On my son, William Lewis' birthday, I secretly visit the learning center he studies at in hopes of giving him a surprise.

But when I tell the teacher that I'm Will's father, the latter frowns in response.

"You say you're Will's father?"

I nod, feeling a little displeased.

Although my wife, Amelia Garrett, is the one driving William to and from the learning center, there's absolutely no reason for the teacher to doubt me like this.

But suddenly, the teacher smiles brightly at me and tells me he'll bring William with him soon.

As I watch him walk through the door, I decide to not take this matter to heart.

The next thing I know, the teacher reappears with two burly guys flanking him.

"That's the one! He intends to kidnap children from my class!"

Two security guards clad in dark blue stood behind the teacher.

The teacher's smile melted away as he pointed an accusing finger at me. "Capture him! He's pretending to be a parent to abduct one of our students. How shameless!"

I stood rooted to the spot as my mind went blank.

Abduction? Pretending to be a parent? What on earth was the teacher talking about?

The security guards pounced on me before I snapped back to my senses, flanking me and gripping my arms.

I struggled to break free, my muscles straining from the effort. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to free myself since they outnumbered me.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" I roared. "I'm not an abductor. There must be a misunderstanding. Let go of me!"

"A misunderstanding?"

The teacher pressed close and spat hatefully, "I can't believe you're still trying to lie despite the situation you're in."

The commotion attracted the attention of the other teachers. They peered at us and whispered among themselves.

"What's going on?"

"Apparently, they caught an abductor."

"Oh, my God. They must have guts of steel to barge into the school like this."

"Thank goodness they caught him. He needs to be taught a lesson he'll never forget."

"I can tell he's a bad man just by looking at him."

Their hostile gazes were like knives that were being stabbed into my heart.

"I'm not an abductor! I'm William Lewis' father! Ask him if you don't believe me. The truth will come to light when he sees me."

"William Lewis?" the teacher asked with a scoff. "I see you came prepared. You even found out the student's name. What a shame that you were foolish enough to think that you could get away with pretending to be his father."

He turned to look at the other teachers and asked, "Did you hear him? He even knows the child's name! He's a perfect example of an abductor."

"No! He's really my son!"

Through the haze of panic, I remembered that I had photos of William and me on my phone.

"I have photos with Will!"

I struggled wildly to grab my phone and unlocked it with my fingerprint. I then scrolled through my album until I found the latest photo.

I had snapped a photo of William and me at the park last weekend.

William was wearing a blue sports jacket. He was hugging my neck tightly while I balanced him on my shoulders.

Both of us were grinning widely.

"Look! I took this photo of Will and me last weekend!"

A brief silence descended upon us.

The teacher moved closer to take a better look at the screen before he scoffed. "You really are well prepared. Unfortunately, you prepared the wrong photo."

The other teachers began snickering.

"What an idiot."

"Are all abductors this incompetent these days?"

"He probably just stole that photo from someone else."

I didn't understand. I lowered my head and stared unblinkingly at the zoomed-in photo on the screen. The boy in the photo was definitely my son, William.

"It's pointless to waste our breath talking to him," the security guard said. "We're going to send him to the police station right now!"

I mustered every bit of strength in my body and broke free from the security guards' hold. Using my shoulder, I shoved my way past them and rushed into the classroom.

The classroom door slammed open, the deafening sound making all the students look up at me in confusion.

"Will!" I shouted, sweeping my gaze across the classroom as I searched for him.

A boy stood up. He tilted his head slightly, looking at me with confused eyes. "Are you looking for me, mister?" he asked.

I stood rooted to the spot as I stared at him.

As William's father, there was no way that I would mistake my own son for someone else.

Unwilling to give up just yet, I tore my eyes away from the boy's unfamiliar face and continued searching the classroom. However, I didn't see William anywhere.

"Stop causing trouble!" the security guard roared, cursing me out as he kicked the back of my knee.

I staggered forward and fell face-first to the floor. Fortunately, I managed to brace my hands against the cold floor in time, saving a little of my dignity.

"Give it up, you damned abductor!" the security guard spat.

I ignored my throbbing knees and the fury raging within me. "Where's my son? Where's Will?" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Where are you hiding my son?"

The teacher stood akimbo and looked down at me from the tip of his nose. He scoffed and asked, "Still going on about your so-called son, are you? We only have one student named William Lewis here."

I felt as if I had been struck by lightning.

How could that be?

"I'm the one who personally chose this learning center. I saw my wife leave the house with Will on registration day. It's not right for you to treat me like a fool just because I wasn't present on that day!"

"How stubborn."

The teacher shook his head and asked mockingly, "Still not willing to give up the act? You can tell whatever story you cooked up to the police."

He rolled his eyes at me before walking over to the students, saying, "Take a good look at his face, everyone! This is the face of an abductor!"

The students looked at me warily.

Unable to endure the teacher's mockery anymore, I shouted, "Amelia Garrett! That's my wife's name! She's the one who brought our son here on registration day. You can look through your records."

The teacher was momentarily stunned.

A spark of hope bloomed in my heart, assuming that the teacher had finally realized who I was talking about.

Perhaps there really was another boy who shared the same name as William in this learning center.

However, the teacher's next words extinguished my hope.

"You even found out the name of William's mother? Why did you mix up his face with another boy's, of all things?"

He pulled the boy, who was also named Will, to his side and glared icily at me. "Ms. Garrett brought this boy with her on registration day."

I stared at them in disbelief.

The teacher kneeled down and gently said, "Tell the abductor your mother's name, Will."

Will hid behind the teacher and stared at me with wide and timid eyes. "Amelia Garrett," he said.

Amelia was my wife, so why was Will calling her his mother?

"No! You're lying!"

I felt like I was spiraling out of control. Throwing all caution to the wind, I tried to lunge at Will. "Who are you?" I demanded. "Why are you calling Amelia your mother?"

Shocked, Will hugged the teacher tightly.

"Stop!" the teacher roared. "You're scaring him! Security! Take him away!"

"What's going on here?"

A masculine voice pierced through the air.

A few seconds later, I was slapped across the face.

My head snapped to the side from the powerful slap. My cheek smarted terribly.

The newcomer was dressed stylishly. He looked like he was in his mid-20s, and he was clad in branded clothes from head to toe. He spun a set of car keys on his finger as he pointed an accusing finger at me.

"How dare you scare Will? You lunatic!"

"Who are you?" I asked when I snapped back to my senses, glaring at him. "What makes you think you have the right to hit me? What's your relationship with Amelia? Tell me!"

"Our relationship?"

The man was momentarily stunned by my barrage of questions. A few seconds later, he raised his voice and declared, "Amelia is my woman, and I'm her man!"

Meanwhile, the teacher continued to fan the flames. "You're finally here, Mr. Foster. Not only did this abductor find out Will's full name, but he also found out Ms. Garrett's name. His malice must run deep."

The crowd surrounding us began to whisper among themselves again.

"Are all abductors this cunning? He's impersonating another person."

"Call the police right now! Tell them to take him away!"

"The students are shivering in their shoes. He's such a terrifying man."

"I'm not an abductor!" I shouted. "I'm here to pick up my son! Amelia is my wife!"

Mr. Foster looked at me as if I had just told him a hilarious joke. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

The other person on the line picked up within seconds.

"Amelia."

Mr. Foster's fierce demeanor vanished in an instant, replaced by a troubled expression. "I need you to come to Will's learning center right now. There's an abductor causing a commotion in his classroom. He keeps claiming that Will is his son.

"He even hurt me and scolded me, calling me a loser who has nothing but my looks! He's still trying to take Will away. Even the security guards are no match for him. He's terrifying! Hurry and come now, Amelia! Both Will and I are so scared…"

The troubled look on his face disappeared the moment he hung up. He shot a mocking look at me and sneered, "Just you wait, you lunatic. Amelia's on her way now. She won't let you off the hook that easily!"

My hands trembled from anger.

Perfect timing.

I wanted to talk to Amelia too.

It didn't take long before a red Porsche slowed to a stop in front of the learning center.

"Wow."

"That car must cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, huh?"

"I didn't know Will's mother was so rich and pretty."

Surprise gasps erupted among the crowd.

Amelia got out of the car, looking like an elegant socialite.

"Amelia!"

Mr. Foster hugged Amelia and started complaining. "You're finally here! I was scared out of my wits! This lunatic hit me and scolded me. He even tried to take Will away!"

Will also dashed over to Amelia, exclaiming, "That weird man barged into my classroom and glared at me, Mommy! He also kept shouting. I'm so scared. Protect me, Mommy!"

Amelia held Mr. Foster's hand while gently stroking Will's hair. "Calm down, sweetie. Mommy's here now. Don't worry. Were you really scared?"

She patted Mr. Foster's back as she continued, "Be good, Will. No one will bully you or Daddy when I'm around."

She then lifted her head and swept her icy gaze across her surroundings. "Who dares to cause a commotion and scare my family?" she demanded.

The crowd's interest was piqued by her actions. They looked between her and me, waiting for her to unleash her wrath on me, the so-called abductor.

Amelia looked up after she was done comforting Mr. Foster and Will, her gaze finally falling on me, who was still trapped between the two security guards. Her eyes widened, and her expression stiffened.

There were glaciers in my eyes when I glared at her.

"Go ahead and keep up your act, Amelia," I thought to myself. "Let's see how you'll discipline your legally-wedded husband."

Amelia gently pushed Mr. Foster away and positioned herself in front of him and Will. A few feet separated us as she asked, "What do you want?"

The crowd fell silent in an instant. Everyone's gazes were trained on us.

"What do I want? What's going on, Amelia? Where's my son? Where's Will?"

Everyone was stunned by my words, their gazes alternating between Amelia and me.

Amelia's expression twisted slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about. Your son, Will? You must have some screws loose in your head."

My last thread of rationality snapped as Amelia continued to hide the truth, and I slapped her hard across her hypocritical face.

Everyone was stunned speechless. Even Mr. Foster stopped crying and stared at me in disbelief.

"Amelia Garrett!" I roared as I pointed at her. "Drop the act! Where's Will?"

Amelia's face turned a ruddy red. Before the others could react, she lunged at me and grabbed a fistful of my collar. "I don't know what you're talking about! I can give you money if that's what you're after, but I won't let you bother my family!"

She then lowered her voice and hissed, "You'd better play along, Dylan Lewis, or you'll never see Will again."

I stared at her in shock.

I couldn't believe that she was using William to threaten me.