After Vivian and Nancy left, I called my mom. I told her I was coming home for New Year's Day.

My mom, Melody, asked excitedly, "Did you get custody of Nancy?"

I froze for a moment before I found my voice and said, "I withdrew the case. I don't want custody anymore."

She didn't ask why. All she could offer was a sigh. "Come home. This year, I made plenty of the smoked sausages you like."

I suddenly wanted to cry.

All these years, I hadn't had time to go home to my parents' for the New Year's Day because I had been fighting for custody of my daughter.

Every time my mom called and asked if I was coming home, I turned her down by saying I had a court hearing.

Although she never said anything, I knew many of my relatives were laughing at me behind my back for not letting things go. They said I insisted on dragging things to court until New Year's Eve and left Mom alone for the holidays.

So, this time, I gave up on wanting my daughter anymore.

I wanted to go home.

-

The next day, I started packing my things in the apartment I had been renting.

All these years, I had built my life around Vivian and Nancy to the point that everything I owned fit into a single luggage.

Just as I got into the car, I received a call from the hospital.

"Excuse me, are you Nancy's father? She accidentally ate peanuts and went into anaphylactic shock. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible."

I checked the time on my plane ticket and called Vivian, but she didn't answer.

Maybe there was still a hint of fatherly love inside me, because I immediately told the driver to turn around and head to the hospital instead.

But… When I arrived outside the ward, I heard laughter inside when I touched the doorknob.

It was Jason.

"Nancy, let's make a bet. Let's see whether your dad rushes over," Jason said.

Nancy's voice came from the other side of the door without a hint of weakness, much less an anaphylactic shock. "I don't think he will. He already said he doesn't care about me anymore."

"Then I bet he will. Your dad fought six years off in the courts for your custody after all. He won't give up on you that easily," Jason said.

I stood outside the door, listening to them making a bet on what I would do. It felt as if an interposing hand had closed around my heart. Even my fingertips started to tremble from the pain.

Fury surged in my chest.

I shoved the hospital room door open. Nancy was so startled that she covered her mouth, embarrassment plain on her face now that she had been caught.

"Aren't you in shock? Why did you lie?" I yelled, my voice filled with anger.

I had never imagined that my daughter would one day play a trick like this on me.

Nancy's face flushed bright red. She showed me the red marks from the allergic reaction on the back of her hand and muttered, "I didn't lie."

Jason stepped in front of her and said, "Landon, don't lose your temper to a child."

I stared at Jason. All these years, I hadn't gone after him only because Vivian had hidden him so well. The scenes of him cheating with Vivian played through my mind again and again.

I never could have imagined that my childhood friend would steal my wife.

And now, he had stolen my daughter too.

My resentment intensified, and I hit him in the face.

"That's for teaching her to lie."

When Nancy saw me hit Jason, she jumped down from the bed and she sank her teeth into my arm, her fists beating against my hand. "Daddy! Don't hurt Jason!"

Jason held his cheek, his eyes reddened and his voice filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Landon. This was all my fault. I just wanted Nancy to spend more time with you. I couldn't find a reason to make you come, so I had Nancy lie and say she was having a serious allergic reaction. I should've stayed out of this."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hospital room door opened.

It was Vivian.

She had heard him too, and her eyes were full of torment when she looked at Jason. When she turned to me, however, her eyes were filled with anger.

"Landon, are you mad?"

When I heard Vivian screaming at me, I suddenly remembered my wedding with her.

Vivian had sworn through tears that she would treat me right for the rest of her life. My only best man at the time, Jason, had warned her in all seriousness that he would never forgive her if she ever mistreated me.

But now, the two people who had once mattered most to me had both betrayed me.

Then… What was I supposed to be?

At the thought of that, I couldn't help raising my voice.

"I have gone mad! My wife cheated on me with best childhood friend six years ago, and now even my daughter wants to call him Dad and toy around with him! How do you expect me to stay calm?"

Vivian fell silent for a moment.

When Jason saw that, he immediately put on a saddened look. "Landon, I'm sorry. I've felt guilty about what happened all these years. If it helps you let out your anger, you can hit me or yell at me. Take it all out on me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Nancy stood in front of him to protect him. "I won't let you hit Jason!"

Vivian's voice turned cold too. "What happened back then was my fault. You can't blame Jason for it. If you want to cause any trouble, just come at me. But right now, you need to apologize to Jason."

I looked at the two faces in front of me that were so strikingly alike, despite one being an adult and one just a child.

All the sorrow I had buried in my chest surged up at once as I said, "Why should I apologize? When you betrayed me back then, did you ever think about how I felt?"

I would never forget waking up in the hospital after the car accident on the night Vivian admitted she had cheated on me.

Vivian's first words had been to tell me not to stir up any trouble for Jason. Yet, she had ignored how weak I was after barely surviving that accident.

She was still protecting Jason even six years later.

And now, protecting Jason alongside her was Nancy, whom I had practically raised with my own hands.

I couldn't hold back my tears anymore, but there was not a trace of guilt in Vivian's eyes.

With a cold frown, she asked, "Then what exactly do you want?"

Before I could even react, Jason suddenly picked up a small knife from the fruit basket and pressed it to his wrist.

"Landon, I really don't want to see you suffer so much because of me. Will you only feel better if I die?"

The ward immediately fell into chaos.

Meanwhile, I stared hard at Jason and said coldly, "Then die."

Before Vivian and Nancy could react, blood gushed out and splattered across the floor. Jason collapsed with a thud, his face pale as he apologized.

Vivian was completely enraged as she slapped me across the face. "We've all put up with your drama for six years, but you still won't spare us after all this?"

In the end, the hit Jason had taken came back to me in this way instead.

I fell and landed on my rear as I sat blankly on the floor, watching Vivian desperately pressing down on Jason's wound as she anxiously called for a doctor.

Before Vivian took Jason away, she threw a few vicious words at me.

"If anything happens to Jason, you'll pay for it! Don't you love going to court over New Year's Eve? Then we'll keep on doing it! You can forget about going home for New Year's, too!"

And my daughter, Nancy, frantically threw things at me. "You provoked Jason on purpose! You're a murderer!"

After venting her anger out, she hurried off to find Vivian and Jason barefooted.

I watched them leave, then looked at my phone. The notification about the cancellation being approved and the cancellation fee being processed had just come in.

My heart ached. I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was drowning.

I curled up on the floor, my whole body trembling uncontrollably.

In the moment before everything went dark, I couldn't help thinking that dying like this was fine too.