The Wish That Wouldn't Let Go Chapter 1

In the year I loved Julian Thorne the most, I gave him the System's Magic Lamp of Wishes.

He was so smitten, he said he wanted to have a child with me.

I agreed with my words, but that very night, I faked my death and became his "white moonlight"—the one who got away, gone too soon.

Six years later, the System found me, on the verge of a breakdown.

"Host, the original target wants me to ask you: your son is in the operating room. Do you want to see him?"

I remained calm. "I never had a child with him."

The System sounded even more desperate.

"The night you faked your death, he wished for a child with the Magic Lamp. The Lamp didn't give him one, so he went on a rampage. To maintain world stability, we gave him a child with both your genetic markers."

"Now he's completely lost it. He told me to tell you that you must meet him today, or he'll pull the plug on your son's oxygen."

Hearing this, I immediately transmigrated back to the original world.

The System dropped me into a hospital room.

A five-year-old child sat on the hospital bed.

Seeing me appear out of nowhere, his pale, tender face showed only a hint of surprise.

His round, dark eyes stared at me. Then, with one hand in his pocket, he coolly handed me a bank card.

"I'll give you ten million dollars. Stay and be my mom."

* * *

The kid was handsome, with an arrogant demeanor exactly like Julian's.

The System chimed in with an explanation.

"Host, this is Leo, the child created from yours and the target's genetic match. He's six years old."

Seeing the card Leo handed over, I was surprised.

"You know me?"

Leo stared straight at me, his eyes showing a maturity beyond his years.

"I know you're my mom. I've seen you in the photo album in that man's safe."

I was even more surprised.

The child refused to call Julian "Dad."

Was their relationship that bad?

The System prompted:

"The relationship between the target and the child is very distant. In the week since the child's surgery and hospitalization, he hasn't visited once."

I frowned unconsciously.

Julian was being way too irresponsible as a father.

Leo was his child, after all.

Leo looked at me, his small hand clutching tightly.

"So, will you stay and be my mom?"

I choked, not knowing how to answer.

I knew Julian's temper.

Years ago, when I was kidnapped, I had been gone from Julian for less than half an hour when he turned the whole city upside down.

He broke the legs of all the kidnappers and left them on the roadside. Yet, looking calm as ever, he squatted down, held my hand, and wiped the places others had touched with a towel, over and over again.

His love was as crazy and dark as he was.

For me, he even wished for a child from a Magic Lamp.

But I faked my death and left him for six whole years.

If I agreed to stay, I would definitely run into Julian.

I couldn't imagine what that madman would do when we met again.

Seeing my silence, a flash of panic crossed Leo's eyes.

"Is ten million not enough? How about a hundred million?"

"I can write you an IOU. When I grow up, I'll pay you every cent."

With that, Leo pulled out a piece of paper and grandly wrote several zeros, handing it to me to sign.

The next second, a maid rushed in, dropped a bowl of medicine, snatched the IOU, tore it to shreds, and threw it in the trash.

"Young master, you're confused! This is the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth bad woman who got plastic surgery to look like the Madam to trick you. I'll tear off her disguise right now!"

Saying this, the maid rushed over to pull my hair.

Ignoring his pain, Leo quickly climbed out of bed and blocked her, frowning and shouting.

"Who told you to touch her? Do you think I can't even recognize my own mother?"

The maid's lips trembled.

"But Young Master, the Madam died six years ago. How could she be the Madam?"

"Shut up! My mom isn't dead. That man said it himself, Mom is a 'Tasker.' She had to be his 'white moonlight,' so she faked her death to trick us."

I was startled.

Julian knew I was a Tasker. He was too smart; I couldn't hide it when I approached him, so I just told him. But I never revealed the plot.

How did he know I had to be his "early-departed white moonlight"?

Did he always know, or did he find out after I faked my death?

"She is my mom! I finally met my mom. Get out! Don't touch her."

Leo glared fiercely at the maid, protecting me like a beast guarding its cub.

The maid was driven out of the room. Before leaving, I saw her making a call.

Leo bit his lip and secretly wiped his tears, leaving a red rim around his eyes, which made my heart ache.

"You pulled on your surgical wound, didn't you? Does it hurt?"

Leo huffed, arrogant just like Julian.

"It's just an appendectomy."

I paused.

Appendectomy?

Then why did Julian make it sound so serious, threatening to pull the plug? I thought the kid was dying!

The System spoke timidly, "Maybe he threatened you like that just to trick you into coming back?"

It did sound like something Julian would do.

I rubbed my throbbing temples.

Looking at the child's pale face, my heart softened.

Seeing the medicine on the table, I took a few steps, and Leo immediately grabbed the hem of my clothes tightly.

"Mom... I-I'll write you another IOU. You can have as much money as you want. I'll definitely pay you. Please don't leave me, okay?"

Seeing his pitiful look, so afraid I would abandon him, my heart turned to mush.

I had just found out about his existence and met him for the first time, yet I genuinely felt the guilt of abandoning my husband and child.

I picked him up and placed him on the hospital bed.

"I'm not leaving, and I don't want an IOU. I'm going to get your medicine. If you take your medicine, the wound won't hurt anymore."

He shook his head vigorously. "I don't hurt. I'm very tough."

I said softly, "If you drink the medicine, I won't leave."

Leo's dark eyes suddenly lit up. He took the medicine, pinched his nose, and drank it in one go, coughing as he choked.

Then he grabbed my clothes tightly.

"I drank it. You can't leave. You have to stay with me!"

"Okay, I'll stay with you."

"Swear it!"

I was helpless. Like father, like son; they both loved making me swear.

"I swear, I'll stay with you. Your wound hasn't healed yet. You need rest. Sleep now."

I patted his back gently.

Leo's ears turned red. He tried hard to keep his eyes open, examining me carefully, but eventually couldn't resist the drowsiness and fell asleep.

His fingers, however, still gripped my sleeve tightly, refusing to let go.

I stared at him, my heart softening inch by inch.

Just then, the silent System suddenly issued an urgent alarm.

"Host! Something happened to the original target!"

I was startled. "What's wrong?"

The next second, a large screen appeared in front of me.

On the screen was the villa where Julian and I once lived. The living room was densely packed with wooden puppets.

Julian sat in the center of the living room. His chiseled face was as handsome as it was six years ago.

His distinct fingers held a carving knife, adjusting the curve of a puppet's earlobe bit by bit.

As the last wood shaving fell to the floor, he murmured softly.

"Serena, this is the two thousand and ninetieth you. I've waited for you every day for six years. Why won't you come back? Is it because I wasn't good enough that you left me?"

His eyes were vacant. The eyes that were once full of ambition now held only despair and numbness.

I was shaken, involuntarily recalling the first time I met Julian.

He had been kicked out by his father. In the dead of winter, wearing only thin pajamas, covered in bruises, he walked barefoot towards the sea.

Just like now, there was no light in his eyes.

I desperately pulled him ashore and forced clothes onto him.

He looked at me warily and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Why did you save me?"

I casually said, "Because I can see the future. I know you'll become a very powerful person later. Powerful enough to overturn the world."

I wasn't exactly lying. He was the big villain in the book. As long as he survived the hardest times, he would be a man more powerful than the protagonist.

Julian was suspicious by nature, but he believed me.

Then, in just three years, he became the madman everyone talked about, unscrupulous for money and power.

And I was his only weakness.

I snapped back to reality, seeing Julian raise the carving knife and slice his fingertip without hesitation. Blood dotted the puppet's lips, completing the final touch.

He smiled, his blood-stained fingertip tracing the puppet's face, his eyes full of obsession and satisfaction.

"My Serena is so beautiful. Pity, no matter how much it looks like her, it's not her."

I shivered. Following his gaze, my blood ran cold.

The villa was filled with puppets, all looking exactly like me.

Lifelike. It showed how dedicated and obsessed the carver was.

Six years later, he seemed even crazier.