had of Victoria – a candid shot taken at my father’s funeral, wearing dark glasses, standing straight, proud and lonely. I promised myself: Mom, wait for me. I’m coming home soon.

Chapter 4: The Devil’s Banquet

The day I returned to Boston was the 50th anniversary of the Harrington Group. Marcus threw a lavish party at the old family mansion itself. He was now the Interim Chairman, and he intended to use this occasion to officially acquire all shares, declaring me missing or dead.

I stepped out of a shiny black Rolls-Royce, wearing a handmade Armani suit, my demeanor poised and cold. Beside me were Judge Anderson and a formidable team of lawyers and bodyguards.

My appearance silenced the entire auditorium. The wine glass in Marcus’s hand fell to the floor, shattering.

“William?” He stammered. “You… you’re alive?”

“Hello, Uncle Marcus,” I smiled, a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “I’m back to take what belongs to me. And to pick up my mother.”

“Your mother?” Marcus sneered, trying to regain his composure. “That crazy woman is rotting in a nursing home. You’re too late.”

“Is that so?”

I snapped my fingers. The large screen on the stage lit up.

It wasn’t a company congratulatory video. It was the audio and video recordings extracted from the chip Victoria gave me. Images of Marcus trading with mob bosses, his voice ordering the cutting of my father’s brakes, and scenes of him beating Victoria to interrogate her about the chip.

The audience gasped in horror. The police swarmed in. This time, Marcus couldn’t deny it. He was handcuffed right on stage, screaming in despair.

But I didn’t care about him. I handed the handling of the company over to the lawyers and rushed straight to the remote private nursing home in the suburbs, where he had imprisoned Victoria.

Chapter 5: A Promise Kept

The nursing home was shabbier and colder than I imagined. Victoria lay in a tiny room, lacking light.

She had lost so much weight. The once shiny blonde hair was now sparse and peppered with gray. Her skin was pale white, lifeless. She lay motionless, eyes closed, only the sound of the ventilator maintaining her fragile life.

“Mom…” I knelt by the bed, holding her gaunt hand. The hand that 3 years ago had given me my entire life.

“I’m back. It’s William.”

No response. The doctor said her brain was severely damaged, the chance of waking up was nearly zero.

But I didn’t give up.

I moved Victoria back to the Harrington mansion. I hired the best neurologists in the world. I turned her room into a flower garden, filled with the scent of Jasmine she loved. Every day, after work, I sat beside her, reading books, telling stories, or simply holding her hand.

I told her about how I kicked all the greedy people out of the company. About how I established a charity foundation in her name. About how much I missed her.

“You know, Mom,” I whispered on an autumn afternoon, as golden leaves fell outside the window. “That nightgown… I kept it. It wasn’t sexy or vulgar at all. to me, it was a warrior’s armor. You are the bravest woman I have ever known.”

I felt a slight movement. Very slight.

I held my breath, looking down. Victoria’s finger twitched. Then her eyelids fluttered.

“Doctor! Where is the doctor!” I shouted.

Victoria slowly opened her eyes. The eyes were cloudy, confused, then gradually focused on my face.

“William…” her voice wheezed, weak as a passing breeze, but it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard in my life. “You… are so big now.”

My tears welled up, falling onto the back of her hand.

“It’s me, Mom. I’m back. You’re safe now. We are safe now.”

Victoria smiled weakly. She no longer had the sharp, seductive look of the past, but in my eyes, she was more beautiful than anyone.

“Thank you… for coming back,” she said.

“No,” I kissed her forehead, a kiss containing boundless respect and love. “Thank you, Mom… for giving me a life.”

The word “Mom” uttered from my mouth, natural and sincere, erased all distances, all prejudices, all doubts of the past.

Victoria didn’t give birth to me, but she rebirthed me on that fateful snowy night. She gave up all her wealth, honor, even her life to protect me. And now, I would use the rest of my life to protect and care for her.

Outside the window, the snowstorm of three years ago had vanished, giving way to the warm sunshine of a new day. The Harrington clan had been revived, not by money, but by the love of a stepmother and a filial son.

THE END