Chapter 2

My father's actions were swift.

Within half an hour, the divorce lawyer had contacted me and sent me 3 GB of evidence and documents.

I clicked through. Besides Scarlett's Instagram posts, which I'd already seen, there was a video account I'd never encountered.

Eighty-three posts, and Mark's shadow was in every single one.

I discovered that last year, on Christmas, Mark had claimed to be working late, but he had actually flown to be with Scarlett.

He'd even drawn little stars with her in the snow.

I learned that for Leo's seventh birthday, the gift Mark gave him was chosen by Scarlett.

A teddy bear.

In the video, Scarlett gleefully stuffed intimate photos of her and Mark into the bear's belly, her smile practically oozing smug satisfaction.

"A surprise for Mr. Mark's precious son."

"Can't wait for the day it's discovered."

In the comments section, a clueless stranger asked:

【Is the streamer's boyfriend from a divorced family?】

Scarlett, her profile picture a cute kitten, replied:

【Oh yeah, but don't worry, I'll be stepping into his mom's shoes real soon.】

followed by a string of coy emojis.

And the latest post, uploaded on the day I left for my business trip.

The background was our storage room. Scarlett, holding a selfie stick, leaned against the door, smiling innocently at the camera.

"Mr. Mark's kid is being so naughty, I think I'll lock him in the storage room as a little punishment."

In the background, I heard Leo, my seven-year-old son, crying out in terror and begging for mercy.

My hand, gripping the mouse, clenched tight.

I shot up from my chair with a bang, recalling the night I landed in the other state.

I dialed home over a dozen times, my anxiety spiking with each unanswered ring. It wasn't until the seventeenth call that someone finally picked up.

"Why did it take so long to answer? Where's Leo?"

I was frantic, terrified something had happened at home.

On the other end, Mark's breathing noticeably hitched, and it took him a long moment to stammer out an explanation:

"Leo... he just had a nightmare, and it took me ages to get him back to sleep. Can we talk tomorrow?"

At the time, I didn't think much of it, brushed off by Mark.

Now, looking back, everything made sense...

A gaping hole tore through my chest, and a freezing gust seemed to blow right through it.

It wasn't because Mark cheated that I was hurting, but because I could never have imagined he would let someone hurt *our child*.

I remembered the year Leo was born; he only had a touch of severe jaundice and needed phototherapy.

Mark was so anxious, he canceled all his work to be with him twenty-four hours a day.

The coldness in my heart grew heavier. I sat back down, continuing to browse the evidence of Mark's infidelity.

Suddenly, Scarlett's video account updated.

In the video, she wore the same clothes she had on when I met her, tears staining her face, looking utterly pitiful:

"Mr. Mark's ex-wife is causing trouble again, saying I'm not fit to be his child's mother. I'm so scared."

She sniffled, then feigned nonchalance as she showed her SnapChat chat screen with Mark.

"But thankfully, Mr. Mark spoils me so much! He promised to attend the parent-teacher conference with me tomorrow. I'm finally going to be a mom to a child. I'm so nervous."

She hadn't told Mark I was back?

Looking at Mark's generic blue profile picture, which hadn't changed since Leo was born, I gave a soft chuckle.

Well, if it's a parent-teacher conference, then it wouldn't be strange for the *real* mother to attend, would it?