Chapter 4

His grip was incredibly tight.

"Nora."

"Did you teach him to say that on purpose?"

I smiled, finding his anger deeply ironic.

"Didn't you say it yourself? In public, he is only allowed to call you Uncle."

Six years of secret marriage. Ethan hadn't just hidden our relationship from the public.

What was even more pathetic was that Leo was only allowed to call him "Daddy" on his birthday.

Every year, seeing Leo so excited for his birthday just so he could call his own father "Daddy" broke my heart.

I looked down and tried to wrench my hand free, but his grip didn't budge.

Ethan stared at me, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.

"Give me a few days."

"I'll explain things to Leo."

I reminded him coldly, "Chloe is waiting for you. Let go."

As if suddenly waking up, Ethan reluctantly released his grip.

I let out a cold laugh and turned to walk away with Leo.

But Ethan suddenly called out behind us.

"Wait."

He ran back to his car and brought out a cake box, holding it out to me.

"Leo, happy birthday."

Chloe chimed in right on cue. "Ethan originally bought this cake for Mason, but the poor thing has a fever and can't eat anything."

"Your son might as well have it."

The cake in my hands suddenly felt like it weighed a ton.

I wanted to throw it back at them, but then I saw the faint spark of hope in Leo's eyes.

He asked timidly, "Uncle Ethan, is this really for me?"

Ethan gave a brief nod.

Leo finally showed his first smile of the night. He pulled my hand, dragging me toward the living room. "Mommy, open it quick!"

I silently untied the ribbon and opened the box.

The very next second, my hands froze.

Right in the center of the frosting, written in neat letters, was:

*Happy Birthday, Mason!*

The air in the room instantly turned ice-cold.

The smile on Leo's face slowly froze and crumbled.

He stared at the words for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.

"Mommy... this isn't my cake, is it?"

My throat tightened, and my fingers began to tremble.

Chloe gasped, covering her mouth as if she had just noticed.

"Oh my god, how could the bakery forget to change the name?"

I didn't say a word.

Because I knew very well that the bakery hadn't "forgotten."

From the very beginning, this cake was never meant for Leo.

Leo slowly lowered his head, his voice cracking.

"I don't want it."

"I don't want things that other people threw away."

With that, my son buried his face deep into my chest, refusing to look at Ethan again.

Without a second of hesitation, I picked up my son and walked out.

Even as we walked out of the villa, I could still feel Ethan's panicked, apologetic gaze on my back.

But this time, neither my son nor I felt a single thing.