I Raised Him with Love. He Repaid Me with Spite

At the banquet, my son called out to me, "Mom."

But I didn’t feel joy, only chills and fear because I knew the cost of that single word would be the cold storage room.

"Mom?" Grayson stared at me with disgust.

A smug smile appeared on my son's face.

After the banquet, I was taken to the cold storage of the old house. I didn’t hesitate and walked straight in.

When I woke up from unconsciousness, all I remembered were Grayson’s cold words.

"Calmed down? My son should call only Zara ‘Mom’."

When I woke up again, my mind lingered on Grayson's icy words.

"Get in there! Cool your head!"

Seeing the cold storage door open, releasing wisps of cold air, I walked in without delay. I curled up, protecting the parts of my body most susceptible to frostbite. I was starting to get used to it.

This time, the punishment came because my son called me ‘Mom’, insisting that I was his real mother, not the upper-class Whitefamily woman.

I just hoped this punishment would end quickly so that I could suffer less.

This time, the punishment felt particularly long. It was a special occasion chosen by Lucashunt.

When the family doctor saw that I was awake, he efficiently removed the various instruments, leaving only an IV drip before leaving.

"Calmed down? Only Zara can be called ‘Mom’ by my son."

With a stern face, the man delivered his warning.

I lowered my head. "Yes."

"Remember this lesson, know your place. Make sure you rest well! I'll have the housekeeper prepare nutritious meals for you. We don’t want you getting hurt and wasting the Hunt family’s resources."

Despite Grayson’s seemingly caring tone, it left no ripple in my heart.

With a click, the door closed, leaving my room in silence again.

I reached out and skillfully removed the needle, wiping the blood casually with tissue paper.

This wasn’t the first time I’d been punished and locked in the cold storage because Lucas called me ‘Mom’.

Grayson and I had a master-servant relationship. My job was to bear and birth a qualified heir for the real Whitefamily lady.

Lucas, my product of labor, was the future heir of the Hunt family. And all my punishments were thanks to him.

Grayson and I had an accommodating professional relationship, but after Lucas was born, my status increased, and life got a bit easier. However, as Lucas grew up and started interacting with the outside world, my situation became increasingly unbearable.

So when Lucas smiled radiantly at me during the family banquet, I couldn't shake off a sense of foreboding.

When he loudly called me ‘Mom’, the banquet fell silent for a moment. The guests’ surprised laughter and Grayson's dark expression seemed to reveal my ambitious attempts to rise.

What appeared to be an innocent child in others' eyes was a glaring threat to me. Despite being the child I carried for ten months, I felt nothing but fear.

Yet, he wasn't like this when he was little.

I remembered when he first called me ‘Mom’ and brought me everything he thought was good with his babbling words. Thinking of this, I touched the string on my neck, and my heart softened.

But everything changed later. I looked at the covered photo on the table. He craved his father’s attention, I wasn’t allowed to be near him. He learned to weigh the pros and cons, knowing who would help him most. He wanted to please his father.

He learned to be deceitful, and in his or the entire Hunt family’s eyes, I was nothing more than a high-level maid capable of giving birth.