At the school gate...

The moment I saw Elisha, it felt like ages had passed.

I rushed over and held her tightly in my arms.

Her chubby little hands wiped my tears as concern filled her tender face.

"Mommy, what's wrong? Did Grandma scold you again?"

Ever since giving birth to her, Amanda had never shown us any kindness.

It had made Elisha incredibly sensitive.

I quickly shook my head, unable to cherish her enough.

"No, honey, Mommy just missed you."

She pressed her lips, revealing adorable dimples that had been absent for too long.

Her smile brought tears to my eyes again.

Tilting her head, she hugged my neck. "Mommy, even though it's only been a day, I missed you too."

As she spoke, she planted a kiss on my cheek.

At that moment, I stood crying in the crowd like a fool.

After calming down, I held her hand tightly.

Don't worry.

In this life, I would do anything to spare you from even a hint of suffering.

I brought Elisha to a restaurant for lunch.

I hesitated but decided to ask her.

"Elisa, Mom wants to ask you something. If I and your dad...  "

"Mom, I choose you."

Her words cut me off.

She pulled the uneaten burger from her mouth and looked at me calmly.

I just wanted to test the waters to see if she would be upset about me divorcing her dad.

But I never expected her to step ahead of my question.

At nine years old, her gaze was as firm as a wise little adult.

She grabbed a fry, dipped it in ketchup, and handed it to me.

"Mom, every day when I come home from school, you don't seem very happy.

"I love it when you smile, just like me now."

Her dimples appeared on her face again.

"If separating from Dad makes you smile, then Elisa will be happy, too."

Pathetic, tears welled up in my eyes again.

I endured for so long, all in the hope that Elisha would be healthy and happy.

But today, I realized that her hopes were just the same.

After leaving them, we will definitely be better off.

I took Elisa to my mother's place.

My mom adored her granddaughter, and Elisha loved going to stay with her, too.

It was just that in the past, I took Elisha home too often, and Troy would hint that it was laughable to visit my mom so frequently.

I knew it was Amanda's words.

At this moment, all I wanted to say was...

"Fuck you all!"

Once I settled Elisa, I went to Troy's office to find him.

I couldn't wait a moment longer for the divorce.

I rarely visited his investment consultancy firm.

People there didn't recognize me, thinking I was there for a job interview.

I must have interrupted the young receptionist playing video games.

She handed me a cup of water with a paper cup, head down, clearly annoyed.

"Mr. Anderson is busy with business; you'll have to wait."

I didn't respond; I just sent Troy a text.

He asked me to wait for ten minutes.

I had barely sat down when a few salespeople behind me started whispering.

Apparently, one of them took a two-hour leave, and Troy docked him a day's pay.

"Troy is just a big-shot nobody. Without his wife's father, Mr. Oscar Finch, he's nothing."

"His wife must be blind to marry such a loser."

The group was furiously venting when the receptionist, who had just joined in, quickly silenced them.

"Stop, stop, he's coming out."

The door opened, and Troy scanned the room, his gaze finally resting on me.

"Honey, come on in."

As I got up, the people behind murmured, "It's over, we're doomed."

Once the door closed.

Troy was over the moon about a deal my dad had introduced.

Hearing I was there to discuss a divorce only added to his joy, his fists clenched in barely concealed excitement.

Leaving, the salespeople looked at me dejectedly.

I smiled slightly and shook my head gently at them.

They smiled back, understanding the gesture.

After all, they weren't wrong. Troy really was a fool.

In my past life, I loved him for his good temper and the way his smile lit up like sunshine.

So I didn't mind that he wasn't well-off.

But as time went on, I realized that his easygoing nature didn't mean he was easy to communicate with.

Sometimes, when we disagreed, he'd shut down, his indifference more painful than any harsh words could be.

And you could never expect him to empathize with you.

The day Helen sued me, he was out dining with clients.

When our daughter was pushed in front of a truck, the police took Helen away.

I thought, as a father, he'd at least offer some words of comfort.

But to my utter despair, ignoring my heart-wrenching sobs, he just mused.

"Helen is suffering from losing her son, too."

So yes, I was truly blind.

What were the two biggest regrets of my past life?

One was picking up Helen's child.

The other was not divorcing him sooner.

But I had come to realize things weren't as simple as they seemed.

The 30-day cooling-off period for the divorce was ticking down.

I couldn't just move all my stuff out at once.

I was afraid it might make them suspicious and cause them to have second thoughts.

Then, it wouldn't be something that could be resolved happily in just 30 days.

I took an extended leave from work.

Besides picking up Elisa every day, I secretly consulted a lawyer about the division of assets and custody issues.

Sometimes, I'd bring some of my things back home.

The rest of the time, I interacted with them just like before.

Though it was a struggle, this kind of endurance was hopeful compared to my past life.

Interestingly, from the moment I agreed to the divorce, Amanda and Troy started treating me with a strange politeness.

Probably, they were afraid I'd change my mind.

There was only one week left until the divorce was finalized.

I went to pick up Elisa from school.

On the way back, she pouted, visibly upset, occasionally reaching back to touch her spine.

I thought she had a backache. It scared me.

She pinched her little nose.

"Don't worry, Mom, it's not pain.

"It's Kaelan sitting behind me. His ballpoint pen got my clothes all dirty."

Kaelan was Helen's son, and the two kids were classmates.

Unexpectedly, the seat switching brought them together.

She took off her school uniform and handed it to me. A few blue ink lines were not deep but as messy as a ball of yarn.

They looked tough to wash, but as long as it wasn't Elisha feeling unwell, everything else was manageable.

Helen might be awful, but her child wasn't necessarily to blame.

Little boys could be naughty. Perhaps he didn't do it on purpose.

But Elisa said that when her class monitor went to the podium to answer a question, Kaelan stuck out his leg and tripped him on the way back to his seat.

Luckily, Elisa caught him.

"Mommy, if I hadn't caught him, he would have gotten hurt badly."

Hearing Elisa say that it was hard for me not to suspect that Kaelan held a grudge against her.

"Mommy will talk to the teacher about this."

But Elisha stopped me.

"Mom, nobody wanted to sit in front of him, and I felt sorry for him because he doesn't have a dad, so I volunteered to the teacher.

"Maybe he didn't do it on purpose. Let's give him a chance. If it happens again, I'll tell the teacher."

Seeing that she had her way of handling the situation, I decided to wait and see.

Elisa told Troy about the incident, and unexpectedly, he put on his clothes and headed straight for Helen's door.

"I'm going to ask her how she's raising her kid," he said.

It took me by surprise.

Was he suddenly brave enough to confront her, just to make sure I wouldn't reconsider the divorce?

But Helen wasn't exactly a pushover.

In the middle of the night...

I was half asleep when the sound of a child's agonizing cries reached me from the hallway.

The sharp scolding was Helen's.

I glanced at the clock.

It was 12:08 a.m.

It seemed extreme, disciplining a child in the hallway at this hour.

"You had to meddle, didn't you? Now her dad's come knocking at our door. Let's see if you dare do it again.

"If there's a next time, I swear I'll chop your hands off!"

I opened the door.

Kaelan's eyes were bright as he looked up at me.

His face was swollen, his hands covering his backside, his sleeve wiping his face.

His snot was smeared all over.

Seeing me open the door, Helen stopped in her tracks.

Troy quickly stepped forward to shield the boy.

"It's just a small matter. A little scolding should do, right? Is all this necessary?"

I thought she was just putting on an act.

But Helen looked genuinely furious, not like she was faking it.

Were they deliberately trying to keep us awake by coming here?

But was it worth it to harm themselves just to hurt me?

At that moment, several neighbors from downstairs came up as well.

With a face full of grievance, she pointed at me.

"My son and her daughter are classmates. Today, my son accidentally drew on her daughter's school uniform, and she had her husband find me about it.

"Kids don't do these things on purpose, you know? I think she's just taking advantage of the fact that I'm a widow with no one to rely on."

As she spoke, she dabbed at her tears, looking pitiful and helpless.

"It's not a big deal."

"But she was just talking, she didn't really bully you or anything."

"Besides, even if you're upset, you can just say a few words. Scolding your child at this hour is disturbing everyone."

She wasn't satisfied that no one was criticizing me, so she continued to sob.

Finally, a burly guy couldn't take it anymore and said impatiently, "Listen, stop making noise. I have to get up early tomorrow. If you keep it up, I'm calling the police."

Helen, seeing the guy's imposing figure, seemed to get scared.

She wiped away her tears and stopped crying.

She glared at Troy, then grabbed Kaelan from his arms and went back inside.

I thought that was the end of it.

But I was wrong.

The next day, when I opened my door, it was stuck.

I pushed to create a small gap and looked down.

Great, the doorway was covered in trash.

Rotten vegetable leaves and leftover food are scattered everywhere.

The carpet was stained with oil.

And the garbage bag I had tied up and placed at the door the day before.

Now, lay beside it, empty.

Amanda, out for her morning walk, also held her nose and complained upon seeing the mess.

"What a mess! Why isn't this trash bag tied up tighter?

"Elodie Anderson, you should really take more care in what you do."

Mumbling to herself, she tiptoed around the mess at the door and stepped into the elevator, still muttering about me under her breath.

I ignored her words.

Something just didn't seem right.

I was worried about spills yesterday, so I deliberately tied two extra knots.

It was a hallway, not outside. There was no wind or rain.

How could it have gotten like this?

It had to be someone's doing.

Amanda and Troy hadn't left their apartment all night; it couldn't have been them at our doorstep.

We keep regular hours and are never noisy.

That rules out retaliation from downstairs.

On this floor, it was just me and Helen.

Who else could it be?

After I discussed it with Troy, he frowned.

"Is it essential? It was just a few words of reminder.

"Let it go. You take Elisa to school, and I'll clean this up."

Troy rarely deals with such messy tasks; I was in a hurry to take Elisa to school, so I didn't say much more.

When I got home, I was alone in the house.

I pulled up the footage from the front door camera.

Amanda had lost a set of keys before.

I didn't think much of it at first.

But when small items started disappearing, I suspected a thief and called the police.

There was no evidence, though, so the police couldn't do much.

Amanda and Troy told me I was just stressed from taking care of Elisa and probably misplaced things myself.

I didn't argue; I just changed the locks, but I still felt uneasy.

So, I installed another camera.

Afraid Amanda would say I was wasting money, I didn't tell them about it.

Nothing went missing after that, and I stopped checking the footage.

But what I saw next floored me.

Not only did I see Helen kicking over a trash bag.

My hand slipped, and I accidentally clicked a few days back.

In the elevator, Troy stood in a crisp suit, apparently waiting for something.

Curiously, he neither pressed the elevator button nor entered his apartment.

Then, out of nowhere, the door to Helen's apartment opened.

He opened his arms towards the door, and Kaelan actually ran into his embrace.

My mind couldn't process what was happening.

The elevator arrived, and he let go of Kaelan. Then, he gave Helen a lingering, affectionate hug before stepping into the elevator.

That scene...

It was as if they were the natural family.

My hands started trembling involuntarily.

An invisible force seemed to compel me to scroll further.

As expected, the more I scrolled, the more suffocated I felt.

These two seemed to have a tacit agreement.

Every time I brought Elisha home, they would shamelessly act like a couple, displaying their affection at the elevator entrance.

Less than a year after I gave birth to Elisha, Helen moved in with Kaelan, who was only a few months old at the time.

Could Kaelan be Troy's illegitimate child?