All Chapters of The Temperature of Love: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

"Leave? Suzy, is that all you know how to say when you're mad?"Look at you. You spend all day stuck at the stove; no wonder your brain's gone mushy. Do you even know what era we're living in? It's all about scientific parenting now. Precision. Data-driven systems. Do you understand that?"My son Adrian Gibson peeked out from behind Harry Gibson, his little head bobbing hard in agreement. "Dad's right. Larisse said families like ours, with this old-school parenting style, should've been phased out a long time ago."Larisse Baker, again. She was a lecturer at some high-end family education seminar Harry started attending recently.Ever since he paid fifty thousand for her course, our home turned upside down.My meatloaf used to be Adrian's favorite.Then it was labeled "high-fat, high-sugar junk food that harms brain development."Taking Adrian to the park to run around used to be the highlight of his day.Then it was "inefficient exercise that fails to engage core muscle grou

I did not give him a chance to cry.I picked up a pen and signed my name at the bottom of the agreement."Harry. Tomorrow's Saturday. Nine a.m., at the entrance to the County Clerk's Office."If you don't show up, this agreement, along with everything I've found on Larisse, will land in your chairman's inbox."I meant every word.This past month, I was not just sitting around doing nothing.I looked into Larisse. I looked into Harry's company, too.The only reason Harry managed to climb into a department manager position was that his chairman was obsessed with so-called "experts" and gurus.Larisse was introduced to Harry by that very chairman.To impress his boss, Harry turned our home into Larisse's testing ground."Suzy, are you threatening me?"You think you've got something on me? Let me tell you, Larisse is a specially appointed consultant for our company. You're challenging the authority of the entire company.""You've seriously lost it. All this because we asked you

"I didn't call to ask to come back."I just wanted to remind you. Your son Adrian's birthday is next Wednesday."There was another stretch of silence on the other end.He probably forgot."I don't need your reminder.""Of course I remember. Larisse has already planned a top-tier birthday party for Adrian. Way more sophisticated than your cheap little cake-and-song routine."Then he hung up.I held the phone in my hand for a long time without moving.That was fine.The more completely he forgot, the easier it would be for me to walk away.…On Adrian's birthday, I took half a day off.With my first month's salary, I bought him a LEGO Millennium Falcon.He talked about it for so long, and I was never able to bring myself to buy it before.I did not deliver it in person. I mailed it to him.I did not want to see that father and son again. I did not want to step back into that so-called home.I just wanted to draw a clean line under the six real years I shared with Adrian a

"The path to becoming elite has always been full of challenges and sweat. A small setback like this is simply the price of success.""Price?""The price is turning him into this? The price is making a six-year-old severely malnourished and mentally exhausted?""This isn't elite education. This is abuse."Doctors, nurses, and even other patients' families nearby all turned to look at us."Shut up!""What do you even know? This is cutting-edge science. You're just a housewife. What right do you have to speak here?""I'm telling you, Adrian is none of your concern anymore. You have nothing to do with him."As he spoke, he reached out to grab me, trying to shove me out."Mr. Gibson, yelling in a public place and laying hands on a woman doesn't sound very elite, does it?"It was Lance.I had no idea when he followed us, but then he was leaning against the doorway, looking at Harry."Who are you?""I'm her employer." Lance pointed at me and walked in.He came to my side, glance