After two years of development, my game finally launched successfully.

My wife had promised me a $75,000 bonus, but instead, she gave the entire $750,000 payout to her male secretary, Wayne. All she tossed me was a $50 grocery coupon.

"You're just a stay-at-home husband," she said casually. "You don't spend much. Go buy some groceries and cook dinner."

I stared at her in disbelief.

"That money is for our son's transplant surgery," I said. "If it's delayed for even a few days, he'll die."

Her expression did not change.

"He's weak. If he dies, he dies," she said flatly. "At least you won't bring any more bad luck into the office and pass it on to Wayne."

She turned away, her tone instantly brightening as she talked about taking Wayne out that night to celebrate with a lavish dinner worth tens of thousands of dollars.

In that instant, my heart froze.

She had forgotten one thing.

The game might be registered under her name, but I still held the core encryption key.

I picked up the phone and called a rival company.

"You've been trying to get Genyxis's core technology for a long time, haven't you?" I asked calmly. "All I want is $75,000, and it’ll be yours.”

"$75,000? Really? But you said back then you wouldn't even sell for $7.5 million!"

I watched Jessica Stewart and Wayne Chapman from behind, their hands intertwined. My voice shook as I said, "Yes, I'm sure."

The second the call ended, Jessica grabbed her coat and walked to my side.

She barely looked at me as she asked, "Who were you talking to?"

I was hoping for a miracle, so I tested her. "The hospital called. They said if Frank doesn't get his surgery soon, he could be in real danger..."

She did not let me finish. She scrunched up her face and cut me off. "He's been 'about to die' for two years. He's still fine, isn't he?

"Don't try to scare me with his sickness every day. You're the one who wanted a kid, and you promised you'd take care of him!

"Anyway, I'm taking Wayne out to celebrate. Use this coupon to buy some food, and have the staff eat at home."

My fingernails dug into my palm, but I did not even feel the pain.

The realization that Jessica did not love our son finally hit me.

Frank had been sick for years, regularly throwing up blood, yet she had never once visited him.

Not even when he had to go for dialysis three times a month and just wanted a hug from her.

All she ever did was give him the cold shoulder.

"Your dad's supposed to be educating you. How did you learn these silly attention-seeking tricks?"

I used to think she just did not like kids but still had some maternal instinct.

I never thought she would not even care about her own son's life!

To get the money for Frank's surgery, I promised her I would make a new game in six months.

She promised me a $75,000 bonus for it.

However, all I got was a lousy $50 grocery store coupon.

Wayne had spent half a year loafing around, doing next to nothing. Still, he walked away with the entire payout, which was worth $750,000, and Jessica was already planning to celebrate with him at the fanciest restaurant in town.

I could not hold back my feelings of injustice, so I confronted her.

"Jessica, I'm giving you one last chance. Give me the $75,000 you owe me from the game’s payout.

"Our son is still in the hospital waiting for his surgery! Don't force my hand!"

She just laughed, ignoring the desperation in my eyes. "What can you do about it? The game is registered in my name now. Do you think you can take it from me?"

Wayne hugged her and bragged to me, "Josh, you probably don't know yet, but Ms. Stewart agreed yesterday to name the game and the company after me.

"I tried to say no a few times. Josh, you should be the one getting that honor.

"But Ms. Stewart said you're not worthy!"

His mocking laughter rang in my ears. I was almost at my breaking point as I glared at Jessica.

"We both worked so hard on the game and the company. How could you just..."

Right then, the assistant came in with a contract and put it on the table.

"Ms. Stewart, here's the renaming contract you wanted. The game and company are now called 'WC'."

I tried to grab the contract, my eyes fiery with anger. "You promised it would be named after our son!

"As a shareholder, I'm rejecting this motion!"

Wayne looked at me with disdain and taunted, "Josh, are you talking about your 20% of the shares? Ms. Stewart transferred them to me a while ago.

"She wanted to thank me for being there for her, day and night, while we were working on the new game."

He put a lot of weight on ‘day and night’, making it sound more than a little suggestive.

Jessica shoved me aside and snapped back with a frosty tone, "How long are you going to use that one promise to tie me down?

"All this talk about your dedication? I'm the one who built this company and game from the ground up, and all the employees are here because of me!

"Do you think you deserve to be praised and rewarded just because you wrote a bit of code?"

Jessica signed the renaming contract with a flourish, not even bothering to look my way.

Before she walked out with Wayne, she left me with a chilly remark. "Give yourself a little raise, and make sure the staff party is a showy affair.

"When it's time, I'll chip in a few thousand for the funeral of that doomed soul in the hospital."

…

[$75,000 has been deposited into your account. Send the key over tomorrow.]

I stared at the alert on my phone showing a $75,000 deposit and texted back: [Okay.]

Then, I hurried to the hospital to pay for Frank's surgery in full.

The doctor let out a sigh of relief. "Frank's been sick for two years. It's high time he had this surgery. Watching him go through dialysis every day is heartbreaking."

Frank had become so frail after two years of endless dialysis, dropping from 90 pounds to 65.

Even the doctors, who hardly knew him, felt sorry for him.

Meanwhile, Jessica, a woman worth $150 million, had never visited him in the hospital and refused to pay the $75,000 for his surgery.

After thanking the doctor, I headed to Frank's room.

A nurse burst out of the room, calling out urgently, "Doctor! The patient just coughed up blood, and his heartbeat is dropping fast! We might need to move the surgery up!"

I turned to the doctor, my eyes brimming with tears. I pleaded desperately, "Doctor! You have to save my son, please!"

The doctor had just rolled Frank into the operating room and was getting ready for his surgery.

Out of nowhere, a voice everyone knew too well echoed through the hospital halls.

"My boyfriend fell and bumped his head! Everyone, stop what you're doing and help him now!"

Jessica was holding up Wayne, with a whole crowd of bodyguards right behind her.

It was quite the spectacle.

Wayne only had a little scrape on his forehead that was turning red.

Since Jessica owned the hospital, the doctors listened to her. All of them rushed to take care of Wayne.

I stared at Frank's ghostly face, fighting back tears, and ran up to Jessica.

"Frank's really sick. He needs his surgery right now! You can't take all the doctors away!

"If we wait even one more second, Frank could die!"

I tried to pull Frank's doctor away with me, but Jessica just laughed meanly and threatened, "If anyone leaves, they can pick up their termination letter tomorrow!

"Wayne hit his head. What if he hurt something internally and one doctor misses it?

"Cut the act, Josh! Frank was fine yesterday. How could he get so sick all of a sudden?"

She looked at me with eyes so icy they could freeze a person. "You're lying! You'd even say something awful about a kid just to get back at Wayne!"

I felt a jolt through my body, and my heart skipped a beat.

Every time Frank finished his dialysis, he would cry for his mom, and it broke my heart.

I begged Jessica over and over to come see him after his treatments.

She almost did, a few times, getting right to the door.

However, then Wayne would call, saying the nurses told him Frank was just fine.

She decided I was tricking her and never came to see Frank again.

She was convinced I had made up Frank's sickness just to get her attention.

My voice shook because I was hurting so much. "He's my son! It's a life-and-death matter. How could I make up his sickness just to trick you?"

She did not care at all and was still so proud. "He's been sick before, more than once or twice. He's made it through two years, so he can handle a bit more."

Wayne gently pulled on her arm, pretending to be on my side. "Josh, I think you're telling the truth, even if Ms. Stewart doesn't.

"They say a dad would do anything for his kid, right? Why not…

"Make a video with me, apologizing to everyone online and saying you stole all the company's games and projects from me. Admit you're a total loser!"

He was so smug, holding his head up high. "If you do it, I'll get Ms. Stewart to send a doctor for his surgery, okay?"

The game had just come out, and everyone online was talking about it.

He obviously wanted to take all the credit for my work and ruin my whole future.

I clenched my fists so tight, my eyes red, looking at Jessica.

I really wanted to know if she would stand up for me, since she knew how hard my journey had been.

However, she just watched, not caring, and said calmly, "You won't even do this simple thing? Then you must be lying!"

All I could think about was my son fighting for his life, so I finally bent down.

I looked right at the camera and enunciated each word.

"I am Josh Zeller, and I stole all my work and games over the years from Wayne Chapman.

"I'm a total loser!"

…

Jessica's eyes showed she was moved, and she reached out to pull me up. "That's enough. Get the doctor back over there now!"

In a flash, Wayne grabbed his head and fell toward her. "Ms. Stewart, my head is killing me. I think I really hurt myself.

"Frank's doctor is a brain specialist. Let him check me out first."

Jessica caught him, worried, and told the doctor to see Wayne first.

"Wayne's the one in real trouble here! Out of the way! If you make us wait because of that doomed boy, you'll answer to me!"

She shoved me aside hard and hurried into the room with Wayne.

All the doctors went in after her to take care of him.

I tugged at Frank’s doctor's sleeve, almost ready to cry on the floor. "Doctor! My son's life is on the line. Please, you have to operate on him now..."

The doctor pulled away, looking troubled. "Mr. Zeller, if you're looking for someone to blame, you have to blame yourself for not making Ms. Stewart happy. As for Frank, we can only hope for the best."

Then, an alarm blared from the operating room, and a nurse yelled, "Calling for Frank Zeller's family! Frank's in critical condition!"

I raced to Frank's bed. He was pale as a ghost, and his heart had stopped beating.

He was already cold as ice.

Meanwhile, the sounds of bragging from Wayne's room hit me like a sledgehammer.

"Ms. Stewart! Shouldn't we have the doctor check on Frank, just in case?"

"Josh’s son is as worthless as his life. He won't die that easily." Jessica's voice was soft, but it cut through me like ice. "Just take care of yourself. If he dies, the Stewart family will have one less problem to deal with.

"And we'll use the money saved from his treatment to get you that sports car you've been wanting."

I cradled Frank's lifeless form and slumped on the floor, heartbroken.

If only I had not expected so much from Jessica, if only I had sold the key sooner, if only I had seen how little she cared about me and Frank... Maybe Frank would not have had to suffer as much if I had clearer vision.

I brought him to the funeral home and watched as he was turned into a tiny box of dust. Tears streamed down my face.

Before I took the urn home, I wrote up a divorce paper.

Jessica was hardly ever home, but today, there were new kids' clothes on the table. She beamed, holding up the clothes. "Look at the new outfit Wayne and I got for Frank. He can wear it after his surgery.

"Frank's almost five, right? When he's well, I'll throw him the biggest birthday party ever.

"You're happy now, aren't you?"

I gave her a weak smile, looking at her with irony. 'Frank's already seven, yet his own mother doesn’t know his age,’ I thought.

She pulled at my arm, sweetly saying, "The game's big release is tomorrow. You're coming, aren't you, dear?

"We'll need someone to run the game demo. It has to be someone who knows the tech inside out to avoid any hiccups.

"Wayne's not cut out for that, or I'd have him stand in for you."

Maybe it was because of the excitement of the launch that she was so cheerful, not even noticing the urn I held.

I handed her the divorce papers, managing a strained smile. "Sure. Sign this, and I'll be there tomorrow." She signed without looking, her smile soft. "This is Frank's surgery bill, right? After the launch, I'll be right there with him at the hospital."

'Too bad she'll never get that chance,' I thought to myself.

On the day of the big live-streamed press conference, Jessica had me sit in the assistant's spot. Wayne got the vice president's seat.

She clung to Wayne's hand the whole time, chatting with the journalists about the new game and our company's name change.

"Wayne is my rock," she declared. "Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today. He even developed Genyxis, so he's the one I owe the most thanks to.

"Now, let's kick off our game's big reveal!"

I quietly pulled out my phone and messaged our competition: [You can start your game launch now.]

In the next instant, Jessica, who had been detailing the tough journey of the game’s development, and Wayne both turned pale.