Chapter 3

I thought Tasha's words would stab me again.

But this time, I felt strangely calm.

Watching her run upstairs, I spoke in Aurelian, "Fine. I'll leave."

The moment the words left my mouth, her small figure spun around. Her face froze, as if she had seen a ghost.

She panicked and tapped on her phone watch, sending a message to Sharon in Aurelian.

[Mom, bad news! That ugly freak understands Aurelian!]

Less than a few seconds later, a voice message came back.

It was Curtis Tomlinson, his tone dripping with contempt.

"Tasha, don't talk nonsense. Your dad's family went bankrupt years ago. How would he ever get the chance to learn Aurelian? Behave yourself. Don't bother me these next few days. I'm on a date with your mom. I'll bring you some beef jerky next time."

Tasha studied me with a tight little face.

When she saw I didn't react, she quickly tossed my words out of her mind and replied cheerfully, "Okay, Uncle Curtis. Have fun with Mom! I hope you two give me a pretty little sister soon."

These past few days, memories of Sharon kept surfacing.

Every time they did, I forced myself to be cruel enough to forget them.

-

Game sounds kept coming from Tasha's room.

I didn't go in to confiscate the console and tell her to go to bed early like I used to.

I didn't remind her to do her homework for tomorrow's inspection.

If she hated me that much, then I didn't need to keep playing the role of her father.

Still, one thing gnawed at me.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand how Sharon's acting had been so flawless.

At 2 a.m., Curtis sent another message.

[Oliver, Sharon has been wearing me out these days. She's really horny. What, you can't keep up? She even said you don't interest her at all.]

A photo came with the message.

Sharon stood in front of him, his hands slipping under her collar, desire written plainly in her eyes.

I stared at it again and again, as if I was punishing myself. It felt like someone had grabbed my heart and was squeezing it apart.

The pain was unbearable.

Under the bleak moonlight outside, another memory surfaced.

Back when the Holdens went bankrupt, my fiancée left me.

I had nothing, and Sharon appeared in my life like a source of hope. She helped me pay off debts and helped me rebuild from nothing.

At the time, I truly believed that the woman confined to a wheelchair was my salvation.

For seven years, she showered me with love.

Everyone said she was obsessed with spoiling her husband, that she loved me to the core.

I believed it, too.

So I lowered my pride, took care of her with everything I had, cooked for her, cleaned for her, and stayed by her side for seven full years.

Yet, this was the truth.

While Sharon said she loved me, she was tangled up with a so-called brother who wasn't even related to her by blood.

And only recently did I learn something even worse.

All those years, she had given every ounce of real affection she had to Curtis behind my back.