The guilt on Daniel's face vanished in an instant.

He stepped in front of Claire, shielding her as he shot me a suspicious look. "Grace, did you hit her?"

I fixed my stare on Claire, my voice icy. "You have no right to judge my son."

Claire's eyes welled up with tears. "I know you've always looked down on me, but Daniel is a good man and capable. I don't want him to be kept in the dark.

"Oliver's so young, and he's already faking medical records. Who knows what he'll do when he grows up?"

I frowned, turning to Daniel. "Do you really think Oliver did that?"

Daniel fell silent, his gaze sweeping the room before a bitter laugh escaped him. "What else? Oliver's as strong as an ox. How could he be dead?"

I bit back a bitter smile, my heart heavy.

If he'd just read my messages or answered my calls, he would have known Oliver was gone.

But I was just a nuisance to him. He blocked my number and told me not to lose it.

In his eyes, Oliver's cries of exhaustion were laziness, and my illness was just me slacking off.

To Daniel, my son and I were like wound-up clocks, expected to tick along to his rigid schedule, every second mapped out by his rules.

But I was never one for rules, or I wouldn't have been the one to save him back then.

The year we graduated, while everyone else was hunting for jobs, I was off exploring the world.

One night by the river, I found Daniel ready to end it all. He said his father's pressure was crushing him, depression gnawing at him, and he just wanted to escape.

I stayed with him, night after night and helped him go from nothing to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Daniel's eyes bore into mine now, his voice dripping with accusation.

"Do you have any idea how exhausted I am every day? If it weren't for our son, do you think I'd bother with these relentless investors, this endless grind?

"And here you are, stirring up trouble instead of helping. If you were half as smart and driven as Claire, I wouldn't have to work so hard."

Claire was smart, all right. I knew that the moment I first laid eyes on her.

I was just passing through a remote village when I first met Claire. Her parents were trying to marry her off to an old bachelor right after she finished middle school.

I couldn't just stand by, so I stepped in and saved her, promising to help her get through college.

Back then, she was so grateful.

After I got married, I worried she might be struggling at school, so I often invited her over for meals, bought her clothes, and even got her a phone.

Then, in her sophomore year, I found out she was pregnant.

I panicked and urged her to get an abortion.

But Claire was stubborn. She said she'd never had a real family, and she was determined to raise the baby while continuing her studies.

I was furious and cut ties with her, but Daniel secretly supported her.

When she finally gave birth, I couldn't stay angry. I ended up taking care of her and even helped with the baby while she finished school.

When she had nowhere to stay, I let her live in our home.

It wasn't until Oliver started complaining that Daniel kept giving his toys to Lily and the neighbors began warning me to keep an eye out that I finally asked her to move out.

By then, she was more than capable of handling things on her own.

After that, Daniel seemed to get busier with work, staying late, working longer hours, and growing colder toward me.

I even thought about divorce.

But every time I saw how Oliver reacted when his classmates' parents divorced or when he eagerly awaited those rare moments Daniel spent with him, I hesitated.

I grew up an orphan. I didn't have much to begin with, so love or no love, it shouldn't matter to me.

I told myself that, but I couldn't stop the lump in my throat or the ache in my heart.

I was ready to let go as I had bought a small house by the sea, found a good school for Oliver, and was all set to live out the rest of our lives in peace, surrounded by nature.

So why, when Daniel couldn't even find the time to take Oliver to the doctor, did he rush to catch a flight to accompany Claire overseas?

I glanced at Daniel, disappointment heavy in my heart.

Oliver had asked me time and again after being let down by his father. "Mom, why doesn't Dad like me?"

I never knew how to explain it to him. Daniel had fallen out of love with me, and gradually, that extended to Oliver too.

They said love begot love, but I guessed hate worked the same way.

Just as Daniel was about to speak, Claire's shrill scream pierced the air.

Lily somehow got her hands on a Doraemon LEGO set and started playing with it.

When Claire noticed, she angrily grabbed Lily by the ear and snapped, "All you ever do is play! If you keep this up, you'll end up as clueless as Oliver!"

The sight of that LEGO set made my heart leap into my throat.

It was Oliver's final gift to me for Mother's Day, a gift he had practically risked his life for.

Without thinking, I rushed forward, trying to snatch it back.

But Claire heard me coming and quickly yanked it from Lily's hands.

Seeing me approach, she raised the LEGO set high above her head.

Lily glanced at me, then looked longingly at the LEGO set.

Claire noticed and, in a fit of anger, hurled it to the ground.

The pieces shattered instantly, scattering across the floor.

My mind went blank.

The last time I had seen Oliver, he was lying lifeless in my arms, and the pain of that memory was unbearable. Now, the only thing he left me, the one piece of him I still had, was destroyed right in front of my eyes. It felt like someone had driven a knife through my heart.

In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to grab a knife and end it all.

I dropped to the ground, frantically gathering the broken pieces, muttering and begging Oliver not to leave me.

Oliver knew how much I loved Doraemon. When Daniel picked him up from school, Oliver had asked him for money, but Daniel refused.

Later, Oliver found out that the fencing school offered rewards, and if he worked hard, he could pick a prize.

He pushed himself through an entire class, determined to earn that LEGO set. After class, he proudly assembled it right there at the fencing school, ready to surprise me.

Oliver had once said, "I'll be like Doraemon, always by your side."

On the countless nights when Daniel had grown distant, Oliver was my lifeline, the one reason I had to keep going.

Now, I sat there on the floor, desperately trying to piece the LEGO set back together, but no matter how hard I tried, it felt like something was missing.

I should've been glad.

After all, anything that could be found could be fixed.

I tried to smile, but as my lips twitched, tears streamed down my face.

I had always stubbornly believed that as long as Doraemon was there, Oliver was too.

But now, Doraemon was shattered, and he was gone.

Claire took a few steps back, her sharp heels crunching down on two LEGO pieces with a loud snap.

I whipped around and glared at her.

She laughed carelessly. "Grace, it's just a few broken LEGO pieces. Don't look at me like that. It's scary."

"Get away from me!" I shouted, crawling over to her and shoving her foot aside, carefully collecting the broken pieces.

Claire wobbled, lost her balance, and fell to the ground.

Daniel rushed to her side, his face twisted in worry.

Before I knew it, I had launched myself at her, grabbing her by the hair and hitting her with all the anger that had been building up inside me.

Claire retaliated, swinging her high heel at me.

By the time Daniel managed to pull me off, her face was already bruised and swollen, far worse than my own.

Daniel didn't say a word, but the fury in his eyes spoke volumes as he glared at me.

Through tears, Claire pulled out her phone, threatening to call the police and have me arrested.

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

But the more I laughed, the darker Daniel's expression became.

He turned to Claire, his voice softening into a plea, asking her to let it go.

Claire looked from him to me, then back again.

Finally, she said, "I won't call the police, but only on one condition. You have to slap yourself fifty times and swear on Oliver's name that you'll never lay a hand on me again. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll forgive you."

I scoffed. "In your dreams."

Daniel's eyes flared with rage as he grabbed my arm, his voice dangerously low. "Apologize to her."

"I did nothing wrong," I shot back, my voice firm.

His grip tightened, his teeth grinding together as he hissed, "You still need to apologize. If she reports you, that's a criminal record, and it could mess up Oliver's future."

I forced a laugh, but it hurt to even move my lips, though it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

"There's no way. She had no right to touch my things."

Daniel's patience snapped. He slapped me hard across the face, the force of it almost knocking the breath out of me.

"You wanted a divorce? Fine, you've got it.

"Everything here is going to be hers anyway. So what if she broke some stupid LEGO? Now apologize to her!"

His words cut deep, like venom seeping into my soul.

When I stayed silent, his fury only grew.

"If you're this heartless, then you're not fit to raise our son. You'll leave with nothing, and Oliver will stay with me.

"And since you don't care about him, you'll never see him again."

With that, he pulled out his phone and called Oliver's teacher, asking to arrange a transfer for him.

The teacher hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly, "Isn't Oliver already dead? That night you picked him up..."