After he left, Cedric spent the next few days at the office.

Every night, he would text Eden punctually at ten o’clock. The messages were kept very brief each time.

“I’m busy. Take care of yourself and Mateo.”

Eden did not try to ask what he was doing as she would in the past, since she was very much aware of what he was up to. She focused on work instead of troubling herself over it.

Mateo's birthday was coming up. In the past, the family of three would gather and celebrate with a cake baked by Eden. It was a simple but fulfilling way of celebrating their child growing another year older.

This time, Eden and Mateo waited until ten o'clock at night, but Cedric was still nowhere to be seen.

Mateo turned to Eden and sounded very grumpy.

“Is Daddy not coming back yet? Call him and ask, the cake is melting.”

With that, Eden reached for her phone and called Cedric for the fifth time.

After ringing for what seemed like forever, he finally picked up.

Cedric read her mind before she could even ask, and said, “Eden, I’m not coming home tonight. You… ah!

“You celebrate Mateo’s birthday with him, alright? I’ll make it up to him when I get back. That’s all for now, don’t wait for me.”

His voice sounded somewhat muffled, and his tone was odd. He seemed to be speaking hastily and hung up immediately before Eden could even get a word in.

As soon as the call ended, Mateo went up to her.

“Is Daddy coming home?”

His face instantly darkened when Eden informed him that his father was not coming home. He angrily threw the present Eden had given him on the floor and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Useless! You’re useless! You’re the reason Daddy won’t come home!

“Just because you didn’t have a Daddy and Mommy growing up doesn’t mean you have to take away my Daddy from me! You’re disgusting!”

His high-pitched voice shot into Eden’s eardrums like a banshee’s shriek. It made her head throb violently, and her ears would not stop ringing.

She looked at Mateo with a completely astonished expression, too lost for words.

Mateo seemed completely oblivious to the impact his words had. He continued hurling insults at her.

“Why do I have such a useless mother? Why are you my mother?!

“My friends have mothers who are lawyers or doctors, but you don’t even know how to do anything! All you do is spend time with a bunch of poor and grimy kids. Other people have grandparents, but you don't even have a home! Have you ever thought about what other people think of me?”

His face became contorted with rage. It was a jarring contrast with his otherwise childlike face. Then, he angrily smashed the present before stomping back to his room.

The door slammed shut.

A minute later, he stormed out and tossed a piece of paper at her.

“I’m cutting ties with you! You’re not my mother, you piece of trash!”

Then, he knocked over the cake baked by Eden before fleeing back to his room.

Eden stood still with a blank look on her face. Soon, her blank gaze turned to sorrow when she read the words written on the paper Mateo had thrown at her.

It was titled “Severance Agreement”.

“I, Mateo Castle, voluntarily cut off my ties with my mother.”

Right underneath the distorted, illegible handwriting was a fingerprint stamped with still-wet blood.

Eden stared at the paper in disbelief for what felt like forever. She felt completely pinpricked and numb; voices were droning around her.

She could faintly hear the conversation coming from the room.

“Amelie, when are you going to marry Daddy? I want to be your page boy.

“My mommy is useless. She can’t even get Daddy to come home. If you were my mommy, Daddy wouldn’t do this. It would be a dream come true if you were my mommy! I dream of you being my mommy all the time.”

Eden felt her blood turning turgid in her veins, followed by a cold shiver. Maybe it was true, maybe her existence alone disgusted Mateo.

She was ashamed of her background just as much as of her job. She couldn’t even keep her husband around for her son. That must be why Mateo would not stop fawning over Amelie and curse at his own mother.

With these thoughts in mind, she smiled cynically at herself.

Then, she numbly dragged her feet back to her room, where she grabbed a pen and signed her name on the severance agreement. She folded it neatly before tucking it into a gift bag.

Then, she put the gift bag into the pile of presents Mateo had received.

She was sure Mateo would be very pleased with it once he opened it.

It was the next morning when Cedric returned home.

He reeked of alcohol. Amelie was the one who took him home.

When she brought him to Eden, she made a point of tugging at his collar to reveal the suggestive marks on his clothes.

Then, she whispered to Eden, “We partied a little too hard and drank more than we should. Sorry for making you take care of him, thank you!”

Then, she let out a faint sigh and shrugged before strutting off in her high heels.

Her footsteps were haughty and bore a candid bounce. It was clear that she was gloating.

Eden sheathed the calculating look in her eyes and closed the door before dragging Cedric to the bed.

Though he was drunk, he was not completely out of it yet. However, when Eden flung him into the bed without a care in the world, he could feel his head spinning along with a violent ringing in his ears.

He frowned from the discomfort and began breathing heavily to relieve the drowsiness.

Before he could even catch his breath, Eden returned to the room.

He instinctively reached out, expecting to be handed a glass of honey lemon juice, only to find it was a pen instead.

“Don’t sleep yet, Cedric.”

Eden remarked while flipping to the signature section, “I want a divorce. Sign the agreement.”

Cedric frowned impatiently and seemed annoyed by the interruption. He clicked his tongue irritably and signed his name while barely keeping his eyes open.

“Another donation to an orphanage?

“If you want something, just get the card from me. What’s this about an agreement? Do you think I don’t have the money?”

It was clear he did not catch what she said.

Eden did not bother explaining. Instead, she stood silently and watched as he signed the document.

After it was done, Cedric folded the document and handed it back to her before collapsing onto the bed again. He rubbed his temples to ease the headache.

In the past, Eden would have proactively offered to massage his temples to help him with the headache without him having to ask. Now, though, she only inspected the document before walking off with it.

Moments before she left, Cedric strained his eyes open again. He felt a pang of unease growing inside him, but he was too exhausted to process what was happening. With that, he quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already evening.

As soon as Cedric stepped out of the room, Mateo ecstatically ran up to him and wrapped himself around his leg.

“Dad, you haven’t granted my birthday wish yet!”

Mateo had been waiting outside the room since the moment Cedric came home. Not wanting to disturb his father’s rest, he respectfully waited until Cedric woke up.

When Cedric gave him an approving look, his smile widened. Then, he shot a look at Eden, who was just stepping out of the kitchen.

“I want to change my surname.

“I want to take Daddy’s surname! Or maybe I can take Amelie’s…”

“Enough of this nonsense!

“Do you think real life is some kind of cartoon? You can’t just change your surname on a whim! You’re seven years old, use your head!”

Cedric cast a look at Eden while reprimanding Mateo. It was only when he noticed her blank expression that he dropped the aggression in his voice.

Cedric had such a scare that sweat poured from his forehead. Suddenly, he felt the headache and drowsiness disappear.

“Ask for something else…”

“Okay, I want to go out and eat with Daddy, but without Mommy! Is that okay?”

A hint of hesitation flashed in Cedric's eyes. He quizzingly looked at Eden and was greeted by an otherwise indifferent and nonchalant look in her eyes.

She gestured, “It’s fine, Cedric. Give him what he wants.

“He's seven, old enough to know what he wants.”

A trace of doubt flickered in Cedric's eyes.

He had a feeling Eden had changed.

When did she become so lenient?

When Cedric and Mateo went out for dinner that night, Eden headed out as well.

She met Priscilla at a restaurant right under her apartment, where she handed over the divorce papers. She asked Priscilla to process them as quickly as possible.

Priscilla flipped through the divorce papers and sighed after verifying the signatures of both parties.

She did not have much to say after that. After hastily finishing her food, she prepared to head off to work.

After finally taking care of what had been weighing on her mind this entire time, Eden breathed a sigh of relief. She did not see a point in lingering around and proceeded to grab her bag to leave as well.

Just as they were about to leave together, Priscilla mentioned she needed to use the restroom. She slung her bag over Eden's shoulder and asked her to wait outside.

After Eden stepped out of the private box, she rounded the corner where a waiter brushed past her. The waiter opened the door to an adjacent private box, where the sound of conversation spilled from inside.

“Daddy, let's go out and have dinner together again! I want to eat with Daddy and Amelie!”

Amelie squealed, “Oh, I love spending time with you, too, Mateo! Come sleep over at my place again next time, I’ll make you and Daddy some cake!”

"Oh, aren’t you all a family?”

The waiter remarked, “You all look so alike, I thought you were a family!”

The waiter's comments amused Mateo and Amelie, and they giggled.

Cedric had just finished replying to a text message. He frowned and got ready to interrupt them when he glanced up and made eye contact with Eden through the door crack.

“Eden?” His first thought was to chase after her to explain what was happening. Just as he was about to say something, a look of horror came upon him and made him shut the door before covering Amelie’s face.

Guilt flashed in his eyes. Before he could even get a word out, the shrill voice of a child interrupted him.

“You’re following us!?

“Didn't you promise to let us have dinner by ourselves? Why are you following us like a creep! Don't you have anything to do with your time?!”

Mateo was glowering with hate. Then, he squeezed through the door gap and shoved Eden with all his might.

Eden was caught off guard by the sudden attack and stumbled several steps backward. Thankfully, she braced against a wall just in time to prevent a fall.

“Mateo! How could you talk to your mother like that?

“Who said you could push your mother? Where are your manners?”

Cedric frowned sharply and stepped forward to help Eden while telling Mateo off.

Mateo had always regarded Cedric with respect, but underneath that respect was fear. This was the first time Cedric had scolded him, and he turned deathly pale while his anger deflated in an instant. He zipped his lips and stayed silent after that.

“Oh, he’s just a kid.”

Amelie remarked with a dainty voice while emerging from the private box to hug Mateo. She chuckled as she defended him, “Mateo is a boy. There’s no need to hold something like that against him. He’s too young to know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Amelie and Eden did look alike.

Now that they were standing next to each other, the resemblance was accentuated.

What was more notable was that she was wearing Cedric’s coat.

Cedric did not expect Amelie to boldly reveal herself. He felt his heart drop and turned to Eden to try to stammer an explanation.

“Eden, this is Amelie. She’s a new model signed to our company. We were just having dinner to talk about a project.

“I lent her my coat because she said she was cold.”

Eden suppressed her emotions and shoved away Cedric’s hand that was placed on her waist.

She replied in a benevolent tone as if she believed Cedric wholeheartedly, “It's alright, I know.

“I’ll let you all finish your dinner. I have something to do, so I'll get going.”

Right at that moment, Priscilla returned and called out, “Eden, the agreement you signed…”

Before she could finish her sentence, she locked eyes with Cedric.

She immediately fell silent and turned visibly stiff.

“What agreement?” Cedric caught the tail end of what she was saying.

Eden casually rolled up the document while stating nonchalantly, “Nothing. Just some paperwork to finance another orphanage.

“Anyway, enjoy your food, everyone. We’ll make a move.”

She remained indifferent throughout the entire interaction.

Even after being insulted and attacked by Mateo.

Even after confronting Amelie, who looked just like her and was wearing Cedric’s coat, she did not seem upset in the slightest.

Not even a hint of emotion.

Cedric breathed a sigh of relief, but could not shake off the restless feeling even after some time passed.

Eden was too stoic about it.

He had a nagging feeling that something was slipping from his grasp. Something he could not place.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.