On the way back, I got a call from my cousin. He started off with a dramatic whine, “Sean, bro, I miss you so much! I’m struggling here without you…

I was in a bad mood and interrupted him, “Speak properly.”

In an instant, my cousin switched to a normal tone. “I know you don’t want to deal with family issues, but for the sake of our family’s business and the much money in your account, could you at least lend a hand?”

I gave a non-committal response, and my cousin got excited. “Great! I’ll book a flight for tomorrow and pick you up myself!”

Before I could say anything else, he hung up.

When I got home, I started packing my things. But as I looked around the house, I hesitated.

This was a home I had set up myself. With Shelly busy with work, I had taken care of everything in this place.

There was a family photo of the three of us, with my wife’s beaming smile and my son’s endearing, goofy expression.

I had always thought of this place as my utopia.

But today, that utopia shattered.

The sound of the door opening broke my thoughts. I looked back and saw Shelly returning, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“I’m back,” she said, placing the flowers in front of me.

She smiled sweetly, clearly trying to de-escalate the situation. “I dropped Jack off at my parents’. It’s just us tonight. I was a bit harsh earlier. Can you forgive me?”

We had argued before, though not often, and each time I had been the one to smooth things over.

But today, my unusual attitude seemed to have made her a bit scared.

I glanced at her. “Have you been drinking?”

Then I went to get her some hangover medicine for her.

Shelly seemed surprised and asked, “Are you still angry?”

Of course, I was angry.

My wife had let my son call someone else “Dad” on Father’s Day and prepared a surprise for him.

If my son hadn’t mistakenly sent that message to my phone, I wouldn’t have known about this disgusting stuff!

Now Shelly wanted to brush it off lightly.

I pursed my lips and asked, “Do you have anything to explain about what happened today?”

Shelly, trying to keep her irritation in check, said, “There’s an issue at work that you wouldn’t understand. I asked John for help, and as for Jack, isn’t it beneficial for our son to have better connections?”

“So you let our son to call John ‘Dad’?!”

My eyes turned icy as I asked, “Does he even deserve it?”

Not to mention John – even the whole Lambert family wasn’t worth my time!

Then Shelly got angry and threw the flowers at me. “Sean, if John doesn’t deserve it, then do you?”

She glared at me and spoke with a sharp voice, “John is a rising star who just came back from abroad and secured the grand project in the city. Everyone’s eager to please him, but you…”

She looked me up and down, noticing I was still in my pajamas and slippers, with a hint of cooking smell lingering on me.

“Every day, it’s either the kitchen or the market. You don’t have any drive at all. What kind of thirty-year-old man still looks like this, all disheveled? Besides your looks, what else do you actually have to offer?

“Sean, don’t forget you’re just a stay-at-home husband. You have nothing, can’t do anything, and you’ve become so arrogant while living off others!”