Teddy and I exchanged a glance, silently wiping away our tears.

I took a deep breath and turned, forcing calm into my voice.

"You'd been taking quite some time getting that report, so Teddy and I thought we'd come find you. We got a little lost on the way, almost went the wrong way," I said.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, a faint smile threatening at her lips—until my next words froze her.

"What are you holding? Is that… our reports?"

I stepped forward, hand reaching for it, though my eyes never left her face.

Emma's gaze flickered, and she quickly hid the report behind her.

"Let… let's look at it at home. No rush."

I saw her lips pale from nervousness, and a trace of irony crossed my eyes. Withdrawing my hand, I turned and left with my son.

She froze for a moment before hurrying after us, scooping our son into her arms. Like before, her gestures were tender, careful, filled with affection.

But this time, my son didn't wrap his tiny arms around her neck. His body was stiff, his gaze vacant.

She didn't notice anything amiss, holding him all the way to the car. Only when checking the child seat did she speak, feigning casualness, "Honey, do you remember Daniel Carter? His son was sick for some time. Now the kid's better and ready to return home. They don't have any family in the country. Maybe they could stay at our place for a few days?"

She studied my expression carefully before adding, almost as an afterthought, "Of course, I'm just suggesting. If you and Teddy mind, we don't have to."

"I don't mind. Bring them home," I said.

Her surprise quickly turned into a smile. "Thank you, Honey. You're so good."

"To have married you… I'm the lucky one," I replied, without smiling, and turned to the backseat to hold Teddy. A single tear flashed past my eyes.

Back home, Emma immediately found an excuse to leave. I knew she was rushing to arrange Daniel's move.

I took the moment to talk to my son. I wanted to leave—far away from this disgusting house, far from Emma, forever if possible.

He didn't protest. He simply tore up the diary on his desk—the diary he had been keeping since the accident, every day with Emma and us.

[The first day of the accident, my eye was gone. I asked Dad where it went. He didn't answer. He just cried. Mom cried too. For the first time, she held me in her arms and promised to be my eyes from then on.]

[The third day—Mom came every day to care for me and Dad. She said she loved us so much and wanted to be our lifelong support. I told her I loved her too. She cried again.]

[The twenty-first day—I was discharged. Donny discovered my secret and teased me at preschool, calling me a cyclops. He said I was disgusting and refused to play with me again. I hid in the storage room and cried for a long time. But it didn't matter. Dad and Mom loved me.]

[The twenty-fifth day—The doctor gave me a toy eye. Mom said no one would laugh at me anymore. I showed Donny and told him I wasn't disgusting. He poked the toy eye with a pencil and called me a demon. My eye didn't hurt.]

Tears fell uncontrollably. I held my son close, heartbroken, sobbing.

"Teddy… Daddy's taking you away. Okay?"

He touched his cold, fake eye and nodded, eye red. "Okay."

I set the phone to a 24-hour countdown. I had to pack quickly. Every second left behind would only hurt my son more.

Countdown: 21 hours.

I took him to the kindergarten to process his withdrawal.

I was about to knock on the principal's office door when a familiar voice stopped me.

"Is… Zion feeling okay? Is his eye hurting?"

Daniel smiled, his eyes sparkling. "The doctor said Zion's recovered well, and his eye is comfortable now. Emma, really, thank you so much."

Emma said, a genuine smile tugging at her lips, "As long as it makes you happy, I'll do anything."

Daniel glanced at her, his tone layered with meaning. "And your husband? If he knew Zion's eye came from Teddy, wouldn't he be upset? Emma, I don't want to put you in a difficult position."

The familiarity of his voice made my stomach turn.

Daniel had always been like this—taking every advantage he could, then acting as if he were pure and innocent, making people scramble to please him.

Five years ago, on Teddy's one-month celebration, Daniel—whose birthday it wasn't—posted on social media that he was celebrating alone, just to steal Emma's attention.

She left the party, leaving Teddy and me, and spent the whole night with him.

I begged her to wait, to at least stay for the cake-cutting with our son, but she, worried about Daniel being lonely, handed our son to a waiter and told me not to make a fuss.

My eyes stung with unshed tears. I was about to leave when the tardy kindergarten principal arrived, pushing the door open past me.

Seeing Teddy and me, Emma's eyes flickered with panic.

"When did you get here? Why didn't you knock?"

Noticing my gaze fixed on Daniel, she hurried to explain.

"Honey, don't misunderstand. I only just found out that Daniel brought Zion back to the country. We happened to run into him, so we stopped by the kindergarten to register. You…"

"I understand," I interrupted, turning with Teddy.

Daniel, however, called after us with casual confidence, smiling brightly.

"Leo, long time no see."

He pulled the boy sitting nearby forward, introducing him to my son.

"Teddy, this is Zion. Say hi. You could be friends."

Zion leaned in, staring at Teddy's eye with disgust.

"Daddy… his eye is fake. Gross."

Teddy went pale and shrank behind me, ashamed. Rage coursed through me.

But Emma stepped in, positioning herself perfectly between Daniel and us, her voice strained yet composed.

"Honey, don't be upset. Zion didn't mean anything—he's just a child, he doesn't understand. As adults, we don't need to hold grudges against a kid, right?"

Every word defended the boy who had just insulted our son.

Teddy stared at her, disbelief written across his face.

Yesterday, Emma had lost her temper the instant someone mocked our son. Today, she openly protected the one who humiliated him.

Seeing this, the light in my son's eyes dimmed.

I had no patience left. I grabbed his hand and walked away.

Emma froze, staring at our retreating backs. Only after Daniel called four or five times did she finally regain her composure.

Countdown: nineteen hours.

That evening, I spoke with the kindergarten principal over the phone about Teddy's transfer. Teddy sat on the sofa, watching cartoons on his tablet.

Just as we were about to finalize the last step, the sound of the animation suddenly cut off.

Curious, I walked over and saw a new post from Daniel on the tablet.

The photo showed the two of them on a roller coaster—Daniel holding Emma, eyes shut, screaming with delight. His son, Zion, looked straight at the camera, flashing a confident peace sign with his bright eyes.

Before I could react, Teddy zoomed in on the photo.

Teddy stared at Zion's bright, shining eyes for a long time.

"Daddy, isn't my eye pretty?"

A sharp pain stabbed my chest. I quickly flipped the tablet facedown and gently coaxed him back to his room.

"Come on now, Teddy. No more watching. Daddy will stay with you."

He nodded, but his small hand clutched mine tightly—so tightly.

After he fell asleep, I sent the transfer application to the principal's email.

Fifteen hours left. It would all be over soon.

I was halfway through packing when Emma came home with Daniel and Zion, clearly worn out from a day of fun.

The moment she walked in, she saw my open suitcase.

She froze for a second, then immediately let go of Zion's hand and hurried to stand in front of the suitcase.

"Honey, why are you packing? Where are you going? Where's Teddy?"

She looked at me helplessly, fear flickering in her eyes—so real it almost made me hesitate.

But I didn't bother digging deeper. I gave a casual excuse instead.

"Teddy's been in a bad mood. I was thinking of taking him out for a bit."

She visibly relaxed.

"That's good… as long as it's not—"

She stopped herself and changed the subject.

"Daniel hasn't found a suitable place to stay yet. We're friends, so I thought I'd let them stay here for a few days. Honey, you don't mind, right?"

When I didn't respond, she hurried to add, "I already scolded Zion about what happened this afternoon. He knows he was wrong. You see…"

I hummed softly and continued packing.

"Let them stay."

After all, tomorrow, I would be leaving with Teddy.

The moment she got my approval, Emma eagerly ushered the two of them upstairs, as if afraid I might change my mind if she delayed even a second.

Ten minutes later, a child's piercing cry suddenly rang out from upstairs.

My heart lurched. I rushed up the stairs and burst into my son's room.

Daniel's child stood there smugly, stepping on something, his face lit with excitement.

My son, still in his pajamas, was sprawled on the floor, frantically feeling around.

"My eye… my eye…"

Hearing my footsteps, he looked up at me, crying helplessly.

"Daddy, I can't find my eye. My eye… help me find my eye…"

His sobs were fragile and desperate. My heart felt as if it were being clenched into a fist, pain tearing through me.

In an instant, I rushed to Teddy and pulled him into my arms.

Startled, Zion slipped and fell to the floor, bursting into loud cries.

Daniel shot me a venomous glare and instinctively raised his hand, but halfway through, he seemed to remember something.

A cruel smile spread across his face as he asked mockingly, "Leo, don't you think Zion's eye is beautiful? When the doctor said Zion might go blind, Emma immediately helped me search nationwide for suitable organ donors.

"Turns out this new eye is incredible. Not only did Zion have no rejection, it's even healthier than before. So tell me—whose eye do you think it is? I really ought to thank that person properly."

My son's crying abruptly stopped. He buried his face in my chest, his small body trembling uncontrollably.

Daniel leaned in closer, clearly enjoying himself, and whispered deliberately, "Actually, there were several matching donors back then. But Emma wanted to reduce the surgical risk, so she specifically chose the eye of a five‑year‑old child. Said it was safer.

"Leo, look—Teddy's eye looks so beautiful on Zion's face."

That was it. I could no longer hold back my rage.

I swung my fist hard.

Daniel couldn't dodge in time. He clutched his face and shouted, "Leo, you lunatic! Let me tell you something—Emma lied to you about the scar on your waist. She said it was from the car accident, but it's actually from donating a kidney.

"And not just your son's eye—your kidney too. They were both gifts Emma gave to me."