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.

When I opened the door, I found Samantha speaking to someone on the phone.

"Please come to the school immediately, Ms. Johnston. Desiree's father is giving her a beating! We couldn't dissuade him at all."

"He's her biological father! It's not like he's going to injure her or anything. If she does end up with injuries, we'll be able to press him for monetary compensation," Vivian said in an exasperated manner.

She continued, "She's just an insignificant kid. I'm really busy, so please don't call me over something so trivial!"

Samantha had put the call on speaker, so Desiree heard every single word.

After Vivian hung up on her, Samantha stomped her feet in frustration and barked, "How irresponsible! What kind of a mother is she? Her daughter's about to get beaten to death, yet she doesn't even want to drop by the school."

Then, she turned around and realized that the door had been open the entire time. Her expression became awkward at that.

Desiree's face drained of all color, and she ran outside without saying a word.

After Andy and I left the school, I took him to the hospital so he could get his wounds bandaged.

Andy put on a forced smile and tried to tell me that he was okay. Despite that, I could still tell that he was upset. He was probably still thinking about Desiree's nasty comments.

Once we got home, I wanted to fill in the paperwork to transfer Andy to another school. But before I could do that, he hesitantly asked me a question.

"The school is holding a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow, Dad. Are you free to attend it with me?"

Before I could reply, he added in a small voice, "It's okay if you don't have the time…"

I tapped his forehead.

"What are you talking about?" I asked incredulously. "As your dad, it wouldn't make sense for me to miss your parent-teacher meeting. I'll definitely be there."

Once he heard my firm answer, he instantly relaxed.

…

The next day, Andy and I headed to the school together.

Moments after we sat down in our seats, Desiree and Liam showed up.

She introduced Liam enthusiastically, saying, "This is my dad, Ms. Berkeley."

Then, she turned to look at me with a defiant look on her face.

I flashed her a nonchalant smile in response.

…

As the parent-teacher meeting drew to a close, Desiree stood up.

"I wrote my dad an essay, Ms. Berkeley. May I please go on stage and read it to him?" she asked.

While all of the other parents praised her for being a well-behaved young girl, Samantha turned to look at me with an awkward expression. She only agreed to Desiree's request after she noticed that I was okay with it.

Desiree made her way onto the stage under Liam's approving gaze.

"My dad is a college professor. He's really smart and knowledgeable. Whenever I ask him a question, he's always able to patiently explain the answer to me," she said proudly.

She went on, "My dad is really nice to me and my mom. No matter how busy he gets, he'll always come home to have dinner with us."

Before she could reach the end of her essay, a girl stormed onto the stage and physically attacked her.

As the two of them grappled with each other, the girl barked, "You brat! He's my dad! Who does your mom think she is? She's nothing but my dad's maid!"

Blushing profusely, Desiree retorted, "No, she's not! My mom and my new dad are dating. They're going to get married soon too!"

The girl, Wendy Larkin, stared at Desiree with utter contempt.

"You're giving your mom too much credit. If Dad wanted to marry her, he would've done that a long time ago!

"You've never seen your mom appeasing my dad in a maid's outfit, have you? She's nothing but a lapdog who does whatever we ask her to do!"

Seething, Desiree started hitting Wendy even harder.

Worried that Wendy might get seriously injured, Liam frantically went up to the girls and pried them apart.

Frowning, he tucked Wendy behind him and said, "Your mom and I are just friends, Desiree. I only attended the parent-teacher meeting with you as a favor to her. How could you pick on my daughter?"

Desiree's eyes widened in shock.

The parents who were watching the situation unfold stared at her with complicated expressions. They couldn't help but assume that Desiree had asked someone else to act as her dad.