Chapter 2

It seemed like he was afraid I would press him further, so Zhao An'an struggled to pull out a stack of books from his backpack.

"Aunt Mi, come quickly."

With his little face all serious, I found him especially adorable and couldn't resist the urge to tease him.

"An'an, Mommy can help you with your homework."

I said, plopping down beside Zhao An'an. He jumped in fright and hid behind Aunt Mi as if I had the cooties.

"Mom, I don't have time to play with you. Can you stop being so unreasonable? I need to do my homework."

"Dad was right. You're always lounging around."

Aunt Mi gave me an apologetic smile, then crouched down to soothe Zhao An'an.

"Sweetheart, you shouldn't be so rude to your mom. It's rare that she has time to spend with you. Besides, she's a teacher. She'll definitely help you better than I can.

Go on." As she spoke, she gently nudged Zhao An'an towards me.

The little boy in a suit instantly exploded, grabbing a piece of fruit from the table and hurling it at me with a thud. "Go away!

I don't want you. I only want Aunt Mi. Why can't you understand? Why did you come back to ruin my happiness?"

I froze, my foot lifted but rooted to the spot, as Zhao An'an cried even harder.

"Dad, I don't want Mom. I want Aunt Mi. Dad."

His tears fell to the ground in large drops. I quickly stepped back, forcing a smile despite the sting in my heart.

"Alright, Mommy won't come over. Let Aunt Mi stay with you."

In the end, I didn't want to upset my son any further.

No matter how much he disliked me, he was still my child.

"I'm sorry, Yushi. The child is very attached to me."

Aunt Mi stepped forward, guilt-ridden. I shook my head, forcing a smile.

"It's alright. You're doing it for the child."

I had no reason to blame her if the child didn't want to be close to me.

Besides, if I said even one more word, he would start crying again.

"Huang Yushi, if you really have nothing to do, you can go for a walk. Stop coming back just to upset the child. I really don't understand how you think you're being a parent."

Zhao Kai walked out, giving me a look of disdain.

"Usually, Aunt Mi takes care of the child. No wonder he's not close to you."

He deliberately walked past me, giving my shoulder a hard shove.

"Ouch."

I winced instinctively, a thin layer of sweat forming on my forehead.

My shoulder had been injured the day before, pushed by Zhao An'an.

Because of his school event, I had gone uninvited. He was furious that I embarrassed him and pushed me hard when I wasn't expecting it, causing me to hit a piece of equipment and bruise badly.

Zhao Kai knew about this but still chose to bump into me.

It was clear that no one in this house welcomed me.

I buried my head and gave a bitter smile, retreating into my room.

"Yay! The bad person was chased away by Dad. I don't like her at all. She's so annoying, and my classmates laugh at me because of her."

Zhao An'an cheered victoriously, and Zhao Kai chuckled.

"Alright, alright, if you don't like Mom, we'll let Aunt Mi stay with you from now on, okay?"

"Even for the school events?"

Zhao An'an's innocent voice pierced my heart like a knife, but I felt a sense of relief.

Relief that my son wasn't attached to me, relief that he found a new source of comfort, so my departure wouldn't hurt him.

That afternoon, I dozed off in a haze, only to be woken by Zhao An'an. He slapped my face, his voice was full of irritation.

"Mom, wake up."

I rubbed my blurry eyes, feeling the sting on my face.