My son, my daughter and I still depended on him for everything.

I rushed forward, trying to snatch the phone back.

But the woman didn’t seem to notice me at all, not even lifting her head.

Helplessly, I watched as she scrolled through the call log and began deleting the missed calls.

Every single one of them was from the same person—my wife.

I froze, staring blankly at the screen.

When had I made so many calls to Freddie?

The first was at 9 p.m., followed by two more. Then, half an hour later, I began calling again, every few minutes. One after another.

Her delicate hands, with perfectly manicured nails, tapped quickly across the screen as she deleted them. But she didn’t erase them all—only the later ones. She left the first three intact.

Instinctively, I reached into my pocket—only to find it empty.

My phone was gone. I must have lost it somewhere.

At that moment, Aiden tugged at my hand. “Mom, my stomach hurts.”

I immediately pushed everything else aside, took his hand firmly and said, “Let’s go find Dad.”

In the kitchen, Freddie stood bent over the stove, cooking porridge.

He wore a light gray pajama set and his hand stirred the pot slowly with a spoon. His expression was distracted, distant.

I reached out and tapped his shoulder.

“Aiden’s stomach hurts. Go to the garage and get the car. We need to take him to the hospital.”

But Freddie didn’t respond. He kept staring out the window at the falling snow, silent.

My temper flared. “Hey! Even if we’re in a cold war, you can ignore me if you want. But you still have to take care of your child. You’re his father, after all.”

Suddenly, Freddie turned off the stove and spun around.

For a moment, I thought he had finally come to his senses. But instead of listening to me, he walked straight toward the bedroom.

The woman lay lazily wrapped in the blankets. When she saw him enter, she opened her arms, ready to embrace him.

But Freddie brushed past her and reached for his phone.

Leaning closer, I saw what he was doing—he was calling me.

The call rang and rang, but no one answered. His brows knit together in a frown.

I let out a heavy sigh.

“You idiot. My phone is gone. Of course I can’t answer your call. I’m standing right here in front of you—why can’t you just speak to me directly?”

As Freddie prepared to dial again, the woman slipped out from under the blankets and wound her arms around his neck.

Smiling sweetly, she cooed, “Freddie, don’t you see what time it is? It’s almost midnight. My sister-in-law is with the kids—they must have gone to bed early. Can’t you just talk to her tomorrow?”

Freddie hesitated, then lowered his phone without making the second call.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he said helplessly, “I shouldn’t have ignored her earlier. She’ll be angry for sure this time. I’m afraid she’ll make a scene again.”

The woman looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Didn’t you say my sister-in-law is easy to please? What, are you scared she’ll divorce you?”

Freddie’s response was immediate. “She won’t.”

His gaze hardened as he looked at her. “And besides money, don’t even think about anything else.”

For a fleeting moment, a shadow darkened the woman’s eyes.

“I know. I don’t want to replace her. I just want to be with you here, at your house, at least once. It’s almost New Year’s—you can bring them back for the reunion then.”

She blinked, her expression pitiful.

“Freddie, every time we do it in a hotel, I feel like a prostitute.”

Freddie said nothing.

Meanwhile, Aiden cried again, clutching his stomach and whining in pain.

Panic rose in me. I hurried him back to the room and searched the living room for medicine.

But no matter how hard I tried, my hands couldn’t grasp anything.

My five-month-old daughter, Kinsey Tyler, lay sleeping soundly. She hadn’t eaten in a long time, yet no matter how much I shook her, I couldn’t wake her.

I paced the room frantically as light began to stream in from outside.

It was dawn.

Before six o’clock, Freddie got up, washed and sat in the living room, staring blankly into space.

At seven, he tried calling me again.

“Are you out of your mind?” I snapped. “I told you my phone is lost—you can’t reach me. Why didn’t you come find me?”

The words slipped from my lips and then I froze.

I was right here. Why would I want Freddie to come find me?

Or… had I been subconsciously waiting for him all along?

I sat quietly beside him, watching as his frustration grew with every failed attempt to reach me.

Then, a video call came through. Freddie answered it quickly.

“Freddie!”

My mother-in-law’s broad smile filled the screen.

“Mom,” Freddie greeted, though a flicker of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

“Freddie, it’s the eve of the New Year in two days. Your dad, Prilly and I will be coming home this afternoon. I brought gifts for Emma and the two little ones. Are they still awake?”

My mother-in-law loved to travel. Not long ago, she had taken my father-in-law and Prilly to Bali.

“It’s too early, Mom,” Freddie replied after a pause. “She usually sleeps until nine or ten. Didn’t you forget?”

Before she could respond, a young girl suddenly leaned into the camera, her face full of worry.

“Brother, I can’t get through to my sister-in-law.”

It was my younger sister-in-law, Prilly, a sophomore in college. Since Freddie and I had known each other from childhood, Prilly practically grew up clinging to me. Out of everyone, she and I were the closest.

Her eyes brimmed with concern. “My sister-in-law has never ignored my calls before.”

Freddie fell silent for a moment.

“She argued with me yesterday,” he finally said. “She might still be upset. Once she wakes up, I’ll have her call you back.”

“What? How could you argue with her?” Prilly exclaimed dramatically. “My sister-in-law is so gentle and kind-hearted. Don’t you dare scold her!”

Freddie’s lips curled faintly, his expression softening. “I know. She doesn’t hold grudges. When will you arrive? I’ll come pick you up.”

“Oh, no need, no need,” my mother-in-law said with a wave of her hand. “Little Kinsey is only five months old. Why trouble yourself? Just stay home and wait for us.”

As soon as the call ended, Aiden came out, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

His face lit up. “Mom, are Grandpa and Grandma coming back?”

I ruffled his hair and nodded, my heart warming.

“Yes. Our family is going to be together again.”

By nine o’clock, Freddie still hadn’t managed to reach me.

Meanwhile, the woman had finished applying her makeup carefully. She slipped her arms around Freddie’s waist from behind, clinging like a water snake.

“Freddie, Auntie and the others are coming back this afternoon. We won’t be able to meet during the New Year, so let’s make the most of our time. Let’s do it a few more times.”

Freddie pushed her hands away. “She hasn’t answered her phone and I’m worried. I need to go check on her.”

But the woman pressed her body tightly against his.

“Your sister-in-law is just sulking. If you go now, won’t you just face her cold expression again?”

Her eyes shimmered with sorrow. “Freddie, I don’t want to let you go.”

He looked at her for a moment, then scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the bedroom.

I clutched my chest.

It hurt.

The two of them tangled together again—on my bed.

Rage consumed me. I leapt at them, clawing to pull them apart.

“Freddie, don’t you have any shame? This is my house—my bed!

Take this woman and get out!”

The two of them didn’t react and once again, I was forced to watch another live sex show.

Numb, I walked out of the bedroom. Aiden ran to me and wrapped his little arms around my legs, whispering helplessly, “Mom, don’t cry. Aiden doesn’t hurt anymore… it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

But when I pulled him into my arms, my sobs only grew louder.

A crushing sorrow engulfed me, shaking my whole body as I wept.

My son. My five-year-old son…

The sounds from the bedroom slowly quieted and then came a sudden knock at the door.

Freddie stepped out, quickly shutting the bedroom door behind him. His face remained composed, but his movements were sloppy, disordered.

For the first time in my life, I looked at him with nothing but hatred.

When he opened the front door, several people bustled in, their arms full of bags and packages.

Both Freddie and I froze.

A young man in a hooded sweatshirt strode inside, grumbling, “Freddie, what are you and your wife doing? We agreed to have dinner together and then go watch the fireworks, but neither of you answered your phones.”

A woman with a head full of big curls followed, her arms stacked with dessert boxes. She scolded angrily, “That stupid girl Emma didn’t reply to my messages or pick up my calls. Unless you two were fighting all night, I swear I’m going to give her a good scolding. Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

Behind her came a quiet young man who simply patted her on the head in comfort, saying nothing.

I glanced at the foods they carried and suddenly it hit me—I had a date tonight.

These three were our childhood friends. Freddie and I had grown up with them.

Because Freddie and I had been locked in a cold war these past few days, I had planned to use the fireworks show as a chance to reconcile. But since I was never good at taking the initiative, I feared it would be too awkward alone—so I invited them along.

Ricky Dominic, the hoodie-wearing jokester. Meggy Robbie, the fiery curly-haired woman. Adam Grint, the quiet one.

Their names flickered through my mind one by one and strangely, a sense of calm settled over me.

Meggy set down her boxes and turned to Freddie. “Hey, why are you here alone? Where’s Emma? And the two kids?”

That jolted him back to reality.

His face, unnervingly steady, betrayed no trace of guilt.

“They’re still sleeping,” he replied smoothly.

“It’s this late and they’re still asleep?”

Ricky chuckled. “A bunch of sleep gods.”

But when Freddie shot him a warning look, he shut his mouth.

“You guys should just find a club to hang out at,” Freddie added evenly. “We’ll meet you once Emma and the kids wake up.”

His tone was calm, his lie effortless—without even a blink.

“Alright, alright,” Ricky said, getting up from the sofa with a grin. “We know you dote on your wife, so of course we wouldn’t dare disturb her beauty sleep.”

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “But honestly, you’ve been feeding us dog food for more than a decade now. Don’t you two ever get tired of showing off your love?”

None of them suspected a thing.

Because for years, Freddie’s love for me had been real—tangible, overflowing like water, so natural he hadn’t even noticed it himself.

But no one knew his heart had changed.

Meggy rolled her eyes and rose from the sofa as well. “You should’ve told us earlier. Don’t just disappear like that next time. I was anxious all the way here. And then I saw the police investigating a robbery on the roadside. They said the victim was a mother with a son and a daughter. I nearly had a heart attack.”

They kept complaining as they headed toward the door.

Only Freddie stood frozen in place.

Ricky glanced back at him and laughed. “Freddie, come on, don’t be rude. Aren’t you going to see us out?”

Freddie swallowed hard. “What robbery case did you just mention?”

Meggy opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Freddie’s face drained of color in an instant. His hands trembled as he frantically dialed my number again.