Chapter 3

Just as I was about to speak, my phone vibrated. Grandma Evelyn’s name flashed on the screen.

I looked up and saw the security camera in the living room blinking with a red light. I forced a bitter smile.

Grandma Evelyn had been monitoring me. She would never allow me to reveal the truth.

“Caleb, if you’ve got Leo’s clothes packed, come over. He’s waiting.”

Grandma Evelyn’s voice was kind, yet a chill ran down my spine.

I nodded and hung up.

Quinn watched me suddenly pack my things without a word, raising an eyebrow:

“What about what happened back then? Don’t tell me you’re going to say you had a reason too?”

A flicker of anxiety crossed Declan’s eyes. He quickly interjected:

“Quinn, no man can accept his wife having a child with someone else. You should consider his dignity as a man.”

Quinn exploded in anger. She snatched a glass from the table and hurled it at me:

“A good-for-nothing parasite living off my family, and he has the nerve to talk about dignity?”

I didn’t say a word. As the glass shattered, I walked out of that suffocating house and headed to Grandma Evelyn’s old estate.

The moment I arrived, Grandma Evelyn pressed a bank card into my hand:

“Caleb, you and Leo have suffered so much. Take this money.”

I knelt before her:

“I don’t want money. I just have one request.”

Grandma Evelyn quickly helped me to my feet:

“If you want to leave, I’ll allow it. You’ve endured so many years of hardship. The favor I did for you back then has long been repaid. You don’t owe me anything.”

I looked at Leo’s lifeless body, my eyes reddening:

“Besides that, I want to take Leo with me, change his last name, and bury him in our family plot back home.”

Grandma Evelyn hesitated.

After all, I had married into Quinn’s family, and Leo not only bore Quinn’s family name but was also entered into their family tree.

Knowing she wouldn’t easily agree, I handed her the crumpled pregnancy test slip:

“Quinn is pregnant. She’ll have other children. But Leo only has me as family.”

Grandma Evelyn remembered what Quinn had done to Leo. Unable to bear it any longer, she finally nodded in agreement.

After handling Leo’s funeral, I cradled his ashes and returned home to get my documents.

*Click!*

The lights flickered on. Quinn was sitting in the living room, waiting for me, while Declan stood beside her with a smug, almost triumphant look.

The atmosphere was eerily tense. Quinn was the first to break the silence, angrily declaring:

“Look at what your son has done.”

I raised an eyebrow, confused.

Leo was dead. What could he possibly have done?

Declan slowly patted Quinn’s back:

“Calm down, honey. Don’t upset the baby.”

“Leo added peanuts, which you’re allergic to, to your nutritious meal. He was just jealous of his unborn brother and wanted to harm him. It’s our fault, we didn’t discuss having a second child with him. He’s young, he doesn’t know any better. You shouldn’t be mad at him.”

Quinn was furious:

“It seems the last punishment was too light. He hasn’t learned his lesson.”

He was just a three-year-old. How could he know anything about that?

Besides, he was already dead…

“Leo didn’t do it.”

He was such a good, considerate boy. Until his last breath, he regretted pouring cold water and making Quinn angry.

But Quinn believed someone else’s malicious lies and wanted to punish him.

Ultimately, Quinn had transferred all her hatred for me onto our son.

I’m so sorry, Leo. Mommy hated you because of me. You didn’t do anything wrong.

I hugged the urn tightly, fighting back tears.

Declan sighed:

“If he didn’t do it, then did you?”

Quinn became even more enraged, grabbing a tissue box from the table and throwing it at me:

“It’s because you always cover for him that he became so unruly at such a young age! He needs a lesson today, to learn some discipline.”

“Hand Leo over right now, don’t make me punish you instead.”

He was so small. How could he possibly take the blame for such a serious accusation?

I couldn’t take it anymore. Holding up the urn, I yelled:

“Quinn, Leo was locked in his room and died from a high fever because of you!”

“His ashes are right here! How could he possibly harm you?”