Merlin's head was buzzing.
She couldn't bear to imagine how this three-year-old child, who always slept close to her mother and had never left home, could be huddled in a corner, struggling to survive, all alone, separated from her parents.
"You mean that little beggar? He was so annoying, always following me around, so I kindly took him to an orphanage." Joel smiled innocently, but Merlin broke out in a cold sweat.
"There's no orphanage in Frostvale City! Where did you take Luther? Tell me!" She shook the little girl's shoulder forcefully, but she flew two meters away like a kite with a broken string, hitting her head on the corner of a table.
"Daddy, did I do something wrong until that Auntie hit me so hard?” she asked, “Please, Auntie, forgive me…"
Even more suffocating, Lily suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down her face.
“Merlin, if you have a problem, come at me! I've tolerated all the beatings and scoldings you've given me before, but the child is innocent. Don't drag the child into this, okay?”
“Yes, I’m shameless. I fell in love with a married man—so what? I love Dave so much that I can’t pull myself away. I was foolishly infatuated.”
Merlin was about to argue when someone brushed past her, their hair and shirt collar swaying.
“Merlin, it's just a small matter, is it necessary to make such a big deal out of it? Are you only happy if you drive them to their deaths?”
“I used to think you were just straightforward and cute, when did you become so vicious?”
Dave's gaze was gentle, his eyes filled with nothing but the incessant commotion of Lily and her daughter.
His own son was missing, possibly dying, yet he seemed oblivious, not even bothering to ask.
Merlin felt as if a sharp stone was stuck in her throat.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Even a blind man could see who was forcing whom, yet he could utter such cruel words with his eyes wide open.
Why were Lily and her daughter’s issues treated as serious, while she and Luther were dismissed even in a life-or-death situation?
Did being unloved mean they didn’t even deserve to live—only to be abandoned and sacrificed?
"You don't want Luther, but I do!" Merlin searched frantically for three days and three nights, finally finding Luther.
His small body was limp, his skin blue from the cold, curled up quietly in the mosquito-infested garbage disposal center, clutching the piggy bank his father had given him.
"Mom, I cracked the computer virus at Dad's company, but I need to pay a fee to fully recover the files."
"Mom, I didn't mean to, can you please beg Dad not to abandon us?"
He was on the verge of death, his thin, cold body unable to withstand the constant rubbing and breathing on to warm him.
Worse still, Luther's severe allergic reaction triggered asthma and he was on the verge of suffocating. Dave, who had brought him specially made, highly effective medicine, refused to see him.
She waited from dusk till dawn, kneeling in the rain all night, holding her ailing child, pleading with him to save Luther.
But all night, Dave was busy comforting the frightened Lily and her daughter to sleep.
He was so anxious that he summoned all the doctors in the city to be on standby, yet he was so stingy that he wouldn't give Merlin a single dose of the medicine.
"He's been stealing since he was little. If we don't teach him a lesson, what will he do—murder or arson!"
"He just wanted to help you with his own pocket money. What did he do wrong!"
Merlin raised her voice, her nose stinging, almost crying.
"Why don't you investigate Lily? Instead, you're trying to destroy us, mother and child."
He used to be so considerate. Even a slight frown from her would cause him endless worry; forgetting to say goodnight would keep him tossing and turning all night.
Now, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Luther was delirious with a high fever, yet he narrowed his eyes, his gaze filled with scrutiny and suspicion.
“Keep making things up, Merlin. Do you know that Lily just had an…”
“Oh, Dave, please stop. That's all I should do.”
Interrupted by Lily’s “sensible” manner, the last sentence, “just received ten million in investment funds,” was forced to be phrased differently.
“Lily is a highly educated returnee from overseas. With her in charge of the company, what problems could possibly arise? Besides, if such a major loophole had truly occurred, wouldn’t I know?”
What if Lily was deceiving her superiors? What if her intention was to steal company secrets for money?
Merlin had investigated; Lily’s ex-husband had recently made a name for himself in the computer field, but his progress was limited to core technologies.
If the secrets were truly stolen, everything Dave was so proud of would be gone.
But the words caught in his throat.
The child was in shock and suffocating; he held the life-saving medication in front of her, slowly counting the pills. "This area is your punishment for laying a hand on Lily and hurting her."
"This area is the consequence of your mockery of Joel."
Watching all the life-saving medicine flushed down the toilet, Merlin's eyes widened in fury.
"Even tigers don't eat their cubs! Dave, how could you bear to treat your own son like this?”
“How could you bear to watch him die? How could you be so heartless?!" Her desperate roar was no match for Lily's rushing figure.
"Dave, my lower body is itchy. The doctor said I should hand-wash my underwear, but these servants' hands are too rough." Her eyes pointedly fixed on Merlin, she sighed softly.
"My sister's hands have been pampered for years, so they're delicate. Unfortunately, in my sister's eyes, I'm just someone unworthy of being presented to the public..."
A pampered, free nanny?
Watching him clutch the last half of the special medicine, she sneered coldly.
"You should know what to do." Merlin slumped to the ground, never having hated anyone so much.
The child's heart-wrenching cries and the child's vomiting of blood were nothing to him; Lily washing her underwear was his top priority.
Did not being loved mean even living became a luxury?
The underwear had a large patch of yellowish, sticky discharge at the crotch, with a single hair still attached.
If Dave had never been serious about her, it would be one thing, but he had once been passionate and devoted; how could he now be even more depraved than others?
She washed it in humiliation, enduring the nausea, painstakingly scraping away the filth with her fingernails, losing even the last shred of dignity, thinking this would buy Luther's life-saving medicine, but he treated Luther's life like a game.
"Kneel down, apologize, repent for what you've done." He glanced at them coldly, then quickly looked away, as if not worth a second longer.
Everyone expected Merlin to throw a tantrum, to become hysterical. But this time, she was quiet, silent and didn't utter a single unnecessary word.
She knelt down, kneeling in repentance. "It was my fault."
"My fault was handing out flyers on the freezing streets, my hands covered in chilblains, just to buy you your favorite birthday cake."
"My fault was risking my life to give birth to Luther just because you said the child was cute."
"My biggest fault was willingly sacrificing for you all these years, never causing you any trouble, thinking you could see all my goodness, only to become the funniest joke in the world!" Her smile remained, but her eyes had long lost their liveliness, filled only with endless hatred.
"Dave, either save Luther, or kill me now, otherwise, I will make you pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold price!!"
On the last day, Luther finally recovered. The ward was piled with small cakes and paper airplanes that Dave had sent, as if in apology.
"That day, thankfully, Mr. Carlson contacted Mr. Vincent, otherwise the child would have been in danger." Merlin's hand trembled as she fed Luther porridge, her head turning away blankly.
"Who did you say?"
The nurse, after taking her temperature.
"Mr. Carlson, the top-ranked of Frostvale City's Ten Outstanding Youths."
Her heart suddenly ached and she instinctively gripped her spoon tightly, only to hear the nurse teasingly say, "You two are truly blessed. You're complete strangers to Mr. Carlson, yet he's so kind as to rescue you simply because you live next door to his beloved wife."
"This kind of fortune is something most people couldn't accumulate in several lifetimes."
"What?" Her breath caught in her throat, her heart nearly stopping.
She ran next door, overwhelmed with bitterness, only to find Dave and Lily, mother and son, enjoying a harmonious family meal of an eighteen-layer cake.
The room was filled with paper airplanes he had folded himself, beautiful and neat, a stark contrast to the ones he made for Luther.
She stood there dumbfounded outside the door, like an alien.
"Mr. Carlson really dotes on his wife. I heard that his wife and child only sneezed and he immediately called in the top asthma doctor overnight, afraid that anything might happen to them."
The nurse said enviously, but Merlin smiled numbly and said through the glass window, "That's nice." Then she turned and left.
Yes, they were the real family; she and Luther were just a tool for practice.
The child was still young and didn't know what a bonus was; he only knew that this little cake was exceptionally exquisite.
"Mommy, did Daddy make up for his loss, so he gave me a little cake as a reward?"
Merlin couldn't bear to dampen the child's joy, so she forced a smile and asked softly, "Luther, how about we get a different daddy?"
The current Dave was just another person wearing the same skin; he was no longer the one who cherished them so much.
"Was Luther naughty and made Daddy angry? Mommy, Luther was wrong, I will change everything. So, Mommy, please don't divorce Daddy, okay?"
Like Dave, he had long, thick eyelashes that framed his large, watery eyes, making them appear misty and evoking pity.
"Divorce? Who said anything about divorce?"
Dave appeared at the door, keenly catching the key words.
"Aren't you just trying to threaten me by saying these things?"
He reacted extremely strongly, grabbing Merlin's wrist fiercely and glaring at her.
"Don't try to play tricks. We're already married. You're not leaving for the rest of your life."
He slammed the door and left, his expression terrifying.
That night, Luther detected that Dave's company had been hacked by a virus again. This time, Merlin raised her hand to stop Luther from cracking the virus, instead preserving the evidence.
"Dave, if you have even a shred of sense, you should see what Lily has done."
Even the IP address showed it was Lily's computer, but faced with irrefutable evidence, Dave was dismissive.
"A three-year-old can do this? Merlin, you should at least come up with a better excuse." The gaze directed at them was cold and distant, unlike anything he'd ever seen before.
Luther was admitted to a private school through a special admission process; surely he must have some extraordinary talent?
Why would he rather believe Luther's lie about sending Joel to an orphanage than believe her and Luther!
"Fine, Dave, you'll regret this."
The sharp words stung him and Dave abruptly stood up, pulling Merlin into his arms.
"Why are you always so cold-hearted, always as hard as a rock? Can't you learn to be gentle and kind like Lily?"
And like Lily, feigning affection, treating him like a fool?
If he wanted to coax someone, he should ask Lily, why was he dragging her along?
"Sorry, I can't learn."
She struggled free, cold as an iceberg, just as Lily, returning home, witnessed it.
Lily pouted, tears welling in her eyes.
"I thought my sister was really going to divorce Dave, making me search the whole city for you to reconcile us. I never expected my sister to say one thing and do another, manipulating us like a fool. Are you happy now?"
"Dave, you also think I'm a used woman from a previous marriage, that's why you despise me, right?"
"Then my sister and I should just die, so we won't get in your way!"
She pretended to bang her head against the wall, but her movements were slow and deliberate, perfectly timed before Dave could strike.
The little girl was quick to react, kneeling down and slapping herself.
"Brother, please don't hit me anymore, okay? I'll never dare to steal your father again. You're right, I'm a bastard, an unwanted wild child, I don't deserve to fight you for him."
"Please, please don't sell me to human traffickers again, okay? I'll go to school obediently for you, I'll bring you money obediently."
Dave's anger erupted.
"Merlin, is this the good son you raised?!"
The greatest sorrow was a broken heart, while the greatest grief was silence.
Perhaps Dave had never changed; he simply stopped pretending.
Merlin stopped explaining, a calm ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.
“Want to be obedient? I'll grant your wish.”
That night, she obediently packed her bags and left, obediently made her son call him uncle and even obediently signed the divorce papers he handed her.
“I’m leaving.”
She had never spoken to him in such a cold tone. Dave gripped the table so tightly his knuckles turned white from the force.
“You always say you’re leaving, but I’ve never seen you actually leave. Try leaving and see if Dave goes after you or comes looking for me.” Lily mocked smugly, while Dave snorted coldly and turned his back on her.
Merlin gave a self-deprecating bitter smile.
She had said she was leaving many times, but this time was different. The Franco Family’s car was already waiting at the door.
It was over.
She walked with light steps, like a gust of wind, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Dave suddenly shifted restlessly in his chair, even forgetting to chew the apple Lily had put in his mouth.
"I haven't even signed it. Who are you trying to scare with an invalid divorce agreement?"
He tapped his knuckles lightly on the agreement, one tap after another, completely confident and oblivious to the problem with the "guarantee" he had casually signed two days earlier.
