Chapter 4

Josh held the baby while giving me a dismissive look. "You're useless. You can't even take care of your own home, so what makes you think you deserve the master bedroom? A nice room like this should go to my precious grandson!"

Tina nodded repeatedly in agreement. She then seemed to think of something. She turned around, went back into the bedroom, and brought out our wedding photos before dumping every single one into the trash.

"Steve already suffers from anxiety. He'll be upset if he sees these."

Josh gave Tina an approving thumbs-up. Their family looked perfectly happy together.

Only after the house had been rearranged to their satisfaction did Tina wave me over. "Hey, you. I recall you booked a private dining room for a client, didn't you?

"Book another one. We'll use the one you've already booked for our family celebration!"

The matter-of-fact way Tina said it struck me as ridiculous.

I gave this family everything I had, but they treated me like a total chump and a walking ATM.

I actually wanted to see just how shameless they could become.

I nodded expressionlessly.

"Caleb, I knew you'd understand!" Tina put on an affectionate act, walked over, and kissed me on the forehead. "Caleb, with Steve staying here, there's not enough space. Why don't you move out?

"Don't worry. I'll come visit you for an hour every week. Of course, if you behave yourself, I might even stay a few extra minutes."

I suppressed my disgust and nodded with a fake smile, but the next second, Ryan raised his smartwatch. "Since you're being nice to Daddy Steve, I'll give you five minutes of video calls every week too.

"Only five minutes, though. Otherwise Daddy Steve will get upset."

I nearly bit the inside of my mouth raw.

It was the only thing stopping me from losing my temper right there.

When I bent down to pack my things, Josh suddenly stepped on my hand. "All this stuff belongs to Tina. What gives you the right to take any of it?

"If you touch so much as a single dime, I'm calling the cops and pressing charges!"

Josh's expression turned vile as he increased the pressure on my hand.

Sweat broke out across my forehead from the pain.

I looked up, only to see Tina and Ryan completely absorbed in playing with the baby.

"Unbelievable. I've really ended up surrounded by a bunch of ungrateful jerks!"

I clenched my jaw and forcefully pulled my hand free.

Josh staggered backward before crashing to the floor with a loud thud.

Tina immediately put the baby down and rushed to Josh's side. She then glared at me with pure resentment.

I acted as if I hadn't seen any of it.

I turned around and walked out of the house.

Later, I scrubbed my hand hard with a tissue. Only after the skin broke and started bleeding did I disgustedly toss the tissue into the trash.

Once that was done, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer.

"I want to give up custody of Ryan."

My lawyer acknowledged it. He then sent me two photos a long while later.

"Mr. Comb, your marriage certificate is fake."