Vivian eventually grew more and more preoccupied. I trusted her and believed that she'd be able to maintain proper boundaries with other men. So, I didn't dwell on the matter.

However, she changed.

One day, Desiree developed a high fever. When her teacher couldn't get in contact with Vivian, the school had no choice but to contact me instead.

While at the hospital, I called Vivian numerous times, but she never answered the phone.

Around midnight, she finally showed up at the hospital. She said nonchalantly, "An old friend from college just returned to the country. We were catching up over dinner, and my phone ran out of battery halfway through the meal."

Then, she added, "Kids get sick all the time. Stop making a big fuss out of nothing!"

Suppressing my anger, I tried to reason with her. "Your daughter needs you more than ever right now. You should be paying more attention to her."

Frowning, she replied, "Am I not allowed to have friends of the opposite gender? Stop being so petty, Zachary."

She justified her behavior and spoke as if I was accusing her of something that wasn't true.

I kept convincing myself to trust her. Yet one day, I caught an employee watching a live stream at work, and I realized that Desiree's kindergarten was hosting a parent-child activity.

The live stream showed Liam and Vivian holding Desiree's hands. Meanwhile, Desiree—my biological daughter—was sweetly addressing Liam as her dad.

If Liam was her dad, what did that make me?

The glass in my hands slipped, shattering loudly as it hit the ground.

I suppressed the aching feeling in my heart and drove to the kindergarten. By the time I got there, the event had just ended.

I watched as Vivian, Liam, and Desiree left the building with bright smiles on their faces.

Trying to maintain my composure, I said, "You must've had a long day, Desiree. I'm here to pick you up."

To my surprise, Desiree instantly hid behind Liam. With a look of contempt, she snapped, "I don't want to leave with you! You're an uncultured person. I want Liam to be my dad instead!"

I froze for a brief moment. Then, I recalled how strangely she'd been behaving recently.

As of late, she'd been constantly refusing to attend her enrichment classes. She would yell, "You're so useless, Dad! How can you force me to do things that you aren't even capable of doing yourself?"

Initially, I assumed that she was simply throwing a tantrum because she was having trouble with her studies. So, I didn't think much of it.

In hindsight, I should've known better.

I'd showered Desiree with endless love and affection as she was growing up, so I felt incredibly heartbroken.

"Are you actually refusing to go home with me?" I asked.

I wasn't sure if I sounded too cold, but Desiree was so taken aback by my response that she burst into tears.

"I don't want you anymore! You ruined Mom's relationship with Liam. I could've had a college professor as my dad if it wasn't for you! If that were the case, I would've probably been a lot smarter than I am now!" she shouted.

I raised my head and looked at Vivian. "Do you feel the same way too?"

She'd kept herself in good shape, so it barely looked like she'd aged over the years.

If no one had told Desiree about what had happened back then, she wouldn't have made those comments.

I practically raised Desiree all by myself. Before she enrolled in kindergarten, I even worked from home so I could look after her.

In contrast, Vivian spent the majority of her time on leisure activities. She didn't care for our daughter at all.

Despite everything I'd done for Desiree, it seemed like she'd always listened to Vivian more than me. Since she was a girl, perhaps she just naturally felt closer to her mother.

Vivian was the last person who could accuse me of being unrefined or uncultured. Back then, my grades had definitely been enough to get me into a better college.

Vivian avoided my gaze and yelled, "Can you not argue with me in front of the kindergarten? It's so embarrassing."

Then, she turned toward Liam and continued in a gentle tone, "Thank you for spending so much time with Desiree for the last few days. Please let me buy you dinner tonight."

Liam nodded. Then, he turned toward me and declared, "Don't worry, Mr. Green. I'll make sure to take good care of your wife and daughter."

With that, the three of them walked past me and left.

Later that night, I sat on the living room couch and waited for Vivian and Desiree to return home. But to my dismay, they never did.

Around 1:00 am, I received a video from an unknown number.

In the video, a man and a woman were being intimate with each other. The drunken woman on the bed was none other than my wife, Vivian.

"You told me I was the only man that you'd ever loved, Vivian. Is that true?" the man in the video asked.

"Of course! I even named my daughter 'Desiree' because of my desire to be with you, Liam," Vivian replied.

I was at a loss for words. It felt like my love for her had become a joke.

After spending the entire night lying awake in bed, I made a huge decision.

When Vivian returned home with Desiree the next day, I handed her the divorce papers.

Initially, she looked shocked. Yet, her surprise soon turned into anger.

"All I did was spend a night outside, Zachary. Why are you being so dramatic?" she yelled.

"You're so petty, Dad," Desiree added. "No wonder Mom doesn't like you."

I forwarded the video to Vivian and said coldly, "You should be perfectly aware of what you've done. Since Desiree is watching, I'll do you a favor and save you the embarrassment."

Vivian checked her phone. When she glanced at what I'd just sent her, her expression instantly changed.

Furious, she barked, "Are you an idiot? This is clearly made by AI! I can't believe you don't trust me. This is an insult to both Liam's character and mine! Apologize to us right now!"

Glaring at me, Desiree shouted, "You're a horrible person, Dad! Don't pick on Mom and Liam!"

The way Desiree treated me broke my heart more than Vivian's affair did. I'd showered her with endless love and affection for years, but she still chose to side with her mother without any reason at all.

Since that was the case, it was probably better for me to let them have their way.

I picked up my suitcase and declared calmly, "You can have the house and full custody of our daughter. I'll make sure to pay you the child support on time. You can discuss everything else with my lawyer."

Vivian didn't ask me to stay, and the paperwork was processed relatively quickly.

On the day our divorce was finalized, she glanced at me with a look of disdain.

"Don't come crawling back to me in the future, Zachary," she spat.

She was certain that I couldn't live without her. She believed that I'd be the first to admit that I was wrong—just like how I'd done in the past.

But she was wrong. I'd been willing to accept her bad temper and her tantrums, but I couldn't forgive her for cheating on me.

After the divorce, I tasked my company's vice president with managing all of the business ventures in Cendria. Then, I went abroad to pursue more opportunities.

Andy was a homeless child. He met me when he was about to get beaten to death by a vagrant on the streets. I saved him and adopted him.

By chance, I learned that he was of mixed race. His mother was Cendrian, so I decided to bring him back to Cendria.

When I found out that he was attending the same school as Desiree, I was surprised. I'd never expected to see Vivian and Desiree again under such circumstances.

Andy had been keeping me company for the last two years. Because of him, I hadn't thought about Vivian or Desiree in a long time.

Their threats didn't faze me. I took Andy's hand and left.

…

After I finished work the next day, my thoughts drifted to what happened yesterday.

Because of me, Desiree was incredibly spoiled. Aside from matters pertaining to her education, I'd always given her everything she wanted.

I wasn't sure if she might be a bad influence on Andy. So, I debated whether I should transfer him to another school.

To my surprise, I suddenly received a call from Andy's teacher, Samantha Berkeley.

"Hello, Mr. Green. Andy has gotten into a fight. I'm afraid you're going to have to drop by the school," she said.

I froze. Andy had always been a well-behaved kid. Why would he get into a fight when he couldn't even watch people slice up fish?

I rushed to the school and saw two children wrestling each other. To be precise, the other kid had pinned Andy to the ground and was currently beating him up.

I was furious.

I yanked the other child off Andy and realized that he had multiple bruises on his face. He was also bleeding from the corner of his mouth.

"Why didn't you fight back?" I asked him. "Is this how I raised you?"

I continued, "I told you not to pick on others, but I never told you not to stand up for yourself. If someone attacks you, you should do whatever it takes to defend yourself. I have more than enough money to pay their medical bills!"

Biting his lip, Andy teared up.

"I'm sorry, Dad. She told me she's your biological daughter. She also said that you'd abandon me if I hit her back."

Upon hearing that, I realized that the child next to me was none other than Desiree.

I glanced at her coldly. "Are you finally acknowledging the fact that I'm your dad?" I asked.

Desiree tilted her head upward in an arrogant manner. "Try not to let it get to your head," she replied. "If you don't—"

Before she could finish her sentence, I slapped her across the face.

She cupped her reddened cheek and stared at me in disbelief. "How dare you! I'll never call you my dad again for the rest of my life!"

Samantha pulled Desiree behind her, exclaiming, "We're adults. If a child misbehaves, we should verbally correct their behavior. We shouldn't resort to violence, no matter what!"

I scoffed. "Why didn't you step in when she was beating up my son then? Since she's admitted that I'm her father, you should have no say in how I discipline my own child."

I pushed Samantha out of the room and locked the door from the inside.

Desiree was terrified. "If you lay a finger on me, Mom will never forgive you. You can't just do whatever you want just because you have some stupid money!"

Stupid money?

If it wasn't for my "stupid money", Desiree would never have been able to attend such a good school. And if Vivian hadn't bribed Samantha using the money I sent her for child support, the latter wouldn't have stood idly by while Desiree beat Andy up.

I pulled Desiree onto my lap and gave her a firm smack on her bottom.

"Who taught you to be a bully?"

Even though she was sobbing hysterically, she still refused to acknowledge her mistake.

"I didn't say anything wrong!" she declared. "Andy is a bastard! I know about everything. He's just a homeless kid you adopted!"

She continued, "A disgusting, homeless kid like him shouldn't be my classmate. How could you hit me because of someone like him? You have no right to be my dad. I refuse to call you my dad anymore!"

She was being incredibly stubborn. But after I disciplined her for a while longer, she stopped behaving so arrogantly and simply resorted to crying.

Ultimately, Andy tugged on my sleeve and said, "That's enough, Dad. You're the one who told me that girls are more sensitive to pain. Since she's already been punished, I don't blame her for what she did anymore."

Choking between sobs, Desiree cried, "I don't want your pity. My mom will definitely make you pay for what you've done."

Andy didn't care about her threat. Instead, he stared at me with a pleading expression.

I sighed, deciding to let it go.