Chapter 2

Before, if she’d given me a flower, I’d have been too excited to sleep.

But now, clutching Leo’s tiny clothes, my heart was torn to shreds, numb from the pain.

Her raised arm must have gotten tired because she angrily flung the flower at my face:

“I only brought Declan with me for protection. Nothing happened between us. Who are you putting on this face for?”

A thorn from the stem left a small cut on my cheek, a thin line of blood welled up.

A flicker of concern flashed in Quinn’s eyes, and her temper softened slightly:

“Whatever, I’m not going to waste my breath on you. Just so you know, I’m going away on a business trip for a year. You manage our son, don’t cause any trouble, I…”

As she spoke, she suddenly gagged.

Declan immediately rushed to pat Quinn’s back, feigning carelessness and letting a pregnancy test slip fall from his pocket.

I picked it up. It read: four weeks pregnant.

No wonder. Before, her trips with Declan would last for months. This time, she barely left before coming back. So, she was pregnant.

She said she was going on a year-long business trip, but she was clearly trying to escape and secretly give birth to this child.

My poor Leo. To try and please Quinn, he saw Declan, the one Quinn pampered the most, coughing. So, he copied what his teacher taught him and poured Declan a glass of water.

But because it was cold water, Quinn decided he was being malicious, trying to harm Declan.

Even though he was burning with fever, she ignored my desperate pleas and locked him in his room.

I fought with all my strength to break free from the bodyguards’ grasp, slamming myself against the door to save him, not caring if it killed me.

My tiny son was hot as a furnace, but his last flicker of consciousness was still shaking his head:

“No, Daddy. Mommy said three days. The time isn’t up yet. Mommy will hate Leo if she knows.”

They say real men don’t cry easily, but that day, I couldn’t control myself. Tears streamed down my face:

“No, we don’t need this mommy anymore, Leo. I’ll take you to the hospital…”

Tragically, it was too late. He couldn’t be saved.

Before he took his last breath, he clutched my sleeve and choked out, “Why didn’t Mommy come see Leo? Was Leo a bad boy?”

Looking into his hopeful eyes, my throat was raw. I couldn’t utter a single word.

Now, seeing this pregnancy test, I only felt a bitter irony.

If Leo had known that the mommy he adored had poured all her energy into another child, how heartbroken would he have been?

I couldn’t control my rage any longer. I flung the pregnancy test slip in front of Quinn:

“Quinn, this is what you call ‘nothing happened’? Have you ever considered how Leo felt?”

A flicker of shock crossed Declan’s face. He hadn’t expected me, who usually endured every injustice in silence, to actually resist. He quickly lowered his head and explained to Quinn:

“I’m so sorry, Quinn. I was just so overjoyed about being a dad that I kept the pregnancy slip in my pocket. I didn’t mean to drop it, and I certainly didn’t expect Caleb to see it. Please punish me.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow and soothed Declan:

“It wasn’t intentional. Don’t overthink it.”

Then, she glared at me:

“You have the nerve to bring up the child? Aren’t you the one who caused all of this?”

“Caleb, everything happening today is your just desserts.”

My gaze darkened.

Years ago, Quinn wanted to use IVF to have a child for her idealized first love, Julian, who was supposedly dying of cancer. It turned out Julian was faking a terminal illness and then absconded with the charity funds.

Her Grandma Evelyn, fearing Quinn would lose her mind, asked me to tamper with the IVF procedure.

I refused point-blank.

Though Quinn and I had a marriage certificate, we’d signed a contract long ago. We were only a marriage of convenience, not allowed to interfere with each other’s private lives.

But Grandma Evelyn knelt before me, pulling out records of all the tuition fees she’d paid for me, from elementary school to my PhD, begging for my help:

“My son and daughter-in-law are gone. Quinn is my only grandchild. If anything happens to her, I won’t want to live either.”

Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I couldn’t refuse. I had no choice but to do as she asked.

Quinn gave birth to my son, believing he was Julian’s orphaned heir, and cared for him meticulously.

For a while, seeing how good I was with Leo, her attitude toward me improved significantly. She even suggested canceling our contract and genuinely building a life together.

Then Declan appeared. She became completely infatuated with Declan’s face and mannerisms, which were ninety percent similar to Julian’s. She started spending nights out.

She thought I didn’t know. At first, she met him in secret. Later, she even arranged for him to be her personal bodyguard, always by her side.

But life was relatively stable, so I turned a blind eye.

When Quinn eventually learned the truth and decided to send Declan away, he threw out a paternity test, accusing me:

“Caleb used your trust to tamper with the IVF procedure, ensuring the man you love would have no descendants. And you, Quinn, you’re so foolish, enduring and sacrificing for him? You’re a complete joke!”

Quinn flew into a rage on the spot. From that day on, her attitude toward Leo and me completely reversed. It was constant abuse, harshness, and punishment.

I could suffer, but I never imagined Leo would lose his life because of it.

Now, facing Quinn’s accusations, I couldn’t help but want to reveal the truth:

“Quinn, about what happened back then…”