Chapter 124: A terrible mistake.

Even with a gap of more than 30 years between them, her mother agreed to marry her father in exchange for funding for her research projects. After a couple of years, that led to her birth and—possibly what brought her father the most joy—the birth of the quirk [Creation], which was clearly an improved version of her father’s quirk, one that allowed him to create metals from his body. Although her mother never cared much about her, and she almost never saw her, her father was a great man. He looked after her and spoiled her like no one else. He enrolled her in the best schools in the world. Furthermore, he gave her anything she could think of to take her already impressive innate talents to the next level, right up until his inevitable death when she was barely 16 years old—an event that surely shaped a large part of who she would become. Her mother, though undeniably brilliant, seemed to have allowed her brilliance to take up so much space that no room remained for feelings. She was cold, distant, calculating, and without a shred of mercy or empathy. So, the moment her father died, she took her share of the inheritance and left without ever looking back, leaving her daughter completely alone. Keiko never saw her mother alive again. Because of that, the barely teenage Keiko created a facade of arrogance and coldness around herself. It protected her from everything and everyone, and allowed her to exploit her genius to its fullest. By the time she turned 25, she had already surpassed her father's fortune several times over. But that was when the great villain of her story appeared. He was an intelligent, handsome, charismatic man, a great conversationalist who seemed not to know the meaning of shame. She met him at a corporate cocktail party and from that moment on, she was besieged by his relentless attempts at conquest. No matter how many times she rejected him, yelled at him, or even humiliated him, he kept pursuing her without rest, showering her with details and attention that no one had ever shown her before—treating her almost like the center of his world. It reminded her so much of her father’s affection that, in the end, she ended up giving in. Awed by a strange feeling that combined the novelty of someone being willing to endure so much for her, and the nostalgia of having a man care for her, pamper her, and lavish her with attention. The armor she had worn for almost 10 years gradually crumbled. In the end, she relented and accepted him as the first man in her life. He was a strange man who always seemed to find new ways to surprise her—filling her office with flowers thanks to the complicity of her employees, showing up with a delicious dinner when she stayed late at the office, cracking silly remarks about her rivals that made her burst into laughter. In short, that idiot was a very skilled charmer, or perhaps she was too naïve at the time, or maybe it was a combination of both. Their relationship began with a kiss in the middle of the night in her office when she was working late, as usual. That night, he arrived with a delicious dinner and put on soft music, started singing to her, and then invited her to a small dance, which inevitably led to a kiss and her first sexual experience. From that moment on, things were almost like a dream. That man became incredibly attentive. He was always willing to help her and support her in everything, to the point where he neglected his own company to help her with hers. After nearly a decade of being on her own, it was so special to have a man by her side whom she could trust and lean on that she thought countless times that living like that until her last day wouldn’t be bad at all. That thought blended into what she believed was reality when, after more than a year of dating, that man proposed to her in the midst of a chaotic, sleepless night of hard work—one in which they were struggling to overcome a patent lawsuit. Somehow, she was so moved by it that she accepted on the spot. From that moment on, things only got better, as though the world were telling her she was doing the right thing. They won the patent lawsuit. Her company began to expand at great speed, her fortune grew like foam, and her reputation started to resonate internationally, establishing her as the greatest genius of the era. Then, just three months before the wedding was to take place, came the “best” news of all: she was pregnant. The news, though shocking at first, was simultaneously exciting. She was going to have her first child with the man she loved, while her company was climbing without any apparent limit. Without hesitation, she personally went to buy a beautiful gift box, a diaper, and a small teddy bear—one that closely resembled the first gift he had ever given her. For the first time in her life, she packed a surprise gift, which she believed would be the first of many in her new life. But reality turned out to be very different. The night she prepared to give him the gift, she decorated the entire living room of her mansion with candles, dismissed all the employees, and even scattered rose petals on the floor. She imitated a little of the romance that had made her fall in love and placed the box on the table as she waited for him. Although dinner was cheerful and romantic as always, when she handed him the gift she had prepared, the look on that man's face was sheer panic, though he quickly hid it and hugged her tightly, swearing they would be happy together and that he would raise the child with all the love in the world. But she should have known better. The idiot was just buying time—how naïve she was. But more than naïve, she was downright foolish, a hopeless fool who didn’t recognize the signs that followed. In the next few days, his usual gestures of affection disappeared. The relentless attention dwindled to meeting only at night, and he didn’t even want to touch her after that, apologizing that things had gotten complicated at his own company. And she, like the fool she was, offered to help. That offer of help materialized in the form of several personal loans for enormous sums of money—nothing she found strange at the time. After all, they were only weeks away from getting married and would share wealth and poverty equally for life. Moreover, over the course of their relationship, she had already invested in several projects at the company of the man she loved, more out of love than for profit, and things hadn’t gone too badly. Naturally, it wasn’t long before their nightly meetings turned into occasional visits. But perhaps out of love, or because she was terrified of having been wrong, she invented all sorts of excuses in her head to justify it and remained hopeful about the wedding—that everything would return to how it was before. And he, without a shred of mercy, kept that illusion alive until one fateful day when he disappeared without saying anything, as though he had vanished from the face of the earth. That day started like any other. She woke up alone in her bed, since he had excused himself by saying he had to work through the night, and he wouldn’t let her accompany him because it could be harmful to the baby. She got ready and went to her office to work, thinking about the incredible future awaiting her family. But things began to feel strange around lunchtime. Although that man hardly paid attention to her anymore, he still made sure to call her at lunchtime to arrange to eat together or, failing that, to apologize and tell her she could have lunch alone. But that day, there was no call, no message—nothing. For the first time since she’d met him, he didn’t show up at lunchtime as usual. Frightened, she tried to call him, but his phone was turned off. She called his office, but no one answered. She called his friends, but nobody knew anything about him. Her panic was so severe that she called the police, hospitals, morgues, and everything else she could think of, fearing the worst—but he never showed up. Terrified, she rushed to his apartment, only to find it completely empty, with nothing but a note on the kitchen counter. That letter was heartbreaking, shattering her heart into a thousand pieces. In it, he confessed that he had pursued her, enduring all of her rejections, contempt, and humiliations simply because he needed money; his company was in a critical state and was basically on the brink of bankruptcy, so he urgently needed funds to survive. The letter felt more like a venting of anger and frustration, filled with complaints every three lines about the sacrifice he had to make to be by her side. Everything he had to endure, and how much he missed his happy single life before his company was hit by erratic stock market moves. But the part that remains seared into her memory to this day is how the letter ended. {I didn’t come into this world to ruin my life with kids. I came here to have fun, and that’s not going to change. All this sacrifice was supposed to be temporary. I’ll go back to my happy life no matter what. That child is a terrible mistake and an embarrassment for both you and me, so it’s better if you get rid of it. But hey, that’s your decision, just like everything in your life, Yaoyorozu Keiko.} The pain of those words was so immense that she couldn’t take it and collapsed, unconscious, in that empty apartment. She woke up several hours later in a hospital after being found by the security guard, who had called an ambulance. At that moment, it felt like just another tragic incident in her life, since all she could think about was dying to stop feeling so much pain. The following days were even worse. She had to cancel the wedding, return the gifts, and remain at the forefront of her company. But whenever she was alone, all she could do was cry while rereading the letter nonstop, unable to find the courage to destroy or discard it—a terrible mistake she would later regret. At the time, she couldn’t think about the consequences. She hated herself for having been so stupid, and she hated herself even more for harboring the ridiculous hope that it was all a joke—the only thing that stopped her from aborting the baby, which she also came to hate in that moment. The days passed, and amidst tears and pain, the day of the wedding arrived. It came and went like any other day, with her employees too afraid to meet her gaze, no friends calling her, and no family to turn to for support. She, Keiko Yaoyorozu, was so poor that the only thing she had was money. Ironically, it was money that ultimately brought her the greatest misfortune of her life. But her life changed forever after that day. ... Recalling her life and her tragedy as she watched the two loves of her life on the screen, Keiko couldn't help but smile with nostalgia and a hint of amusement at how strange life could be. All that pain had led her to meet the best person in the world—the one who changed her life forever and became the seed of the great happiness she now experienced. Truly a heroine in her own way—erratic and emotional, yet someone who had saved as many, if not more, people than her hero husband, including Keiko herself. (Really, thank you, Alisa. Meeting you was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where or how I would have ended up…) While watching Kai and Momo fight, both displaying their incredible skill and prowess, Keiko couldn’t help but smile charmingly. Especially when the fight ended, and she saw her two loves leave the stadium together. It was such a magical feeling that even a few tears gathered in her eyes, prompting Yumiko to comment in a cheerful tone as she put her wine glass aside. “We should start getting ready.” “You’re right; the cake shouldn’t take long to get here.” Keiko quickly wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes and responded with a smile before getting up with Yumiko to begin setting up the garden, with help from Mrs. Yumiko. …  …  … ““““Congratulations!”””” When the sphere of light from Accompany vanished, Keiko and Yumiko leapt onto Momo and Kai, hugging them tightly with all their strength. At the same time, they exclaimed joyfully alongside Chatora and Tomoko, who had arrived earlier, and Nejire, who had just shown up still wearing her hero suit. They all activated confetti cannons with wide smiles on their faces. Looking around, Kai realized they had prepared some sort of surprise party for them, as the garden was decorated with all kinds of ornaments: torches, streamers, balloons, cushions, and more. In the center of it all stood a table with a huge cake topped by two miniature figures of him and Momo on pedestals, which couldn’t help but deeply move the blue-eyed boy. “Thanks, Mom, Aunt Yumiko. I did my best, and it was totally worth it.” Momo said with a bright smile as she returned Keiko’s and Yumiko’s embrace. At that moment, Yumiko added with a smile. “Congratulations, Momo. You really were amazing, and it was so impressive how you helped that young man called Todoroki. I felt very proud of you—you truly changed that young man’s life for the better.” “Thanks, Auntie.” Momo replied, feeling a lump form in her throat. At that moment, Keiko tightened her hug around her beloved daughter and spoke in a warm tone full of love. “You were phenomenal, my princess. Today, the whole country found out that Yaoyorozu Momo is starting out on her path—and in the best way possible. You’ll be a magnificent hero, and you’ll surely leave your mark on the world forever.” Hearing her mother’s words, Momo couldn’t hold back her tears and broke down crying as she buried her face in her mother’s chest. This prompted everyone to gather around the mother and daughter, beginning a group hug that filled them with peace and tranquility, while Keiko began gently stroking her beloved daughter’s hair. *** You can support me on /lordanl and get up to 10 advanced chapters. *** If you are interested, you can give my original novel “Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst” a try, published on this same platform, it already has more than 200k words published. Searᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.