I couldn't understand. How could people change so suddenly?

Leah, who once treated me like her own daughter, had turned into a stranger. And Charles, the man I had spent twenty years of marriage with, had become someone I no longer recognized.

When Charles returned, he found me sitting by the window, my voice lost from crying too much. He pulled me into his arms, the chill from outside still clinging to him.

Silently, he took off his coat and tucked my frozen hands inside his sweater, his warmth seeping into my skin.

For a fleeting moment, it felt like time had rewound twenty years to when we still loved each other fiercely.

Back then, we struggled. Isaiah had cut off every opportunity for Charles, trying to make him regret his decision to get a vasectomy. Because of that, he resented me, too.

In this vast, indifferent city, we had slept in a cramped basement, surviving on instant noodles and steamed buns. At our poorest, we couldn't even afford a single sanitary pad.

On the coldest nights, we curled up together in one bed, wearing every piece of clothing we owned, shivering beneath a threadbare blanket.

I had cried back then, too.

I kept telling myself to let go, that if we clung to this life any longer, Charles, whose health was already fragile, would only wither further.

"Charles, let's stop this. Let's get a divorce. Go back and admit your mistake. If you go now, you might even get a warm bowl of chicken soup waiting for you."

He held me tighter, tucking my hands deeper into his clothes, pressing my frozen feet against his body as if trying to shield me from the world itself. His voice trembled between fear and determination.

"No, I won't divorce you. Natalie, I won't say I was wrong because I wasn't. I'm sorry… The vasectomy hurt, but I couldn't bear to see you suffer. And yet… I still made you suffer."

Bitterness spread across my tongue, the taste no different from the tears that blurred my vision. The past and present bled together, indistinguishable.

"Charles, let's leave, okay?"

"You love children. We can have one of our own, okay?"

"Why? Why didn't you tell me when you wanted a child?"

A heavy silence settled between us, thick and suffocating. It crashed over me like a wave, dragging me back to reality.

Slowly, mechanically, I turned to look at Charles.

As I followed the hesitation flickering across his face, I realized he hadn't come back alone.

This was my first time meeting Eleanor.

Just like in the videos Leah had posted, she was young, poised, and exuded a soft maternal warmth, graceful in a way that made it impossible to look away.

And I turned toward the mirror by the window. My swollen, red-rimmed eyes stared back, puffy like walnuts, the wrinkles at the corners deepened by days of relentless tears. I looked utterly miserable.

Something unfamiliar twisted inside me.

Eleanor's gaze lingered on the very spot where Charles had been warming my hands. The pain in her eyes didn't seem feigned, yet she forced a smile as she gently nudged the child beside her forward.

Charles, visibly shaken by her sadness, didn't hesitate. His hand slipped from mine, and without a second thought, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

He said nothing, just pressed a tender kiss to Eleanor's forehead, a soothing gesture meant for her alone.

A sharp wave of bitterness surged through me, and my fingers, still not fully warmed, turned cold once more.

Eleanor shyly touched her face, then glanced at me with a smile, subtle yet triumphant.

"Orion, go on, say hello. This is Aunt Natalie."

I stiffened, disbelief lacing my voice.

"What… did you call me?"

She smiled, her tone light, almost effortless. "Orion. Orion, like the stars. Charles said he hopes he'll grow up to be as bright and admirable as the sky above."

A ringing filled my ears. My mind blanked.

Orion's lips moved, he was speaking, but I couldn't hear a single word.

Slowly, I turned to Charles, searching for an answer, but he only lowered his head, his guilt laid bare in the silence.

Orion Davis.

The name we had chosen together long ago when we had still dared to dream of a child of our own.

Even the meaning behind the name, Charles had given it away without hesitation as if it had never belonged to us.

Was he truly this determined to carve out my heart?

"Charles… how could you take the name we chose together and give it to a child you had with someone else?"

The moment the words left my lips, Charles's expression darkened.

"Natalie! Watch what you're saying!" he scolded in a low, sharp voice.

The suddenness of it jolted me back to reality. I watched as he hurriedly turned to Eleanor, his voice dropping into a rushed explanation. Only then did I notice how pale she had gone, her face drained of color.

A lump tightened in my throat, instinct urging me to step forward, to explain.

But then I saw it.

The wariness in Charles's eyes, cold and sharp, like a silent warning, stopped me in my tracks.

Eleanor remained frozen for a long moment before tears welled in her eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice trembled with pain.

"If our child was only born to fill the void of the one you never had with Natalie, then I would rather have never given birth to him!" Eleanor's voice broke, her shoulders trembling. "Charles, I love you. You can belittle me, ignore me, but Orion is innocent. I don't want him to exist as some consolation for your regrets with another woman."

"I know Natalie can't accept me or my son. I understood that seven years ago. That's why I did everything you asked: I stayed far away, lived in another city, and kept my distance. But when you suddenly said you'd bring me here, I thought… I thought we could finally be together and that this was finally our chance. But after seeing how she looks at us…" She choked on a sob, voice trembling. "Charles, send me and Orion back, okay? I don't want to stay here, watching my child live under someone else's shadow."

Her sobs grew heavier, and Charles panicked, rushing to reassure her.

"Eleanor, look at me." His voice was firm, desperate. "Orion is our son, he is not some substitute for regret. I love you. I love our child. I have never neglected you, and I never will. Everything I have, everything I can give, belongs to you and Orion."

"You don't need to care about her attitude! This is my home. A house I bought. My family. No one here will dare treat you or Orion unfairly." His voice softened as he brushed a hand over her trembling frame. "Be good, don't overthink. The baby in your belly doesn't want to see his mother sad either."

Every word sliced through me like a blade, cutting so deep I could barely breathe.

Of course. Every brick and tile in this house belonged to Charles; what did any of it have to do with me?

I let out a bitter laugh, the taste of irony sharp on my tongue.

After Eleanor and her son left, I pulled out the divorce papers I had prepared long ago and placed them before him.

"Sign them."

Charles barely spared them a glance before grabbing his coat, brushing past me as if I were nothing more than an afterthought.

"Natalie, you're not young anymore. Next year, you'll be forty. Stop joking around."

"We've been married for twenty years. If we divorce now, what do you think the media and business world will say about me?"

I scoffed. So that was what our marriage had become, just another carefully managed public image.

Everything had changed the moment success found us.

Ten years ago, the deal I personally secured had turned our struggling company into the city's leading enterprise.

But when it came time to divide power, Charles and I had different visions.

I wanted to be a general manager and keep building what I had helped create.

But Charles had already decided my fate for me. He wanted me to step back, to abandon my ambitions and return to being a housewife, the perfect image of a wealthy woman with nothing to do but live in comfort.

In the end, he didn't even ask for my opinion. He simply hired someone new to take over my role, sealing my future with a signature that wasn't mine.

I was furious. But under my mother-in-law's persuasion, I swallowed my resentment and chose to let it go.

From that moment on, something between us quietly broke.

I tried, time and time again, to mend the distance that had formed, but there was always an invisible wall we couldn't break through.

I tried to talk to him, to reach him, but he either brushed me off with work or dismissed me entirely.

"There's nothing wrong. You're overthinking," he would say, his tone carrying no warmth, no patience.

And so, we drifted further apart.

Until we became what we were today, two people bound not by love but by mutual interests, standing in the ruins of what had once been.

"Get dressed and come with me. I brought Eleanor and Orion back today so you could spend some time together."

When I didn't move, he frowned, grabbed a coat, and forcibly draped it over me, zipping it up without giving me a chance to resist.

His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "And don't say anything reckless again. As for Orion's name, I'll explain another day."

When we arrived, Charles pushed Orion into my arms.

"Get to know him first."

Then, he bent down, his voice turning gentle, just as it always was with Eleanor.

"Orion, today you'll play with Aunt Natalie. Daddy and Mommy are going to buy you clothes and toys, okay?"

Orion nodded eagerly, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

I followed along numbly as he led me to the other side of the food street.

Like all children, he was drawn to the golden crisp of fried food.

I hesitated, unsure if he was allowed to eat it. Instinctively, I reached for my phone, dialing Charles.

No answer.

Before I could decide what to do, Orion turned to me, his small face darkening as sharp words spilled from his lips.

"My dad and mom are on a date. Why are you calling to disturb them?" His voice carried an unexpected sting, his eyes cold and unyielding. "You're not my mom. Why do you care whether I can eat this or not? Dad told you to take me out to play, so whatever I want to eat or do, just do it. Don't interfere."

A sudden tightness gripped my chest, pressing down like an invisible weight. I opened my mouth, but no words came.

On the way back, Orion clutched his stomach and let out a sharp cry. His face turned deathly pale.

Eleanor's eyes widened in horror before she broke into sobs. Charles, his usual composure shattered, slammed his foot on the gas and sped toward the hospital.

After a series of tests, the doctor confirmed acute gastroenteritis, severe enough to warrant IV fluids and hospitalization.

Orion lay weakly on the hospital bed, his small frame trembling as he whimpered for his mother. When his gaze met mine, fear flickered in his eyes.

"I told her my stomach is sensitive… I told her I couldn't eat fried sugar cakes… but Aunt Natalie said she wanted one. She bought one for herself and gave me one as big as a fist, saying I should eat it, too. After I did… it started hurting… ”

His words were barely above a whisper, yet each one struck like a whip.

Eleanor's tears spilled over as she turned to me, her voice shaking with desperation.

"Sister Natalie, it's my fault. I never should have fallen in love with Charles… never should have appeared in front of you. If you hold a grudge, take it out on me. But please, don't hurt my Orion… He was in my womb for ten months; he's my life!"

I realized something was wrong and rushed to explain.

But before I could utter a word, Charles's palm struck my face.

A sharp sting bloomed across my cheek, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire raging in his eyes, blazing, unforgiving, as if he wanted to tear me apart.

"I told you, if you have a problem, take it out on me! I never expected you to go after an innocent child!"

I clenched my jaw, forcing back the bitterness rising in my throat.

"It wasn't me! He wanted to eat it himself! I even tried calling you to ask if he could, but you didn't pick up!"

"Enough, shut up!"

Charles's gaze was ice-cold, devoid of warmth.

"I remember you've always loved fried sugar cakes. Natalie, you really aren't fit to be a mother."

The words cut through me like a blade, sharp and merciless. A death sentence. A condemnation.

Disappointment darkened his face as he pulled a folded document from his pocket, his fingers steady as he signed it with the hospital's pen.

"Isn't divorce what you've always wanted? Then let's do it first. I don't trust you to live with them while you're in this unstable state. Once you've adjusted, we'll talk about remarriage."

A strange sense of relief washed over me. The fight drained from my body. Without another word, I bent down, picked up the divorce agreement from the floor, folded it neatly, and tucked it away.

Before leaving, I cast one last look at Charles, my voice eerily calm.

"Charles, I stopped eating fried sugar cakes ten years ago. My teeth ache whenever I have something sweet. Did you forget?"

His lips parted slightly, his face clouded with disbelief. But not a single word left his mouth.