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.

Watching Merlin get into the car without looking back, Dave was still inexplicably irritated, throwing his coat angrily onto the sofa.

“If you have the guts to leave, then never come back!” His voice echoed throughout the building.

Her expression went blank for a second, then she looked up and urged the driver to leave without hesitation.

“Mr. Carlson, Miss Olson… she really left.”

Dave’s face darkened and he abruptly stopped. “Which direction did she go?”

“South of the city.”

That was his nemesis Isaac’s territory.

That hypocritical woman, speaking so coldly one minute and then eagerly going to his nemesis to side with him the next.

He glanced at her disdainfully with his narrow eyes, arrogantly saying, “Lily just gave Isaac a big gift a few days ago, there’s no need for Merlin to embarrass herself again.”

Although he didn’t know what the gift was, Lily had assured him that Isaac would not cause him any more trouble in the near future.

"If she gets kicked out or harassed, I won't go to save her," he said this, yet paced back and forth in the study, oblivious to the overflowing teacup spilling onto the floor.

That evening, when Dave inquired about Merlin's movements for the sixth time, Lily, as delicate as a willow in the breeze, pushed open the door.

Thinking it was Merlin finally returning to beg him, Dave's lips curled into a smug smile.

"I told you you'd come begging me sooner or later, I was right."

"Luckily, she's with someone as good as me, letting her be. If it were someone else..." Turning around and seeing it was Lily, his face instantly fell.

"Dave... If you're worried about Sister Merlin, go ahead. Anyway, Joel and I just have a bad case of the flu, at most we'll faint, it's nothing serious." 

Usually, Lily feigned magnanimity, making Dave feel incredibly sorry for her, wishing he could stay with her 24/7.

This time, he turned and ran, only realizing his rudeness at the door. He hurriedly waved, signaling her to take care of herself.

The moment he burst out the door, even the wind felt free.

Dave was like a warrior cutting through thorns to rescue a princess trapped in a castle, full of vigor and high spirits. But the next moment, he was stopped in his tracks by a servant's terrified scream.

"Mr. Carlson, something terrible has happened! Miss Franco and her child have both vomited blood and gone into shock. They're dying!"

He froze on the spot, not moving.

"Before Miss Franco fainted, she said that the 50 million investments would be transferred to the company immediately and that you shouldn't worry about her life or death, just go find Miss Olson."

He raised his hand to his temples, the pent-up frustration in his chest turning into a long sigh and he had no choice but to turn away.

But the tension and worry in his eyes were gone. He mechanically repeated the action of covering himself with the blanket all night, looking extremely unwilling yet having no choice but to comply.

The next morning, Dave received news of Isaac's engagement. The bride's face was deliberately blurred, but her figure looked strangely familiar.

Dave didn't pay much attention and quietly slipped out, intending to check if Merlin was dead.

If she were smart enough to reveal her relationship with him, Isaac probably wouldn't make things too difficult.

"Mr. Carlson! Lily planted a virus on the company computer and transferred all our confidential documents and investment funds!"

At the entrance of the manor, Dave stumbled, almost bumping into a life-sized engagement display board.

"How is that possible? She just transferred the investment funds."

In the sunlight, the bride's face was bathed in a golden glow. He didn't care to look, but his heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if something of the most important thing in his life was slowly slipping away.

"The finance department just discovered that the investment funds were transferred anonymously under Miss Merlin's name."

Dave's eyes widened in astonishment.

After delivering the last takeout order of the night, I slumped against a wall and scrolled through my phone. A trending thread caught my eye.

*"Confess a secret you'll take to the grave."*

The comment section was a cesspool of gossip—stories about playboys juggling multiple women or confessions of near-manslaughter. But then, a familiar profile picture stopped my thumb dead.

He wrote: *"I won a family, friendship, and love with a single, well-intentioned lie."*

*"He was the senior mentor who brought me into the field. During a polar expedition, we were trapped in a white hell. After sustaining serious injuries, he fell into an ice cave."*

*"I couldn't let him drag the rescue team down. So, I told the rescuers he had deserted us, taking the supplies with him."*

*"He went down in history as a sinner to the scientific community and was stripped of all honors."*

The comments below were vicious. Strangers cursed the "mentor," and some were clamoring to dox him.

*"If I had to choose again, I would do the exact same thing."*

A smiling emoji followed the sentence.

It felt like a needle stabbing straight into my pupil.

His reply blew up instantly.

——

Joseph Cobb defended himself, claiming he prioritized the greater good: *"You don't understand. Every extra minute the rescue team stayed on that ice was a gamble with their lives."*

*"Call me selfish, but it was a choice between survival and sentiment."*

He claimed that as long as those closest to him understood, he had no regrets.

*"His parents have accepted me as their godson. For years, they've confided in me, saying my senior dragged me down, claiming that expedition was supposed to be my breakthrough, not his."*

*"The professionals on the team are all on my side. I'm about to receive the Medal of Merit—why are you all so narrow-minded?"*

*"Yes, I married his wife. We truly love each other. He's dead—should Camila remain a widow for a ghost?"*

*"Besides, I raised his child as my own. What right do you have to judge me?"*

My chest seized. Each breath scraped like shards of glass. I traced the stump on my left hand where my finger used to be.

When Joseph Cobb kicked me into that ice cave, I had clung to the edge for dear life.

He used a knife to sever my finger.

I am that senior mentor. I am the one who brought him into the field.

I survived three days and three nights, frozen and starving, before a passing expedition team pulled me out. Then I fell into a coma, lingering in a vegetative state for years.

Sheer spite and the desperate need to see my family again dragged me back from the brink. But when I finally woke up three years later, the world had moved on without me.

I returned to my parents' home expecting tears of joy.

Instead, I was met with eyes as cold as the polar ice.

"Why did you come back?" my dad spat. "You should have died out there."

"I don't have a son like you. You're a disgrace to this family."

They called me selfish. They claimed they couldn't lift their heads in public because of my scandal. I tried to explain. I told them Joseph Cobb set me up, that he wanted to steal the resources and credit, that *he* was the one who pushed me into the pit.

But before I could finish, my wife stepped out of the house.

Camila Bradley. Her gaze was filled with nothing but disappointment.

"Do you know that for years, only Joseph kept looking for you? The unit gave up on you. Only he fought to keep your name on those merits."

Camila said my honors should have been stripped long ago. She claimed Joseph ran himself ragged for my sake, yet here I was—a parasite slandering his savior.

They drove me out. No matter how much I pleaded, my words hit a wall of disbelief.

For days, they treated me like I was invisible.

It wasn't until I missed my son so much that I secretly followed him to school that Camila finally exploded.

Her eyes were red with fury as she cornered me. "Do you have to let Joel's classmates know he has a father like you?"

She accused me of stealing Joseph's research, of using my seniority to oppress him, and of dealing him a ruthless blow when I allegedly ran off with the supplies.

"Joseph suffers from severe chronic hypothermia because of you," she hissed. "I'm begging you—leave us alone. He is Joel's father now."