Chapter 3

The pot-bellied man added, "I mean, at least you won't have to worry about not having 500 dollars in your pockets anymore. You know, a good wash and he’s still good."

The moment those words landed, the crowd burst into even louder laughter.

Someone egged him on, "Wow, Mr. Zimmerman, you're being generous! But aren't you kinda overpaying? Is three thousand really the going rate these days?"

Holding Claire in his arms, Logan joined in with the others, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

I raised my voice, unable to hold back any longer. "Claire, are you just going to let them humiliate Nancy and me like that?"

Claire looked at me without a trace of emotion, as if I were nothing more than a stranger. Only after the laughter began to die down did she finally speak, albeit rather impatiently.

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Joe. Today is my son's birthday. Take your daughter elsewhere, or I'll have security escort you out."

Nancy trembled even harder in my arms. She clutched my clothes tightly as she buried her face against my chest, too afraid to look at the hostile faces around us.

"Dad, is what they're saying true?"

Hearing the fear and disbelief in her voice, I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. After 12 years of marriage, this was what things had come to—a public humiliation in front of a room full of people.

"No, Nancy, it's not true at all."

I covered Nancy's ears, a bitter weight settling in my chest. How was I supposed to explain any of this to her?

Back when Claire had just started her business, we were squeezed into an office space no bigger than 100 square feet.

The company couldn't afford to hire staff, so I handled whatever needed to be done, from administration tasks to bookkeeping and order follow-ups.

To help her bring in clients, I swallowed my pride and reached out to every connection I had, calling in favors from friends and relatives alike.

I still remembered the day Claire landed her first major client. She was so excited that she kissed me, then used the company's first earnings to buy me a suit.

Watching how happy she was, I never told her that the client had actually been an old friend of my uncle's.

Later, after Nancy was born, the company gradually found its footing. I couldn't bear to see Claire juggling both work and the baby, so I suggested staying home to take care of our daughter.

Back then, she had made a promise. "I'm a career woman, after all. I'll take care of you and Nancy from now on."

Yet, now…

I lowered my head and looked at the T-shirt I had been wearing for three years. Claire, meanwhile, was dressed head-to-toe in designer brands. Logan stood beside her in a tailored suit.

Together, they basked in the crowd's admiration, looking perfectly matched. I, on the other hand, had been dismissed as nothing more than a housekeeper, which nobody even questioned.

"Joe, I know life hasn't been easy for you, but a child this age already understands things," Logan said. "Even if you don't care about yourself, you shouldn't put her in such an awkward position."

As he spoke, he pulled out a small stack of cash from his designer wallet and held it out to me with an air of superiority.

"I don't have that much cash on me. Look, I don't know what difficulties you're dealing with, but take this two grand for now. Get yourself a ticket back to your hometown… and maybe see a specialist while you're at it."

As he leaned in, he lowered his voice so only I could hear. "Look what's happening now, Joseph. So what if you met Claire before I did? The one who isn't loved is always the outsider."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Logan suddenly let out a soft exclamation, his fingers loosening. The cash struck my face and scattered across the floor.

He smiled without a trace of apology, his gaze dismissive. "Sorry. It slipped."

The pot-bellied man, Mr. Zimmerman, chimed in again. "Mr. Stone is generous. That's real class right there."