Chapter 2

Jonah hastily bent down to comfort Kevin. "Dry your tears, Kevin. We can always buy you another cape. I see your drawing is torn, too. How about I help you tape it back together?"

Right after saying that, he reached out and took the two halves of the drawing from Kevin's arms. Kevin lunged forward to snatch them back.

Jonah's grip loosened, and the two halves of the drawing fell into the burning-scented candle on the edge of the table. In an instant, the flames caught the corners of the paper.

By the time I put out the fire with my bare hands, a billow of thick smoke had caused Kevin to burst into a coughing fit. He had sensitive airways and mild asthma. He couldn't put up with this.

One of the three figures in the drawing had already been burned away. Kevin stared at what was left of the drawing and burst into tears. "Daddy… Mommy's gone!"

Jonah hastily grabbed some tissues and handed them to him. "I'm so sorry. It was an accident. Why don't you draw another one, Kevin?"

I swatted his hand away. "Get out."

Celeste handed Iris to Jonah and said in a low voice, "Take her to the guest room first. I need to have a word with Kai."

The moment the bedroom door shut behind us, she seized my wrist. "That's enough. Jonah has apologized."

I wrenched my arm out of her grasp. "Can't you see that our son is crying?"

"So what if he cries for a little while?" she blurted out before lowering her voice. "Jonah has been emotionally unstable ever since his divorce. What if you upset him by throwing him out in front of Iris?"

I gazed at her for a while before inquiring, "What about Kevin?"

"He has both his parents by his side. He's grown up with everything he could ever need." Celeste paused for a moment before adding, "Stop coddling him so much. If he makes a fuss over a drawing and a cape, how's he going to get along with other people in the future?"

Kevin's cries ground to a halt in the bedroom. I turned around and found him behind the door.

He lowered his head, folded the damaged drawing, and tucked it into the pocket of his costume. "I won't make a fuss ever again, Daddy."

Celeste looked visibly awkward as she reached out to pull him into a hug. Kevin took a step back and closed the door in her face.

…

The following day, I received a call from the kindergarten. The teacher informed me that Kevin had locked himself in the bathroom. He'd been bawling his eyes out for hours, and he refused to come out.

There was no time for questions. I dropped everything and sped to the kindergarten.

I had just reached the office door when I overheard two teachers' conversation.

"I saw the live broadcast, too. Iris's dad and Ms. Rochester looked like one big happy family."

"But isn't Ms. Rochester Kevin's mother?"

"Iris has been going around telling everyone that she's her mother, too. A few kids even made fun of Kevin, telling him his mother likes Iris more than him."

When I pushed open the door, Kevin was already in the office. The moment he saw me, he ran over and clutched my hand.

The teachers hurriedly broke off their conversation.

"My apologies, Mr. Heathcliff. The children don't know any better. We've already reprimanded them."

I crouched down and asked Kevin, "Did anyone pick on you?" He shook his head.

His teacher, however, hesitated before pulling out a sheet of drawing paper. It showed a woman in business attire holding Iris' hand with one hand while pushing Kevin away with the other.

"One of the kids in class drew this. When Kevin saw it, he locked himself in the bathroom and refused to come out."

My chest felt tight, as if something were lodged in it. Before I could utter a word, Celeste walked in with Jonah.

Jonah looked remorseful. "The live broadcast incident is a misunderstanding, ma'am. Iris has been deprived of her mother's love since she was little, so she got into the habit of calling Celeste that."

Celeste picked up where he left off. "It's just a minor conflict between children. There's no need to blow this out of proportion."

I handed her the drawing. "Your son's being mocked by his entire class for not having a mother, and you call that a minor conflict?"

Celeste took one look at it and knitted her brows. "I'll talk to Kevin."

Iris ran out from behind Jonah and took her hand. "My teacher said I'm not allowed to call you that anymore, Celeste."

Celeste crouched down. "That's not what your teacher meant."

"In that case, can I still call you that?" Iris looked up at her expectantly.

Jonah tried to reason with her quietly. "Forget it. Let's not upset Kevin. Iris, from now on, call her Ms. Rochester."

Iris immediately burst into tears. "I don't want to call you Ms. Rochester. I want you to be my mommy!"

The parents nearby all turned to look.

Celeste felt put on the spot, so she turned to Kevin. "Iris only calls me that in private; she's not going to steal me away from you. You're older than her, so you should let her have her way."

Kevin gaped at her. "But I'm only three months older than her."

Her expression hardened. "Even one day makes you the older one. Stop being so immature!"

As soon as her words fell, her phone rang. The principal posted an announcement in the group chat. "Ms. Rochester, to avoid any confusion, please let us know which child you'll be attending tomorrow's Mother's Day event with."

Iris snatched her phone and pressed the voice message button. "Of course, she's coming to be with me!"

The moment the voice message was sent, Celeste didn't delete it. If anything, she gave her answer right in front of the teachers. "I'll be attending tomorrow's open class with Iris."