Chapter 2

I had naively assumed that Julia would back off since we were pretty adamant with our decision.

To my shock, she showed up at our doorstep with the boy early the next morning.

When I saw Howard Whitley, now only six years old, I felt nothing but instant disgust.

It seemed Julia had completely forgotten about our conversation yesterday and carried on as though nothing had happened.

"Michelle, Tyler, I thought it over after I got home yesterday. You must've refused because you haven't met him yet. You have no idea how adorable he is. I brought him over today so you can see for yourselves."

She then nudged Howard forward. "Howie, go on, say hello."

Howard was neatly dressed, tilting his head up with an overly eager, almost ingratiating smile.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. West. You have a big and beautiful house. The tables at the orphanage are nice too, because I always help Mrs. Marwood clean them. I can recite poems and do math…"

I couldn't help but find it ironic, seeing how hard he was trying to come across as well-behaved and clever.

In my previous life, I had treated him like my own son, caring for him with genuine affection. I even felt lucky to have adopted such a bright and well-behaved child.

As Howard's godmother, Julia would bring all sorts of toys and clothes whenever she came to visit, going even further than I did as his adoptive mother.

Back then, Howard had been especially close to her, too. He would even share his little secrets with her when no one else was around.

At the time, I naively thought it was because Julia had grown up as an orphan herself, so she felt a deeper sense of compassion for Howard as they shared a similar background. I assumed their closeness came from that shared sense of kinship.

It wasn't until we heard it over the car radio that we learned the truth. Julia was the mistress of real estate tycoon Alex Saggese, and Howard was their illegitimate son.

By then, Tyler and I were already in a car that had been tampered with, and we ended up driving off a cliff and losing our lives.

For more than a decade, the two of them had put on an act right under our noses, treating us like fools the entire time.

In the end, they even planned to take our lives before disappearing with the money.

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

At such a young age, his acting was already so convincing. He was Julia's son, no doubt.

Tyler leaned against the doorframe, his brow tightly furrowed. "Julia, haven't we made ourselves clear yesterday? We don't like kids."

Julia's smile nearly faltered. "Tyler, Howie's already here. What's the harm of letting him into your house? Look how well-behaved he is…"

She patted Howard's shoulders. "Howie, come on. Recite a poem."

Howard quickly stood up straight and parted his lips, ready to do as told.

"Stop," Tyler cut him short. "Whether or not he can recite poems doesn't interest us. I'll be honest with you. I hate kids, especially since they can be noisy. Please leave."

He refused to back down.

Julia immediately scowled and pointed at him accusingly. "We've been friends for years. How could you do this to me?"

"What did we do?" Tyler snorted coldly. "You knew we hated kids but insisted on pushing one on us. What kind of friend is that?"

Without hesitation, he slammed the door shut. "Goodbye."

I looked through the peephole and saw Julia stomping her feet in anger outside.

And Howard, who looked so well-behaved just moments ago, had dropped the smile from his face.

As he was leaving, he turned back and fixed his gaze on our front door. There was something dark in that look that sent a chill down my spine.

I had raised him for over a decade in my past life and still couldn't reach him. Some people were just wired that way.