My fiancee gets drunk the day before our wedding.

While I'm taking her home, she mistakes me for my best friend.

"Jackson, don't bring our child to the wedding tomorrow. I don't want Samuel to know about us."

I slam on the brakes, causing Madelyn Wilkinson to hit the seatback and come to her senses.

When she realizes it's me, she freezes for a moment before slowly explaining, "Since you heard that, let's call off the wedding for now. You don't have to worry. Jackson doesn't plan on getting married again. But I'm still that child's mother no matter what, so I need to help out.

"Jackson's your best friend. You feel sorry for him if he has to raise a child alone, don't you? I'll marry you after my son starts school."

I can't help smiling bitterly. "Alright then… I don't have a problem with that."

When we get home, she packs up a suitcase and leaves without another word.

Feeling a sting in my eyes, I suppress my emotions as I sit on the couch, falling into a daze.

That's when my phone rings at the worst possible moment. My childhood friend, Hazel Parsons, says in a hoarse voice, "Sam, don't marry her. Please."

I fall silent for a beat. "Alright."

The night before our wedding, my fiancee got drunk. As I was driving her home, she mistook me for my best friend, Jackson Horton.

"Jackson, don't bring our son to the wedding tomorrow," she slurred. "I don't want Samuel to know that I'm Mason's mother."

I hit the brakes, causing Madelyn Wilkinson to lurch forward. Hitting the seat in front of her, she somewhat sobered up.

When she realized it was me, she froze for a long time before saying, "Since you've heard everything, let's cancel the wedding for now. Don't worry. Jackson has no plans to remarry. But as the child's mother, I need to help out.

"He's your best friend. Surely you feel bad seeing him raise a child alone. I'll marry you after Mason starts school."

I gave a bitter smile. "Sounds good… I don't mind."

When we got home, she didn't say another word as she grabbed her suitcase and walked out.

Suppressing the bitterness deep inside me, I sank onto the couch, dazed.

All of a sudden, my phone rang, untimely as ever. It was my childhood friend, Hazel Parsons.

She uttered hoarsely, "Sam, please don't marry her…"

After a short silence, I said, "Okay."

When the call ended, I looked around the carefully decorated home Madelyn and I had prepared for our new life together.

I used to think the decorations weren't festive enough for our marriage. Only then did I realize how glaring and ridiculous it all looked.

When we were in college, I spent two years pursuing her, and we dated for three. We were supposed to get married tomorrow after so long.

I never expected that she and my best friend, Jackson, had been involved for over three years and that they had a son together who was already two years old.

On top of that, she had been taking care of the child, Mason Horton, as a mother the entire time.

The double betrayal from my best friend and my fiancee hit me like a brick, shattering my heart.

Forcing back the tears threatening to fall, I got up to leave that suffocating place.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Samuel, Jackson's been busy taking care of Mason and hasn't had anything to eat yet. I haven't eaten either, so make some food and bring it over."

The way Madelyn spoke made it sound like she was giving me an order. She then ended the call before I could say a word.

A wry smile appeared on my face as my heart broke.

For the past three years, Jackson had been raising his child alone after claiming to have lost his wife.

As his best friend and his son's godfather, I always thought I'd done right by him.

Every time he avoided talking about Mason's mother, I even felt sorry for him.

Never in a million years did I think that the woman he refused to talk about, the supposedly deceased wife, was my own fiancee.

And the saddest part of it all? I used to think Jackson was the pitiful one. Who would have thought that I was the real pitiful fool this whole time?

Looking back now, I realized that all the signs were there.

At every gathering, Jackson would somehow end up sitting beside Madelyn. They'd casually chat about parenting and share inside jokes only the two of them could understand.

All that closeness wasn't a coincidence. It was calculated, and it happened right under my nose.

Sometimes, I'd feel uneasy about them and would hint to Madelyn to mind her boundaries.

She always brushed me off, saying, "Jackson's your best friend, and I'm your woman. If you can't even trust the two of us, who can you trust?"

Just like that, she would shut me up that way, and I even thought she was right.

As I thought about it now, I could only laugh at my own stupidity.

Opening a food delivery app, I deliberately picked the restaurant with the lowest rating and ordered a few dishes.

When it arrived, I dumped the food into containers and headed out. I wanted to see just how the proud, refined Madelyn played the role of a loving, virtuous mother.

Standing before Jackson's door with my finger on the bell, I felt oddly detached.

Jackson opened the door. He was in casual clothes, his face still wearing the look of satisfaction of someone who'd just had his fun.

His gaze held an indescribable smugness when he saw me.

In an instant, my face turned cold. As a man myself, I knew exactly what that look was.

However, Jackson didn't seem to care. With that same smile, he ushered me inside.

Seeing that I stayed silent, he started talking first. "Take a seat, Sam. Maddy is washing Mason's face. You should've seen them just now. The mother and son were having such a good time together!"

Ha! Mother and son? And the way he called her name also sounded rather intimate.

So they were going to drop the act now?

I sat down, stiff as a board.

Moments later, Madelyn came out with their son.

Instinctively, I smiled at Mason.

But he didn't run into my arms like usual. Instead, he pointed at me and said, "You're a bad man."

The smile on my face froze. Mason was a two-year-old boy who couldn't even pronounce words properly, yet he pointed at me and clearly called me a bad man.

Hearing that, Jackson glanced at me before pretending to chastise Mason.

"Mason Horton, how could you say that? He's your godfather! He's always cared about you!"

Madelyn quickly tightened her hold on Mason.

"Don't scold him, Jackson. He's just an innocent child. He doesn't know what he's saying. Samuel is my fiance. Of course, he won't take the words of a child to heart."

I sat there with a wry smile on my face, feeling like an intruder ruining the happiness of the family of three. Who was I to still call myself Madelyn's fiance in such a situation?

Besides, what kind of innocent child would point at someone and call them a bad man?

Mason Horton… Mason… It was only then that I realized Mason's name was probably made up of parts of their names.

Madelyn, on the other hand, didn't see a problem with any of this at all. She even tried to hand Mason to me.

I turned to avoid her. "Enough said. I'm leaving."

She grabbed my wrist.

"Samuel, you're free at the moment, aren't you? You might as well start getting used to being a father."

I sneered. "Madelyn, I might be a fool, but I'm not insane. Why should I help raise a child whom you had with my friend? The three of you might not be bothered by me, but I sure as hell can't stand the sight of you all."

Sensing the tension, Jackson tried to smooth things over with a smile.

"Sam, you know me. I've got no plans to remarry, and Mason's my responsibility. If you mind, Madelyn can come by less often. We definitely won't affect your marriage."

After he said that, he made a show of giving Madelyn a push, his eyes brimming with tenderness.

"You should go with your husband. It's already been two years anyway. I've gotten used to taking care of Mason alone."

As if Mason had sensed the tension, he started wailing in Madelyn's arms.

Madelyn immediately panicked. She frantically comforted Mason, wiping away his tears as she rocked him in her arms.

When he finally stopped crying, she handed him back to Jackson. Then, she turned on me with a glare.

"Samuel Lowe, that's enough! Mason had already been lacking the care of a mother because of you, and now you want me to abandon him? Is that it?

"Besides, you've also been caring for him all this time, and he's used to your care. You'd better accept him wholeheartedly, or you can forget about marrying me."

My breath hitched. Then I turned and walked away.

Mason had been lacking the care of a mother because of me?

I rushed downstairs, not wanting to stay another second. Opening the car door, I got in and prepared to leave.

But just when I tried to shut it, Madelyn appeared.

She wore a deep frown as she stopped me from closing the door.

"Samuel, when I first found out I was pregnant, I wanted to tell you about it. I never meant to hide it. But he's your best friend, and since he didn't want to remarry, I didn't want to make things ugly between us. I figured things would settle once Mason grew up."

I stared at her in disbelief, my eyes turning red.

"Well, too bad you let it slip. I might be willing to help Jackson babysit, but I will never accept my fiancee having another man's child."

When Madelyn saw my reddened eyes, she mocked, "You're the heir of Lowe Group. With all your money and pedigree, you can't even accept something this trivial? Compared to Jackson, you're pathetic.

"He might come from an ordinary family, but he's more of a man than you'll ever be."

I felt my nose sting when I heard that, the kind that came right before tears. "I'm done talking to you."

Madelyn yanked me out of the driver's seat before wrapping her arms around me.

"Come on, stop making a scene. I'll make it up to you. Just not right now."

I gave a hollow laugh, breaking free from her embrace.

After looking away for a while, I said faintly, "Forget it. Let's break up."

My eyes had already turned completely red.

I fought hard to hold myself together, refusing to explode.

Madelyn froze when she saw me like that. She cupped my face with her hands, forcing me to look at her.

She then spoke as if she were doing me a favor. "Fine. I'll come back every few days to keep you company, and I'll take care of Mason after that, okay?"

When I didn't respond, she let out a long, weary sigh.

"Samuel, this is the best I can do. Could you stop being unreasonable?"

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm.

"That's too troublesome. Just thinking about it exhausts me. Now that we've already broken up, you can just stay with him and your child. Whatever I do is none of your business anymore."

She grabbed my shoulder roughly, assuming I was just throwing a tantrum.

"Samuel, are you being serious right now?"

Not wanting to argue anymore, I turned toward my car.

All of a sudden, she shoved me hard. "Alright then. You're finally dropping your act and acting all high and mighty, huh?"

As I was out of it to begin with and didn't expect her to push me, I hit my head on the car door, and before I could steady myself, I stumbled and hit the side of the car.

Madelyn shot me an annoyed look before turning away.

At some point, Jackson appeared. He scolded her in mild reproach, "Sam's always been the golden boy. It's normal for him to have a temper. Can't you just cut him some slack?"

Scoffing, Madelyn casually placed a hand on Jackson's shoulder.

"I'm a person as well. Why should I cut him some slack? He was the one who pursued me in the first place. And now he's giving me attitude?"

Then she shot me a frosty glance before turning to Jackson with a gentle smile.

"You've always been better than him since you're both reliable and level-headed. If it were Samuel dealing with something like this, he'd have blown up ages ago with that temper of his. Just imagining it gives me a headache."

Watching them standing there talking so intimately made my stomach churn. Not wanting to care about them anymore, I got in my car and drove off.

My heart ached so badly that I struggled to catch my breath.

Right then, my phone rang. It was a call from Marissa Burke, Madelyn's mother.

"Sam, I already heard. It was wrong of Maddy to cancel your wedding. She even hid the fact that she had a child from all of us and only came clean when the child was already two. That child was just an accident.

"Maddy simply couldn't bring herself to abort it. I've been thinking, and I believe that as long as she still loves you, this shouldn't stop you two from getting married. Besides, Jack already said he won't fight you for her. You're still the man Maddy will marry. You're a man, Sam. Be the bigger person."

My throat closed up. When I finally spoke, my voice came out hoarse. "Madelyn and I are done, Marissa. We're no longer together."

When she heard that, her tone changed instantly. "I knew rich young men like you were all heartless. I was against your relationship from the start, for I was worried my daughter would suffer from being with you.

"Now that she's coming clean after making a mistake any soft-hearted woman would, you can't even forgive her?"

My grip on the steering wheel tightened until my knuckles turned white.

"You don't have to worry, Marissa. Your daughter has someone now. She and Jackson make quite the pair. I've already removed myself from the equation and won't be disturbing them again."

I ended the call before she could respond and hit the brakes, pulling over to the side of the road.

Breathing hard, I thought of how I'd traded a life of luxury for simplicity for the sake of Madelyn's fragile pride.

And when Madelyn finally agreed to be with me, she'd still mock me occasionally.

Every time it happened, I'd just nod with a smile. I had thought that if I just stayed by her side as an ordinary, caring man, she would eventually open her heart to me.

But at a family gathering once, she couldn't even hide her disdain for me for being plain-looking.

"I heard Maddy's dating a guy from a rich family. Where is he? Don't tell me it's that guy next to her."

"He looks so plain. There's no way he's rich. She must have just said that to look good in front of others."

As Madelyn's relatives laughed, her gaze toward me grew distant.

I sat in my car for a long while, dazed, before finally driving home.