Chapter 5 Loved and Forsaken

"It's just a photo. Do you really have nothing better to do than be suspicious all day? Seriously, all this over 300 dollars? Fine, I'll make it up to you!"

I lowered my gaze.

Three crisp hundred-dollar bills lay in front of me.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips as I choked out, "Brooke… do I look like a man who only cares about money to you?"

Brooke froze for a moment, as if she had not expected such an emotional reaction from me.

After a while, she looked away, her voice slightly unnatural. "Do you really have to make such a scene over one piece of clothing? How pathetic can you get? I've already unfrozen your bank card and even increased your limit by 500. You're a grown man. Don't cry at everything. It's embarrassing."

So, to her, all the humiliation and pain I had endured could be dismissed with five hundred dollars of charity.

The house she had given Isaac cost more than five million. Yet when it came to me, all I was worth was 500.

Just then, Brooke's phone rang.

She did not notice my trembling shoulders. Instead, she shot me a warning glance before answering the call.

As I looked at the faint hickeys along her collar, I felt my heart shatter piece by piece.

Isaac's voice came through the phone. "Brooke, why have you been gone so long? Our son's been crying, asking for his mom!"

Brooke accepted the title of "mom" without hesitation. She even responded gently, promising that she would head back right away.

At that moment, I caught sight of the back of her phone. There was a photo of her and Isaac together. The intimacy in her eyes was something I had not seen in a long time.

After hanging up, Brooke frowned and looked at me.

A wave of exhaustion swallowed me whole.

Just then, my daughter ran over and clung to Brooke's leg, whining sweetly. "Mom, Dad is so stingy. You have no idea how embarrassing he was today! I don't want him as my dad anymore! Can you just stay with me all the time from now on? It's fine even if you find me a new dad! That man on the phone just now is really nice!"

Brooke paused, then looked at me with undisguised satisfaction. It was as if she were mocking me—mocking my incompetence, my inability even to keep my own daughter's affection.

But to her surprise, I simply nodded in agreement and smiled calmly. "I have no objections. If Jane wants to, she can stay with you."

After all, I was done being her father now.

The joy on Jane's face was immediate, but Brooke's expression turned to disbelief. "Marcus, are you sure about this? If you regret it and come begging me later, I won't entertain you."

I had raised our daughter with my own hands. Brooke knew exactly how much she meant to me.

But I only waved my hand, unwilling to spare them another glance. "Yeah. I don't want this anymore."

Not Brooke.

Not the daughter I had once held so dearly.

Not even this love that had brought me nothing but suffering.

Brooke was convinced I was acting out of anger. That very night, she took our daughter to Isaac's house and did not return. She even posted on social media as if to show off—four people together, like a real family of four.

'Jane's right. Love should be between equals. How pitiful must it be to be despised by your own biological child?'

I calmly tapped on the like button.

That night, I received a photo from Isaac. It was an image from his bed.

His voice, hoarse from what had just happened, was filled with provocation. "Sullivan, did you really think sending your daughter over would tie Brooke's heart to you? Let me tell you something. The person who is favored can do whatever they want. The person who isn't loved is nothing.

"Brooke was afraid I'd be upset, so she even gave Jane sleeping pills and stayed with me the entire night. Sullivan, you and your daughter are both pathetic."