The door clicked open at this moment. It seemed that Elias had returned.

A look of disdain crossed his face when he spotted me. "It's still so early. Why aren't you working to earn more money? What are you doing slacking off at home?"

I stared at him, my ungrateful son who had abandoned me in a rental house to fend for myself in my past life. I didn't answer any of his questions.

In my past life, I had just assumed that we shared a close bond whenever Elias spoke to me in the same disdainful tone, so I didn't take his words to heart.

Perhaps he was growing uncomfortable under my unwavering stare. Like a spooked cat, he yelled, "No wonder Grandpa tries to convince Mom to divorce you every day! Why on earth did Mom fall for such a useless piece of trash like you?"

He bolted for the master bedroom after he was done speaking. Through the slim gap between the door and the doorframe, I could see that the master bedroom was filled with Meredith's makeup products, branded bags, and accessories.

She had bought every single item with my hard-earned money, and I had created a list of all the purchases she ever made.

She was conducting scientific research in the school, so she had a salary and national funding. Her monthly salary was double the amount of mine, yet she had never once contributed to household expenses.

I cracked my knuckles. My eyes were blazing with fury as a sneer stretched across my lips.

A few moments later, the sounds of jangling keys resounded through the door. Liam and Matthew must have won some money again. The door wasn't even open yet, but I could already hear them chatting joyfully with each other.

When the door swung open, they were greeted by the sight of their belongings stacked in a pile in the living room. The elation they felt at winning some money disappeared in an instant when they spotted me sitting on the couch.

"Zack Fairfield, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today? Why the hell did you move all our things out of our room?" Matthew demanded furiously.

My tone was glacial and emotionless when I replied, "I already said I was going to divorce Meredith. This house belongs to me. You should go back to where you belong."

I ignored him and continued moving their belongings out of the second bedroom. Noticing how strangely I was behaving, Matthew lost the desire to continue scolding me.

Meanwhile, Liam grabbed his phone and called Meredith. "Meredith, you need to come home right now. Something terrible has happened!"

His voice had been unnaturally loud. It was obvious that he had raised his voice so I could hear him too. Seeing how childish he was behaving, I smiled at him mockingly, but I didn't rise to his provocation.

They watched me as I continued to move their belongings to the living room, looking as if they were treating this entire situation like a huge joke. They grew angry when I tossed their clothes to the floor, but there was nothing they could do except clench their teeth.

It didn't take long for me to clear out the second bedroom. Their belongings had taken up nearly half of the living room.

I turned around and pushed the door open to the master bedroom. Elias' face was twisted in confusion, but I ignored him and collapsed headfirst onto the bed. I sighed, awed by how comfortable the mattress was.

In my past life, I had slept on a hard bed until the day I died.

I was exhausted, so it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

A long time passed before I heard Matthew's voice from beyond the door.

"Look at all our things on the floor, Meredith. That loser is trying to rebel against us! He started moving all our things out of our room from the moment he got home. Is he chasing Dad and me out of the house because he got sick of living with us?"

Judging by his words, Meredith was now home. Unbothered, I went back to sleep.

"Who told you that you could sleep here? Get up right now!"

I wasn't sure when Meredith entered the bedroom, but it was impossible to ignore the anger burning in my heart.

"Why should I get up?" I demanded. "This house belongs to me. I can sleep wherever I want. No one can stop me!"

"The mattress was so expensive," she countered heatedly. "You're just a cab driver. You have no right to sleep on it!"

"No matter how expensive it was, it was bought with my money."

I swept my eyes over all the bags and makeup products in the room. Meredith followed my line of sight, scanning our surroundings.

Guilt flickered on her face for a moment. She sounded much weaker when she said, "Why did you move Dad's and Matthew's belongings to the living room? Are you chasing them out?"

"This is my house. I have every right to ask them to leave. They can stay if they want to, but they'll have to pay me back for all the bills and living expenses I've always covered."

Realizing that I wasn't going to budge, Meredith clenched her teeth in anger. She slapped me hard across the face, the sound of the impact ringing loudly in the room.

I spotted the red mark on her neck when she raised her hand. I leaped down from the bed and kept my eyes trained on the skin of her neck, demanding, "What is that?"

Meredith's face twisted in an instant. She hastily averted her gaze before saying, "It's nothing. I accidentally scratched myself when I was conducting my experiment. I shouldn't have criticized you like that today in school. I hurt your pride.

"You can sleep here tonight. Get some rest. Elias and I will sleep in the second bedroom. Dad and Matthew can take the basement."

Not giving me a chance to ask more questions, she whipped around and left after she said her piece.

I was caught off guard by the stark difference in her attitude. Of course, I knew exactly what the red mark on her neck was. It was proof of her infidelity!

Peace was restored to the room. I calmly considered the next steps I should take. Meredith had only retreated because I latched onto her weakness. She didn't want to give me more chances to interrogate her, fearing that I would acquire more leverage against her.

Liam and Matthew were lazy good-for-nothings. Having them move into the basement was akin to a death sentence from their perspective.

I was determined to file for divorce, but the one who would be kicked to the curb wouldn't be me. On the contrary, it would be Meredith.

"What? You want me to sleep in the basement? That place is not meant for humans!"

"Meredith, are you really going to allow that useless piece of trash to move upstairs?"

"Lower your voices!"

I had been lost in thought when I heard Matthew's angry voice echo through the gap in the door. I approached the door, wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation, but the voices grew quiet when they heard my footsteps.

I pulled out a cigarette and took a deep drag after lighting it. The cigarette hadn't burned out yet when Elias threw the door open.

"Dad, I'm hungry. Make dinner for me."

"I'm tired, and I'm not free. Ask your mother to make dinner for you. If she doesn't want to do it, ask your grandfather. Regardless, don't ask me," I said impatiently as I scoffed.

Elias would only think of me at times like these. I had to crawl out of bed at the crack of dawn to earn a little more money, yet I was called a loser by him. I wanted to see if Liam would take care of Elias after I was out of their lives.

Elias started wailing. "If you're not going to make dinner for me, I don't want you as my father anymore! I want Mr. Westin to be my father!"

Mr. Westin? Could Elias be talking about Meredith's professor? When did they meet? Perhaps Meredith had gone behind my back and brought Elias to meet her professor without me knowing.

Confusion swirled in my heart at the sudden discovery. Suppressing the wild guesses that my brain was conjuring, I was about to question Elias further when Meredith swooped in and pulled him to her side.

"What are you saying, you silly child? Your father is really tired today, so you shouldn't disturb him. I'll have your grandfather make dinner for you."

Meredith turned her head and shot a pointed look at Liam. Left with no other option, Liam pinned me with a glare before angrily strolling toward the kitchen.

I closed the door and locked it, ignoring whatever drama was taking place outside. However, Meredith's strange behavior had made me suspicious.

…

I was left alone for the rest of the night. I wanted to keep sleeping, but my biological clock woke me up at 6:00 am.

Wanting to drive my cab, I was just about to open the door to the basement when I heard Liam and Matthew talking to each other.

"Matthew, do you think Meredith is really going to get a divorce? Where are we going to live if that happens? Who's going to give us money to play poker?"

"Don't worry, Dad. Meredith already told us everything yesterday, didn't she? The divorce isn't going to happen. Zack loves Elias too much to leave him.

"This is just a temporary measure. We'll keep him happy for the next couple of days so we don't spook him. Did you forget how he was acting like a rabid dog yesterday? He even scolded Elias!"

Liam shushed Matthew. "Lower your voice. The walls might have ears."

"Meredith told me that she's planning to ask him to transfer the house's property deed to Elias after he calms down. He cares for Elias so much that he'll surely agree to her request.

"When that happens, he'll have to serve us for the rest of his life. He won't be able to escape his fate no matter what he does!"

So that was their plan. I suppressed the burning rage in my chest and quietly snuck away.

When I made it to the door, I ran into Meredith, who was about to send Elias to school. Her tone was colored with care when she asked, "What are you doing up so early in the morning?"

"Nothing much. I wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes. Let's go to the courthouse when you're free to process our divorce. You can stay here for the time being until you find a new place for yourselves. As for the rent, you don't need to pay a cent."