Scrolling further back, I saw messages showing that he had driven Wanda and her son to the hospital in the middle of the night because Wanda’s son had nothing more than a minor cold.

He ran back and forth personally, sparing no expense, even paying a large sum to get a specialist to see the boy.

Meanwhile, that very same day, my son had a persistent high fever. I could not reach him no matter how many times I called, so I had no choice but to carry my son on my back all the way to the emergency unit in the hospital.

There were no beds or doctors available when we arrived. We had to wait in line just to be seen.

I was so desperate that I nearly knelt and begged the doctors and nurses on duty. Only then did they get an empty bed so my child could lie down and rest.

…

Scene after scene from the past flashed before my eyes like a slideshow.

So, this was the truth. Every single day, he was an absent husband and father in our small family, yet he played the role of savior in his ex-girlfriend's life.

I clutched the phone tightly as I kept scrolling. The more I scrolled, the redder my eyes became, until I could no longer hold back the tears.

Seeing me like this, Koah’s face turned pale as he tried to defend himself. “Honey, Wanda’s son is still young. He needs a father’s love. He cries all day asking for his dad. I had no choice.”

I retorted. “You went over there to be her man, to be her child’s father. What about our family? Where is my husband? Where is my son’s father? Is he dead?”

After saying that, I sneered. “With how things are now, you might as well be dead.”

As I spoke, I grabbed the water bottle in the car and hurled it at Koah with all my strength.

With a loud bang, the bottle struck him right on the forehead.

He clutched the wound, grimacing in pain, and looked at me with a hint of complaint.

“Honey, you hit me too hard…”

I ignored him and shouted angrily, “Koah, the downpayment for that house was money my parents left me before they died. How dare you touch it!”

“Our son is about to start elementary school. Without an apartment in the school district, how is he supposed to go to school?”

“Call her and get that money back now!”

I reached for the phone to make him call his ex-girlfriend, but he snatched it away and said to me, “Honey, can’t you have a little compassion? Wanda is a single woman raising a child. That ten thousand dollars every month isn’t just for the kid. It also goes toward her mortgage. Where would she possibly find money to return to you?”

I stared at him in disbelief, my voice trembling as I spoke.

“Koah, do you even know that your son is almost seven years old, and our family doesn’t even have enough money to pay his school fees?”

“To earn more, I get up before dawn every day to work a side job selling breakfast! Even when I injured my leg, I was afraid to go to the hospital for treatment!”

“As for you… you not only give all your salary to your ex-girlfriend to raise her son, but even help her pay off her mortgage by lying that you are paying for your mother’s medical expenses.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

Koah’s eyes widened. He looked at my leg in panic and said, “Honey, does your leg feel better now?”

“Do you want me to take you to the hospital to have it checked?”

I scoffed. “Don’t put on a fake pretense. If you really cared about me, why didn’t you answer when I called you thirty times that day?”

Koah seemed to recall something, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant.

His lips moved as if he wanted to explain, but in the end, not a single word came out.

Just as I was about to continue, our son’s voice suddenly came from the back seat of the car.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he called out to us in a drowsy voice, “Daddy, Mommy, are we at North Bay Elementary School already?”

I reached back, carried my son from the back seat into the front seat, and said softly, “Not yet. Did Mommy and Daddy’s voices wake you up?”

Sitting obediently in my arms, my son shook his head.

Seeing this, a trace of guilt flashed through Koah’s eyes. He was about to say something, but I cut him off.

“Let’s go. Take our son to get familiar with the elementary school first. We’ll talk about everything else when we get home.”

The rest of the drive passed in silence. Neither Koah nor I spoke.

Our son was about to graduate from kindergarten and enter elementary school, and I had long ago chosen North Bay Elementary School for him, a school renowned for both its faculty and its education quality.

However, to attend that elite elementary school, one had to own an apartment within the designated school district nearby.

To secure my son's admission, I engaged in countless negotiations before reaching an agreement with a family about to emigrate overseas. I wanted to use the money my parents had left me to pay the downpayment and arranged to transfer the remaining balance to their bank account each month.

I had originally thought that my son’s admission to North Bay Elementary School was secured.

That was why I had reserved a spot for him and specifically brought him along to familiarize himself with the school environment.

I never imagined that Koah would do something like this behind my back, destroying every plan and effort I had made for our son.

Just as I was wondering what to do next, Koah’s phone rang suddenly.

I did not know what the person on the other end of the line said, but his expression turned grave.

After hanging up, he looked anxious, sweat gathering on his forehead, and said apologetically, “Honey, something urgent just came up at work. My boss needs me to rush over and deal with it immediately.

“I can’t take you and our son to North Bay Elementary School anymore. I’ll drop you off here. You can take a taxi there.”

With that, he pulled over to the side of the road and opened the car door, motioning for my son and me to get out.

I stared at him in disbelief. “Koah, are you out of your mind? It’s 39°C outside today! You want me and our son to stand out here at noon waiting for a car?”

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll get heatstroke?”

Koah kept apologizing, but his hands kept moving. He got out of the car and pulled my son and me out anyway.

Then, he drove off without a backward glance, ignoring my furious expression and our son’s look of disbelief.

I took my son to stand under the shade of a tree, but even after waiting for a long time, we still could not get a taxi.

As the minutes ticked by, I knew we would not make it to the school in time for our scheduled visit even if we managed to get a car now.

As such, I called the teacher and canceled the campus tour.

When I was about to take my son home, I suddenly noticed him staring longingly at a nearby water park.

I stopped trying to pull on my son’s hand to guide him away from that place. In a gentle voice, I asked, “Sweetheart, do you want to go play at the water park?”

Even though my son was looking at that place eagerly, he still shook his head obediently and turned down my suggestion.

He had always been sensible and well-behaved, knowing just how hard I worked to earn money, and never willing to spend an extra cent.

Thinking of the way Koah had written in his diary about taking that mother and son to have fun in Shanrel Dinoland, my heart tightened.

I turned around and took my son by the hand, walking toward the water park’s ticket booth.

I spent 300 dollars to buy one ticket for him and one for myself, then took him inside.

While we were playing in the park, my son spotted a lion plush in a shop and could not take his eyes off it.

It was his favorite animal.

I took him into the store and had just picked up the lion plush when a child suddenly darted out from the side and snatched it away.

He grinned at my son with smugness. “I took it first! It’s mine!”

Not wanting to argue with a spoiled kid, I asked the clerk to bring out another lion plush.

However, the clerk looked troubled and said there was only that one left.

Seeing the longing look in my son’s eyes, my heart softened.

Turning to the child, I said, “We picked up this toy first. Please give it back to us.”

The child clutched the plush and spat at me viciously.

“I’m not giving it to you! Go to hell, you ugly freak!”

Frowning, I was about to look for the child’s parents when I saw Koah appear in front of me…. The very man who was supposedly working overtime at the office. He was holding onto Wanda, who was smiling brightly.

The color drained from Koah’s face the moment he saw me.

Suppressing the tremor in my body, I questioned, “Koah, didn’t you say you were going back to the office to work overtime? Why are you here?”

“So, this is what you meant by something urgent, bringing them to the water park to have fun?”

A flash of smugness and provocation flashed across Wanda’s eyes before she quickly stepped in to explain things for Koah.

“Don’t be mad, Xena,” she said softly. “Tim said he wanted to come to the water park. I was worried about his safety, so I asked Koah to help look after him. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

I looked at Koah, but his expression clearly showed he was afraid I would cause a scene. Tugging on my clothes, he said, “Honey, listen to me. Let’s go home first and talk it out.”

As he spoke, he pulled at my sleeve in a pleading manner.

I glanced at Koah. In the end, for my son’s sake, I shut up and said nothing.

Just as we were about to leave, the shop clerk called out to us suddenly.

“Which one of you is buying this last plush toy?”

My husband immediately paid, then glanced at my son and then at Timothy. Without further hesitation, he handed the plush toy to Timothy.

Seeing my son’s face crumple, his eyes filling with tears, a surge of fury rose up in my chest.

I shouted at Koah, “Koah, do you even know who your child is? Have you completely lost your mind?”

However, Koah only lowered his voice and said to me, “Honey, they’re a single-parent family. Raising a child alone isn’t easy. You and our son should be more understanding.”

I pointed at Wanda and her son, my voice trembling as I spoke. “What exactly is so hard for them with you supporting them, running around and taking care of everything for them?”

“How can you say that?”

Wanda clutched her son, looking as though she had suffered a tremendous injustice, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Xena Summers!”

Koah shouted my name, then grabbed me and dragged me outside.

“Honey, Wanda and her son suffered severe emotional trauma in that unfortunate marriage. Be kinder and stop making things difficult for them.”

I was making things difficult for them?

It turned out that one would laugh if one were utterly speechless.

I looked at the man I had been married to for nearly ten years and, for the first time, I felt he was like a stranger to me.

“Koah, I’ll ask you one last time. Do you only feel nothing but sympathy toward Wanda and her son?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Koah raised his hand and swore to me. “Honey, I swear to you that I feel nothing else!”

“Then, is there anything else you’re hiding from me?”

“No!”

Koah answered without hesitation.

After speaking, he lowered his head, gently pulled me into his arms, and kissed me gently on the top of my head.

“Honey, I don’t have anything else to hide from you. I promise I’ll never lie to you again!

“You don’t like Wanda, so I’ll reduce contact with her and her son from now on. From now on, the three of us will live a good life together as a family.”

Listening to his solemn yet evasive promises, my heart was filled with disappointment.

Just then, my phone suddenly vibrated.

I opened it. It was a message from the teacher I had previously contacted to arrange the school visit.

“Mrs. Quinn, didn’t you say that Charlie Quinn was going to enroll in North Bay Elementary School? Why does the name on my enrollment list say Timothy Blake?”

“Did Charlie’s father accidentally fill out the wrong name because he came in a hurry today?”

In that instant, it felt as if I had been struck by lightning. I stood frozen in place.

After a long while, I finally reacted. Trembling, I searched for the contact number of the family selling the apartment.

When I learned that the apartment had already been purchased by Koah and the ownership had been registered under Wanda’s name, I felt the world spin around me, nearly collapsing to the ground.

“Honey, are you okay?”

Looking at Koah’s feigned concern, all I felt was a wave of nausea.

Pointing at him, I questioned, “You gave our son’s school enrollment spot to Timothy, didn’t you?”

Koah touched his nose guiltily and said in a low, apologetic voice, “Timothy has reached school age this year, too. We’ll let him take the spot first.”

“Our son is still young. Staying home for another year won’t hurt. I promise I’ll get our son in next year.”

“Get lost!”

I screamed at him, completely breaking down.

“I don’t need you. I’ll take back my son’s right to go to school!”

With that, I turned around and dialed the number for the police.

“Officer, I want to report a crime! My husband transferred my premarital assets without my consent to his mistress!”

“I suspect they are plotting something!”