Chapter 4

Up on the stage, Brandon didn't dare look me in the eye. A flash of guilt crossed his face. He turned his head away and said coldly, "I don't know you. Someone like me would never have a mom who works as a cleaner. Both my mom and dad are already here.

"Security, get her out of here right now. People like her have no class. She's just here for free food."

Brandon's words shattered my heart. I turned around to look for Jeremy, but he had his arm wrapped intimately around Emma.

Jeremy met my gaze, frowned, and gave me a warning look. Before I could say a word, he beat me to it and said loudly, "What? Are you trying to claim a connection with me again and say you're my wife?"

He sneered. "Look at yourself. You're just a plain, washed-up woman. And you still think you can seduce me? My gorgeous wife is right here by my side. Look at you. You can't even compare to a single strand of her hair.

"Get out of here right now. Stop embarrassing yourself. If you want a free meal, we'll give you some leftovers meant for the dogs after we're done eating."

Emma had clearly recognized me. She looked down at me, sizing me up critically, her eyes gleaming with triumph. She was dressed in luxury brands from head to toe and didn't even bother to speak to me.

She was now a successful entrepreneur back from abroad, looking barely 38 years old thanks to how well she had taken care of herself and how elegantly she dressed.

Meanwhile, I had spent my entire life working ordinary jobs and had washed dishes at this hotel for more than two years. The hardship had aged me so much that we looked as if we belonged to two entirely different generations.

Seeing that I still refused to leave, one of Brandon's close friends couldn't hold back and stood up. He reached out, grabbed a piece of bread off the table, and hurled it at me.

He said, "Why haven't you gotten lost yet? You're this old and still have no manners. You just came to swindle a free meal, didn't you? Are you really that desperate for a meal?

"I've seen plenty of people like you online, showing up out of nowhere for free food without even bringing a wedding gift. If you don't leave, we'll call the cops. Aren't you ashamed of embarrassing your family?"

My past job had been perfectly respectable. When I finally retired, all my coworkers sent me off with flowers, and I retired with dignity and pride. I had never been so disheveled and humiliated in my entire life.

The security guards didn't believe the ridiculous claim that I was the groom's biological mom. Fearing they would face complaints if this dragged on any longer, they stopped holding back.

They gripped my arms so hard that they ached. My hair came loose and fell into disarray. They forcefully dragged me toward the main exit.

I cried out, "No! I really am Brandon's biological mother! Jeremy, Brandon, the two of you are ungrateful and heartless—"

Some guests nearby even pulled out their phones and started live-streaming me. They seemed to think the shots weren't clear enough from a distance, so they shamelessly ran to within a few steps of me and shoved their cameras in my face.

"Everyone, take a look. I've really seen it all today. I actually ran into the kind of old woman who takes advantage of her age to deliberately ruin a wedding and get free food and drinks."

"Does anyone watching the live stream know this old woman? Hurry up and take her home so she stops making a fool of herself."

The two guards hauled me up and threw me out of the hotel in front of everyone watching.

The freezing wind and snow hit my body. Wearing only my thin work uniform, I shivered uncontrollably from the cold.

I had truly raised an ungrateful son. Not only did he refuse to acknowledge me as his mom, but he even called his dad's mistress "Mom" over and over again.

I closed my eyes for a moment, took out my phone, and called the hotel's general manager, Calvin Finch.

With red-rimmed eyes, I said in a hoarse voice, "Hello, Mr. Finch. Could you do me a favor? In a little while, please help me play some photos and videos on the big screen behind the couple."