My Own Kids Replaced Me with Their Dad's Mistress

My husband cheated on me with my step-sister, and even my own children helped them cover it up.

When I turned to my parents for support, they told me to be the bigger person and let my husband go to my step-sister.

Worse, they teamed up with him to kick me out of the villa. They forgot that they were the ones who forced me to marry Harlan Hannigan in the first place to save their reputation.

In the end, I walked away with half of the family assets.

Then I adopted three children from an orphanage.

I raised them with all my heart. One showed amazing talent in business from a young age and went on to build a massive company, becoming the richest businessman in the world.

One became the director of a leading research institute, dedicating herself to groundbreaking technological innovations.

And one became the principal of the prestigious Stratford International Academy.

Years later, my biological son Willow stood in front of me, his face full of arrogance.

Bet you didnt expect thisIve put Hannergy Technologies on the market! Back then, you were so ruthless, taking half of Dads assets. You were trying to ruin the company, werent you? Well, look at us now! Regretting it yet?

I looked at him, not showing him any emotion.

It had been 20 years since I last saw him. He looked just like his father nowtall, sharp nose, deep eyes, exuding maturity and composure.

He was nothing like the soft, teary little boy who used to call me Mommy.

I had expected him to come after hearing I was back in the U.S.

After all, had stared at me with hate-filled eyes and gritted his teeth. Youll regret this, Leanna! he had said.

Now, seeing my indifferent expression, he frowned slightly. Whats the matter? Even after taking half of my familys assets, you still ended up broke, staying in some cheap hotel?

I ignored his sarcasm and asked flatly, Is this why you came to see me after 20 years?

Of course not! If it werent for Mom, I wouldnt have bothered to see you. He paused. This Saturday, my parents are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. Theyre hosting a ceremony. But some nosy reporters managed to dig up old stories about you. Grandpa and Grandma found out youre back, so they asked me to invite you to the event.

I nodded calmly, not needing to think it over. After all, I was the one who had leaked those rumors to the reporters. It was time to pay a visit.

Willow seemed surprised at how easily I agreed.

Ill have someone send you a dress, he said, his tone insulting me. Look at you nowso poor its embarrassing.

Dont worry. When youre too old to work, Winnie and I will send you some financial support. But dont even think about getting anything else from my family.

And at the party, when reporters ask questions, you better watch what you say.

Grandpa and Grandma want you to prioritize the Hannigans and Barrymoress reputation. Dont embarrass them like you did back then.

After delivering his condescending remarks, he gave me a once-over, his expression full of contempt.

Looking at him now, I couldnt help but recall the time he had a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. His face had swollen, his eyes drooped, and his breathing grew labored.

I was terrified and carried him to the hospital as fast as I could.

The doctors saved him, but as he lay on the hospital bed, he cried, Mommy forced me to eat peanuts! She was punishing me because Leanne took me out to play and she didnt like it.

I kept saying it wasnt true, that he was making it up.

But no one believed me.

Relatives accused me of being cruel, of endangering my childs life, of abusing him.

And just like that, my reputation was ruined.

I knew he was allergic to peanuts, and we never had them in the villa. So where the hell did he get them? And where the hell did he learn to lie like that?

Turns out, he wasnt just lying for fun. The brat wanted to ruin me! He wanted to trash my name so Id step aside and let Leanne take my place!

That Leanne didnt give a damn that my son almost died. And this kid knew I was the one who rushed him to the hospital to save him. But still, he went around telling everyone I fed him peanuts on purposethat I almost killed him.

As I snapped back to the present, there was no anger in me anymorejust disappointment in him.

I just said, Ill be there on time.

Then I shot a quick text to my three adopted kids: [Phase one begins.]

Saturday came, and I walked in at the hot spring hotel looking sharp. My eyes landed on a group of faces Id never forget.

My step-sister Leanne. My ex-husband Harlan. And my so-called parents.

Dennis, my father, cheated on my mom while she was alive. Knocked up his mistress, Jocelyn Rising, and she gave birth to Leanne, who was two years younger than me.

When my mom passed away from her illness, my father wasted no time bringing his mistress into the house. Suddenly, Jocelyn was the new lady of the Barrymores.

And this lady was cunning and manipulative. She saw the Hannigans thriving and kissed enough ass to get on their good side. Thats how she got the Hannigans and Barrymores to publicly announce their plan to wed her precious daughter to Harlan.

But just when everyone thought Leannes marriage to a wealthy family was a sure deal, the Hannigans investments tanked. It left them with unsold goods and major cash flow problems.

The Hannigans were in serious need of financial support, so they asked the Barrymores for help.

But Jocelyn convinced my father to turn them down on the grounds of tight cash flow.

In the end, Hannergy Technologies went bankrupt after they ran out of funds.

But since the wedding between the two families had been announced so publicly, they didnt want the media to accuse them of breaking promises or ruining their reputation.

That made them force me to marry Harlan instead.

He was drowning in debt at the time. I stuck by his side, selling goods on the street stall, wearing cheap clothes from street markets, and buying discounted food at the market just before closing. We lived in a tiny, crappy apartment.

And then the media got wind of it and plastered photos of us everywhere with headlines like: [Once a CEO, Now a Poor Street Vendor Struggling to Survive].

The whole Internet mocked us as the bankrupt couple.

But we didnt quit. Every day, we woke up before sunrise to stock up on inventory, stayed out running the stall until night, and then dragged our exhausted bodies home.

I worked so hard that I dropped 20 pounds. Harlan couldnt even hug me without feeling my bones. He cried one night, swearing hed give me a better life one day.

Things got better, little by little. I was thrilled when I found out I was pregnantwith twins.

We couldnt stop smiling, and Harlan busted his ass after that to give us a future.

But when I went into labor, I had a difficult delivery. I was in pain for over a day and eventually passed out on the hospital bed before they had to rush me into surgery to save me and the twins.

I kept up with the latest news and trends, spotted a chance in the solar energy industry, and convinced Harlan to invest in it. We bet everything we had and managed to ride the wave of the industry boom, climbing back to the top.

I thought wed finally made it. But then I found out that Harlan was screwing Leanne behind my back. Even worse, my own kids were helping them cover it up.

When my father and stepmother found out, they actually tried to talk me into accepting it.

Leanna, Leanne cant have kids. Her body just isnt built for it. She wont find another good man like Harlan. Don't forgetshe was supposed to marry him in the first place. The Hannigans are doing great again, and the kids like her, too. Were all family here, right? Why dont you just step aside and let them be together?

We want Auntie to be our mom. Shes nicer than you, and she treats us way better!

Yeah, if Leanne cant have kids, shed treat yours like her own.

I looked at the people in front of me, tears filling my eyes. They were all my family, yet they were all hurting me.

I let out a bitter laugh. I said, You want me to divorce him? Fine. But I want half of Harlan's assets. If I dont get my share, forget about me signing the papers.

If my family was rotten, I didnt want any of them anymore. Id just take what I deserved.

Harlan, dont forget, I was the one who stuck by you when you were trying to get back on your feet. I was the one who hustled to bring in the business, going to supplier after supplier, comparing prices, and making those deals happen. Half of everything you have, Im entitled to it.

He stood there, head down, saying nothing for a long time. Finally, he muttered, But you know Im in the middle of a big deal with Mr. Winchell. If I give you half of everything I have, I cant come up with that much right now. You rebuilt Hannergy Technologies with mecan you really stand to see it get bankrupt again?

My expression hardened. Oh, so you cant bear to let the company fall, but you can bear to cheat on me with my step-sister, huh? You know this companys success is partly because of my hard work, so dont even think about keeping it all. Either give me half or dont even think about divorcing you. Besides, Hannergy Technologies is doing great now. What do you think will happen when the media finds out you dumped your wife for her younger sister? You think the public will still trust you?

You know I cant give you that much right now! Youre doing this on purpose! You want Hannergy Technologies to go bankrupt again! he snapped, completely losing his cool.

Leanna, how about this? My father stepped in, trying to smooth things over and calm me down. I know youre hurt and cant accept whats going on. Ill give you a villa and a million dollars, so you can get some rest.

Youre so selfish! How can you watch Dad go bankrupt? Cant you just leave quietly? If you do, maybe Ill still call you Mom. But if you dont, dont even think about Winnie and I calling you that, my son yelled.

Yeah, Mom, Willies right! You love money more than us, dont you? Just take Grandpas offer! If you dont, we wont forgive you! his sister chimed in.

I looked at themmy kids, the ones I nearly died giving birth to. Their words stabbed me in the heart, and before I knew it, tears had spilled down my cheeks. God, the pain was unbearable.

Fine. I dont need either of you. I just want whats mine.

In the end, the Barrymores covered part of the settlement. I signed the divorce papers, took my share, and walked away without looking back.

I moved to Australia and decided to adopt a child.

The orphanage director eagerly introduced me to all the kids, but my eyes landed on a gloomy-eyed boy in the corner.

He sat there, his small body curled up in the corner as if he didnt belong to the world around him.

Noticing me looking at the boy, the director explained quietly, That boys had it rough. His parents had a poor relationship, and his father would abuse both him and his mother. One day, he watched his mother get beaten to death. When he was brought here, he didnt speak at allhe was withdrawn and isolated.

I flipped through his file and found out that he was exceptionally intelligent, with an IQ over 170, and had a photographic memory.

He didnt like to talk, often lost in his own world, preferring to read by himself for over 10 hours a day. But he was emotionally shut off, cold even, unable to connect with others. His traumatic childhood must've stripped him of any feeling.

Gently, I took his hand and asked, Do you want to come with me? I want to be your mom.

His lifeless eyes suddenly brightened up a little, and he nodded.

With his slightly hoarse voice, he asked, Can you take my two friends too? Theyre both girls, and theyre really good.

I ended up taking in Duncan Chadbourne and his two friends Matilda Tychson and Minerva Gottlieb.

Each of them had something special about them, and I put everything I had into helping them grow. I stayed by their side every step of the way.

Duncan had this crazy talent for business from the start. At just 12, he was already making money selling homemade holiday chocolates to his classmates. Then he taught himself how to code, created a computer game, and sold it online.

He just had this instinct for spotting what the market wanted. By the time he was 15, he had landed a million-dollar investment and was working with college grads on game development. As his experience grew and the market expanded, his business empire slowly spread into various fieldsluxury sports car finance, fintech, internet services, AIyou name it.

His empire kept expanding, and eventually, he became the richest man in the world.

Matilda was a lot like himcalm and composedbut she was more into research, particularly in the field of groundbreaking technology development.

With Duncans investment, she founded Frontier Technological Research Institute, focusing on advancing research in areas such as communication technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence chips, and other fields.

The institute had been specializing in providing core technical support for Duncans company. Together, the siblings combined efforts had made their business empire technologically far ahead of their competitors.

Minerva, on the other hand, was lively and kind. She believed in the power of education and worked her way up until she became the principal of a prestigious academy.

This academy not only catered to students from elite families but even had the presidents son enrolled.

Over the years, I gave my all to raising my three adopted kids, and having them around made my life a lot less lonely.

But as my 50th birthday approached, I decided it was time to go back to the U.S. to pay a visit. The kids were acting all mysterious, dropping hints about some big surprise they had planned for me.

At the party, Leanne stood by the entrance, wearing a peacock-green dress that showed off her curves and fair skin. She linked arms with Harlan as they greeted the guests.

Leanna! Youre here! she said with a big smile, rushing over to me and taking my arm. Before I could react, she grabbed my arm and led me to where the media was waiting, striking a perfect graceful pose.

I know thereve been some rumors going around, but theyre all nonsense. My sister and I have a great relationship. I would never interfere in her marriage or be some kind of homewrecker. These lies have really hurt me. I hope our friends in the media can help clear things up.

Before she finished speaking, her eyes brimmed with tears, and a mixture of sorrow and strength appeared on her face.

Miss Barrymore, a reporter called out, is it true that your sister interfered in your marriage before? Rumor has it you were forced to leave 20 years ago. What do you say to that?

Before I could answer, my father jumped in.

Leanna, youre finally back! he said, coming over with my stepmother. In front of the cameras, they pretended to hug me and even had tears glistening in their eyes.

Everyone, I havent seen my daughter Leanna in 20 years. Im sorry, I got so emotional. At my age, all I want is for my kids to stay close. Thats enough for me, he said, dabbing at his teary eyes with a handkerchief.

Miss Barrymore, why havent you visited your father in 20 years? Is that any way for a daughter to act? another reporter asked.

And what about your son? Hes taken over the family business, and the company is about to go public while your daughters studying for her Ph.D. in New Zealand. In all these 20 years, your children have missed a mothers love. Why did you leave your son and daughter behind and leave the U.S.?