Eight years after running away pregnant, I found myself crossing paths with my ex-husband, Howard Quinn.

His friends stared at me in surprise. "So, this is what you have become after leaving Howard? Reduced to a cleaner?"

When I was six-months pregnant, I met with an accident. While I lay there, he was staying by the side of another woman, his so-called true love, in labor, never leaving her side.

When I confronted him, in pieces, he looked at me bored and impatiently. "Don't be so jealous and petty. I have no time for you. As long as you behave, you'll always be Mrs. Quinn."

I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ran away, staying away for eight long years.

Now, those sharp eyes glared at me. "Have you had enough? If so, come home."

What he didn't know was that my husband and daughter had already made dinner, waiting for me and my son to return home.

"Where have you been all these years? Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" Howard Quinn yelled at me, stopping me in my path.

His eyes gleamed maniacally as I looked worriedly at my son, Charlie Jerome, clearing the trash nearby.

Howard's friends stood in front of me, glowering at me angrily.

"You heartless woman! How could you be so cruel?"

"Do you know that Howard had stayed single all these years because of you?"

I ran away eight years ago when I was pregnant. Howard had never forgotten about me, constantly trying to find me. His friends were angry on his behalf.

"We thought you would be doing well after leaving Howard. Who would have thought that you'd end up being a cleaner?"

"That's right. If it weren't for Howard helping you, you were destined to end up being a cleaner anyway. This is what you get for running away!"

Howard furrowed his brows, seemingly affected by the comments.

"Nina, how have you been the past eight years?"

I clutched the red safety vest on me, feeling a sudden wave of emotions. After leaving Howard, I lived in the draftiest of basements, drinking the dregs of others' meals, and laid on the operating table feeling desolate and uncared for.

Luckily, everything was over.

A few of Howard's friends smirked.

"Now, do you know how good Howard is?"

"Why don't you kneel and beg him for forgiveness? Perhaps, if he's in a good mood, he'll forgive you."

They sniggered and looked at me lewdly.

Howard remained silent, having no intention of stopping them.

Charlie thought that I was being assaulted. He quickly rushed over with clenched fists and glared at the men. "Don't you dare lay a finger on my Mommy!"

I was afraid he would get over agitated, so I immediately pulled him into my arms, comforting him, "Charlie, don't worry. I'm fine."

Charlie had the same aloof expression as Howard, so Howard immediately recognized his own son.

He looked at him tenderly. "Charlie, is it? I'm your father. Come and let Daddy have a look at you."

Howard gently reached his hands out to Charlie, but Charlie smacked them away and yelled, "You're not my Daddy! My Daddy is the chairman of the Larson Group! He will always protect Mommy and I! You're just a bad man!"

The chairman of the Larson Group, Ian Larson, was a rising magnate of Kappa City. Even the older wealthy families had no choice but to respect him. He was someone who even a man like Howard could barely gain an audience with, much less me.

Howard's expression darkened instantly.

"Is this how you educate your son? Full of lies, vain and shameless? He doesn't even know how to acknowledge his father!"

Howard was sure that I harbored ill intent, deliberately teaching my son to call another man his Daddy.

What he did not know was how Charlie was teased in school because he did not have a father.

Charlie was also diagnosed with autism, which made it difficult for him to have normal social interactions.

If it was not for Ian's patient care and companionship, and me telling Charlie that Ian was his father, I could not bear to think how much pain Charlie would be in.

As expected, tears started welling up in Charlie's eyes as he got agitated.

"I'm not lying! I'm not a liar! You're the liar! You're the…"

Howard snatched Charlie from me and glared at him. "Is this how your mother brought you up? To be so rude to your father?"

"What are you doing?! Don't scare him!"

I was about to console Charlie when Howard shoved me away.

"Look at him! Selfish and full of lies! He's nothing like anyone in the Quinn family! He's like that because of you! I'll have to properly teach him a lesson!"

Charlie's cheeks puffed angrily as he bit on Howard's hand. In a flicker of fury, Howard slapped Charlie without thinking.

Charlie bawled out sobbing in pain.

Howard was stunned. He was about to comfort Charlie when the phone rang.

"Howard, where are you? Jason is crying looking for you. He won't stop crying…"

Cheryl Smalls' voice rang out from the phone, and a child crying could be heard in the background.

Howard softened his tone and replied, "Tell Jason that I'll be back soon."

He hung up and let go of Charlie impatiently.

"I have things to deal with. You and Charlie should wait here for me. Don't go anywhere."

Behind us stood a huge arcade. Howard led his friends inside in a rush, clearly going in to placate Cheryl and her son.

After all, back then, all it took was a call from Cheryl for him to abandon me, who was pregnant and in an accident.

Charlie's school activity was not over yet, but the incident he had just endured left his condition visibly worsened, so I immediately asked the person in charge to allow him to leave.

Returning to our temporary lodging, I coaxed him to sleep when I received a call from a friend.

"Howard Quinn is looking into you. Should I stop him?"

"No, it's fine."

Our trip to Kappa City was only for seven days. After those seven days, Howard and I would lead our own lives, like parallel lines, never crossing each other again.

After the call, the doorbell rang.

"Nina, let's talk."

Howard stood in front of the door with a delicately decorated cake. He openly took in the 'simple' place, not hiding his disdain and condescension.

"You're staying in this place? This is smaller than a bedroom in the Quinn family. Is this what you call happy?"

His condescending gaze somehow brought me back to eight years ago when he was casually chatting with his friends.

"Nina Jerome is great, but she's pretentious. She needs people to coax her."

"It's only normal for men to play along, right? She'd argue with me about every little thing."

"Since she doesn't like the luxury lifestyle the Quinn family could afford, you could let her suffer a little so that she'll learn her lesson. She needs to understand that in this family, pleasing men is the most important thing."

In that family, I was like a caged bird. I could only be the obedient, docile partner. If I were to cross the line, I would be killed heartlessly.

After eight years, Howard seemed to think that I had completely learned my lesson. He looked at me with delight, but his joy was soon crushed.

I calmly threw the cake he brought into the bin.

Howard continued, "Charlie is my son. Even if you don't care about yourself, you should care about his future, right? Are you going to let him follow in your footsteps, being a cleaner for the rest of his life, being looked down upon?"

I interrupted him, which caught him by surprise, "This cake was meant for Cheryl, right? Charlie inherited my genes. He's allergic to mangoes."

The first time I was sent to the emergency hospital after accidentally eating mango, Howard was so worried that he did not sleep the entire night. He cried for half an hour when I woke up.

However, later, when Cheryl appeared, there would always be mango in the house.

Cheryl was the one who liked cake with fruits. Not me.

"I'm sorry…"

Howard felt a little sheepish, starting to remember bits and pieces of the past. However, soon, he blamed it all on me.

"If you hadn't left when you were pregnant, I wouldn't have lost eight years with my son! If he had always been with me, I would surely remember his preferences!"

He lashed out at me, "In the end, it's all your fault! You were selfish!"

Silence hung thick in the air.

Soon, he lost interest in maintaining pleasantries.

"Charlie is my son. I won't give him up. I'm going to give you time to think properly. I'll come and pick you up in two days."

That evening, I attended a gala at the request of the person in charge, Evan Watson. He knew I was worried about Charlie, so he deliberately reminded me to bring Charlie along.

At the gala, Evan had arranged an assistant to help me look after Charlie.

"Thank you for getting Mr. Larson to help us the last time. When he arrives later, I'll properly thank him in person…"

Halfway through, Evan had a call to attend to, so he left. I was about to look for Charlie when I bumped into Howard and his gang.

"My, my. Isn't this the cleaner, Ms. Jerome?"

"This isn't a gala for common folk. How could someone like you enter?"

Howard's gaze darkened.

"You shouldn't be here! Leave at once!"

Howard used to think that I embarrassed him, so he never brought me to any formal social events. His friends naturally looked down on me as well.

"I saw her coming in with an older man. Do you think she slept with him to get a ticket in?"

I furrowed my brows. Just when I was about to retort, we heard children fighting from the other side of the hall.

I waded through the crowd to see a fat kid pinning Charlie down on the floor, glaring at him while Charlie clutched his head.

I was so terrified that I began to tremble. I instantly ran over and pulled the fat kid away from him.

Charlie's face was scratched and his shoulder was dislocated, but he was insistent on not shedding a single tear.

The fat kid spotted Howard and immediately ran to him, burying in his arms sobbing.

"Daddy, he called me a fatherless child. He also called me a liar…" Jason Smalls sobbed.

Howard consoled him before turning to Charlie with a darkened expression. "Apologize at once!"

He kept insisting that Charlie was his son, but when his son was being bullied, he immediately sided with the enemy instead.

Charlie pouted as his body trembled. "Mommy, I didn't do it. He was the one who called me a liar. He said I stole his Daddy. I ignored him, but he hit me…"

Tears welled up in his eyes.

I knew my son best. If he had not been pushed, he would not be forced to such a state.

Howard bellowed, his face flushed. "Enough! You're already lying at such a young age! You've followed in your mother's footsteps. I'll have to teach you a lesson!"

He snatched Charlie over. I tried to get Charlie back, but Howard kicked me in the chest.

He then forced Charlie to apologize to Jason in front of everyone.

Cheryl tried to stop him. "Why don't we forget about it? It's only normal that children lie once in a while. Charlie doesn't have his father to guide him all these years, so of course, he would be led astray. You don't have to be so angry at him."

Howard's gaze gleamed furiously. "Don't interfere in this! He's only eight, yet he's already a liar. If I don't discipline him now, it'll be harder in the future!"

Then, he started smacking Charlie's bottom.

Charlie shuddered and bawled out sobbing. Howard reprimanded him, "Apologize to your older brother at once!"

Charlie was crying, but he refused to apologize.

Howard got even more furious. He was about to punch Charlie when the doors to the hall opened.

A tall figure entered with a little girl in his hand, walking past the crowd.