Chapter 4 The Day I Lost Everything

She sent Finn away.

I took care of her with all the attentiveness I had left, and slowly, she began acting spoiled with me again. For a few months, we almost lived like a normal, peaceful couple.

I thought she had found her way back.

But toward the end of her third trimester, she started staying out all night again, and the familiar scent of his cologne clung to her.

I grabbed her wrist and demanded harshly, "Sadie, have you even thought about the child you're carrying?"

She turned away indifferently, calm as still water. She was so detached it felt suffocating.

She even started having people keep watch over me.

The trending topics about her and Finn never disappeared. Even the child's birth happened in a hotel, and beside her were still traces of her time with Finn.

She handed the premature baby to me as if she were discarding something insignificant.

I held him numbly and named him Ethan Corbett, a name associated with strength and endurance.

He became the only hope I had for the rest of my life. I raised him with everything I had for three years. Then, Sadie took him away, all because Finn had casually mentioned that he wanted to try being a father.

She brought them traveling and took photos for them. To the world, they looked like a perfect family of three.

I missed Ethan so much that I went to his kindergarten to pick him up, but the teacher said he was not allowed to leave with strangers.

My heart twisted painfully. "I'm his father. I'm here to take him home."

"No. He's not my dad."

He hid behind the teacher, staring at me with guarded eyes.

My heart dropped. "Ethan, it's me. Dad. Don't you remember?"

"You're not my dad! You're a bad man. You're an ugly control freak—no wonder Mommy doesn't want you. I only want Daddy Finn to pick me up. I want him to be my dad."

My hands trembled as I grabbed him. "How can you say that? Your name is Ethan Corbett!"

"If he doesn't like it, why are you forcing him, Ian?"

"Daddy!"

Ethan rushed toward Finn without hesitation, his attitude completely different from how he treated me.

Finn held Ethan's hand, his face full of smug satisfaction. "Ian, they fight every day just to have me around. Ethan's even been asking for a baby sister. But I said I didn't like that idea, so she got rid of it. She's been especially clingy these past few days. If I were you, I'd have already gone home and ended things."

"You—"

I could not believe how far Sadie was willing to go for him, and after everything I had done for him.

I grabbed his collar and threw a punch only to be kicked to the ground the next second.

"Have you lost your mind? How dare you lay a hand on Finn? Look at yourself—what makes you think you're fit to be a father?"

When a car ran over my hand and crushed it, I gave in. I abandoned my dignity and begged her.

Trembling, I clung to her. "Sadie… Ethan… he won't admit I'm his father anymore. I'm begging you, please give him back to me. I'll take him and leave. Just give him back. He's all I have left."

Her gaze paused for a brief moment, then she pushed me away again without hesitation and remarked icily, "You should ask yourself why Ethan refuses to acknowledge you as his father. All you do is cry and make a scene. Learn something from Finn, will you? Besides, it's just a title. Don't be so petty."

I snatched my boy back and roared, "But he's my son! My blood!"

No one responded.

Ethan bit down hard on my hand and grabbed at me viciously. "I told you I don't want you! Mommy doesn't want you either! Daddy Finn and us, we're the real family!"

They left just like that, leaving me behind, surrounded by judgment. They told other children to stay away from me. Some said I was unstable. Others said I was trying to take someone else's child.

Before I knew it, I was drowned in scorn and contempt.

…

The next day, Sadie took Ethan to change his last name. From then on, he became Ethan Walker. All because he said he wanted to take his new father's name.

In the video posted online, he sat on Finn's shoulders, calling him "Dad" sweetly. Everyone praised Finn as the most devoted father.

As for me…

I was left with nothing but blood on my hands.