"Dad, don't blame Mom. We made Mom unhappy. Please don’t fight with her because of us..."

I took a deep breath and turned away from Tatiana, refusing to look at her. Instead, I walked to the bed and sat down. Frankly, I was really done with that woman.

Seeing me ignore her, Tatiana’s expression darkened. She suddenly grabbed my wrist, shoved me onto the bed and climbed on top of me.

"What are you pretending for?" she sneered.

"Didn’t you beg Grandpa to let me come back? Why do you look so miserable now that I’m here?"

She leaned down, trying to kiss me. I struggled, but she had me pinned. I had no choice, so I bit her lip hard.

Tatiana hissed in pain and immediately sat up, wiping her mouth.

"Are you crazy? What’s fucking wrong with you?"

She glared at me, her eyes full of disdain.

"You’ve gotten good at playing games, Nate. First, you said the child was being treated at the hospital just to lure me back. When that didn’t work, you ran to the old house and whined to Grandpa so he’d pressure me. And now you’re pulling this little hard-to-get trick?"

She scoffed.

"You ignored the children just to get my attention. Where are they now, huh? They’re only five years old and you left them alone at home? How cruel can you be?"

My hands clenched into fists. My voice was cold when I interrupted her.

"The children are dead."

Tatiana froze. For a second, something flickered in her eyes. There were shock and disbelief beneath her gaze. But she then smirked.

"Nate, I really underestimated you. You’ll say anything to get sympathy."

Without another glance at me, she stood up and walked to the door. Before leaving, she paused, her voice sharp.

"You rejected me this time. Don’t go crying to Grandpa that I ignored you, or I’ll only find you even more disgusting."

The door slammed shut behind her. After that, the room fell into silence. I wiped my lips fiercely, trying to erase the scent of her.

Tatiana and I had been in love once. On her eighteenth birthday, she stood in front of me, her cheeks flushed with shyness.

"Nate, can I like you?" she had asked.

"Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well."

Her eyes held an innocence that made my heart soften. Without hesitation, I nodded.

For the next two years, I cherished her. I gave her everything and she made me feel like I was her entire world. Until I turned twenty-two. That was when my grandfather called us both into his study.

"Tatiana, Nate, both of you are already in marriageable age. I’ll pick a good day for the wedding."

That day, something changed.

Tatiana’s warmth turned cold. Her gaze, once filled with love, became sharp with impatience and disgust. I never understood what I did wrong. She never told me.

A year after our marriage, she got pregnant. I thought things would get better from then on. But after giving birth, she became even worse.

Tatiana stopped coming home at night. She even ignored our children. She walked the streets with Travis, her childhood sweetheart. She openly showed the world that I was nothing to her.

I fought. I argued. But she only gave me a cold, mocking smile.

"You got what you wanted, Nate! The title of the Humphrey Family’s son-in-law and the child. What more do you want?"

"Your whining makes me sick."

After that, I stopped searching for answers. I stopped asking why. From then on, I devoted myself to my children.

For seven years, Tatiana never loved me. She never loved our beautiful children either.

I thought that as long as I had my children, I could endure everything. That life would go on, even if it was painful. But now, I had lost even them.

So, why would I live like this then?

Early the next morning, Mr. Humphrey and Dimitri, took me to the funeral home. When my children were slowly uncovered after they had been embalmed, my vision blurred with tears. My lips trembled, but I bit down hard, refusing to make a sound.

Dimitri watched me with concern.

He told me weakly, "Nate ... if you need to cry, just cry it out, mate. It’s okay."

I shook my head silently.

Bang! Bang!

Mr. Humphrey slammed his cane against the ground, his face dark with rage.

"Where is that wretched woman? On a day like this, how can a mother be missing from her own children’s funeral?"

Dimitri’s jaw tightened. A flash of anger crossed his eyes before he glanced at me guiltily.

"I called Tatiana, Grandpa," he muttered, voice low.

"Her phone was off."

When the mortician had finished the last touchups and put lilies for my twins, Mr. Humphrey reached his hands to touch the children. But before he could touch them, I stepped forward and touched my children.

My hands tightened protectively around the smooth surfaces of the coffins as I gently picked the lilies from their little hands that would never move.

"They're mine," I said quietly.

"My children."

Mr. Humphrey opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, I knelt before him.

"Grandpa ... you've given me more than I could ever repay, but these children are mine. I beg you-"

My throat tightened, but I forced myself to continue.

"They will not be buried in the Humphrey Family graves. They will not be remembered as members of the Humphrey Family. I don’t want that! I refuse!"

A heavy silence fell.

Mr. Humphrey frowned slightly at what I just said. But Dimitri, who was still supporting his grandfather, met my gaze with quiet understanding. He knew what I had suffered for years.

"Alright, Nate," he said softly.

"You’re their father. It’s your call. I’ll try to make Grandpa understand."

I looked at Dimitri gratefully, then turned and left the funeral home with my hands still pressed with lilies against my chest. After that, I headed straight home. What I had in mind was that I needed to pack my children’s things. I couldn't leave their memories in that cold house.

But the moment I opened the door, a sickening sound filled my ears.

"Oh, don’t do that, Travis ... I just got pregnant. The doctor said I need to be careful!"

A man's voice, hoarse with lust, responded, "Alright, alright. Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle. I won’t hurt our baby."

Laughter. Moans. The unmistakable sounds of pleasure.

They were in the master bedroom. Our bedroom. How disgusting!

I stood frozen in the doorway as I was forced to listen to those disgusting sounds. My grip tightened around the lilies. To be honest, it really broke my heart.

I didn’t know how long it lasted. Eventually, the door opened. The two of them finally emerged.

Travis looked smug but had the audacity to feign innocence.

"Oh, Nate! You’re back?" he said, smoothing his shirt.

"Tatiana told me the kids were at kindergarten, so she insisted on bringing me over. Sorry about that."

Tatiana walked out behind him, slipping easily into his arms. She didn't even spare me a glance.

"Why are you explaining things to him?" she scoffed. "He has no right to question us."

Travis chuckled. "Alright, alright. Let’s go. You must be starving."

Only then did Tatiana’s gaze finally land on me—but not on my face. Her eyes flickered to the lilies in my arms and her expression twisted in disgust.

"What’s that? Why would you carry lilies, flower of mourning? Ugh. You don’t know how disgusting they are in your hands."

With that, she looped her arm through Travis’ arm and walked out the door, laughing as if she hadn’t just spat venom at me.

I stared down at my arms and gently wiped a hand over the lilies.

"It’s okay," I whispered.

"She wasn’t talking about you two. Don’t listen to her."

I placed them carefully on the coffee table and began gathering my children's things.

Clothes. Toys. Sketchbooks.

On the drawing board, there was a picture my son hadn’t finished yet. I ran my fingers over the lines, tracing them lightly. But my children would never finish anything again.

They would never come back to me.

With trembling hands, I removed the canvas from the drawing board.

At the top, three words were scrawled in childish handwriting.

[Family of Four]

Below, in smaller letters, was another message.

[Mom loves Dad]

A tiny heart was drawn beside it.

I clutched the canvas to my chest and for the first time that day, I broke down.

For five years, I had raised my children alone. No matter what happened between Tatiana and me, I never spoke badly about her in front of them. Yet, my children had seen the truth for themselves.

They knew.

They knew their mother didn’t love their father.

By the time night fell, I had packed all of their belongings into several boxes. I had scheduled a cross-state moving service in advance and now, I stood outside, watching the movers load the boxes into the truck one by one.

"Mr. Brown, everything’s packed. We’re ready to go," one of the workers informed me.

I nodded, turned back into the house and placed the signed divorce agreement on the coffee table.

Then, I picked up the lilies, holding them close.

For the first time in a long while, I felt a strange sense of relief.

As soon as I got into the car, my phone buzzed with a message.

It was from Travis.

[Travis Ebbington: Nate, I’m really sorry. Tatiana won’t be home for the next few days. She insisted on taking me to Hawaii for a vacation. Sorry.]

Attached was a picture.

I didn’t bother opening it.

Seeing something like this at a time like this … I didn’t feel anger. I didn’t feel pain.

I felt nothing, to be honest.

A bitter chuckle escaped me.

Without hesitation, I pulled out my SIM card, snapped it in half and tossed it out the window as the car rolled forward.

As I hugged the lilies tighter, I watched through the rearview mirror as the villa, the house I had lived in for seven years, grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

Meanwhile, at the airport, Mr. Humphrey and Dimitri stood in front of Tatiana and Travis, blocking their path to security.

Tatiana’s face twisted into an annoyed scowl.

"Is Nate crazy?" she spat.

"He acts so magnanimous at home, but now he sends you two to chase me down? That’s disgusting-"

Before she could finish, Mr. Humphrey’s cane swung through the air and struck her across the face with a resounding crack.

"You bitch!"

The old man’s voice trembled with rage as he shouted in anger, "You killed your own children and still have the nerve to take your lover on vacation? How could someone so heartless come from my family?"

Tatiana staggered, clutching her cheek.

"Grandpa … w-what are you talking about?"