Chapter 4

"This way, everyone will know we're a family. We'll never be apart."

I didn't say anything, but Penelope took my hand and placed it on her stomach.

"Milton, I'm pregnant again. Hughie's going to have a little brother. From now on, there'll be one more person in this family who loves you."

"Yay!" Hughie chimed in happily from the side. "I'll finally have someone to play with. I won't be bored every day anymore!"

I looked at their happy faces, and the anger in my chest nearly boiled over.

They kept saying they loved me, but they betrayed me. And now, they expected me to raise a child she had with another man?

What did I ever do to deserve this?

When Penelope saw me sitting there in silence, my expression dark, her smile faded. She used sign language to repeat what she had just said.

I almost forgot she still didn't know I could hear again.

I looked at her without any expression, my voice cold to the bone.

"Are you sure this child is mine, and not someone else's?"

Panic flickered across Penelope's face. She quickly forced a smile. "What are you talking about? How could it be someone else's?"

"Daddy, how can you doubt Mommy? I'm angry at you now!" Hughie snapped angrily.

Before he could finish, his gestures were cut off by a ringing phone.

Penelope stepped aside. It only took a moment, but when she came back, her face was full of apology.

"I'm sorry. Something came up at work, and I need to handle it."

She looked at Hughie, who immediately said, "Mommy, I'll go with you."

With that, Penelope grabbed Hughie's hand and left in a hurry.

As she turned away, I caught a glimpse of the caller ID on her phone. It was Darren.

I stood up expressionlessly, then took the charm bracelet off my wrist, tossed it into the trash, and walked outside.

Since she cared so much about Darren, I would make room for him.

From now on, the four of them could live their happy family life together.

Over the next few days, Penelope and Hughie didn't show up at all.

They only came back occasionally, their faces etched with exhaustion. They moved around cautiously, like they didn't want me to notice.

But I didn't bother asking anything. I acted like a truly deaf man.

Meanwhile, news about Darren never stopped coming.

Sometimes, it was Hughie riding around town with him in a brand new car.

Sometimes, it was Penelope cooking meals for him personally.

Everything pointed to just how much love they poured onto Darren.

And under his posts online, the comments were full of teasing and congratulations.

Meanwhile, I stayed home, busy erasing everything connected to me.

On day one, Darren posted on social media photos of Penelope taking Hughie to watch fireworks with him at an amusement park.

I took out every photo in the house that included Penelope and Hughie, tore them up, and burned them to ash.

On day two, Darren posted pictures of Penelope and Hughie setting up a sea of flowers for him by hand.

I hired workers and had the greenhouse behind the house, which they had built for me, completely torn down.

On the final day, Darren posted a photo of himself holding Hughie, both of them pressing their ears against Penelope's belly.

I finished packing all my luggage and was just about to leave when I saw Penelope, who hadn't been home in a long time, standing at the door with Hughie.

Her eyes were bloodshot. She was gripping a document in her hand, looking tense.

"Milton, this document says you're going to Lumora as a volunteer teacher. Is that true?"