The grip was so tight Cody cried out in pain.

Blake froze for a moment, about to say something, but his phone rang.

"Blake, where are you? Mason is looking for you, he won't stop crying..."

Tiffany Reed's voice filtered through the phone, faint over the sound of another child crying in the background.

Blake's tone immediately softened as he replied, "Tell Mason I'll be right there."

He hung up and impatiently let go of Cody.

"I have to go. You and Cody wait for me here. Don't go anywhere."

Behind us was a large theme park. Blake and his friends hurried into the park, clearly on their way to soothe Tiffany and her son.

After all, one call from Tiffany had been enough for him to abandon me while I was hemorrhaging, my life on the line.

The school event wasn't over, but Cody was clearly shaken. I quickly got the organizer's approval and took him home.

After we returned to the apartment we were temporarily staying in, I coaxed him to sleep and then received a call.

"Blake Sterling is investigating you. Do you need me to stop him?"

"No, it's okay."

We were only in Oakhaven for seven days. After seven days, Blake and I would return to our separate lives, never to cross paths again.

Not long after I hung up, the doorbell rang.

"Amelia, we need to talk."

Blake stood outside, holding a beautifully packaged limited-edition toy car. He scanned the tiny apartment, not bothering to hide the contempt in his eyes.

"This is where you live? This apartment isn't even the size of a walk-in closet at the Sterling estate. Is this the grand, independent life you wanted?"

His condescending gaze reminded me of a conversation between him and his friends eight years ago.

"Amelia Vance is an okay person, but she's too emotional, always needs to be coddled."

"Isn't it normal for men to have to socialize for work? She's always picking fights with me over little things."

"Since she doesn't appreciate the life the Sterling family can give her, let her go out and suffer a bit. Then she'll learn to behave. She needs to understand that in this family, knowing how to please a man is what's most important."

In that house, I was like a caged canary, allowed only to be his docile and obedient companion. The moment I tried to cross a line, I would be ruthlessly put back in my place.

Eight years had passed, and Blake seemed to think I had finally "learned my lesson." He looked at me smugly, but his satisfaction quickly vanished.

I calmly tossed the toy car he'd brought into the trash can by the door.

Blake’s jaw tightened. "Cody is my son. If you won't think about yourself, at least think about his future. Or do you want him to end up like you—a second-rate designer scrambling for scraps?"

I cut him off, enjoying the flash of surprise on his face. "That toy was for Tiffany's son, wasn't it? The tires are made of latex. Cody has a severe latex allergy. Just like me."

The first time I was rushed to the emergency room after accidentally touching a latex product, Blake had stayed by my bedside all night. When I woke up, I saw his bloodshot eyes.

But later, after Tiffany appeared, items he knew I was allergic to started showing up around the house more and more often.

The one who liked collecting limited-edition toy cars was Tiffany, not me.

"Sorry..."

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Blake's face as the memory surfaced, but it was quickly replaced by his usual self-righteous anger as he shifted the blame back to me.

"If you hadn't run away while you were pregnant, I wouldn't have missed eight years of my son's life! If he had been by my side all this time, how could I possibly not remember his allergies!"

He roared at me, furious and ashamed, "In the end, this is all your fault! You're too damn selfish!"

The air fell silent.

Soon, he lost any patience for civility.

"Cody is my son, and I will not abandon him. I'll give you two days to come to your senses. I'll be back to get you both."