It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
Remi Puth had finished baking the cake and cooking the meals two hours ago. So after decorating the whole place and taking her bath, she scrolled through Instagram while waiting for Leon to bring Ian back from school. Today was Ian's birthday, and she had made his favorite cake, food, and even his favorite snacks. She could not wait to see Ian so happy and spend time with both her husband and son.
Leon usually brings Ian back by 2:10 but it had been two hours and she wondered what was keeping him. She even tried to call Leon but his phone was unreachable. She sent several messages to ask if he was fine, but Leon still didn't reply. So she thought it was best to scroll through Instagram while waiting for them.
As she continued scrolling through Instagram, one post made her pause. Zooming in, her heart skipped a beat—it was Bernice Green, standing beside a man who had his arm wrapped possessively around her waist. The man's face was blurred.
They both smiled radiantly at the camera, each holding a little boy between them who gave her a peck on the cheek, looking every bit like a happy family. The little boy's face was also blurred.
But hold on…The ring on the man's finger was the same one her husband wore. And the little boy looked just like her son.
What was going on?
Wasn't this man her husband, Leon—the same man she'd been waiting for to come home. And the little boy? Her son, Ian—the child Leon was supposed to bring back from school?
The caption on the post struck her like a slap: "Happy birthday my little cupcake and thanks for the gifts."
If the people in the photos with Bernice had been someone else, Remi would have offered her best wishes, but she was sure it was Leon and Ian. Could they have gone out with Bernice while she was here, still waiting for them to come back?
She tried to call Leon again, but this time his number was busy and this could only mean one thing: they had truly been with Bernice all this time.
It was now 5:30 and the food she took time to make has gone cold exactly like her heart.
Ian had even chosen Bernice over her, just like Leon. Remi felt numb as she thought about it. They've let her down.
She commented on the post: 'You shameless fox. How dare you parade around with my husband and son as if they're your family? Take this post down before I make you regret it."
Over the years, Bernice had been posting photos of her, a man, and a little boy, but she always blurred their faces with stickers so no one could recognize them, and Remi had thought Bernice was already married and was trying to keep her family private and away from social media. But today, she realized that it had been Leon and Ian all this while. They had managed to fool her all these years, but not anymore…
Remi took screenshots of the photo and posted them on her story for their mutual friends to see that it was even her husband that Bernice was having an affair with, and that she was claiming her son as her own. Remi wanted their mutual friends to see how awful and shameless Bernice was.
Bernice immediately deleted the post. Remi sneered when she saw this. She got up from the couch in the parlor, went to the kitchen and instructed the chef, "Valerie, throw the food, snacks and cake away."
"But ma'am, they haven't gotten spoiled yet." Valerie said, frowning and wondering why Remi would do that. Remi was hardly at home, and today that she had made this for Ian for his birthday, how could she throw it away?
"I know. Just do as you're told." Remi responded and walked away while Valerie nodded.
The food lay untouched, the steam long gone, leaving only a lifeless chill—just like her marriage, tasteless and cold.
Remi thought, ‘Why not just divorce Leon? I can't be with him anymore' After that, she headed upstairs to the bedroom.
Her friends had already saw the post on her story and messaged her. As she was replying to their messages, she heard hurried footsteps outside and the door sprang open.
Leon came in with a frown on his face. He violently grabbed her wrist and asked, "Why do you have to pick on Bernice now that she's getting better?"
Leon, her husband, felt like a complete stranger to her at that moment. But they had been living together for seven years.
"Me, picking on her?" Remi laughed. "She deserves it. You promised me yesterday that we were going to spend time with Ian today since it was his birthday. But what did you do? You spent it with your mistress and…don't make me angry, Leon. I even took my time to decorate and-"
Leon's face showed a trace of guilt. He yelled angrily, "Bernice. My mistress? What're you talking about? I know you're angry and I understand, but don't accuse me of cheating on you. Alright I forgot to tell you that I was not coming back. But you shouldn't have gone after Bernice like that."
"You forgot? No, Leon-you chose. You chose her over me, and even over your son's real mother."Remi yelled in anger.
Leon thought that Remi shouldn't fight back. She should keep quiet like she always did.
"Mom, you're mean! You made Ms. Green cry. I hate you! You made her life worse. I hate you." Ian's voice came from the door.
Remi's pulse raced and her eyes widened with shock as she turned to face Leon. "Did you tell Ian to say that?"
Leon frowned. "Isn't Ian right? You're upset because we spent his birthday with Bernice since it was Ian's wish. Because of you, Bernice ended up like this. Ian and I are just trying to make up for what you did wrong!"
Five years ago, the Green Group was involved in a tax fraud scandal and went bankrupt overnight. Bernice's parents couldn't handle the news and poisoned themselves. Nathaniel Green, her brother, was hounded by debt collectors and jumped off a building while trying to escape from them, which resulted in his death.
Bernice had been having serious mental problems since then. At that time, the Web family was supporting Remi through university with a scholarship because Leon's grandfather and Remi's grandmother were friends, which made both families friends.
Students at the university said it was Remi who had told the debt collectors where Nathaniel was staying, which led to his tragic death. And because Remi wasn't from a rich background, when she defended herself and said she wasn't the one, nobody believed her.
Someone had spiked Leon's drink, which led to him sleeping with Remi and Leon believed Remi was the one who had spiked his drink. So, to Leon, Remi was the cause of all the problems.
Leon couldn't look Bernice in the eye after sleeping with Remi, because her brother, Nathaniel, was his best friend.
So in order not to make the Web family a laughingstock in Sky City, Theo Web, Leon's grandfather, convinced Leon to marry Remi, and Leon agreed with the condition that Theo had to pay off the Green family's debt and send Bernice abroad to the best mental health care to recover.
Leon grabbed Remi by the neck and pushed her onto the bed on their wedding night. He was angry and furious as he asked her why she had killed Nathaniel, drugged his drink, and slept with him.
Leon didn't believe Remi no matter how hard she tried to explain that she was not the one who had told the debt collectors about Nathaniel's house address or had spiked his drink. After marriage, Remi was hated by Leon's family except Theo who actually believed she was actually innocent of all the crimes she was accused of.
Vivian Web, Leon's mother, took Ian away from Remi when he turned one year old. She took care of Ian and spoke badly about Remi to him all the time. Ian eventually returned to Remi by the time he was five years old. The lies that had been planted in him by Vivian about Remi had taken root, and he loathed her just like Leon did.
Remi did everything she could to be the best wife and mother, hoping that Leon and Ian would accept her one day and appreciate her efforts.
But now that Bernice was back, Leon had been having an affair with Bernice behind her back and Bernice even won Ian over to her side.
It had been seven years, and it was time for Remi to wake up from her delusion that she could ever win Leon and Ian's hearts. She took a deep breath and picked up the divorce papers from her bedside table, preparing to give them to Leon.
Leon's phone rang at that moment. He smacked Remi's hand away and then picked up the phone. The next second, his face turned cold as ice. "What? Bernice tried to kill herself at home because of you! You're going to die too if something happens to her today."
When Ian heard that, he looked at Remi with hatred and shouted to his dad, "Dad, just get a divorce from Mom! After that, Ms. Green can be my new mom."
Leon shot Remi a look of contempt and then left with Ian. Ian's words kept playing in Remi's ears. She couldn't believe the same son she had endured complications to give birth to could ask his father to divorce to her.. JUST TO BE WITH HIS MISTRESS…
Remi clutched the divorce papers, her knuckles white.
lan's words echoed in her head like knives: "Ms. Green can be my new mom." A bitter laugh escaped her lips, sharp and broken.
"Fine," she whispered to herself. "He can have his mistress. And lan... he can have his new mother. I'm done."
It looked like she had to also give up custody of Ian too now.