Chapter 4

Claire glanced at me indifferently, then spoke in a flat, commanding tone. "Pick it up and leave. Now."

Anger boiled over me. "You think two grand is enough to brush me off? What do you think got you those contracts when your company was just starting, huh?

"All these years, you've been spending our marital assets on him and your illegitimate son. If I choose to, I can reclaim every bit of it!"

Logan dismissed me with a laugh. "Quite a story you've put together. Hey, Joe, with that imagination of yours, why not recommend me a few of those novels you've been reading?"

Still, I knew I had clearly struck a nerve because Claire looked grim all of a sudden. She was about to berate me again when a sharp slap cut her off mid-sentence.

"Keep twisting the truth and making baseless accusations against me, and I'll take this straight to court, Claire!"

Claire stood there, momentarily stunned.

Logan reacted almost instantly, fury flashing across his face. He grabbed me by the collar, his knuckles turning white as he seethed, "How dare you lay a hand on a woman? Have you lost all sense?"

Out of the crowd's sight, in a corner where no one could see, he suddenly grabbed me by the throat. His grip tightened bit by bit. I could feel the air leaving my lungs.

Just as everything started to fade before my eyes, Claire stepped forward, putting on a show of concern. "Logan, it's not worth getting upset over someone like him. What if you end up hurting yourself?"

Only then did Logan let go. I dropped to the floor, gasping for air.

He turned to Claire, gently brushing his fingers over the faint mark I had left on her face. Right there in front of everyone, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Alright. It's Caleb's birthday today. Won't want anyone ruining our good mood."

Claire's expression softened. She slipped an arm around his waist, leaning into him as if nothing had happened.

At that moment, the lights in the hall dimmed. The projector flickered on, right on cue, and photos began to slide across the screen. They were all of Caleb, from his birth up to now.

It turned out that when Claire had claimed she was travelling abroad for six months to expand the company's business, she had actually gone away to have a child.

Caleb's birth, his first birthday, his first day at school… Every milestone was carefully recorded, with both parents there to accompany him at every moment. Meanwhile, Claire had always been absent from Nancy's life.

Nancy and Caleb were born on the same day. Since they were three years apart, it explained why she never got to see Claire again after the year he was born.

Caleb pulled a face at Nancy, his tone openly taunting. "You keep saying she's your mom. Let's see your photos, then."

Her expression fell. She turned to me and cautiously asked, "Dad, am I really not supposed to exist?"

I shook my head.

Just then, the screen shifted to a series of family photos.

Something about a few of them made me freeze. The background was an open deck, the sea stretching into the horizon, with Claire and Logan pressing their faces together in the foreground.

I remembered that cruise. It was the luxury trip I had booked for our fifth wedding anniversary. It appeared she had booked Logan a ticket as well.

Another photo appeared, taken at a famous amusement park. Claire and Logan held each other tightly, looking every bit like a family.

When my gaze landed on the date stamped on the photo, I realized it was the exact day she had supposedly been there with Nancy and me at the park.

Everything finally fell into place—why every family outing always came with a "last-minute meeting" she couldn't avoid.