You Had Your Chance

My son has a high fever, so I call my husband. However, he thinks I'm using our child to get his attention.

Then, he takes his true love's son to the hospital when he's only scratched his finger.

I look at my son, whose face is pale. I ask, "Do you want another father?"

He nods. "Yeah. Dad doesn't like me, so I don't want to like him anymore."

Later, I find him another father. That's when my husband objects.

"Mom, I'm bringing Damian home to stay for a while. … Yeah, it'll just be us. Walter... won't be coming."

As soon as I hung up, Walter Scott returned. He looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes.

Without a word, he went straight to the bathroom. The sound of running water filled the silence, and not long after, his phone started ringing nonstop.

I knew the password to his phone, so I unlocked it without asking.

Just like I thought, the messages were from Olivia Lowry. She'd sent a whole bunch of photos and videos of her son—reading, playing with blocks, and calling Walter "Daddy".

"Aaron really misses you, Walt. Are you coming over tonight? The boy loves you so much. He doesn't even care about me anymore."

My hands trembled as I held the phone. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm the anger inside me. Even now, I couldn't bring myself to act as indifferent as I wanted.

They were just too shameless.

As soon as I set the phone down, Walter came out. He was drying his wet hair with a towel.

"Where's Damian?" he asked.

Last night, our son, Damian Scott, had been burning up with a high fever, and it had been pouring outside. I had called Walter over and over, begging him to come home and take Damian to the hospital.

I had been frantic and completely lost. But what had he said to me?

"Bella, you're using Damian as a pawn to get my attention, huh? You're unbelievable. Do you think I'll fall for it again after all these dramas? Stop being so jealous and competitive. You'll never measure up to Olivia, and Damian will never measure up to Aaron."

It had felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on me, but somehow, I had managed to stay calm. I wiped away my tears, pulled myself together, and drove Damian to the hospital alone.

The heavy rain had made it hard to see, and the car had skidded out of control more than once. Gritting my teeth, I had pressed on, not even able to give Damian's crying a second thought.

Finally, we made it to the hospital. While I had been getting medication for Damian, I saw Walter rushing in, holding another woman's kid in his arms.

He had shouted for doctors and nurses while Olivia cried beside him, her eyes swollen and red. The little boy in Walter's arms had been wailing as if the world