Chapter 1

The night before our wedding, my fiancee got drunk. As I was driving her home, she mistook me for my best friend, Jackson Horton.

"Jackson, don't bring our son to the wedding tomorrow," she slurred. "I don't want Samuel to know that I'm Mason's mother."

I hit the brakes, causing Madelyn Wilkinson to lurch forward. Hitting the seat in front of her, she somewhat sobered up.

When she realized it was me, she froze for a long time before saying, "Since you've heard everything, let's cancel the wedding for now. Don't worry. Jackson has no plans to remarry. But as the child's mother, I need to help out.

"He's your best friend. Surely you feel bad seeing him raise a child alone. I'll marry you after Mason starts school."

I gave a bitter smile. "Sounds good… I don't mind."

When we got home, she didn't say another word as she grabbed her suitcase and walked out.

Suppressing the bitterness deep inside me, I sank onto the couch, dazed.

All of a sudden, my phone rang, untimely as ever. It was my childhood friend, Hazel Parsons.

She uttered hoarsely, "Sam, please don't marry her…"

After a short silence, I said, "Okay."

When the call ended, I looked around the carefully decorated home Madelyn and I had prepared for our new life together.

I used to think the decorations weren't festive enough for our marriage. Only then did I realize how glaring and ridiculous it all looked.

When we were in college, I spent two years pursuing her, and we dated for three. We were supposed to get married tomorrow after so long.

I never expected that she and my best friend, Jackson, had been involved for over three years and that they had a son together who was already two years old.

On top of that, she had been taking care of the child, Mason Horton, as a mother the entire time.

The double betrayal from my best friend and my fiancee hit me like a brick, shattering my heart.

Forcing back the tears threatening to fall, I got up to leave that suffocating place.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Samuel, Jackson's been busy taking care of Mason and hasn't had anything to eat yet. I haven't eaten either, so make some food and bring it over."

The way Madelyn spoke made it sound like she was giving me an order. She then ended the call before I could say a word.

A wry smile appeared on my face as my heart broke.

For the past three years, Jackson had been raising his child alone after claiming to have lost his wife.

As his best friend and his son's godfather, I always thought I'd done right by him.

Every time he avoided talking about Mason's mother, I even felt sorry for him.

Never in a million years did I think that the woman he refused to talk about, the supposedly deceased wife, was my own fiancee.

And the saddest part of it all? I used to think Jackson was the pitiful one. Who would have thought that I was the real pitiful fool this whole time?

Looking back now, I realized that all the signs were there.

At every gathering, Jackson would somehow end up sitting beside Madelyn. They'd casually chat about parenting and share inside jokes only the two of them could understand.

All that closeness wasn't a coincidence. It was calculated, and it happened right under my nose.

Sometimes, I'd feel uneasy about them and would hint to Madelyn to mind her boundaries.

She always brushed me off, saying, "Jackson's your best friend, and I'm your woman. If you can't even trust the two of us, who can you trust?"

Just like that, she would shut me up that way, and I even thought she was right.

As I thought about it now, I could only laugh at my own stupidity.

Opening a food delivery app, I deliberately picked the restaurant with the lowest rating and ordered a few dishes.

When it arrived, I dumped the food into containers and headed out. I wanted to see just how the proud, refined Madelyn played the role of a loving, virtuous mother.

Standing before Jackson's door with my finger on the bell, I felt oddly detached.

Jackson opened the door. He was in casual clothes, his face still wearing the look of satisfaction of someone who'd just had his fun.

His gaze held an indescribable smugness when he saw me.

In an instant, my face turned cold. As a man myself, I knew exactly what that look was.

However, Jackson didn't seem to care. With that same smile, he ushered me inside.

Seeing that I stayed silent, he started talking first. "Take a seat, Sam. Maddy is washing Mason's face. You should've seen them just now. The mother and son were having such a good time together!"

Ha! Mother and son? And the way he called her name also sounded rather intimate.

So they were going to drop the act now?

I sat down, stiff as a board.

Moments later, Madelyn came out with their son.

Instinctively, I smiled at Mason.

But he didn't run into my arms like usual. Instead, he pointed at me and said, "You're a bad man."