After my wife Janine Cartwood's 99th argument with her lover, she came to me and complained, "Can't you go down on your knees and apologize to him? He wouldn't have gotten mad at me if you hadn't shown up in front of him with our son."

Janine smiled and spoke about this as if it were a joke, but I knew she was serious.

I had rejected her once before, but she retaliated by getting rid of my dog and refusing to pay for my mother's medical fees. I took it all in my stride and tolerated her antics because I wanted to give our son a complete home.

This continued until yesterday, when she purposely fed our son, Jesse Langdon, medicine that caused him to go into shock in my arms. I lost all hope for her when that happened.

Janine thought I was unwilling when she saw me keeping silent. She was about to berate me when I handed her our divorce papers and said softly, "He must have gotten sick of seeing me kneel. Let's just coax him by getting a divorce. I bet that will cheer him up even more."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and I could see the glee in her eyes. "You're getting better at this. You're even taking the initiative to find ways to make me happy."

I did not reply and only smiled understandingly. It was because I was not trying to make her happy. I just did not want her anymore.

"Don't worry, we'll remarry once Charlie forgives me," Janine Cartwood said while signing the papers. She was confident that I would always love her, which was why she did not read the terms in the divorce papers.

In a rare moment, Janine lost herself in thought as the divorce was finalized. When she turned to me to say something, Charlie Lloyd embraced her excitedly. "I can't believe you got divorced for me, Janine! I love you so much!"

He clasped her face and kissed her as the staff at the law firm looked at each other and later sympathetically at me. My ex-wife and her lover were kissing each other passionately outside the firm on the day we got officially divorced. Any husband who had experienced this, as I was right now, deserved some pity.

I looked away calmly and pushed the doors open to leave. That was when fireworks started exploding in the sky, and Janine was heard saying adoringly, "I customized this fireworks performance just for you, Charlie. You'll see your name once the fireworks end."

This took me by surprise. It was something I had also dreamed about when we first got married, but Janine's career had just kicked off, and she had been financially strapped. I did not want to put her in a difficult position, so I got some cheap fireworks instead. Even then, when those blinding fireworks exploded in the air, I still smiled with contentment.

Janine teared up then as she hugged me, promising me, "I'll make this up to you one day, Joe. I'll fill the sky with your name when that day comes."

After that, we did make a lot of money, but that promise was forgotten. It was only when I witnessed the extravagant fireworks in the sky that I realized that her love never really disappeared; it had just blossomed on another person.

"Dad!"

The cheerful voice made me snap out of it, and Jesse Langdon released the assistant's hand to run into my arms like a little puppy. It was his birthday today, and Janine and I had promised to take him to the theme park.

I turned to look at Janine, but she seemed taken aback the moment Jesse appeared. I knew right away that she had forgotten the promise, just as she always did.

Every time Janine forgot our son's birthday or failed to show up for his parent-teacher meeting, I would patiently explain to everyone, "Jesse's mom is busy on a business trip."

However, I was immediately embarrassed when everyone saw Janine accompanying Charlie on a stroll in the romantic streets of Florenta on television. For the past six years, I had endured similar situations, and my friends and family started looking at me with great pity, but I did not care.

Unfortunately, my son suffered the brunt of this as other children started calling him names, saying he was a bastard and an unwanted child. He would end up crying hysterically in my arms, and I eventually realized that I could no longer lie to myself. The truth was that Janine did not love our son or me.

However, I still wanted to fight for my son one more time. Before I could say anything, a boy of a similar age to Jesse popped out of Janine's car. It was Charlie's son with his ex-wife.

Charlie said softly, "Sorry about this, Joe. Janine insisted on bringing us along."

I was stunned. It only took a casual word from Charlie to completely ruin Jesse's one special day in the year.

When Janine saw how pale I looked, she turned away guiltily. "Let's just take them together since they're almost the same age."

Jesse stared at Janine and Simon Lloyd holding hands with a look of dismay. My heart ached for Jesse, and I had no idea what to say to him.

Simon was in a little bespoke suit with nicely styled hair, as Janine and Charlie stood protectively around him, looking like he was the main star of the day. Jesse stood in stark contrast as he was dressed ordinarily, with only me by his side.

I suddenly had enough, and I picked Jesse up in my arms to walk away.

"What are you doing, Joe? Are you upset because of Simon and me?" Charlie looked anxious as he tried to stop me. His nails dug deep into my arm, and I flung him off with pain. I had not used much strength, but Charlie fell hard onto the ground.

He looked at me in bewilderment. "Why did you hit me, Joe? Can't we just get along?"

My arm was still throbbing with pain from being grabbed so hard by Charlie, and I clenched my teeth in anger. I was about to question him when Janine suddenly slapped me. "Is this how you act as a father?! How can you bully another person in front of our son?"

It was a hard slap, and Janine still had her keys in her hand when she slapped, which scratched my face in the process. I started bleeding from the wound almost immediately.

Jesse ran over and spread out his tiny little arms in front of me protectively. He was crying while yelling, "Don't hit my dad!"

I ignored the wound on my face as I watched my son's lone figure in front of me, trying to shield me from Charlie, Simon, and Janine, and something inside me broke.

It was fine that Janine did not love me or care about me, but could she hurt our son again and again?

I stumbled over to hold Jesse in my arms and wiped away the tears from his eyes. I walked away without looking back, but that was also when Janine turned to look at me after she anxiously made sure that Charlie and Simon were fine.

Janine's eyes widened when she saw me walking away, and she quickly ran up to grab me, trying frantically to stop the bleeding on my face. "How did you get so seriously hurt? I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't bullied Charlie…"

My face was pale when I looked up at her, and there was sorrow in my eyes. It did not matter how hard I always tried to explain myself. In Janine's eyes, I was always the bully who hurt Charlie. Yet, it was because of Charlie that I lost my cat, my wife, and the ability to have more children.

It happened the first time I found her cheating on me. I had prepared lunch and was delivering it to her at the office, only to witness Charlie and her naked in a passionate embrace. I went mad and dashed forward to beat up Charlie, but Janine tried to stop me and we both fell to the ground. It was that blow that caused permanent damage to my reproductive system.

Janine was stunned to see tears in my eyes, and her heart ached for me at that moment. She tried to wipe away my tears, but Charlie suddenly started sobbing behind her. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have ruined your relationship."

With that, Charlie turned away and ran into the heavy traffic. Fierce honking was instantly heard in the air, and Janine let me go right away to run after Charlie without hesitation. Jesse and I looked at each other calmly before getting into the car and driving away.

When our car drove past them, Charlie was holding Janine quietly in his arms. His eyes met mine. The guilty look on his face had vanished, and I knew instantly that he was telling me that he won, but who cares?

Jesse and I moved to another house that night, but Janine showed up unannounced at around 11 pm. She looked upset when I opened the door without saying a word, and she said brusquely, "It's only a divorce. Why would you move out of the house? This is only temporary since we'll be getting remarried in a few days."

Janine walked casually into the house, sitting right on the couch and admiring the decor. However, she was stunned when she saw the family photo on the wall.

The family photo was supposed to have our family of three, but Janine had disappeared from it. It flustered her, and she was about to lose her temper when she noticed the wound on my face. A guilty look flashed in her eye, and when she tried to touch my wound, I stood up to avoid it.

Janine's hand froze midair with a strange look in her eye. I did not show concern for her as I usually did. Instead, I pointed at the guest room. "You can sleep there tonight, or go back to your house."

With that, I returned to my room, but Janine squeezed through the door right before I could shut it tight. Janine pressed her sexy body against me right away. "It's been a long time since you touched me, honey."

She did not notice me flinching when she touched me, and continued treating me as the old Joe who would give in to her every whim. I pushed her away and slapped her hard.

Janine went blank as she had not been expecting this. She was about to lose her temper when she suddenly grabbed my hand instead with a stunned look and asked, "Why did you take off your ring?"

Our rings were ordinary silver rings that were bought when our condition was poor, and we did not have extra money to spend, but we still wore them happily. When our lives started getting comfortable, Janine bought me many luxury rings, but I never wore any of them, and she knew how important our original rings were to me.

We have been married for more than a decade, and I never once took my ring off, no matter what happened, but now, I had quietly removed the ring from my finger. Janine's heart beat wildly from an unknown fear, and she said, "Let's get remarried tomorrow."

I pulled my hand away coldly. My mother was no longer with us, and I had custody of Jesse. Janine could no longer threaten me. "You should leave."

Janine was stunned, unable to believe her ears. "What do you mean?"

I put some distance between her and replied calmly, "Exactly what I said."

We were silent for several seconds, and the look in Janine's eyes dimmed when she finally understood what was happening. Her voice trembled as she said, "You did all of this on purpose, didn't you. You're using our marriage to force me to sever ties with Charlie!"

I almost laughed. Janine was still convinced that I cared about her. My silence seemed to confirm her thoughts as she kept saying 'fine' repeatedly. She pointed at my nose and said, "Don't come begging me when you start regretting this!"

Janine slammed the door behind her, and the noise woke Jesse up. He walked out of his room groggily, and I quickly carried him in my arms while gently coaxing him back to sleep. My heart was filled with contentment as I looked at his peaceful little face.

…

The next morning, I woke up early for Jesse's parent-teacher meeting at school. When we entered his classroom, we saw Janine with Charlie and Simon, sitting in the class. They stayed close to each other, looking like a real family of three.

For the past seven years, Jesse had grown up without Janine ever attending any of his parent-teacher meetings. He had never mentioned anything about being bullied when others badmouthed him behind his back, calling him a bastard without a mother.

However, now, when he saw all three of them together, Jesse was forced to face the hard truth. He ran off with his head lowered and tears in his eyes.

Janine was filled with guilt, and she stood up to run after him, but Charlie stopped her. I was taken aback to see this, and my heart pounded with fluster as I turned around to run after Jesse. When I turned the corner, Charlie and his friends caught up to me.

Charlie punched me in the face and said with disdain, "Have some decency, Joe Langdon. Now that you've gotten a divorce, stop using your kid to blackmail Janine!"

His friends chimed in, "Yeah! Have some decency! Even your son is following your footsteps by being shameless. Look at him faking that cry."

"What's this called? An apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Hahahaha!"

"Shut up!" I was trembling with anger, but did not argue with them as I was worried about Jesse. I wanted to run after him, but Charlie grabbed me by the collar.