Cured of Depression, Crushed by Betrayal

Cameron's POV

Without saying a word, I took the sleeping pills I always kept in my pocket and slipped them into my mouth one after another.

My older brother, Lucas Getz, didn't notice. He just continued talking.

"Do you know why April is so terrified you'd kill yourself? She's actually afraid Thomas would copy you and do something stupid himself. How could she not panic?

"And do you really think April could actually take care of the kid all by herself? The truth is, Noah's legal custody was transferred to Thomas a long time ago. The first time Noah spoke, he looked at Thomas and said, 'Dada.'"

I listened numbly as the bitter pills lodged in my throat.

Suddenly, I remembered the things people around me used to say.

"Ms. Carter is basically playing both mother and father. Meanwhile, Cameron gets depressed just because he quit his job to be a stay-at-home dad, as if it's some huge ordeal.

"Thank goodness his buddy stepped in to help, or he would've driven Ms. Carter crazy sooner or later."

So, Thomas Balfour had taken my place as my son's father a long time ago.

"Cameron Getz!" April shrieked as she spotted me from the stage.

The next second, she rushed to my side and tried to make me throw up.

"Cameron, listen to me. It's not what it looks like…"

Her eyes were so bloodshot they practically looked like they were bleeding.

I collapsed onto the floor like a broken rag doll, coughing up the half-dissolved pills.

Thomas stood there in his suit, looking down at me, completely exhausted.

"Because of your depression, she's never even had a proper wedding. She just wanted to experience what it felt like to be a bride, and I was just doing her a favor. Can't you even give her that little bit of freedom?

"Please stop making a scene. I'm begging you."

I clenched my fists as a tidal wave of emotions crashed over me. When I started shaking from the overwhelming panic, I instinctively reached for my antidepressants.

For the first time, April didn't immediately hand them to me. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the cut across Thomas' arm.

I struggled to breathe. It was as though something inside my chest was shattering into pieces.

Suddenly, April's phone started to ring. It was the nanny.

"Noah has a fever?" she gasped, her expression turning grim. "Okay. I'll be home right away."

She exchanged a knowing glance with Thomas and turned to leave.

Driven by pure instinct, I managed to pull myself up and grabbed the hem of her coat.

"I want to go too."

When she looked back at me, her eyes were filled with fatigue and disgust.

She was right. Just hearing Noah cry was enough to send me spiraling. What help could I possibly be?

I let go.

The two of them hurried off together, their figures looking so perfectly in sync that they could have been a family.

Behind me came Lucas' smug laughter.

"To give you the best life possible, Mom and Dad sent me away to be raised by someone else. Now you finally get a taste of what it feels like to be abandoned, too."

In that moment, five years of my relationship and more than 20 years of brotherhood completely crumbled.

I staggered home in a daze, dug out a bottle of antidepressants from the locked box on the top shelf of my closet, and swallowed them, one after another.