They Called Me a Glutton, I Walked Away

At the dinner table, my son Ethan, who was still in kindergarten, suddenly pursed his lips and said,

“Mom, you’re really greedy, and shameless too!”

I froze, unable to react for a moment, not knowing where this accusation came from.

Seeing that I didn’t respond, he furrowed his little brows and continued,

“Even though you’re my mom, you’re nothing compared to Ms. Emily! If only I could choose who my mom was!”

That blatant disgust made my heart sink.

So that was why Ethan had been picking on me these past few days—it was because I accidentally ate the handmade cupcake he had prepared for Ms. Emily on my birthday.

Instinctively, I glanced at my husband Jason, thinking he would step in to help me out.

But he just smiled, ruffled Ethan’s hair, and chimed in,

“Ethan’s right—Mom really is a greedy little pig, isn’t she?”

Ethan’s tense little face instantly brightened. He laughed out loud and nodded vigorously.

At that moment, exhaustion washed over me.

“Well then, since you like Ms. Emily so much, I’ll just divorce your dad and let her be your mom!”

…

Ethan’s eyes lit up, full of excitement.

“Really? I can really have Ms. Emily as my mom?”

Before the words had even faded, Jason slammed his chopsticks down, frowning as he said coldly,

“Rachel, what nonsense are you spouting? Ethan’s just a kid! And you want a divorce over a single sentence of his?”

“I swear, not only are you greedy and shameless, you’re also petty! You were the one who secretly ate the cupcake Ethan made for Ms. Emily, and now you’re throwing a tantrum and blaming him? Absolutely unreasonable!”

His scolding was like a bucket of ice water poured over me, chilling me to the core.

Three days earlier, I had found a lopsided little cupcake tucked away in the corner of the fridge.

Next to it was a card in Ethan’s childish handwriting:

“It might not look pretty, but it’ll taste good! Daddy and I made this together! Happy Birthday!”

In that moment, I was touched. I thought it was a birthday surprise from Jason and Ethan.

Carefully, I took a tiny bite, then happily snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook:

“The sweetest birthday gift I’ve ever received. Thank you, my son!”

Within seconds, Ethan’s kindergarten teacher Emily Brooks gave it a like.

Right after that, Ethan called me in a fury on his iPad.

“Mom! Who told you to touch that cupcake? That was for Ms. Emily! Today’s her birthday!”

Swallowing my disappointment, I apologized,

“I’m sorry, Ethan. I didn’t know. I only tasted a bit of the frosting, it won’t stop you from giving it to Ms. Emily…”

But Ethan shrieked in disgust,

“I don’t want it anymore! You already ate it, and you even posted it on Facebook! So gross!”

“I don’t want to give Ms. Emily such a dirty cupcake!”

At the time, I was angry and hurt. When he came home from school, I couldn’t help but scold him a little, telling him it was rude to speak to his mom like that—that it made me sad.

He pouted in silence, and I thought the matter had passed.

But he had held onto it, brooding, even branding me as shameless and greedy.

The tense atmosphere was interrupted by Jason’s phone ringing. It was a video call from Emily.

Just a moment ago Jason’s face had been full of anger, but now he instantly softened as he answered warmly,

“Hi, Ms. Emily?”

On the screen, Emily’s syrupy voice chimed in,

“Ethan’s dad, I hope I’m not disturbing your dinner? It’s just that the birthday gift Ethan gave me a few days ago—I really loved it. To thank him, I bought three tickets to the Broadway show Castle in the Sky this afternoon, and I’d like to invite you and Ethan to join me. Do you have time?”