Chapter 3

"You... you had a child together?" My voice trembled as I spoke.

Julian was so wrapped up in his happiness that he did not notice anything strange about my reaction.

"Yeah. I did not want kids so soon, but Olivia kept saying she wanted a baby that was a symbol of our love. She was so persistent. I could not say no.

"But do not worry. Even though she was busy, she hired a postpartum nanny to take care of the baby, so it did not interfere with our time together at all."

My eyes stung with tears.

Olivia and I once had a child, too.

Back then, I was just as happy as Julian.

However, when I told her the news, the first thing she did was frown. "Nathan, this is not the right time.

"You know my mom needs someone taking care of her. I am already working nonstop to support us. If I take maternity leave to stay home with the baby, who is going to pay the bills?"

I suggested hiring a nanny, but she scolded me right away.

"We are perfectly capable of taking care of our own child. Why would we waste money hiring someone? Do you want people laughing at us?"

In the end, she dragged me to a small clinic and made me terminate the pregnancy.

After that, she said she did not want to suffer through another pregnancy and never let me touch her again.

The heartbreak I felt back then still lingered somewhere inside me. Only now did I understand that Olivia did not dislike children.

To her, I was nothing more than a live‑in caregiver.

I was not worthy of being the father of her child.

I turned away quickly and wiped the tears from my eyes.

Julian thought I was looking at the framed wedding photo on the table. He smiled and began introducing the people in it.

"This was taken on our wedding day. See? That is my dad standing next to me.

"He was so skinny back then and did not look very healthy. Thanks to the caregiver, though, he put on quite a bit of weight."

I had learned everything I needed to know. Not wanting to stay any longer, I excused myself and left.

The moment I opened the door when I got home, a sharp pain shot through my leg.

I looked down and saw the old man dragging his paralyzed body across the floor, swinging a broom at me with all his strength.

This was not the first time he attacked me.

I believed he was Olivia's father. I endured it patiently. Even when he beat me until I bled, I never fought back.

Yet this time, I looked at him coldly and kicked him away.

He rolled across the floor twice before screaming hysterically.

"You homewrecker! You are trying to steal my wife!

"Everyone, come look! This man is obsessed with someone else's wife!

"You want to be shameless? I will make sure everyone knows what kind of person you are!"

He clawed at my clothes as he shouted.

How ridiculous. When Olivia first entrusted him to my care, she told me that her mother had been unfaithful and that the betrayal had left her father mentally traumatized.

During his episodes, he mistook other men for the person who ruined his marriage.

She held me in her arms back then and promised she would never become someone like her mother.

Yet what she had done was even crueler.

The commotion drew our neighbors, who began whispering and pointing at me.

In front of everyone, I shoved the old man off me and said coldly,

"I am done taking care of him. Let your precious daughter‑in‑law come to fulfill her duties."

Then I pushed through the crowd and hurried to the telephone booth to call Olivia's workplace.

"I cannot take care of your father anymore. Come back and do it yourself."

Her voice rose in anger right away.

"Have you lost your mind, Nathan? You wasted money on a phone call just to tell me that?

"So what if he hits you or yells at you? Deal with it and move on. I am busy working. Can you stop making things harder for me?"

She hung up before I said another word.

Olivia was convinced that I loved her too much to let her father suffer.

What she did not know was that I already knew the truth.

My hand trembled as I gripped the receiver. I was about to call her back when a neighbor came running over.

"Nathan! You had better come back! The old man hit his head after falling. I do not think he is going to make it!"

Everyone rushed him to the hospital.

Not long after, the doctor came out carrying a critical‑condition notice.

"Which one of you is the family member? I need someone to sign the consent form for surgery."

The neighbors pushed me to the front, but I calmly slid the pen back across the counter.

"I am not his family.

"His biological son and daughter‑in‑law will be here soon. They can sign it."

The same woman who claimed she was too busy to come home arrived at the hospital less than an hour later.

Standing beside Olivia was a tearful Julian.

The moment he saw me outside the operating room, his eyes turned red with anger and he charged toward me.

"Nathan? What are you doing here?

"You are the caregiver Olivia hired for my dad?

"This morning, I was telling Olivia we should help you find a job because of how hard you worked. And this is how you repay us? You nearly got my father killed!

"I am calling the police. You belong in jail for this!"

I did not move. I simply looked at Olivia.