Chapter 2

So that was what I was in his eyes—a monster who would use her own child as a weapon.

In the year since our daughter was born, he had never stayed up a single night to hold her. Not once did he wake up when she cried from nightmares.

When our daughter cried, flailing her little hands, was she hungry? Was she scared? Or did she just need the comfort of knowing her mother was there?

He had never bothered to ask. Not even once.

I looked down at my baby girl. Her tear-streaked face was pressed against my chest.

Perhaps this was for the best.

If he loved Vivian so much, he could spend the rest of his life tending to that mother and son.

From this day forward, my baby girl no longer needed a father who couldn't even bother to understand her cries.

I turned to leave, but my parents, who had been lurking nearby, blocked my path.

"Natalie!"

They dragged me into a secluded corner.

"You've been Mrs. Reed for ten whole years, and yet you couldn't even give him a son! Now that Andy is back, you're already stooping to cheap dirty tricks to fight for his attention?" my father chided, his voice full of sheer disappointment.

"Do you have any idea how much suffering Vivian had to endure all these years because of you?"

"At least Nathan is a responsible man. Ever since Andy was born, he personally raised the boy and treated him like the center of his universe! That's the only way he made up for leaving them alone abroad!"

My mother stood beside him, nodding eagerly in agreement.

"Just last week, when Andy caught a cold right after landing, Nathan rushed over in the dead of night. He took the boy to the hospital and stayed awake by his bedside for two whole days!"

She marveled at how much Nathan treasured his secret son, putting on an insufferable air of doing me a favor.

"Natalie, we know this is a bitter pill to swallow. But Vivian has already given the family their firstborn son, and Nathan values the boy so much. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept it!"

"She suffered?!" I cut them off, refusing to listen to another word of their nonsense. "He's responsible? If he loved being someone else's husband so much, why the hell did he marry me in the first place?!"

"Nathan dotes on Andy, but what about my daughter?!"

"What good does throwing a tantrum do now?!" my mother snapped impatiently. "Your sister was always the one who suited Nathan best anyway! If she hadn't stepped aside for you back then—"

She abruptly clamped her mouth shut, realizing she had let her true thoughts slip out.

I stared at the couple standing in front of me. Suddenly, they and the Nathan they spoke of felt completely foreign.

So in their eyes, I was the interloper who had forcefully come between Vivian and Nathan.

Just last week, my baby suffered from terrible acid reflux. She threw up milk constantly and woke up choking in the middle of the night.

Nathan didn't say a word, but his face had been twisted with pure annoyance. Every look he threw at our daughter was drenched in disgust.

I naively thought he simply wasn't used to the noisy fuss of a baby.

To avoid disturbing his sleep, I had moved with our daughter into the guest bedroom and hadn't stepped foot back into the master suite since.

Yet, when Andy had a simple cough, he spent two sleepless nights watching over the boy like a doting father?

I swallowed the burning bitterness in my throat.

The buzzing of my phone broke my spiral.

I looked down at the incoming photos. A man was standing inside a spacious, sunlit nursery, personally assembling a white crib with his own hands. The room was already filled to the brim with top-tier baby supplies and soft plushies.

Even though it was prepared on short notice, the sheer effort and love poured into every detail were undeniable.

“Sweetheart, I'm on my way to pick you and our little princess up right now!”

A sudden wave of warmth loosened the tight knot in my chest.

It didn't matter. My daughter would have a father who genuinely loved her.

"I get it," I said flatly, looking up at my parents. "Don't worry. I won't lay a finger on Vivian."

Ignoring the audible sighs of relief from my parents, I walked away without looking back.