The leaves picked up from the roadside, the flowers plucked along the way, or the simple stick-figure drawings from kindergarten. As long as he liked it, Ben would present it carefully to Wanda.

However, their loving mother and son's bond began to deteriorate ever since Wanda forbade him to eat sweets because Ben had a tooth decay problem.

As this thought went across her mind, Wanda choked back tears and began packing up all these items.

When the delivery man arrived, Wanda handed him the package and gave precise instructions, "Please send this to Villa No. 14 in Clear Water Bay exactly one week from now. The recipient’s name is Christina. Tell her she can have the husband and son now. After all, I’ve decided to discard this garbage heap of a father and son.”

"What are you discarding, Wanda?"

Just as the words fell, Eric held his son, Ben, in his arms as he walked towards her. The boy held a bouquet of vibrant red roses in his hands.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Ben ran eagerly toward Wanda. “Mommy, I picked these flowers just for you! Do you like them?”

He stood on his tiptoes and thrust the bouquet into her hands, his bright eyes were glistening with hope for getting her praise.

Eric glanced briefly at the departing delivery man. Suspicion flashed in his eyes as he asked, "What were you sending just now?

Wanda did not elaborate, she only said, "Nothing important., they were just some useless junks."

“You should’ve let the housekeeper handle that. You know you’re not in the best health and should be resting more,” Eric said disapprovingly, his brows furrowed. It seemed he was really concerned for Wanda, his wife.

“I’m not made of porcelain. A bit of housework won’t hurt me," Wanda refuted.

Eric shook his head helplessly. "You’re always like this. Leave such tasks to me from now on.”

He continued, "By the way, for our wedding anniversary tonight, Ben and I picked out a jade bracelet for you. Do you like it?”

He handed her a bag and his face was full of apology. “I had planned for us to have a nice dinner together in a restaurant, but something urgent came up at work. I had to take Ben with me to the office. How about we reschedule and celebrate the anniversary properly next week?”

Ben nodded his head enthusiastically and chimed in, "Daddy was super busy. I even fell asleep waiting for him at the office!”

Wanda studied Eric's face for a long time. Yet his expression only showed the love she used to see, there was not a trace of guilt there.

As for the supposed dinner at the restaurant, Eric had brough Ben along with him to see Christina. There was no way he could split his time to celebrate with Wanda, even if he wanted to.

Wanda only laughed as she looked briefly at the banquet in her hand and said carelessly, "I see. Let's go inside immediately. Look! Ben is freezing with cold."

In the past, Wanda would have immediately shielded Ben from the cold wind at the door. She would even offer him her scarf. Now, however, she didn’t bother. She simply used this as an excuse to change the subject.

Once inside, both father and son duo looked around the noticeably emptier living room with puzzled expressions.

Eric quickly realized that something was amiss. His lips tightened as he asked cautiously, “Wanda, did something go missing in the house?”

Ben also noted that the family portrait he had given his mother was gone. He hurriedly tugged the corner of Wanda's clothes and asked anxiously, "Mommy, where is my painting?"

Wanda calmly shook away her son's hand. She took a sip of water in the living room, then replied slowly, “Those things were taking up too much space. I sold them to the scrap collector."

When he heard this, Eric sighed a quiet sigh of relief. For him, as long as that matter remained concealed, everything was okay. Although he was cheating on his wife, inside his heart, Wanda was his one and only wife.

He relaxed his tense expression, leaned down and pinched Ben's dejected cheeks.

"This phrase is called 'out with the old, in with the new'," said Eric. "This is just a way for your mother to encourage you to draw a brand-new family portrait for her. After all, our little Ben has grown so much."

It was clear, Ben took his father's words to heart because he threw his body to Wanda's arm and with his childish voice he vowed, "Mommy, I’ll draw lots and lots of new family portraits for you!"

Well! Out with the old, in with the new, huh?

Wanda's eyes were full of self-deprecation. So, this old wife and old mother would have to give way to the younger and prettier Christina.

The aroma of food lingered faintly in the air and entered Eric's nose. However, when he spotted the still steaming beef stew discarded in the trash, he was surprised.

"Wanda," he called out. "Did you cook dinner last night?"

"I haven’t cooked in a long time," Wanda answered calmly. "It turned out so awful that I threw it away."

Wanda had no idea why he cared enough to ask. Even the sight of Ben clinging to her legs felt suffocating.

She stood abruptly and to bush them off, she said she felt unwell and headed upstairs.

No sooner had she reached her bedroom than her phone began buzzing incessantly. When she opened her WhatsApp, she saw Christina had sent her three photos.

The first one was a photo of Christina holding a bouquet of red roses. She was posing with Eric and Ben.

The second one showed the trio of them enjoying a meal at the restaurant they had booked weeks ago.

The last one was a close-up of an emerald bracelet on Christina's wrist.

As she stared at the warm and intimate image in the photo, the dull pain in Wanda's heart turned into a sharp pain that stabbed her heart continuously. The hurt was so bad that it was so much harder for her to breathe.

Vaguely, the memory of twenty years ago resurfaced in her mind. When she was just nine years old, her parents died in a plane crash. While her relatives were fighting to take over her custody so they could take a dip into the enormous Hamilton Family's inheritance, only Eric, who was only fourteen years old at that time, took her hand and gave her home again.

Back then, he had said, “Wanda, I’ll protect you and never let you suffer.”

That promise had turned him into the single light in her life. She had stumbled and fallen over the years, but she always followed him.

When she learned of his stomach problems, she chose to major in food science and tirelessly honed her cooking skills, just to make him comforting, nourishing meals.

When he went abroad to study, she pushed herself to take the IELTS and practice her English, all to enroll in the same university.

High society circles whispered that Wanda was nothing more than a child bride raised by the Gordon Family. Yet, she did not care. She believed with all her heart that she and Eric would have their happily ever after.

However, in the world of the wealthy, true feelings fade faster than the seasons. Eric now had a new lover, but he still tried to deceive her with lies.

As Wanda wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, Christina's message came again.

"I presume you have received your wedding anniversary gift, right? The emerald bracelet is too big and old-fashioned for me, but it should suit you perfectly."

The arrogance of the younger woman clearly could be seen in her writing. Her words dripped with veiled insults about Wanda’s age and fading beauty.

Wanda turned off her phone, took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. She wanted desperately to act as though nothing had happened. However, she could not lie to her heart.

The red roses and the jade bracelet … Actually every single "gift" from Eric and Ben had been nothing more than Christina’s discarded leftovers.

That realization alone was enough to suffocate her. She couldn’t help but question every gift from the past. Had they all been things rejected by other women? The thought made her feel like a fool forever believing she had been cherished.

Just then, Eric entered. He was holding Ben's hand who was dressed in his bear-print pajamas. "Ben insisted on sleeping with us tonight," he said.

Eric brought their child to bed and out of habit, wrapped his arm around Wanda.

“You seemed upset tonight,” he said gently. “Anniversaries aren’t about the date. What matters is who you spend them with.”

He smiled faintly as his mind drifted to the surprise he had planned. On her birthday, he was going to unveil a special gift. It was a new brand that he had named after her, "Wanda." However, he would hold this surprise for a week time before revealing it to her.

Wanda did not respond because she was afraid that the moment she opened her mouth, her hoarse voice would betray her emotions. So, she lay stiffly in his arm and murmured a barely audible response.

By the time Eric thought of saying more, he noticed she had already slept. Their son, Ben, exhausted from playing, had also fallen fast asleep in her arms.

Then, Eric's phone began to vibrate repeatedly. It was a message from Christina.

He slid his arm from under Wanda's neck and opened their chat box. Perhaps because of the guilt, he purposely turned around from the sleeping Wanda.

When the sight of Christina in a revealing outfit entered his eyes, he could not help but cough awkwardly.

She sent him a message, "Do you want to come out and play tonight?"

Just when Eric was about to decline, she video-called him. "Are you sure you aren't coming?" Christina teased. "Christmas is around the corner and I can fulfill one of your wishes … let's see … how about I act as a Christmas fairy? The kind that will grant everything you want."

Eric's heart raced. Christina sure knows how to play her cards right, he thought. Yet, tonight was his wedding anniversary and leaving Wanda alone had already crossed a line. Meeting someone else in the middle of the night would be a bit too far.

Yet, while the rationality was still running in his mind and Wanda was lying quietly beside her, his desire grew as the woman at the other end of the video call coyly slipped out of the last few layers of her clothes.

Slowly, Eric got up as he promised himself it would be the last time that he indulged his desire before Wanda’s birthday.

Just as he reached for his coat, Wanda stirred awake. When their eyes met, Eric forced himself to remain calm and smile, "Something urgent came up at work. Did I wake you?”

He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead as if to reassure her. Without waiting for a response, he grabbed his car keys and left.

With the slam, the door closed and once again the room went silent.

Ben startled awake by the noise, rubbed his eyes.

When he noticed that Eric wasn't there, he muttered in a small voice, “Dad is sneaking off to meet Christina alone again, next time I'll be sure to follow!”

Wanda froze. Her gaze fell on her son as her heart broke into pieces.

Realizing he had said something wrong, Ben quickly covered his mouth and hugged her as he tried to cover it.

“Mommy, Daddy must be busy with work,” he said, his voice soft and comforting. “However, I’ll always stay with you.”

Despite his words, there was a tinge of regret in his young eyes.

Wanda didn’t respond. She didn’t praise him for being thoughtful, as she usually would. She just tucked Ben back under the covers, then stared blankly at the ceiling.

Hearing the sound of the car engine downstairs, she curled into a ball and covered her ears with her hands.

Maybe if she blocked out the noise, she could convince herself that Eric really was busy with work and he was not with another woman.

Eric didn’t come home that night. He even did not return in the morning.

As Wanda sat down for breakfast, her phone buzzed with a message from him:

“I asked Jane to make chicken soup for you. Don’t forget to have some. Let the nanny take Been to kindergarten. You should rest more and not tire yourself out.”

Eric had her daily life arranged down to the last detail.