My mother was my father’s sugar baby.

Every year, he would hold her in his arms and promise, “Wait for me. Next year, I’ll marry you.”

He said it for five years.

In the end, he married a woman from his own social circle instead.

My mother never got the wedding she dreamed of. After that, she became unstable and cruel.

She used me as a way to get my father’s attention.

“Go. Call your father and tell him you’re sick. Tell him to come see you.”

But my father only frowned and yelled at me.

“You’re already learning to lie from your mother at such a young age? Always haunting me like this. Disgusting.”

They blamed all the anger they had for each other on me.

Later, my father’s wife gave birth to a son.

He became the perfect husband and father in everyone’s eyes.

My mother only grew worse. She hit me harder and harder, all just to make my father come look at her once.

When I was seven, I fell down the stairs and broke my leg.

I begged my mother to take me to the hospital.

She slapped me hard across the face.

“What are you pretending for? You fall once and suddenly your leg is broken? You’re just like your irresponsible father. You were born to make me suffer.”

My father rushed over, but he only shoved my mother to the floor in irritation.

“If you use this little bastard to fake being sick and trick me again, don’t expect another cent from me.”

Their screams and sobs tangled together.

I lay on the cold floor, slowly losing consciousness.

This time, could they finally stop fighting?

The shouting grew louder and louder.

My father shoved my mother to the floor.

I forced myself through the pain in my leg and crawled toward him. Then I grabbed the hem of his pants and whispered, “Dad, please stop fighting with Mom. I’m okay now.”

The next second, he kicked me away.

My already injured leg slammed into the table and chairs again.

The pain was so bad my vision went dark. I curled up instinctively, trembling on the floor.

But my father only glanced at me in disgust.

“Stop pretending. When have you ever actually been sick? Every time we take you to the hospital, nothing’s wrong with you.”

Then he turned to leave.

My mother grabbed him with both hands and refused to let go.

“What is that supposed to mean? He’s your son too. You’re really just going to walk away and leave him?”

My father yanked himself free and snapped, “What do I mean? You’ve taught this kid to do nothing but lie. He’s exactly like you. Disgusting.”

My mother froze.

Then a wild look flickered in her eyes.

“Exactly like me? Weren’t you the one who lied to me first? You kept saying you were going to marry me. And now?

“If you hadn’t promised me that, I never would’ve given birth to this child. Since you don’t care about him, I won’t either.”

My father shook his head like none of it mattered.

“Fine by me. I don’t want him anyway.”

My heart clenched.

Dragging my injured leg behind me, I crawled back to him and begged, “Dad, please want me. I’ll be good. I don’t eat much. I won’t cause you any trouble.”

For once, my father looked down at me.

Maybe I looked too pitiful.

Maybe I looked too much like him.

For a moment, I thought I saw a trace of pity in his eyes.

He rubbed my head.

“Don’t learn from your mother anymore. But I have to go home and cook something nice for your little brother today, so I’m in a hurry. I can’t stay with you.”

Before I could say anything, he turned and left.

My mother collapsed on the floor and broke down sobbing.

I didn’t know how much time passed before she finally stood up.

She looked at me once, then turned and walked away without the slightest hesitation.

Before she left, I heard her say, “Since even you can’t make your father stay, you’re useless to me too.”

My instinct to survive made me want to grab her and never let go.

But when I saw her walking away without looking back, I lowered my hand in despair.

The pain in my leg grew worse and worse.

Tears streamed down my face.

Then the pain blurred my mind until I could barely stay conscious.

It hurt so much, Dad.

I really wasn’t lying to you…

Slowly, I stopped feeling the pain at all.

Without thinking, I tried to move my leg.

To my shock, it actually moved.

But when I turned around, I saw myself curled up on the floor, covered in injuries.

That was when I realized I was already dead.

I stared at my own body.

My pant leg had ridden up from the pain, and the injury underneath was horrifyingly clear.

Yet I didn’t feel scared at all.

Because neither Mom nor Dad wanted me.

Maybe death was the only way out.

At least they wouldn’t fight because of me anymore.

They could both go on living their own lives.

Before I could take a closer look at myself, a sudden force pulled me out of the room.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself watching Dad at the grocery store, picking out a rack of ribs.

After grabbing the ribs, he headed over to the produce section and picked up a few vegetables. Then he turned and noticed a corner store had just stocked a new batch of toy car models.

He hurried over and looked through them carefully before finally choosing two dark green models in different styles.

A smile tugged at his mouth.

“Henry’s going to love these.”

I stared at the toy cars with envy in my eyes.

Because ever since I could remember, I had never received another toy.

I still remembered one time when Mom took me grocery shopping. I saw a toy car model I loved and begged her to buy it for me.

She looked at me with disgust and told me to ask my dad for it.

But when I asked Dad, he slapped me across the face.

He said toy cars were expensive and that I was already wasting money at such a young age.

But now, he bought two for my little brother without even thinking twice.

He didn’t think they were expensive at all.

I pressed a hand to my chest.

A dense, aching pain spread from there, making it hard to breathe.

I followed Dad as he carried bags of groceries back to his home, looking happier than I had ever seen him.

The moment we walked in, I saw family photos everywhere.

In every picture, Dad was smiling with pure happiness as he held that little boy in his arms.

He placed the new toy cars somewhere Henry would see them the second he came in.

Beside them were all kinds of other toys.

I stared at those toys.

They were everything I had once dreamed of having.

Even though none of them belonged to me, seeing someone else actually own so many still made something tremble inside my chest.

Then my gaze shifted to the smiling little boy in the photos.

Without meaning to, I whispered, “You’re so lucky.”

Dad hummed as he busied himself in the kitchen.

Before long, the delicious smell of dinner filled the room, and he carried the dishes to the table one by one.

Once everything was ready, he made a call.

“Honey, bring Henry upstairs for dinner. It’s all ready.”

Soon, a woman walked in holding a little boy’s hand.

The second the boy saw Dad, he ran straight over.

Dad crouched down, and Henry kissed him on the cheek.

“Daddy’s cooking smells the best. I’m hungry!”

Dad picked him up and laughed.

“Good boy. What a sweet talker.”

I looked at the joy in Dad’s eyes.

I had never seen him look like that before.

But I was his son too.

When I lived with Mom, she beat me whenever she was angry, so I wanted to see Dad more than anything.

But every time I saw him, he only looked at me with disgust and said I was sick, disgusting, and a liar.

A father’s love was supposed to be strong.

It was supposed to make a child feel safe.

But even now that I was dead, I had never felt it once.

My eyes grew hot again.

I clenched my teeth and refused to let the tears fall.

The feeling in my chest was bitter and sharp.

The three of them sat at the dinner table, happiness written all over their faces.

After dinner, Henry Leedon noticed the new toy cars Dad had bought him.

He rushed over and tore open the packaging.

“Daddy, you bought me the new model cars again! They’re so cool!”

Dad walked over and rubbed his head.

“No matter what you like, I will find a way to get it for you.”

At that, Henry’s eyes lit up.

He looked up at Dad eagerly and said, “I remember Calvin once gave you a pouch. Can you give that to me too, Daddy?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Because he knew exactly what was inside that pouch.

That had been my first time at Dad’s house.

I had given him that pouch as a gift.

I shook my head desperately, hoping Dad wouldn’t say yes.

Because that pouch held the blessing Grandma had given me to keep me safe.

She was the only person who had ever loved me.

It was also the last thing she left me before she died.

I had given Dad the protection charm because I wanted him to stay safe.

I didn’t want him to leave me suddenly the way Grandma had.

But Dad didn’t care at all.

He pulled the pouch out of a dusty cardboard box and handed it to Henry.

Henry held it in his hands and looked up at him with a grin.

“Daddy, did you ever open it?”

Dad shook his head.

“Why would I? It’s not like there’s anything useful inside.”

I floated beside him and stared at his calm face as he said those words.

A faint ache spread through my chest.

But Henry opened the pouch without a second thought.

A folded protection charm slipped out.

Then he picked up a lighter and set it on fire.

I rushed forward in a panic, trying to put it out.

But it was useless.

All I could do was watch the charm get swallowed by the flames little by little.

Grandma’s smile seemed to disappear with it.

And the father I had once wished safety for threw the pouch and the burned charm straight into the trash.

Then, still shaken, he scooped Henry into his arms and scolded him with worry in his voice.

“You’re too young to play with fire. What if you burned your hand? If you don’t like this thing, we can just throw it away.”

I looked at Dad, whose eyes were filled with nothing but Henry.

For the first time, hatred rose inside me.

I wondered what would happen if Dad found out one day what that charm had meant.

If he knew I had once loved him so much.

Would he regret it, even a little?

Would he spend the rest of his life drowning in guilt?

I stood beside the trash can and watched the charm turn to ash.

My blessing had turned to ash with it.

When I looked up, I saw the smug look in Henry’s eyes.

He pulled out a notebook.

I drifted closer and saw what he was writing.

[Calvin, I won again. Daddy will always love me the most!]

My whole body trembled uncontrollably.

So he had known everything.

Dad glanced at the trash can in disgust, wrinkling his nose at the burned smell. Then he kicked it farther away before turning back to play toy cars with Henry.

Their laughter filled the room.

Their happiness was everywhere.

But my blessing and I would both be trapped in this day forever.

Only now did I finally understand.

A child no one cared about would never matter, no matter what happened.

Not even if he died.

It was as if something inside me suddenly went quiet.

All the resentment in my heart disappeared in an instant.

For the next two days, I watched their family’s happiness like a stranger spying from the shadows.

Then the weekend came.

I saw Dad sneak in from outside carrying a six-inch cake.

So that day was Henry’s birthday.

The moment Henry woke up, Dad placed the surprise and the cake on the table.

I saw his eyes light up with joy.

But I had never celebrated a birthday before.

Not even once.

I had never even heard anyone say “happy birthday” to me.

Dad urged Henry to make a birthday wish.

Henry pressed his hands together. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Dad.

“I wish Daddy would only ever love me, and no other child.”

Dad smiled and tapped the tip of his nose.

“Silly boy. Why would you need to wish for that?”

“You’re the only child I have. Of course I only love you.”

Henry jumped up happily and threw his arms around Dad’s neck.

“That’s great, Daddy! Now I don’t have to worry about anyone taking you away from me!”

I watched them without any expression.

Even though I had heard with my own ears that Dad didn’t acknowledge me at all, my heart didn’t even ripple.

After that, Dad took him to the amusement park.

Then he took him to a toy store and let him pick out anything he wanted.

Just as the two of them were enjoying their father-son time, a phone call ruined the mood.

“Mr. Leedon, this is the building management. We need to inspect your gas line to make sure everything meets safety regulations, but we’ve stopped by several times and no one has been home.”