Chapter 1

Right after that, a scene unfolded that made Garrick Langdon's blood run cold.

His daughter, Ruby, nuzzled her cheek against Silas Morrison's and called out in a clear, sweet voice, "Papa!"

His son, Caleb, chimed in just as quickly, "Papa! You promised you'd take us for ice cream today!"

'Papa?!' Garrick felt as though lightning had struck him. His blood seemed to surge backward all at once, rushing to his head before turning ice-cold the next second.

Josephine Hawthorne hadn't sent Silas away after all. Not only had she allowed him to stay, but she'd also let him brazenly become part of the children's lives.

Worse, she'd let the children call him Papa.

Shock and fury overwhelmed Garrick. He lunged forward and pulled both children out of Silas' arms.

"What did you just call him?" Garrick's voice shook with emotion, and his face had turned deathly pale.

The two children flinched in surprise. Once they realized it was him, panic flickered across their faces, but resentment quickly took its place.

Caleb furrowed his little brow and stepped in front of Silas. "What are you doing? You scared Silas!"

Ruby pouted as well. "Yeah! Why did you push him?"

Garrick fixed his gaze on the two children. "I asked you a question. What did you just call him?"

Caleb lifted his chin, his voice carrying a cruelty he was too young to recognize. "We called him Papa. He's handsome and nice. He plays with us, tells us stories, and buys us tons of snacks and toys.

"What about you? You're always busy with work, and when you're home, you're either in your study or annoyed with us."

Ruby added quietly, "He never yells at us..."

Every word pierced Garrick's heart like an icy blade.

Silas scrambled to his feet, his face carefully arranged into a mixture of alarm and apology, and reached for Garrick's hand.

"Gary, don't be angry. The kids are young. They didn't mean anything by it. Don't take it to heart..."

"Don't touch me!" Garrick wrenched his hand away with more force than he'd intended.

Silas cried out in surprise and stumbled backward several steps before falling hard to the ground. His knee struck the rough concrete, splitting the skin and drawing blood.

"Silas!"

"You're mean! You pushed him!"

Both children screamed at once.

Caleb charged forward like an angry little lion and began punching and kicking Garrick's legs. "Bad man! Go away! Don't you dare bully him!"

Ruby pulled a smartwatch from her little backpack and tapped the screen with practiced ease.

Her voice cracked with tears as she shouted into it, "Hello, is this the police? There's a bad man hitting people at the daycare gate! He pushed my dad down! There's so much blood! Please come quick!"

Garrick stood rooted to the spot. He watched his son punch and kick him. He listened to his daughter call the police and accuse him of being a bad man. He watched Silas sit on the ground with an aggrieved expression, only to flash him a sly, taunting smile.

A chill spread through his entire body, leaving him unable to move, as though he'd been trapped in an absurd, cruel nightmare.

The police arrived quickly and took everyone to the station.

The two children huddled close to Silas, talking over each other as they recounted Garrick's supposed crimes to the officers.

Silas kept his head down and said nothing, his expression that of a man who had suffered a terrible injustice but chose to endure it in silence.

Garrick sat numbly across from them, watching the absurd scene unfold as the emptiness in his chest grew with every passing second.

Before long, a commotion arose at the station's entrance.

Josephine strode in with two bodyguards close behind her.

She wore a tailored suit dress, and her striking face bore the fatigue of a long workday. Yet her irritation and displeasure were even more apparent.

Her gaze swept across the room. It lingered briefly on Garrick's pale face before shifting to Silas and the two children, and her brows immediately drew together.

She exchanged a few quiet words with the officer on duty and showed him some form of identification.

The officer's demeanor immediately turned respectful, and he nodded repeatedly. "Of course, Ms. Hawthorne. We understand. It's just a misunderstanding. You can take them now."

"Mom!"

"Mom! He pushed Silas! He even got him dragged to the police station!"

The two children rushed into Josephine's arms, each trying to complain louder than the other.

Silas rose to his feet as well. He looked at Josephine timidly, his eyes even redder than before, but merely bit his lip and said nothing.

Josephine gently patted the two children, then glanced at Silas with a complicated look in her eyes.

She then walked over to Garrick and lowered her voice, her tone full of undisguised irritation and accusation. "Garrick, why are you causing trouble again? I just got off an international video call, and I'm exhausted. Then I get a call telling me you've assaulted someone and ended up at the police station? In front of the kids, no less?"

Garrick looked up and studied her face, so familiar yet somehow that of a stranger. Once, she'd looked at him with nothing but love and tenderness. Now, all he saw was impatience and blame.

"I'm causing trouble?" He let out a bitter, humorless laugh, his expression more pained than if he'd burst into tears. "Josephine, shouldn't you be the one explaining yourself to me? Didn't you swear up and down that you'd sent Silas away? Why is he here? Why are the kids calling him Papa?"