The Mistake
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 1
Kim Lee met Joe King in college. Joe was a star defensive end on the football team. Kim was a genius and enrolled in college at thirteen, majoring in genetics and mathematics. While Joe was a star on the football field, he was a below-average student. Part of his problem was that education took a back seat to football.
Joe was failing math and science, and he would be suspended from the team unless he maintained a C average. His scholarship was at risk, too, and his parents would cut him off financially. His parents were wealthy and from old money. His father was a banker, and his mother managed her family trust and was active in charities. They didn’t approve of him playing football, but they let him pursue his passion as long as he got a degree, too.
Kim Lee was ten years old when her parents died in a plane crash while visiting relatives in China. Her uncle Jon Lee assumed guardianship of her and her parents’ estate. He wasn’t happy about her disrupting his lifestyle. He had a successful import/export business and was more than glad to send Kim to college at age thirteen. She was on a full scholarship and an allowance from her parents’ estate. She wouldn’t gain control until she was twenty-five years old, so she was under her uncle’s mercy and power.
To have extra money, Kim is tutoring while going for her doctorate. Kim was 18, and Joe was 20 when they met at the university’s athletic tutoring center. She tutored athletes because the university paid tutors well to keep them eligible to perform. Kim barely got Joe up to a C average, and the football team qualified for the playoffs.
The team advanced to the championship game but lost after their quarterback threw an interception. Joe had three sacks and four quarterback pressures, earning him national recognition. He let the accolades go to his head, barely maintaining a C average for the rest of the semester. Kim had to hunt him down to get him to study and reported his lack of learning to the football coach. She said If he doesn’t want my help, fine, but I’m not his babysitter.
Joe left for the summer, and Kim took summer courses and taught beginning mathematics classes because of a shortage of professors. She didn’t hear from Joe until the fall term, and he was in serious trouble. He partied all summer and didn’t work out. So, he showed up for football out of shape and overweight. The coach threatened his scholarship and position on the team if he didn’t get into shape and lose weight.
Joe spent so much time getting into shape that his studies suffered, and he was at risk of being academically ineligible for the football season again. The coach read Joe the riot act and told him to get his shit together. He said, Joe, it doesn’t matter what he did last year, but how you perform this year on the field and in the classroom. So, stop thinking you’re a star and apply yourself, or you’ll be second- or third-string or off the team.
He reapplied himself and showed up for his tutoring sessions and classes. Joe was actually on the verge of a B average when he injured his ankle. He became depressed, and his studies suffered. The rehab was slow, and Joe missed four games. Then it took him two more games to get back into game shape. Half of the season was gone, and he had planned to enter the NFL draft. Now he wasn’t able to do it, and he went into a deep depression.
The coach arranged psychological counseling for him, and Kim did her best to keep Joe eligible. During one of their counseling sessions, Joe kissed Kim and then took advantage of her inexperience and took Kim’s virginity. He apologized afterwards, leaving her sore and crying. That ended their counseling sessions, and Joe got another tutor. Kim didn’t report Joe because she couldn’t risk her uncle finding out and having to deal with the embarrassment.
After missing her period for the third month, she went to the clinic and had a pregnancy test. It confirmed her belief she was pregnant, and she cornered Joe after football practice. He denied he was the father, knowing better. Kim said Fine, I’ll wait until the baby’s born and then sue your ass for support. It will look good, dogging your responsibilities when you come up for the draft. Joe didn’t have a choice and called his parents.
James and Joan King were irate at Joe for getting a Chinese girl pregnant. Their family couldn’t have their name associated with such disgrace and hired an attorney to settle it with Kim Lee. Kim was overwhelmed by the attorney’s pressure and sought legal aid from the university law school. It turned out that she got one of the professors because she was pursuing her doctorate. Professor Ryan Flynn put the screws to the King family, securing an excellent settlement and a trust fund for the baby.
Kim Lee delivered a baby boy, whom she named Li Yong Lee, and didn’t list the father. But Li developed an immune deficiency like lupus, and there was no cure, but a bone marrow transplant was the best hope. Kim wasn’t a match, and Joe’s parents refused to let Joe get tested or donate. Li’s condition worsened, and Kim was desperate. The hospital couldn’t locate a donor, and she didn’t want to lose her son.
Then she remembered working in Professor Alvin Beck’s lab during the summer. He was working on a classified government project and couldn’t tell Kim about it. But while mixing compounds and analyzing them, she figured out it was a performance-enhancing drug. She used her key late at night to enter Professor Beck’s lab and search his computer files. The professor could remember his passwords, so he wrote them on a piece of paper under his desk blotter.
Kim copied the formula and notes to a USB drive, then read the professor’s notes. The drug was intended to enhance performance, mental acuity, and resistance to viruses and nerve agents, thereby creating a super soldier. The goal was to alter the DNA’s genetic structure to ensure superior performance. The formula improved the performance of young lab animals, but some things couldn’t be tested on them. The only hope was to conduct underground human testing to gauge the formula’s full effects. Professor Beck was reluctant to do it, but he had no choice.
Kim retrieved the key for the refrigerator/freezer from the desk and located the serum. She estimated Li’s weight to be that of the lab animals and withdrew the serum in a syringe. Then she added a small amount of saline to aid drug distribution and absorption and mixed it. Kim had unknowingly found the link that made the drug work. She rushed to the hospital and to the pediatric intensive care unit. Kim kissed Li on the forehead, said I love you, blocked the camera with her body, and injected the serum into Li’s IV.
Li went into convulsions, then his heart stopped. A code blue was called, and doctors and nurses rushed in and shocked Li’s heart twice, and he resumed a normal heartbeat. Kim thought she had killed Li and was outside the intensive care unit crying when a nurse informed her that Li was alive and ok. She went back inside, and the doctor said Li’s vitals had improved and that, if they continue to improve, she could take him home soon. Kim couldn’t believe it. She kissed Li goodnight and returned to her graduate apartment. Exhausted from the ordeal, Kim undressed and crashed.
The next morning, Professor Alvin Beck entered his lab, hungover from drinking his problems away the previous night. His CIA case manager, Mark Bland, gave Alvin an ass chewing yesterday and said if progress wasn’t made, his contract soon would be terminated. Alvin was worried about what termination meant and suspected it meant the project and him. He made coffee and added a bit of bourbon. Then he turned on a burner, forgetting to light it, and opened the refrigerator/freezer to get a serum sample.
The phone rang, and he answered it while sitting down at his desk. It was Mark Bland saying he would be by this afternoon to check on the program’s progress. Alvin said shit and lit a cigarette. The lab exploded, killing Alvin, destroying his computer, and all the serum samples. The fire alarm went off, and the sprinkler system activated, saving the building, but nothing remained of Professor Alvin Beck or his lab.
A week later, Kim brought Li home to her apartment, and he was alert, active, and inquisitive. Li would point to things and ask what they were. At three months, he began to speak and showed no interest in children’s books or stories. Kim had no trouble finding babysitters, as everyone loved Li. She resumed her doctoral studies and got her degree.
Li was two when she accepted a professorship from the university, which allowed her to spend more time with Li. Li began reading with his babysitters, unknown to Kim. They were all graduate students, so Li had a wide variety of reading material. Kim got an apartment near campus, and Li would be babysat in the graduate student dorms. It was convenient for Kim as she could easily drop off and pick up Li.
It also prevents her uncle from finding out if he visited. She always visited him because he was too busy to bother coming to the university. Kim also kept him in the dark about her becoming a professor at the university. If she told him, he would cut her allowance, even though she didn’t need it with her salary. The allowance went into a savings account for Li and her in case of an emergency.
Kim also continued the serum injections for Li every six months. She had the formula, made it as necessary, and adjusted the dose to his weight using saline as the distribution agent. Li also learned Chinese from her, and they spoke it when they were alone in the apartment. She told Li it was important to know the language of his heritage, and she would soon teach him how to write in Chinese, too. Then one day she arrived at Jackie’s apartment to pick up Li, and he was reading Moby Dick with her.
She asked Jackie how long Li had been reading, and Jackie said six months. Li told Mom not to get upset; he reads with most of his babysitters. Kerry teaches me math, and Olivia teaches me science. Carmen has been teaching me Spanish, too. Jackie told Kim she needed to get Li tested and into a home-schooling program soon. He also needs to do something physical to burn off energy.
Kim picked up Li and began tickling him, saying You’ve been holding out on me and they laughed. When they got home, Kim looked up homeschooling tests online, hoping they could take them that way. She wanted to avoid physical testing that would bring unwanted attention to her and Li. Kim knew about what people do when they find out you’re gifted, and she didn’t want it for Li. She found a website for a homeschool supplier that offered testing to place students in the right grade.
While they ate, Kim told Li not to tell anyone about their education or how advanced they are. They will take advantage of you and force me into a difficult position. Li promised to keep it a secret and to let the babysitters continue teaching him new things. Kim asked Li what he wanted to do for exercise, and he said he wanted to do martial arts. They get to run, jump, tumble, and roll, and they laughed.
Joe King wasn’t doing well after college. He was drafted in the fifth round, cut from the team, put on the practice squad, and then released. He tried out for two other teams, but his training was poor, and he struggled to learn the playbook. Finally, his father and mom put their foot down, and he went to work as a trainee investment banker at his father’s firm. After two DUIs and getting another girl pregnant, his parents gave him a choice. Enlist in the military, or you’re on your own.
Joe enlisted to keep from being disinherited. It didn’t go well for him as he didn’t take orders well. Being one of the lowest-rated recruits and the oldest, he was assigned to the motor pool and assigned to drive a truck. One day, he was assigned to drive the fuel truck to the depot, fill it, and deliver it to the airfield for refueling the aircraft. He did as ordered, but forgot to put the cap on the tanker after filling it.
The fuel was splashing out at every turn and stop. When he finished his cigarette at a stop, he threw it out, igniting the spilled fuel, then the truck. Joe King died in the explosion, and there wasn’t much to identify. Although the army knew Joe had been assigned to drive the truck, they conducted DNA testing before notifying his relatives. James and Joan King were devastated that their only son had died and regretted not being firmer with him growing up.
After the funeral, James and Joan discussed Joe’s son Li with the Chinese girl. He was their last relative, and they signed away any rights they had to the boy out of disgust. They consulted an attorney, who told them the agreement was ironclad. If they opened up litigation, all their actions would be exposed, and it would be disastrous to their reputations. So, James and Joan hired a PI to keep tabs on Li Lee. He would check on him two or three times a year and get photos for them.
The next day, Kim went online and signed up for a homeschool program. Li took the test and scored at the fourth-grade level. She ordered the fourth- and fifth-grade programs, thinking it would be good to have both for the Li. The way he was advancing both programs made sense. The next thing was a laptop for his studies, and she got him a mid-range one.
The last thing was locating a martial arts dojo that would train Li privately. She didn’t want Li competing with other children or to be observed by their parents. That would be a challenge, and she searched online for dojos in the area. Kim found six, and only two offered private lessons. She visited both and chose Sensi Chen’s dojo. He was shocked to see how coordinated Li was and that Li spoke Chinese. Kim told Sensi Chen about her family issues, and he promised to keep everything confidential.