Chapter 2

My father moved quickly.

In less than half an hour, the divorce lawyer added me and sent over 3GB of evidence and materials.

I clicked through. Besides the social media posts of Rain's that I could see, there was also a video account I'd never seen before.

Eighty-three posts, every single one featuring Marcus's shadow.

I learned that last Christmas, when Marcus claimed he was working overtime and didn't come home, he actually flew to Rain's side to draw little stars with her in the snow.

I learned that on my son's seventh birthday, the gift Marcus gave him was picked out together with Rain.

A teddy bear.

In the video, Rain stuffed intimate photos of her and Marcus into the bear's belly while laughing triumphantly.

"A surprise for Marcus's precious son."

"I can't wait for the day it's discovered."

Random viewers in the comments didn't understand.

[Is the host's boyfriend from a divorced family?]

Rain, using a kitten avatar, responded:

[Yes, but I'll soon replace his mom's position.]

Accompanied by a row of shy emojis.

And the most recent one, uploaded the day I left on my business trip.

The background was the storage room of our house. Rain leaned against the door with a selfie stick, smiling innocently at the camera.

"Marcus's kid is so naughty. I'm going to lock him in the dark room as punishment."

The background audio was my seven-year-old son Dylan's terrified, pleading cries.

My hand gripping the mouse suddenly tightened. I stood up with a jolt, remembering the night I landed in another province.

I called home more than a dozen times. It wasn't until the seventeenth call that someone finally answered.

"Why did it take so long to answer? Where's Dylan?"

I was very anxious, afraid something had happened at home.

On the other end, Marcus's breathing clearly grew heavier. After a long pause, he stammered an explanation.

"Dylan—he had a nightmare. It took me forever to get him back to sleep. Whatever it is, let's talk about it tomorrow."

At the time, I didn't think much of it and let Marcus brush me off.

Looking back now, all the signs were there...

My heart felt like it had a huge hole ripped through it, cold wind whistling through.

It wasn't that I was sad about Marcus cheating. It was that I never imagined he would let someone else hurt our child.

When our son was born, just because his jaundice levels were a bit high and he needed phototherapy, Marcus was so nervous he canceled all his work and stayed by his side twenty-four hours a day.

The coldness in my heart grew heavier. I sat back down and continued browsing the evidence of Marcus's affair.

Suddenly, Rain's video account updated.

In the frame, she wore the same clothes from when we met. Tear stains lingered at the corners of her eyes, looking pitiful.

"Marcus's ex-wife came to cause trouble again. She even said I'm not fit to be Dylan's mom. I'm so scared."

She sniffled, casually revealing her chat interface with Marcus.

"But thankfully Marcus spoils me. He promised to attend tomorrow's parent-teacher conference with me. I'm finally going to be a child's mother. So nervous."

She didn't tell Marcus I came back?

Looking at Marcus's blue profile picture in the video—unchanged since our son was born—I smiled softly.

Fine. Since it's a parent-teacher conference, it wouldn't be strange for me, the real mother, to attend, would it?