Chapter 1

The day my wife gave birth, my mother-in-law held her hand, comforting her gently.

"Lianyi, don't worry. Your dad and Siming are keeping guard right outside the delivery room. There's no way he can come here and make a scene."

Yet, even after the baby's first cry echoed through the ward, I never showed up.

My wife was thrilled. She assumed I had finally learned my place, that I wouldn't make an unreasonable fuss over her lifelong crush anymore.

She had never understood my pain. In her eyes, she was merely preserving her crush's bloodline, so why couldn't I be more considerate?

She even magnanimously decided that if I came to visit her at the hospital tomorrow, she might consider allowing me to be the child's legal father.

What she didn't know was that my heart had already turned completely cold toward her.

Before my own mother died of an illness, all she had wanted was a grandchild, but my wife flatly refused, claiming she despised children.

Yet when her sick crush wished to pass on his legacy, she turned around and gladly bore his child.

My father-in-law, terrified that I might ruin everything, paid one of my female students while I was volunteering in a remote mountain school to accuse me of sexual assault.

I was thrown into prison over that fabricated nightmare. It took an entire year of agony before my name was finally cleared and I was released.

In ten days, I would be leaving for a war-torn country as a volunteer teacher, never to see her again in this lifetime.

The day I signed the paperwork for the overseas volunteer teaching program happened to be the day Gu Lianyi was discharged from the hospital.

Carrying my resignation handover documents, I walked into the house, only to be greeted by a cozy, joyful scene of a "family of five" in the living room.

Gu Lianyi, dressed in postpartum loungewear, was leaning blissfully against Ye Siming's chest.

My mother-in-law was affectionately kissing the baby's cheek.

"Look at him! His eyes look just like Lianyi's, but his features and bone structure are entirely Siming's. He's definitely going to grow up to be a handsome heartbreaker."

My father-in-law, beaming with pride, chimed in, "Absolutely. You can tell this boy is destined for great things. Good thing he's Siming's boy. If he were Qi Yanze's, he'd probably be doomed to a lifetime of miserable, exhausting labor!"

Hearing that, I let out a bitter, self-deprecating chuckle.

Once upon a time, my father-in-law had been so proud of my career as an educator.

Whenever he visited relatives or friends, he never missed a chance to boast about me.

Now, everything had changed.

I had become the target of his utter contempt—someone supposedly doomed to a lifetime of meaningless toil. How laughable.

I still remembered three years ago, when I signed up to teach in an impoverished, remote village. Gu Lianyi had tearfully told me how proud she was of me, promising she would wait faithfully at home for my return.

Her parents had been deeply moved as well, heaping endless praise on me:

"Yanze, you are our pride! We'll wait right here with Lianyi until you come back!"

When I first arrived in those mountains, the harsh climate and brutal conditions made me constantly sick. With the severe shortage of medicine, I nearly lost my life multiple times.

Yet, holding onto the desperate desire to return home to my family, I gritted my teeth and pulled through.

It was during my third year of volunteer teaching that a mutual acquaintance told me the truth: my wife was pregnant.

"Brother Yanze? Why didn't you give us a heads-up before walking in?"

Ye Siming spoke with the effortless arrogance of the man of the house, casually reprimanding me.

Gu Lianyi and her parents all turned their heads toward me.

Her father frowned, glaring at the resignation documents in my hand, and barked, "Lianyi just gave birth and needs to recover, and raising a baby costs serious money! You just got your official teaching post reinstated, and now you have the nerve to quit?!"

"You really rotted your brain in prison, didn't you?! I was completely blind to ever let my daughter marry you!"

Gu Lianyi looked equally irritated, her face turning frost-cold.

"Qi Yanze, you were locked up for an entire year, and we could barely keep food on the table! If you lose your job right now, what is the baby supposed to do?"

Hearing her shameless words, my brow furrowed as I let out a frigid sneer.

"Is this baby mine? What the hell does it have to do with me?"

Gu Lianyi's face darkened instantly. She glared at me furiously.

"Just because he isn't your biological child means you won't provide for him? Qi Yanze, when did you become so damn selfish?!"

"Three years ago, I was in a terrible car accident. If it weren't for Siming, I would have died right then and there! Now he's suffering from advanced liver cancer and doesn't have much time left. I carried a child for him to keep his family line going, and you're being this petty and jealous?!"

Hearing this, a fleeting glint of mocking satisfaction flashed across Ye Siming's eyes, though his tone was sickeningly pitiful.

"Brother Yanze, if the baby grows up calling you Dad, won't he be your child anyway?"

"If my presence makes you angry, I can just leave. After all, I'm going to die soon anyway. As long as you treat my love and my baby well, that's all that matters."

He said he would leave, yet he didn't move an inch.

Gu Lianyi immediately grabbed his arm, her eyes overflowing with heartache.

"Siming, where could you possibly go? You don't have much time left as it is!"

Not much time left? He had been diagnosed with "liver cancer" an entire year ago, yet here he was, lively, healthy, and full of energy. How did that look like someone running out of time?

It was nothing more than Gu Lianyi's pathetic excuse!

Gu Lianyi shot a freezing, thoroughly impatient glare at me.

"Qi Yanze, if you keep your head down and stop causing trouble, there will still be a place for you in this household!"

"Ten days from now is the baby's one-month milestone banquet. You will show up as his father so our family doesn't become the neighborhood gossip. Do you hear me?!"

Ten days from now was the exact date of my international flight.

Since that was the case, I would leave them an unforgettable parting gift before I took off.

Without uttering a single word, I turned on my heel and walked straight into the bedroom.