Chapter 1

It was only after I married Astrid Henson that I learned her ex-husband hadn't just taken custody of her daughter.

He'd taken a promise from her too.

Every season, she had to go on a two-week family trip with the two of them, father and daughter, with the time and place entirely up to him.

So on the day of our honeymoon, I was left alone on the plane.

For three straight wedding anniversaries, I was stood up every time.

Until the prank gift her daughter mailed scared me so badly that I tumbled down the stairs.

It ruptured my spleen and caused massive internal bleeding, and the hospital needed a family member to sign for surgery.

But it took more than a dozen calls before Astrid finally picked up.

Her voice was tired and impatient:

"Phineas, so now you've learned to lie and drag my daughter's name through the mud because you're jealous, is that it?"

"Today is the first day of the fall family trip. There's no way I'm leaving the two of them, father and daughter, just to come home and keep you company."

"Oh, and go get a vasectomy tomorrow. I promised her father I'd only ever have one child in this life, and that's Nora."

So it turned out she'd never intended to have a child of our own with me at all.

I calmly hung up and signed the surgery consent form myself.

Since Astrid couldn't let go of her ex-husband and their daughter.

Then I'd just hand the position of her husband back where it belonged.

...

On the seventh day after my surgery, Astrid and the others came back early, out of nowhere.

I was sitting at the dining table, drinking the nourishing soup my housekeeper, Lena, had made for me.

Morgan gave her a snide little smile:

"What did I tell you? Even with you gone, he wasn't going to shortchange himself. I've seen this jealous-little-boy routine plenty of times."

"And to think you and Nora were so scared something had really happened to him that you insisted on coming back to check. Well, I don't care. We agreed on a two-week trip, and we're still eight days short."

"You owe me those. Let's leave next Wednesday. I want to go skiing in Switzerland."

Astrid said flatly, "Understood."

I glanced at the calendar on the wall without thinking.

That day was our fourth wedding anniversary, and Astrid had promised she'd spend this one with me.

Looked like she was going to break her word again.

Morgan shot Astrid a look, as if prodding her toward something.

Astrid asked me, sounding put-upon:

"Phineas, have you had the vasectomy done?"

That was the first thing he said to me the moment he walked in—even the way she addressed me had changed.

Because once, when Morgan came to pick up Nora, he heard her call me "Phin," and he made a scene right then and there.

His face was all wounded and furious:

"Astrid, if you want to show off your sweet little husband, can't you at least pick your moments?"

"Getting all cozy right in front of my daughter—do you want her to think her father's a failure?! Have you ever once considered how I feel?!"

So from then on, whenever he was around.

Astrid always called me by my full name, but when it came to Morgan...

She still called him "Morg," warm as ever.

I said calmly:

"No. And there's no need for one anymore.

That accident didn't just rupture my spleen.

It also tore my vas deferens, which took away any chance of me ever becoming a father."

Morgan's face fell at once, and Astrid frowned too.

Her eyes caught the box on the chair.

Inside was that hyper-realistic 3D doll, its face bloody and grotesque.

"Why would you bring something like that into the house? You're terrified of these things, aren't you?"

I looked at the girl who had been silent ever since she came in.

Nora, who kept sneaking careful little glances at me, and I said without any expression:

"Then you'll have to ask your daughter."

Nora shot a nervous look at Morgan on instinct.

And Morgan immediately jabbed a finger in my face and snapped:

"Phineas, have you no shame? A grown man like you, dumping your dirt on a child?"

"My daughter is only six. Where would she even get something like this? Don't think I can't see what you're up to!"

He snatched up my bag and dumped everything inside it clattering across the table.

Morgan picked up a bottle of folic acid supplements and hurled it down at my feet.

Then he rounded on Astrid:

"So this is the one you called obedient and sensible, the one who's so good to Nora?"

"Slandering Nora, saying she made him fall down the stairs, then playing along about the vasectomy while secretly taking folic acid to prep for a pregnancy!"

"All he wants is to have a son with you, then throw my daughter out and steal what's hers, isn't it? If you dare let some bastard of his fight Nora for it, I'll kill myself in front of you!"

Astrid frowned wearily:

"I never thought anything of the sort. Say what you have to say calmly. Losing your temper in front of the child—what kind of way is that to act?"

She didn't blame him for how utterly he ignored every boundary.

She didn't blame him for the insults he threw at me.

Out of pure habit, she patted his back to soothe him:

"You head back first. I'll handle this."

Morgan gave a cold snort:

"Of course I'm leaving. And I'm taking Nora with me."

"So certain people can't take advantage of my absence to bully my daughter—not even afraid of what's coming to them!"

He stormed off, tugging Nora along, and she kept glancing back over her shoulder as he led her inside to pack.

The living room fell quiet again.

Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose, exhausted:

"Phin, you went too far this time. Nora is the apple of Morgan's eye. Even if you're jealous, you shouldn't drag her into it."

"And the folic acid—I need an explanation for that."