Chapter 4Spilled Milk and Severed Ties

After finding a place to stay in Charleston. I wandered around many places. The southern humidity, the historic cobblestone streets, everything made me tireless.

Unexpectedly, on the morning of the third day, I received a call from Harrison. He seemed to have just woken up, asking me in a hoarse voice, "Lily, where is that pair of ruby cufflinks you bought me at the auction last year?"

I paused. "In the second drawer of the island in the walk-in closet." I asked him, "What's the occasion?" Harrison: "A mall ribbon-cutting ceremony." Me: "The matching suit is the fourth one in the second row."

Harrison didn't seem fully awake yet. The sound of him rummaging came through the phone, along with faint complaints. I listened for a while, then asked, "Did you find it?"

The noise on the other side stopped, as if he finally reacted. "Found it. "Sorry, didn't mean to bother you."

I hummed an acknowledgment and said, "I know." I instructed him, "Ask the housekeeper to reorganize your room. If you can't find things in the future, ask them. "From now on, don't call me to trouble me anymore."

Harrison was silent for a moment, then said, "Okay." After hanging up, I blocked his number and fell back asleep.

But this sleep was restless. I had many bizarre dreams. There was the fourteen-year-old me laughing and playing with classmates on campus. There was the sunny day when I first met Harrison at fifteen. There was the pain of my father breaking my leg when I was sixteen and tried to sneak out to race cars. And...

Another piercing ringtone. I woke up with a start, irritably grabbing the phone from the nightstand. It was an unfamiliar number. I pressed answer, and a polite inquiry came from the other side. "Hello, is this Ethan Vance's mother? "I'm Ethan's kindergarten teacher. It's like this, today the school is holding a robotics exhibition. Ethan is participating, but he didn't bring his project. He said you prepared it for him. Would it be convenient for you to drop it off for the child?"

The teacher was very enthusiastic. My fingers gripping the phone tightened. I closed my eyes, feeling an unspeakable exhaustion. Not long ago, I was sitting in the living room, head bowed, learning frame by frame from a video blueprint to do Ethan's manual homework for him. I just left too quickly that day; the robot was still a semi-finished product.

I looked at the blazing sun already high outside the window and replied softly to the teacher, "I'm sorry, teacher. Ethan's custody no longer belongs to me, and I won't be responsible for him anymore. "Also... is he right next to you?"

"Ah." The teacher was quite embarrassed. "Yes, yes, Ethan is right beside me."

I sighed. "Could you please put me on speaker?" "O-okay." "Thank you."

The noise of the phone moving came through, followed by silence. I figured Ethan could hear me. I spoke softly, "Ethan, the robot is in the toy box in your room. "You can call your dad to bring it to you, or ask anyone else to send it, but in the future, I hope you don't call me anymore. I won't pick you up, and I won't help you with your crafts. You know this—I am not your mother anymore."

After finishing, I apologized to the teacher again and hung up the phone.