Kids often said the cruelest things. My heart clenched so tight I couldn't breathe.

After seven years of marriage, I'd gone from a career woman, a rising star in the design world with a name people recognized, to a housewife who spent her days circling the stove and chasing after a kid.

I gave up my dreams and the glamour all for this family. And in the end, in my own son's eyes, I was just some "old, ugly" woman who "looked like a maid".

Caden froze too. He stared at my face, which had gone white in an instant, and heartbreak filled his eyes filled. He let go of Felix and strode over to me, pulling me into his arms.

"What the hell are you saying!" he roared at our son, voice shaking with fury. "Felix, apologize to your mother right now!"

"I won't!" Felix's chin jutted out as he glared at me. "I'm not wrong! Just look at her! Look at what she's wearing! She doesn't even brush her hair!

"At the last parent meeting, all the other kids' moms wore dresses and makeup. But her? She showed up in a tracksuit! Tommy and the guys all laughed at me!"

I went stiff. I remembered that parent meeting.

That day, I'd been busy making the lunch Felix specifically asked for, then cleaning the house. By the time I looked at the clock, there was only half an hour left before the meeting started.

I rushed to change into what I thought was a decent enough tracksuit and hurried over. I didn't even have time to look in a mirror. Apparently, in my child's eyes, that was utterly humiliating.

Caden's arms tightened around me. He turned, his gaze ice-cold. "Felix, your mother gets up before dawn every single day to make you breakfast. After you go to bed at night, she's still cleaning the house.

"She doesn't have time to dress up because she spends all her time on you. Do you think the things you just said are fair to her?"

"I don't care!" Felix shouted. "I just want a pretty mom! Ms. Sulvan would be perfect!"

"Fine. That's just fine." I gently pushed Caden away and took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady.

I walked over to Felix and crouched down, looking straight into his eyes. Those eyes looked exactly like mine, except right now they were full of disgust.

"Felix, you think I'm not good enough anymore. You want to replace me, is that it?"

My calm stare unnerved him a little, but he still nodded.

"Alright." I stood up. The stabbing pain in my chest had gone numb, replaced by a hollow emptiness.

I looked at Caden and said, "Caden, let's get a divorce."

"What did you just say?" Caden's face went even whiter than mine.

He stared at me as if I'd just suggested flying to the moon.

Even Felix, still sniffling in the corner, stopped and stared at us with wide eyes.

"I said, let's get a divorce," I said again, quietly but clearly.

"Since your son wants a new mom so badly, I'll make it happen. I'm done being the maid around here."

I turned to head back to the bedroom, but Caden grabbed my wrist.

"Beatrice!" Caden's voice carried a hint of panic. "Don't say things you don't mean. Felix doesn't understand what he's saying. I'll deal with him later. Don't take it personally!"

"I'm not saying things I don't mean."

I turned back to look at him. My gaze was calm, though my throat felt tight. "Caden, I'm tired. I'm really tired."

The past seven years hadn't exactly been easy.

At gatherings with friends, I watched the women who used to be my equals become leaders in their fields. They wore tailored suits and talked about their latest projects and stock portfolios, while I could only chime in with parenting tips.

I never told Caden how that felt.

When I woke up in the middle of the night to crying, fumbling in the dark to warm bottles and change diapers while he slept soundly beside me, I never told him about that exhaustion either.

When I deleted the coat I'd been eyeing in my shopping cart for weeks so I could afford to sign Felix up for more expensive enrichment classes, I never told him how that stung.

I thought this was just marriage, a life that I had chosen. But when everything I'd sacrificed got thrown back in my face by my own son, when he treated it like something shameful, that was when I realized all my effort had become a joke.

"Honey…"

Caden swallowed hard, and his eyes filled with anguish. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I haven't paid enough attention to how you feel. We won't get divorced, okay? Give me a chance. Let me make this up to you."

"Daddy, is Mommy leaving us?"

Felix finally grasped how serious this was. He ran over crying and wrapped his arms around Caden's leg. "Then who's going to make me food…"

He hesitated, then said, "Ms. Sulvan?"

Caden's expression darkened instantly. Felix quickly ducked his head, realizing that was a stupid thing to say. His father clearly didn't like Ms. Sulvan.

Felix looked at me carefully. The disgust was gone from his eyes, replaced by fear.

I smiled bitterly. They should have been everything I was proud of. But right now, all I felt was how ridiculous it all was.

I didn't answer. I yanked my wrist free from Caden's grip, walked into the bedroom, and locked the door behind me.

Outside, Caden was yelling, and Felix was wailing.

"Felix! You just drove your mother away! I'm telling you right now, if this family loses her, you and I are done too!"

"Daddy, I was wrong. I'm sorry! I want Mommy back! I don't want Ms. Sulvan anymore."

"Now you know you were wrong? Too late!"

I leaned against the door, listening to the chaos outside. Finally, the tears came.

I didn't really want a divorce. I loved Caden, and I loved Felix too.

I just couldn't stand being looked down on anymore.

I needed a way out, a way to breathe. I needed to take a hard look at what these seven years had done to my life.

I stayed in the bedroom for a long time, until the noise outside finally died down.

Someone knocked softly on the door.

"Honey, can you open up? I made dinner—all your favorites."

Caden's voice came through the door, careful and pleading, but I ignored him.

"I made that little brat stand out on the balcony to think about what he did. He knows he messed up. He's crying and begging to apologize to you.

"Honey, please don't be mad anymore. You can hit me, yell at me, whatever you want. Just don't shut me out.

"Beatrice…"

His voice got quieter and quieter until I could barely hear the catch in his throat. Something squeezed in my chest. This man had been devoted to me since college, spoiling me rotten.

In seven years of marriage, we'd barely even argued. He took care of all the heavy lifting, made me tea when I had my period, and remembered every single one of our anniversaries.

He was a golden boy, a CEO who commanded respect at work, but he was willing to drop all of that for me. How could I actually leave him?

I wiped my tears and opened the door. Caden stood there with red-rimmed eyes. When he saw me, relief washed over his face, and he pulled me into a tight hug.

"You scared me to death." He buried his face in my shoulder, his voice muffled.

I patted his back and said quietly, "I'm hungry."

"Right, let's eat. Come on." He quickly led me to the dining room.

The table was covered with food, all my favorites, but Felix wasn't there. The offending earring was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Felix?" I asked.

"Still on the balcony." Caden ladled soup into my bowl. "Letting him think about it a bit longer."

I didn't say anything else and just ate quietly. The warmth spread through my stomach, and the ice around my heart seemed to thaw a little.

We ate the entire meal in unusual silence.

After dinner, Caden went to the balcony and hauled Felix back inside.

The kid had been out in the cold wind. His eyes were swollen and puffy from crying, his nose was red, and he looked utterly pitiful.

The moment he came in, he ran over and threw himself at my feet.

"Mommy, I was wrong!" He grabbed my legs and cried so hard he could barely breathe. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. Please don't leave me. Don't divorce Daddy!"

I looked down at him, feeling a mess of emotions. "Felix, tell me. What exactly did you do wrong?"

"I-I shouldn't have said you weren't pretty. I shouldn't have told you to get out of the house. I shouldn't have wanted Ms. Sulvan to be my mom…" he sobbed, his eyes darting around nervously.

Then he said in a squeaky, unconvincing voice, "Mommy, you're the prettiest. You're a hundred times prettier than Ms. Sulvan!"

When he hurt me, he really hurt me. And when he lied, it was just as obvious.

"Is that so?" I asked flatly. "But earlier you said your classmates all laughed at me for looking like a maid, didn't you?"

Felix's crying stopped short. His little face turned bright red.

Caden spoke up from the side, his voice low. "I already called Tommy's dad. Tomorrow I'm going to the school myself to have a chat with your homeroom teacher and those kids who've been running their mouths."

He put particular emphasis on "have a chat". I could just picture Caden's cold face looming over a bunch of six-year-olds.

Felix's face went from red to pale and back again. Finally, his pudgy little hands twisted together. "Daddy, do you have to go to school…"

Halfway through the sentence, Caden shot him a look. Felix ducked his head and went completely silent. Looking at their matching guilty expressions, I let out a long sigh.

"Felix." I pulled him up off the floor and looked him straight in the eye.

"I can let this go, and I won't get divorced. But you need to remember something—I do things for you because I love you. That doesn't mean you get to take it for granted or treat me like garbage."

I glanced around at our neat, well-kept home and said calmly, "Since you think the old me wasn't good enough, I'll change.

"From now on, you handle your own business. Dress yourself, pick up your own toys, and check your own homework. I'm not going to spend 24 hours a day revolving around you anymore."

Felix nodded, not quite understanding.

Caden came over and wrapped his arms around me from behind. He looked at Felix and said, "And if you ever make your mother upset again, it's the shoehorn. Got it?"

"Got it," Felix answered quietly.

The family storm triggered by a single earring seemed to settle down after that. The misunderstanding was cleared up, and Felix apologized.

Caden became even more attentive, practically glued to my side, terrified I'd actually pack up and leave one day.

But the hurt was still there. And my dear son clearly wasn't done either.

He just switched to a more roundabout strategy to continue his grand plan of getting a new mom.