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.

Charlie said menacingly, "Janine lost her temper with me yesterday because of the trouble you've caused with that little bastard son of yours. I got Simon to teach him a lesson. How can you go looking for him when you can't even save yourself?"

I could hear Jesse's vague screaming coming from the swimming pool in the distance. My heart was in my throat as I tore his hand away from me and ran toward the swimming pool.

"Get him! We need to teach that son of a bitch a lesson!" They came after me and had me surrounded, and they proceeded to slap me one after the other. My lips were torn, and my hair was pulled out, scattering all over the ground.

Jesse's screaming got even more hysterical, and I felt something snap inside me. Rage was pouring out of me as I punched the face next to me crazily. Charlie was hit in the nose and started screaming as every punch made his face bloody.

His friends were shocked by my crazy punches, and they started running in every direction. "Help! There's a madman out here!"

My eyes were red with anxiousness as I ran with all my might toward the swimming pool. When I was about to open the door, a sudden force came from behind me and pushed me to the ground. I fell heavily onto the ground and hit myself against the steps. I saw black for several seconds. I could hear buzzing and Charlie's angry accusations.

"Joe got mad when he saw you with me and Simon, Janine. He said we're beggars and thieves… I think my nose is broken…"

His friends added on to the accusation, "Charlie's right, Janine. Joe Langdon is a vicious man who wants us dead…"

They kept telling her about all of my wrongdoings, but all I did was crawl up the steps slowly, and I saw my son's little body struggling in the swimming pool through the crack of the entrance. He wanted to call for help, but his tiny mouth was filled with water the moment he opened it.

All I saw was red as I smashed into the door without hesitation, but Janine grabbed me from behind with both hands around my waist. The dark look in her eyes was filled with agitation. "You were the one who pushed me away, but you're also the one who can't let me go. What is it that you want?!"

I almost threw up with disgust. How could she still harp on this at this moment of crisis? I slapped her so hard, she fell to the ground, and I roared at her, "Listen! That's our son calling for help!"

Janine's eyes widened. "What?"

Before I could continue, Charlie piped up with disdain, "What are you talking about, Joe? Jesse is playing in the field right now. Stop with your nonsense and look at how badly you beat me up!"

Janine's worry for Jesse vanished immediately, and she grabbed my arm while saying sternly, "Apologize!"

The others around started pushing me around. "Are you deaf?! She told you to apologize!"

As the splashing in the swimming pool became weaker, the last strand of reasoning in my head broke. I struggled to escape from their grips and slammed into the door, opening it and jumping into the pool in a few strides.

Everyone standing on dry land started criticizing.

"What's with the act? Everyone is at the parent-teacher meeting, and no child would ever come here when it's so remote."

"Yeah. Especially when it's so dark. We don't see anyone in there at all."

"Well, Joe Langdon is a drama queen by nature. He's just trying to attract some attention after getting his divorce."

Janine frowned as she listened to everyone talking away, and felt annoyed when she saw the ripples on the surface of the pool. "Stop your act, Joe. I'll count to three, and if you don't get out of the water by then, I'm leaving!

"Three, two, one…"

Janine dragged the countdown, but the pool surface remained still as no one emerged from below the water. Her jaws clenched, and she looked disappointed.

Charlie smiled and pulled her away from the swimming pool. "Let that penniless loser continue being dramatic if he loves it so much. We shouldn't…"

Before he could finish, everyone heard a splash. I emerged from the pool, heartbroken and crying with my lifeless son in my arms.