Seeing the terrible wound on my son's forehead, I chose to ignore my heartache from Niall's words, calling him again and again.

I could live with Niall not loving me, but my son, Cyrus, was my bottom line. I brought him into this world, so I had to take responsibility for him.

"She's so desperate to reach you," said Chelsea. "Maybe something really did happen? You should probably answer the call!"

Her words had Niall picking up my call immediately.

"Spew any more lies about my son getting into an accident, I'm divorcing you immediately!" he warned right off the bat.

He knew how much I loved him. In the past, whenever we had differences in opinion, I would compromise unconditionally the instant he mentioned divorce.

I would not cave this time, though. This was our son we were talking about!

"I'm telling the truth," I told him. "I'm at your hospital with our son right now! All you have to do is come over and have a look. That'd tell you whether I'm lying or not. Would you dare to come?"

Cyrus looked at me in confusion, his head still covered in blood. "Is Daddy busy? When is he coming?"

I held the phone next to his mouth, whereupon he immediately called out, "I really miss you, Daddy. When are you coming to see me?"

Even when speaking to his son, Niall's voice did not soften in the slightest. Instead, it was filled with doubt.

"Your mother said that you got into a car accident," he stated. "Was it serious?"

"It really hurts, Daddy," Cyrus answered in response, his voice filled with childish naivety. "I've lost a lot of blood."

However, his words only served to anger Niall. "You made a four-year-old child tell lies? I've had enough of you, Shayla Jennings! How serious could it be if he could still speak to me over the phone?

"Even lies need to make sense, alright? You're trying to trick me into heading to the entrance and getting me home, right? In your dreams!"

The color drained from Cyrus' face when he heard that. He was a sensible child and did not want his father to worry about him, but here was his father, making the worst assumptions about him.

I snatched the phone from Cyrus and attempted to explain the situation, but my voice was stuck in my throat at the barrage of abuse from the other end.

"Shayla Jennings!" roared Niall. "I can overlook you using despicable means to marry me, but how could you teach a child to say such things?

"He will be as shameless as you when he grows up! Aren't you afraid that he'll grow up to hate you?

"A car accident? Hah! Even if you were to die, I wouldn't bother to collect your body!"

Chelsea's demure voice carried over the phone. "Don't blame the child. Children only make mistakes because the adults have failed to educate them well. Don't lose your temper at the child!"

"If only you were half as sensible as Chelsea, Shayla," Niall snapped coldly. "Maybe you would have been a qualified mother!"

With that, he hung up.

I stood where I was, completely silent. I saw how gently Niall treated Lulu after hanging up the call.

"I didn't frighten you just now, did I?" he asked her softly. "Good girl! You're so brave. I'll take you to ride a carousel and see some fireworks later!"

The hospital room seemed to radiate with warmth and coziness, but my son and I felt like our hearts were colder than a winter day.

Cyrus had lost too much blood and was barely standing. I could not afford to waste any more time on a scumbag.

Today might have ended in my loss, Chelsea, but the days ahead were long. By then, we would see who had the last laugh.

Just as I was about to leave the hospital with Cyrus, a sharp-eyed nurse caught sight of me.

"Where are you going, miss? Your child's forehead is bleeding! We need to take care of it quickly!"

Since he was willing to lead the way to a doctor, I wouldn't need to seek my son's treatment elsewhere.

The doctor whom the nurse led us to used alcohol to disinfect Cyrus' wound. Cyrus' face was pale from the pain, but he still pushed through the pain and did not shed a single tear.

"Daddy said that he likes brave children, so I can't cry!" he declared. "If he comes over later and sees me crying, he'll be unhappy."

My son was using Niall's words to motivate himself, but in the next hospital room over, the father, whom he assumed did not like fussy children, was doing his best to pacify a little girl.

The doctor looked speechlessly at me.

"What exactly happened?" he asked. "If such a large wound isn't stitched up quickly, it'll leave a scar."

"We got into an accident. Please take a look at my son! He'll be fine, right?" I asked anxiously.

"Where's the child's father?" asked the doctor instead of answering. "Why isn't he here instead of making his wife run around like this?

"Your son will have to be hospitalized for the night. How are you going to handle things alone?"

As he spoke, the doctor's hands worked continuously to stitch up and disinfect Cyrus' forehead.

"It's alright, Mommy," Cyrus reassured me. "I'm really strong, and it doesn't hurt at all!"

The tears that I had been holding back started flowing down my cheeks. "It's alright. I can handle this alone," I responded.

At that, the same doctor glanced up at me. "You'll have to keep watch over him for the entire night! As long as he doesn't break out into a fever, he'll be fine by tomorrow."

Cyrus took the medicine that the doctor prescribed and promptly fell asleep.

"Daddy, why don't you like me?"

I looked at Cyrus, who was calling out for Niall in his sleep and felt my heart clench violently.

Niall was not even worthy of being your father!

He had promised Cyrus that he would send him to kindergarten today and let Cyrus' classmates know that he also had a father.

Thanks to that, Cyrus had been too excited to sleep last night.

However, when morning came around, Niall had left the house without looking back the moment he received a call from Chelsea.

"It's raining outside, so it's inconvenient for Chelsea to send her child to school," he had explained. "I'll leave you to figure out arrangements for our son."

He had personally made a promise to his son, but he had forgotten about it in the blink of an eye.

No matter how much I pleaded and how disappointed Cyrus was, Niall had left without a backward glance.

I did not own a car, and umbrellas were practically useless in such heavy rain, so Cyrus and I ended up having to brave the rain.

Just as I got him to the kindergarten, Niall happened to speed by in his car, splashing muddy water all over the two of us.

It was Lulu Blanc who got out of his car.

I could still recall how lonely my son looked back then.

"Didn't you say that Daddy had something else to deal with, Mommy?" he asked. "Why is he sending another girl to school?"

I rushed forward to interrogate Niall, but he shoved me unceremoniously to the ground.

"If Lulu catches a cold from being out in the rain, nothing you do will be enough to compensate for it!" he snapped frostily.

Cyrus ran over to stand in front of me, yelling, "Bad Daddy! You're not allowed to push Mommy!"

However, Niall did not care whether his son caught a cold or came down with a fever. He instead concentrated on embracing Lulu, ensuring not a single raindrop touched her.

He did not even spare a glance for Cyrus, who was thoroughly soaked.

Cyrus developed a fever by noon. It took a whole afternoon of tender care before he finally got better.

However, during the night, my son kept thinking about celebrating Niall's birthday with him. He insisted on looking for his father, which led to tonight's events.

As I looked into my son's pale face, I silently apologized, "I'm sorry. It's all my fault for not taking good care of you."

The next morning, the same doctor from yesterday—Dr. Cooper—came to check in on Cyrus.

"Where's the child's father?" he asked again. "Did he not come at all? That's so irresponsible!"

I pursed my lips, unsure of what to say.

"Young people nowadays are just so irresponsible. You'd be better off marrying a pig than a husband like this! Take my advice—you should remain sharp when looking for a husband.

"Dr. Luther from our hospital, for example, is a great man! I heard that his wife and daughter were almost hit by a car in front of the hospital yesterday. He almost turned the entire hospital on its head in his worry!

"That's how huge the gap between a good and bad man is!"

The bitterness in my heart grew the more I listened to the doctor's words. "That's right. I'd be better off marrying a pig than a man like this!"

In the past few days, I finally learned that the hospital staff had a tacit agreement that Niall and Chelsea were already together.

So, this was what Niall had meant when he said he was afraid I would drag down his career. He was not afraid for his career. He was just afraid that if news of our marriage were to spread, it would affect his ability to play a loving couple with Chelsea while at the hospital.

It was not that he disliked children. He just did not like me and my son.

"As his mother, you're at fault too!" the doctor accused. "How could you let your child get soaked in the freezing rain?"

Cyrus replied before I could, saying defensively, "Mommy didn't cause me to get soaked! Daddy clearly promised me that he would send me to kindergarten, but he ended up sending someone else…"

He trailed off, then asked me, "Does Daddy not like me, mommy?"

I tried to put on a strong front, but I crumbled when I caught sight of the news being broadcast on television.

"It was reported that a young girl suffered minor abrasions while at an amusement park last night. The girl's father immediately conducted a full set of medical examinations for her and spent a full hour thoroughly ruling out all possible hidden dangers.

"In the end, it was confirmed that it was just a scratch. Throughout the entire process, he displayed incomparable care and patience for his daughter. His actions were filled with fatherly love, and netizens have crowned him as the most responsible father!"

When the doctor heard the news report, he said in delight, "That's Dr. Luther, the man I was telling you about. Look, that's the kind of man a woman should be marrying! Responsible, loyal to his family, and loyal to love!

"You may not like me telling you this, but if things don't work out between you and your husband, I suggest you file for divorce. What use is trash like that?"

My heart was filled with bitterness. Who would know that the "most responsible father" and the "most irresponsible father", according to the doctor, were both actually the same person?

Cyrus watched Niall hugging Lulu tightly on screen.

He realized that she only had a minor scratch. On the other hand, he had gritted his teeth through the pain of receiving stitches.

He did not understand why there was such a difference between them.

Cyrus, who had not shed a tear despite all the pain he had gone through last night, looked at me with red eyes, asking, "Mommy, Lulu's actually Daddy's child, not me, right?"

I could only hug him tightly and reply, "No, that's not it. You're his child! It's all my fault…"

"Daddy doesn't like me, but he likes Lulu. It's alright, Mommy, so don't cry. I don't like Daddy anymore, either. I don't want him anymore, either!

"He's never kept any of his promises to me, and he treats you badly, too. Let's not be with Daddy anymore, okay?"

My son was evidently incredibly sad, but he was still trying his best to comfort me.

As I listened to his words, I felt as if my heart was being stabbed with a knife, and I burst into tears.