“I want to give Uncle Parker three more chances. If... he really doesn’t love us, then we’ll leave him forever.”

Closing my eyes, I agreed to my son’s request.

“Alright.”

Henry, my son and I would give you another three chances.

After that, you will never have a place in our lives again.

…

It was Friday, the day Henry’s first love returned to the country.

They were college sweethearts and got engaged right after graduation.

Just a month before their wedding, Evelyn fell in love at first sight with a foreigner.

She abandoned Henry and went abroad in pursuit of her true love.

From that moment, their lives deviated, their paths never crossing again.

Henry was devastated for a long time.

That was when I became his assistant.

One night, after too many drinks, we conceived a child.

Just like that, I became his secret wife—the woman he barely acknowledged and the mother of a child he never wanted.

After printing out the divorce agreement I finalized yesterday, I started preparing my resignation letter.

Unlike my son, I had long grown used to Henry’s coldness. I was not foolish enough to keep waiting for a man like him to change.

Seven years was more than enough to shatter any naive, romantic illusions I once had.

“Serena, are you really resigning?”

A colleague caught a glimpse of my screen and asked in a hushed voice.

I smiled, already prepared with my excuse.

“Yeah. My son’s father is overseas. I’m planning to take him and move there so we can finally be together as a family.”

She nodded.

“That makes sense. Raising a kid alone here must be exhausting for you.

“Honestly, we all kind of assumed you were a single mom.”

I could not help but laugh when I heard that, but it was bitter.

I was not a single mother, yet I was treated worse than one.

My eyes started to sting, but I quickly masked it with a practiced smile, unwilling to let anyone notice.

Just as I submitted my resignation, Henry walked in with Evelyn.

She walked ahead of him with a gentle smile on her face.

He followed behind her, his gaze clinging to her every move. He was unwilling to look away for even a second.

A colleague nudged me and whispered,

“Serena, do you see that? Our CEO is finally showing some emotion for once.”

I forced a smile, but it felt like a storm was raging inside.

All it had taken was waiting a decade for this stony man to show his soft side.

Still, Henry…

Even if I waited a lifetime, he would never look at me the way he was looking at her now.

As they passed by, I could not stop myself. I called out to him.

“Hen—”

Before I could even finish saying his name, he shot me a cold, warning glance.

“Miss Clarke, do you need something?”

His cold words carried an unspoken warning, a command for me to swallow my words.

A reminder to remember my place.

I lowered my gaze, forcing myself to hold back the tears welling in my eyes.

“Sorry, Mr. Parker.”

He gave a slight nod, then immediately looked away.

He kept his focus fixed on Evelyn as though she were his entire world.

He was my husband.

The father of my child.

However, he made no effort to hide his love for another woman in front of me.

It was ironic yet sobering.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.

Initially, I had wanted to tell him I was resigning.

It seemed like there was no need to do so now.

He did not care about me, after all.

He did not care about my feelings or our child.

Certainly not about this marriage.

Back at my desk, my son called from his smartwatch.

“Mommy, there’s a meeting at school tonight, so we got out early today. Uncle Cooper brought me to you.”

I froze for a moment before instinctively getting up and walking outside.

That was when I saw Henry reaching out to gently fix Evelyn’s hair.

Not far away, my son stood at the elevator.

His backpack was slung over his tiny shoulders as he stared blankly at his father tenderly caring for a woman he had never met before.

Henry’s gentleness and patience.

My son and I had never seen it before.

I was about to take him away when Henry finally noticed him.

His body stiffened briefly, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

However, in the next moment, he straightened up and continued walking past our son, shielding Evelyn with quiet determination.

It was as though he did not even know the little boy standing there.

A sharp pain stabbed through my heart. I quickly took my son's hand and led him back to my desk.

Before I could say anything, his eyes turned red, and he asked in a soft voice, “Mommy, is that the person Uncle likes?”

At that moment, I lost all ability to speak. I could only nod, tears brimming in my eyes.

My son did not ask anything else. He silently pulled out his workbook and started writing.

However, his tears still fell, soaking into the pages.

I held him close. He was my whole world.

Henry, you had two chances left before my son and I walked away forever.

…

After packing up, I took my son home.

While we were on our way home, he suddenly asked, “Mommy, can Uncle Parker come to the meeting tonight?”

In our seven years of marriage, Henry had never attended a single one of his son’s school meetings.

I could not bear to say no when I looked into his hopeful eyes. I sent Henry a message.

[Our son has a school meeting tonight. Do you have time?]

As expected, there was no response.

My son lowered his head, clutching his backpack.

“He doesn’t want to come, does he?”

He forced a smile as though he was trying to convince himself. “It’s okay. Uncle Parker is busy. I understand.”

My heart felt like it was being crushed under a heavy weight when I heard those words.

Just as I was about to speak, my phone chimed.

It was Henry.

[I’m free. I’ll be there.]

Shock and joy surged through me. I immediately turned my screen to my son.

“Lyle, look! Daddy said he’s coming!”

He was stunned for a moment, but then his face lit up with pure excitement.

Seven years. This was the first time Henry had agreed to come to something with us.

With that promise, my son was happy for the entire trip home.

He told me how many times his teacher had praised him, how many awards he had won, and how he had scored high marks on his tests.

With bright eyes, he told me, “Mommy, I was elected class monitor this semester! The teacher said they’ll announce it at the meeting tonight!”

He hesitated and asked, “Mommy… If Daddy sees how well I’m doing in school, do you think he’ll like me more?”

I was startled for a moment before my heart started to ache even more. I prayed silently, hoping that Henry would not break his promise just this once.

I just wanted my son’s wish to come true before we left, even if it was nothing more than our own self-deception.

The clock ticked on, minute after minute.

The meeting was about to start.

Henry never showed up.

However, Evelyn did update her social media.

Henry was sitting beside an unfamiliar little boy, patiently guiding him as they built a Lego set together in the photo.

Her caption read: [Future #1 Dad!]

I turned toward the living room.

My seven-year-old son sat quietly on the couch, playing with his own Lego set.

The same toys. The same age. The same need for love.

However, his father was never here with him.

Sensing my gaze, my son looked up at me. His little hands tightened around his Lego pieces as he spoke cautiously.

“Mommy, is Daddy busy again?”

I froze, looking into my son's eyes, unable to tell him the truth.

His father was not busy. He was with another child.

I could not bring myself to say it. All I could do was pull him into my arms, my heart aching for him like it had done so many times before.

“It's okay, sweetheart. You still have me. Mommy will always be here for you.”

He did not ask any more questions, but his eyes turned red.

On the way to school, neither of us mentioned Henry again. It was as though Henry had never promised anything and this family had only ever been the two of us.

Henry, you had one last chance.

After parking the car, I took my son's hand and walked into the school.

However, the moment we stepped into the classroom, I stopped in my tracks.

“Henry?”

“Daddy?”

…

Henry was sitting by the window. He instinctively looked up at the sound of our voices, his pupils contracting in shock.

“What are you doing here?”

The surprise in his words made me stop in my tracks. I had a bad premonition.

My son had been in elementary school for six months, yet Henry did not even know his class.

My son did not notice. Overjoyed, he ran up to him.

“Daddy, you—”

Henry frowned.

“What did you just call me?”

The joy on my son's face froze for a moment before he quickly corrected himself, his voice all too practiced.

“Uncle Parker, you're sitting in the wrong seat. Mine is up front.”

He looked up at Henry, his eyes shining with happiness.

This was the first time Henry had ever attended a class meeting and the first time he had kept his word.

However, the excitement did not last long.

A second later, Henry averted his gaze.

“I'm not in the wrong seat. This is my place.”

My son stood still, confused. Just as he was about to say something, a small figure suddenly pushed him aside.

“Go away! He's my Daddy!”

Instinct took over. I immediately pulled my son into my arms, shielding him.

Henry also stood up, but he hesitated momentarily when he met Evelyn’s surprised gaze.

Then, just as quickly, he moved the boy behind him to protect him. His voice was stiff as he said, “Ethan didn’t mean it. I apologize on his behalf.”

Both my son and I froze.

My son had never once received this kind of protection or concern from his father.

“Who is he?” I rose to my feet and asked in a soft voice.

Henry hesitated for a moment. After meeting my gaze, a flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes.

“A friend’s child.”

“Is that so?”

I murmured, but deep down, I already knew the answer.

This was the boy from Evelyn’s photo.

The child Henry was willing to be there for.

Sure enough, Evelyn walked in with a bottle of water a moment later. She looked surprised to see us.

“Miss Clarke? Are you here for the meeting too?” She glanced around. “Why don’t I see the child’s father?”

My gaze instinctively shifted to Henry at her words.

He avoided my eyes.

Realization hit me. He was afraid I would expose him.

For a moment, I felt like I was transported back to the day Evelyn returned.

That night, the ever-cold Henry had gotten drunk for the first time.

When he heard his son call him Daddy, he had actually smiled for the first time.

My son and I had thought that our wait was finally over.

However, the next moment, the name he whispered was not mine.

It was Evelyn’s.

That was when I knew. He had mistaken us for someone else.

I tightened my grip on my son’s hand, ready to speak. However, before I could say anything, my son beat me to it.

“My dad is overseas. He’s very busy, so I don’t want to bother him.”

With one sentence, the two of them were left stunned.

I looked down at my son in disbelief, seeing his reddened and welled-up eyes.

He was looking at Henry, smiling as though he finally understood everything.