After leaving the nursing home, Mia blocked my number.

For the next few days, there was total silence.

Now that all the cards were on the table, Cynthia didn't bother coming home either. Since Bradley's apartment was directly below mine, she moved all her belongings down there.

Almost every single night, I could hear the noise from downstairs.

They were always together, coming and going as a family. Even the neighbors who knew me started giving me strange looks.

A week later, while I was at work, Cynthia finally called. Mia had fainted.

The moment I rushed into the hospital, Cynthia slapped me across the face with everything she had.

A sharp ringing filled my ears as my vision swam. The loud crack of the slap made the people nearby stop and stare.

Cynthia's chest heaved with rage. She looked at me like she wanted to tear me to pieces.

In all the years we had been together, she had never once laid a hand on me.

"Daniel, I didn't realize you could be this disgusting! How could you go around telling everyone Theo is a bastard? Do you have any idea how cruel that is to a child? Today was his first day of preschool, and he came home crying his eyes out!"

"Mom was so upset over this that she had a heart attack! She's in the ER right now! If anything happens to her, I will make you pay."

She practically spat the words through gritted teeth. But her words left me utterly bewildered.

What did she mean I was spreading rumors about Theo?

Noticing my silence, Bradley, who was standing right next to Cynthia, put on a victimized expression. He pulled up Theo's sleeve, his face twisted with anger. "Because of what you did, my son was ostracized at school today, and I'm getting dirty looks too."

Cynthia poked her finger hard into my chest, emphasizing every single word. "Daniel, don't forget that we weren't even married back then. If anyone is the homewrecker here, it's you."

Her words stabbed like a knife to my heart.

But she was the one who had cheated.

A profound wave of exhaustion washed over me. I said quietly, "I don't know how that rumor started. It had nothing to do with me."

Just as the words left my mouth, my phone vibrated violently in my pocket.

It was a call from the cemetery where my parents were buried.

The staff member's frantic voice came through the speaker. "Mr. Houghton! Your parents' graves have been vandalized! We're trying to handle the situation right now…"

My brain short-circuited.

I snapped my head up, glaring at Cynthia and Bradley. "Did you do this?"

Bradley looked away with a smug smirk on his face. "You deserved it. That's what you get for targeting my son. I just hired some guys to teach you a lesson. Cynthia agreed with it too—"

Any shred of sanity I had left snapped. I raised my fist and slammed it hard into him.

Bradley crashed to the floor. I pinned him down and clamped my hands around his throat. My eyes were completely bloodshot.

"How dare you? Those are my parents! How dare you desecrate their graves?"

Bradley's face flushed red, and he couldn't say a word.

The next second, a blinding pain exploded at the back of my head. Everything went black as I collapsed onto the floor.

Cynthia had smashed the glass in her hand over my skull. The jagged shards sliced into my neck, and blood began to trickle down.

Her hand kept trembling, and the surrounding crowd erupted into screams.

My vision began to blur and fade.

The last thing I saw was Cynthia cupping Bradley's face tenderly while shouting for a doctor.

When I finally regained consciousness, I was already at the police station.

The wound on my head had been sloppily bandaged, and the blood was still seeping through.

Cynthia stood nearby, her expression detached as she spoke to the police officer. "My son was bullied at school because of the rumors he spread, and my mother is still in the ER because of him. He's the one who started the fight. I have the security footage to prove it."

The bystanders from the hospital backed her up, pointing fingers and shouting accusations at me.

With Cynthia's statement and the witness testimonies, I was placed under a 15-day administrative detention.

Before Cynthia left, she glanced back at me one last time. "Take this time to reflect on yourself. This was such a minor issue, and you just had to blow it out of proportion."

Shortly after she left, I received a text from the cemetery manager. "I am so sorry, Mr. Houghton. The graves were heavily damaged, and your parents' urns were…"

The sheer absurdity of the world washed over me.

My constant compliance and compromise had cost me absolutely everything.

On the day I was released, my boss, Ewan Hawkins, called me.

"Daniel, your application for the overseas transfer has been approved. If you're lucky, you can settle down abroad permanently."

In the past, because of Cynthia, Mia, and the life I had built here, I could never bring myself to leave.

But now, I had nothing left to care about.

When I got back to the apartment, all my belongings had been stuffed into a cardboard box and dumped out in the hallway.

Bradley happened to open his door just as I arrived. He looked surprised. "Oh, I thought you'd be gone a lot longer, so I was clearing your stuff out. You don't mind, do you?"

Hearing the commotion, Cynthia stepped out of the apartment.

Her gaze lingered on me for a fraction of a second. "A pipe burst in Bradley's place and flooded the rooms. It's too damp down there, and I didn't want it affecting Theo. He'll be staying with us for a few days."

She didn't sound like she was explaining herself. She was simply informing me.

I didn't argue, nor did I agree.

When Cynthia didn't get the reaction she expected, a flash of discomfort crossed her face.

She cleared her throat. "Mom made it through. She's recovering well. I'm planning a family vacation so we can all clear our heads. Let's just put all this recent drama behind us. You should come too."

I looked at Cynthia, my gaze completely dead. "When?"

"This Wednesday. The day after tomorrow."

The day after tomorrow was also the day I was scheduled to leave the country.

Noticing my completely indifferent face, Cynthia frowned. She looked annoyed.

"What happened this time was just a warning. Keep your mouth shut from now on. If you still want to make this marriage work, stop interfering with Bradley and me. Once Theo is a bit older, I'll cut ties with him completely."

She had already repeated these hollow promises to Mia a thousand times.

But I didn't care about that at all.

"I already booked the tickets. You'd better show up on time that day. Don't make Mom wait," Cynthia said.

I gave a half-hearted nod and reached over to grab my box of belongings from Bradley's hands.

"I have work at the office. I have to go now."

Cynthia opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else.

But I didn't give her the chance. I shut the door behind me.

I stood in the hallway for five full minutes. I had protected this home for five years, but in the end, I was nothing but an outsider.

…

Two days flew by in a blur.

On Wednesday morning, Cynthia texted me almost immediately. "I'm waiting for you downstairs."

But barely five minutes later, she hurriedly sent another one.

"Never mind. Just meet us at the airport. I need to take Theo to buy a cake first. Wait for us at the gate. Mom wants to see you too."

I didn't reply to any of them.

Cynthia's flight was scheduled for noon, but my international flight was two hours earlier.

She was never going to catch me.

As my plane taxied down the runway, my phone vibrated continuously in my palm.

Cynthia's messages came flooding in, one after another.

"Daniel, where the hell are you? The flight is boarding, and you're still not here?"

"Where are you? I'll come pick you up. Daniel Houghton! Can you please stop throwing a tantrum…"

The screen went black as I turned the phone off.

I turned to look out at the thick blanket of clouds outside the window.

This time, I was never coming back.