I stared straight at Nathan and asked, "Is this what you want too, Nathan Galloway?"

I then glanced at the series of hickeys littered all over Catherine's neck when she cocked her head at me. It felt like there were a million needles jabbing into my heart at that moment, making me numb with pain.

The purple amethyst necklace had been Nathan's engagement gift to me.

We'd met at the Cloudington Gemstone Conference back then, when we both laid our eyes on this amethyst at the same time. And on the day of our engagement, he personally wove the amethyst into a necklace with a leather cord and put it around my neck, vowing to love me for the rest of my life.

I knew that Catherine had always been coveting it, asking Nathan for it time and time again, but he never gave it to her.

This time, though, Nathan just averted his gaze when I stared at him, deliberation and guilt appearing in his eyes.

"If you don't—"

"Okay."

I chuckled aloud as I yanked the necklace off and handed it to Catherine. I watched her put it on gleefully and even said, "It suits you really well."

Then, I picked Theo up in my arms and left the manor, with Nathan staring at me in complete confusion.

Theo still wouldn't stop crying even after we'd gotten back to the villa. I suppressed my heartache for him and asked, "Teddy, would you want to leave this place with me? I want to take you away."

He just sobbed even more loudly after that. "Can't we stay, Mommy?"

"But Teddy, your dad and grandma both wouldn't like it if we continued staying here. Do you really want to call him 'Uncle Nate' for the rest of your life?"

I looked at him gently and suppressed my own tears.

I selfishly wished that Theo belonged only to me and would only love me as well.

However, that wasn't how it worked in the real world.

Theo hugged the Lego in his arms. It had been a birthday gift from Nathan last year.

"Mommy, can I spend one more birthday with Daddy? Please?"

Theo stubbornly refused to back down. So, I closed my eyes in surrender and pulled him into a hug instead, nodding.

"Okay."

…

Theo's birthday was on February 12. I had purposely reminded Nathan about it two days before so that he could prepare adequately.

After all, this was most likely the last birthday he would spend with Theo. So I hoped that Theo would get his wish.

On his birthday, Theo woke up early and changed into his favorite outfit. He then asked me cautiously, "Mommy, Daddy will be coming back to celebrate my birthday with me, right?"

"Of course," I said, gently comforting him as I texted Nathan.

"It's Teddy's birthday today. Where are you?"

I sent the text, but I never got a reply. It was as if I were texting a blank wall instead.

Theo lowered his head, tightly clutching the ribbon on the cake box.

"Daddy's not coming after all, is he?"

A short while later, Theo seemed to have thought things through. He comforted himself, saying, "It's okay. Uncle Nate's busy. We shouldn't be disturbing him.

"Let's cut and eat the cake, Mommy."

This was the first time Theo had ever referred to Nathan as "Uncle Nate".

He seemed to have finally accepted the fact that Nathan didn't care about him anymore. However, the huge pout on his face and his red-rimmed eyes betrayed how upset he really was about it.

I watched Theo fight to put on a brave face and felt something ignite in my chest. It burned and blazed in my chest, filling me with heartache and pain.

I grabbed my phone and tapped into the chat window with Nathan.

"You can't even spare some time to attend your own son's birthday party, can you? Do you really like Catherine so much that you have to glue yourself to her hips every second of the day?"

My finger hovered over the "send" button, but I couldn't find it in myself to actually send it out.

Just then, a new text message arrived from him.

"Come to Galloway Manor now."

Joy immediately filled my heart. I showed Theo the text message on my phone and exclaimed, "Look, Teddy! Your dad remembered!"

Theo, who'd been hanging his head earlier, snapped his head up as a huge, happy smile graced his lips.

"Daddy must have prepared a lot of presents for me, Mommy! Let's go! Hurry!"

Theo was so excited with Nathan's response that he wouldn't stop chattering all the way there, wondering out loud what presents Nathan had probably prepared for him.

However, as we reached Galloway Manor, the yard full of roses had my heart squeezing all of a sudden.

This was not the typical birthday decoration for a kid's birthday party.

However, Theo didn't seem to have noticed and excitedly tugged me into the venue. I had no choice but to follow him with a heavy heart, getting more and more anxious by the second.

Nathan had better not have done anything that would completely destroy our relationship and render it unsalvageable.

Theo caught sight of Nathan standing next to the cake in the main hall, and his eyes brightened up at once. He ran right into his arms, squealing in delight.

"Daddy!"

Nathan looked at the boy in his arms, his eyes suddenly narrowing at him. His voice went hoarse as he asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

Nathan's tone of voice confirmed the unsettling hunch I'd had. At once, I felt that something terrible was going to happen.

The guests around us, all from the upper echelons of society in Ravelton, began whispering to themselves.

"Isn't it Nathan Galloway's and Catherine Wilkins' engagement party today? What's a random kid doing, calling him 'Daddy' like that?"

"Didn't I hear that the Galloways' second son wasn't married yet?"

"Wait, don't tell me that he's got a lovechild with someone else…"

Nathan's face turned ashen. He immediately shoved Theo off and barked, "What did you just call me?"

Theo stumbled backward and fell to the ground on his butt at once. He stared at Nathan in disbelief, the tears pooling in his eyes as he fought not to cry. Eventually, he cautiously said, "Uncle Nate."

A while later, he looked at the cake in the center of the hall and smiled again. He asked, "Uncle Nate, are you celebrating my birthday with me? I want to cut the cake with you!"

Theo had been looking forward to his birthday for days now, and he didn't seem to mind how Nathan made him address him as long as he could spend time together with him.

However, long, slender arms gently held Nathan's hands, still holding the cake knife.

"Of course you can't. This is not a place for beneficiaries of the Galloways' charities like yourself. Am I wrong, Nate?"

I felt the fire burning in my chest.

With Catherine putting it so plainly like that, I'd have to be dumb not to understand the meaning behind her words.

That text message had been from her. Her only objective had been to publicly announce me as nothing more than just a beneficiary on the receiving end of their so-called charities.

"Is that the case, Nathan Galloway?" I asked, shielding Theo behind me.

Nathan went blank for a second. Then, he looked at me with guilt in his eyes.

With everyone's eyes on him, he stated, "Yes. Just a beneficiary."

A smug, satisfied smile appeared on Catherine's lips as she stood behind him. She looked like a proud peahen who'd just won a battle.

The other guests around us immediately remarked, "How shameless can they be, throwing such a public fuss on such an important day for the Galloways?"

"Exactly! They probably don't know how to behave themselves since they're from such lowly families."

Theo's face went as white as a sheet with everyone talking shit about him. His eyes turned bloodshot.

I couldn't suppress the fire in my chest anymore. It had finally reached its peak.

I marched up to the towering cake and shoved it, toppling the whole thing to the floor.

"It's such an important day, isn't it? Then let's make sure everyone has their fun!"