Chapter 1

I stared at the two shoehorns Caden Lancaster handed me. One was made of dark hardwood, wide and sturdy, clearly meant for delivering a proper beating. The other was plastic, thin and long, perfect for leaving bright red welts.

The seven-year itch that had been burning inside me was doused by my son's betrayal, leaving me feeling oddly amused despite everything.

Before I could choose one, little Felix Lancaster burst into tears with a wail loud enough to wake the dead, as if he'd suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

"Daddy, you're hitting me! You're hitting me for this old, ugly woman!" he cried, stamping his feet, his small body trembling with rage.

"I hate you! I hate her too! I want Ms. Sulvan to be my mom!"

Caden's expression turned stormy as thunder. Without a word, he grabbed the thick hardwood shoehorn and brought it down hard on Felix's backside with a sharp crack.

He put real force into it. Felix's crying stopped abruptly, his whole body frozen in shock, before he erupted into an even more agonized howl.

"You hit me again! I'm calling the police on you! This is abuse!"

I watched coldly, making no move to intervene. Caden dragged his wailing son to the corner and made him face the wall to think about what he'd done. Only then did he turn and walk over to me, his deep eyes filled with exhaustion and apology.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't raise our son properly."

He picked up the earring from the table, his brow furrowed. "This does seem to belong to Ms. Sulvan, but I have no idea how it ended up in my pocket."

I stared into his eyes.

Caden had beautiful eyes with slightly upturned corners. In his youth, those eyes made countless girls scream. Now, mellowed by time, they appeared even more tender.

He never lied to me. I knew that better than anyone. But the appearance of this earring wouldn't stop nagging at me.

"Ms. Sulvan, the one who teaches their class literature, the really pretty one?" I asked.

"Yes." Caden nodded.

He then added, "But I don't think she's pretty."

His survival instinct was strong, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to completely calm me down right now.

"Then how do you explain this?" I pointed at the earring.

Before Caden could answer, Felix sniffled from the corner and tattled, "It is Ms. Sulvan's! I saw her wearing it today. She dropped one and looked for it forever, but she couldn't find it.

"She even said she hoped a handsome guy would find it, and she'd marry him to say thanks. Ms. Sulvan said before that Daddy is really handsome."

Caden and I locked eyes, instantly understanding what had happened.

Caden walked over and dragged Felix, who was covered in snot and tears, back to us. His voice went dead serious.

"Felix Lancaster, you tell me the truth. Did you pick up Ms. Sulvan's earring and put it in my pocket?"

Felix's eyes darted around. He pouted stubbornly, refusing to speak.

"Speak!" Caden's voice went ice cold.

Felix finally cracked and burst into tears again. "I just wanted Ms. Sulvan to be part of our family!

"Ms. Sulvan is so nice, not like Mom, who wears those old pajamas every day with messy hair and doesn't look good at all! All my classmates laugh at me and say my mom looks like a maid!"