I've been in a secret marriage with my CEO husband, Mitchell Clayton. But Mitchell keeps making our son, Aster Clayton, call him "Uncle Mitch" the whole time. In order to make it up to Aster, Mitchell has given him unlimited wealth.

But on the day of Aster's birthday, Mitchell hands over the gift that Aster has been eagerly looking forward to the most to his ex-girlfriend's daughter, Stacy Padilla.

The gift is a bouquet of flowers made of handmade lucky stars that I've spent half a year folding.

As I stare at the empty table, I feel my heart sinking to the pits of my stomach. Then, I call a real estate agent immediately.

"Hello, I'd like to purchase a villa that's located in Northern Yewrope. Make it quick."

"A villa? Mr. Clayton's secretary never brought it up to me before. Have you gotten it all mixed up, ma'am?"

"No," I reply in a low tone. "I'd like to purchase the villa under my own name. If you breathe a word about this to Mitchell, I'll sue your company under the reason of leaking your clients' privacy."

After receiving a positive response from the agent, I end the call. Still, I remain rooted to the spot for a long time.

Once I return to the banquet hall, Aster tugs at the hem of my dress.

"Mom, where's Uncle Mitch? He promised me that he'd attend my birthday party."

I feel tears stinging my eyes as I pull Aster into a hug.

"Sweetie, he will never be here. Let's not wait for him anymore, okay? Mommy will bring you to a better place."

Stars will cover the sky there. None of them will get stolen ever again.

As for a certain father who keeps breaking his promises, he will never get to see us ever again.

Cherie's POV

However, my son, Aster Clayton, shook his head and said determinedly, "No. Daddy promised me he'd be here."

I sighed helplessly. Aster really did take after Mitchell Clayton when it came to being stubborn.

So, I had no choice but to wait with Aster, but the only phenomenon we witnessed was the guests all leaving the party one after another.

Before long, there were only the maids left with us. They told us that the guests had all left our party to attend Stacy Padilla's party instead.

Aster stood in the corner, his eyes red-rimmed as he huffed and complained, "Why does she always have to compete with me? Why won't she even leave me and my birthday party alone? If Dad—If Uncle Mitch sees nobody turning up for my party, he's going to be really upset!"

I didn't know how to comfort him when I saw how anxious and upset he was. After all, the "Uncle Mitch" he kept mentioning hadn't just abandoned him but had also gone to attend Stacy's party as well.

In fact, Mitchell had also taken along with him the only birthday present Aster had received.

I just didn't dare to tell Aster about it.

So, I forced a smile on my lips and led him over to the table so he could cut his birthday cake. Still, Aster refused to do it because he wanted to wait until Mitchell was back.

I had no other choice but to call Mitchell and ask, "Aster's been waiting for you to come home. How much longer are you going to take?"

When faced with my question, Mitchell simply answered calmly, "If I said I'd be there, I'll be there."

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Who's that, Mitchie?"

His voice softened at once as he chuckled and replied, "One of the maids at home."

My hand froze around my phone.

This was the seventh year I was married to him, and also the seventh year that he refused to acknowledge me and Aster in public.

The reason he gave was that he had married me before making a name for himself, and now, he didn't think that I was good enough for him anymore. However, the other reason was also that he still couldn't forget his ex-girlfriend, Bianca Winters, who was also Stacy's mother.

By the time I snapped back to my senses, the phone had already gone dead.

I turned around and was met with Aster's dim eyes.

"Mommy, is Daddy really not coming after all?"

I forced another smile and gently ruffled his hair. "He said that he'd be here."

Aster's face lit up at once.

Meanwhile, I stared at the tightly shut front door, feeling my heart lodged in my throat. I really hoped that Mitchell would keep his promise and not let Aster down.

Yet, he still didn't show up when it was already past midnight.

Aster leaned against the glass windows, fighting to keep his eyelids from drooping.

I couldn't stand it anymore and immediately went out, heading toward Stacy's birthday party, arriving just as the party ended.

Mitchell personally opened the limo door as he looked at Bianca and Stacy who were waiting at the hall entrance. Bianca was dressed in a beautiful gown, and Stacy was also all dolled up like a princess.

They looked like a beautiful family of three when standing together like that.

I thought that I had already grown numb to this, but I still found myself frozen to the ground at the sight.

"Mrs. Clayton?"

Bianca suddenly looked at me, and Mitchell's expression darkened immediately. He glanced around, making sure that all of the other guests had already left, before walking over and addressing me in a low, deep voice, "Who told you to come here, Cherie Hudson?"

Mitchell never allowed me to make any public appearances in the seven years we'd been married. His handsome face made him especially popular amongst the elite young women in his social circles, and that was very useful for business.

When he first started his company, he had obtained plenty of resources by just getting close to a tycoon's daughter. Now that his company had expanded so much, he no longer needed anyone's help. Yet, he still refused to reveal my true identity to the public.

The reason was that Bianca had come back into his life again. She alone was more than enough to replace all of the other women that Mitchell had been in contact with.

At that thought, I turned to leave, not wanting to say another word to him.

Suddenly, Stacy picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it at me.

"Stacy!" Both Mitchell and Bianca chided her at the same time.

However, Stacy didn't seem the least bit intimidated. She put her hands on her hips and yelled after me, "You homewrecker! How dare you and your stupid bastard son steal Daddy away from me!"

Bastard son? Daddy?

I immediately whirled around and stared at Mitchell in disbelief.

He avoided my gaze and instead turned to Stacy, saying, "I've already told you many times not to call me 'Daddy' in public, Stacy."

After that, he started toward me. "Let's go home.

However, he'd only just said that when Stacy suddenly began to cry and throw a massive tantrum. Bianca hurriedly tried to comfort her, but Stacy shoved her aside and cried even harder.

Bianca shot Mitchell a troubled look, and he immediately turned back and picked Stacy up in his arms.

My heart stopped beating when I saw that. I didn't wait for him anymore and went straight home.

When I arrived, I saw that Aster was already fast asleep by the window. Yet, he was still mumbling softly.

"Daddy…"

It nearly made my suppressed emotions burst forth at that moment, but I didn't dare to cry out loud.

I was afraid that I'd wake him up. I was afraid that he would rub his sleepy eyes at me and ask me if Mitchell still wasn't back.

I didn't know how I would answer his questions.

Just then, the property agent, Zoey Kaiser, sent me a few property listings to pick from. I chose one randomly and immediately signed the contract for it before purchasing flight tickets there in three days.

At this point, I didn't care about anything anymore. I just wanted to take Aster with me and leave this house that no longer belonged to us as quickly as possible.

In just three days, Mitchell would finally be free from us.

Cherie's POV

Early the next morning, I was woken up by the sounds of Aster's laughter.

"Mommy, look! Daddy got this gift for me!"

Aster then happily showed me his new airplane model with a huge smile on his face. Yet, I wasn't able to smile back at him.

I had seen one of Stacy's maids holding that exact gift last night.

I didn't say anything and just called Mitchell out to the balcony.

"That was one of Stacy's presents, wasn't it?"

He didn't seem bothered by the tremor in my voice and casually lit up his cigarette.

"Stacy said she didn't like it. I was in a rush when I came back, so I just brought it along with me."

"How could you give Aster a present that someone else didn't want!"

I finally lost it and yelled angrily at him. However, Mitchell didn't think that it was a big deal at all as he retorted, "Are you done making a fuss, Cherie? Can't you see how happy Aster is? You're even worse than a kid when it comes to matters like this."

With that, he snuffed out his cigarette and went back inside to continue playing with Aster and his airplane model.

Aster was overjoyed and a little stunned.

Looking at his little face, I felt a surge of mixed emotions. Aster had been neglected by Mitchell for so long and always longed for his love and attention. Would Aster even be willing to come along with me?

I was still feeling a little distressed when I was suddenly snapped out of my reverie when Aster's handphone buzzed with a new text message.

I looked at him still playing happily in the living room and decided to bring the phone to him. However, I immediately stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw the message preview on the screen.

"Pfft, look at you showing off your stupid present. It's just something that I didn't want anymore! Take that!"

My hand trembled all of a sudden.

"Mommy? What's wrong?"

I hurriedly deleted the text message and said that it was nothing before looking at the clock on the wall.

"Sweetie, how about we skip school today? I'll take you to the amusement park you've always wanted to visit."

He immediately jumped for joy and rushed into the study.

"Daddy! Mommy's taking me to the amusement park! Can you come with us too?"

He looked eagerly and expectantly at Mitchell, but all he got in response was a very cold and distant, "Get out."

Mitchell then glared coldly at Aster and said, "I still have a lot of work to do."

Aster froze where he stood, tears welling in his eyes. He probably never thought that the person who'd just gifted him the airplane model and played with him earlier would suddenly turn so cold and distant without any warning.

I happened to witness the scene and ushered Aster out, handing him over to the maid. Then, I walked into the study and slammed the door behind me with a loud bang.

Mitchell jumped at my actions.

However, it was only for a brief second as he immediately regained his calm composure and called his secretary, Morgan Berger.

"Order a limited-edition Lego airplane set and have it delivered to my place within 30 minutes."

After hanging up, he looked at me again and asked, "Happy now?"

I felt as though my anger had suddenly been doused with a bucket of cold water to my face. It was as though I was a deflated balloon now.

"I don't understand why you dislike me and Aster so much yet still insist on living with us, Mitchell Clayton."

My voice began to choke up. "We can… get a divorce if you want.

"A divorce?"

Mitchell frowned. "It's just a small matter, Cherie Hudson. Why are you even bringing divorce over something as trivial as this?"

He walked up to me and wiped away the tears in the corner of my eyes with the pads of his fingers.

"Aster is still my son after all, and he's also the future heir of the Claytons. How could I not like him? It's just that he still needs to go to school like the other kids. You can't overindulge a kid like that, or they'll turn out spoiled and rotten."

He then pressed a black card into my hands.

"Alright, stop making a fuss and take Aster out. I still have another meeting to attend."

I looked at the card in my hands and smiled self-deprecatingly before turning to leave without another word.

Aster stood not too far away from me, staring at me blankly as he said, "Don't cry, Mommy. It's all my fault… I shouldn't have made Daddy angry."

He wiped away the tears in his eyes as he spoke, and suddenly, I felt that my entire marriage had been nothing but a terrible mistake.

Still, it didn't matter anymore because it would soon be over.

I tried my best to recompose myself. Aster then said that he didn't want to go to the amusement park anymore because he was too upset, so I just kept him company at home while trying to cheer him up.

When Mitchell finally came out of his study, I was drawing pictures with Aster in the garden. The sun was shining down brightly on us as we both laughed happily, like the little episode with Mitchell earlier hadn't happened.

Mitchell's expression softened.

"I have to attend another event tonight," he said to me. "You don't have to come with me. You can keep Aster company instead."

I simply hummed in acknowledgement without even looking at him.

However, Aster set down his coloured pencil and said, "I don't need Mommy to keep me company. You can let Mommy come with you too."

Both Mitchell and I were astonished to hear Aster say that.

The secret marriage had always been a source of resentment between Mitchell and me, but I never thought that Aster would actually catch on like this.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of regret washing over me.

I was just about to speak when I saw Mitchell glaring coldly at me. "Did you teach him to say that?"

Everything I wanted to say immediately got caught in my throat.

"Don't teach him anything like that again. You'll ruin my relationship with him."

Then, Mitchell added, "There'll be another event in a week. I can bring you with me to that one instead."

I chuckled coldly and silently watched him close the door behind him.

Then, I let out a long sigh of relief as I pulled myself together. While Aster was taking a nap, I hurried to the lawyer's office to inquire about divorce and custody matters.

I no longer wanted to prove my worth by attending events with Mitchell anymore. I didn't want any of his love anymore, either.

Cherie's POV

From that day onward, I asked the lawyer to draft a divorce agreement for me while I went home to tidy up my belongings.

I caught sight of a box in the study and thought that it was a box of Aster's toys. When I opened it, however, I realized it was a box of old photos I took with Mitchell.

There were photos of us laughing while eating from the cheap fast food restaurant outside our rented apartment, and also of us running along the beach hand in hand.

These photos had been here for a very long time, but there were no signs of wear or storage on them. In fact, there wasn't even a single speck of dust on them. It was obvious that someone had been taking them out every day and then carefully and meticulously putting everything back.

A surge of emotions welled up inside me. However, I ultimately put the photos back where they belonged.

I wasn't going to change my mind again since I'd already made up my mind about leaving.

Still, Bianca refused to let me go without a fight.

She kept sending me photos of Mitchell at the event that night with captions like, "Isn't he so handsome? What a pity that you've never seen how charming he can be at events like this in person.

"Damn, I wouldn't have dumped him back in the day if I knew that he would be wearing tailor-made suits now. Still, luckily for me, I dumped him so hastily that he just can't stop thinking about me and missing me.

"I mean, he might be married now, but he's still pathetic enough to be treating another man's daughter as his own, like an obedient dog. Guess it's just engraved in his bones, huh?"

I read the long line of text and didn't reply to her at all. Instead, I just calmly took screenshots of the conversation and took Aster out to the amusement park instead, letting him enjoy himself to his heart's content.

It was just that Aster would occasionally look at the other children at the park happily riding on their fathers' shoulders, and the smile on his face would drop.

I casually shielded him from the view and handed him the ice cream cone I'd just bought.

"Wanna ride on Mommy's shoulders instead, sweetie?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm too heavy for you, Mommy. You'll get hurt."

I ruffled his hair endearingly at that.

My marriage to Mitchell might have been a mess, but I was still grateful every day for having a son as kind and thoughtful as Aster.

We stayed at the amusement park until closing time. Then, I brought him out to a fancy dinner before going home.

However, as soon as we reached home, we saw Aster's favorite toy dog thrown carelessly on the lawn.

Aster immediately ran over to the toy, picked it up, and dusted it off.

Mitchell then came out of the mansion.

"Stacy and Bianca are coming over to stay for a few days. You and Aster can move out for a while when they're here. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

I looked at the suitcases and other items that were already packed at the door. He wasn't even asking me for my opinion anymore, but rather, just notifying me of a decision he'd already made.

How could he even think of driving his own son out of the house for another woman's sake?

My face went red with anger as I began to retort.

However, Aster grabbed my hand tightly and looked at Mitchell, saying, "I don't have a problem with that, Uncle Mitch."

Mitchell frowned when he heard Aster call him that. He was used to Aster calling him "Daddy" at home, but now…

I felt my heart breaking. I looked at Mitchel with disappointment in my eyes, not wanting to say another word to him anymore. I didn't even want to take any of the suitcases or things with me. Instead, I just turned and led Aster out of the yard.

Mitchell's voice sounded behind me.

"Aren't you taking the suitcases with you?"

"I don't need them."

Northern Yewrope, the place we were going to, had plenty of those things anyway. I didn't want Aster or myself to touch any of the things that would ever remind us of Mitchell anymore.

However, I never thought that Mitchell would come after me. He grabbed me by my wrist and asked, "Are you mad at me, Cherie?"

I scoffed and thought of flinging him off when his phone suddenly rang right at that moment, and Bianca's voice could be heard on the other end of the line.

"Mitchie! What should I do? Stacy cried until she threw up, and she also won't stop crying at the hospital! I… I really don't know what to do anymore!"

Mitchell immediately comforted her and said, "Calm down. Tell me everything."

"I heard from her teacher that she was shoved to the floor by her classmate and called a 'bastard' because she didn't have a father…"

"What?"

Mitchell's voice thundered. "Who dared to say such a thing about Stacy? Give me their names! I will personally talk to their parents tomorrow!"

I chuckled self-deprecatingly and tugged Aster along with me to leave.

But then, Bianca said clearly over the phone, "It was Aster Clayton."

Both Aster and I stopped in our tracks, turning back to look at him incredulously.

"You're lying!"

Aster immediately ran up to Mitchell and released all of his pent-up frustrations. "She's the one who kept calling me a 'bastard' without a father! She's the one who always called me names like that!"

"Aster Clayton!" Mitchell roared at him. "Shut up! Stacy would never call you anything like that!"

Then, he continued speaking gently into the phone. "Don't worry. I'll drag him over at once and make him apologize to her."

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard him say that.

"Mitchell Clayton! Aster didn't even go to school today! We were at the amusement park the whole day!"

"That's enough, Cherie Hudson! Stop teaching your son to lie!" he yelled angrily and immediately grabbed Aster by the arm before forcefully dragging him into the car without waiting for me to say another word.

Aster fought and struggled hard as he screamed tearfully, "Mommy! I don't want to go with him, Mommy! I didn't do anything wrong! Why must I apologize?"

At that point, I didn't care about anything anymore and shoved Mitchell aside with all the strength I had.

"You're worse than a beast, Mitchell Clayton!"

Then, I gathered Aster in my arms and ran with him as quickly as I could.

Mitchell didn't come after us. He just rolled up his windows in frustration before driving off.

I stopped running, suddenly losing all energy to move.

"Mommy, you can put me down."

Aster sounded quiet and exhausted as well. I carefully set him down on the ground and wiped away the tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, he held my fingers and spoke so calmly that he didn't sound like a kid anymore. "Mommy, is there a way for us to leave Daddy for good? I don't want him anymore."

My hand froze midair. I never thought that Aster would actually ask me if we could leave.

At that moment, all of the heartache I felt up to that point suddenly became still and calm. I smiled at him and said, "Of course, sweetie. I've already done all the preparations necessary. We can leave tomorrow."

I then brought him to a hotel, and he obediently went to wash up as usual without a fuss.

It wasn't until I woke up in the middle of the night and pulled the covers off of him that I realized that he was sporting a high fever.

I got such a scare that I rushed him to the hospital as quickly as I could.

The doctor told me that Aster was too emotionally distressed, which then caused a psychogenic fever.

I sat in the waiting room, feeling more exhausted than ever.

Just then, I received a text message reminder on my phone. It said, "Your flight will depart at 9:00 am tomorrow. Please arrive at the boarding gate on time."

I felt energized after reading the words on the screen and got up to get some warm water for Aster. However, I never thought that I would bump into Mitchell at the end of the hallway.