Chapter 2Gaslit by Everyone in My Life

Erina wanted to chase after me, but Jeffrey called out from behind her just then.

"Erina, come back! The baby's crying!"

Ultimately, she abandoned me in the rain—along with the umbrella.

"I won't divorce you. But you can go back on your own for now," she said before leaving me.

I opened the umbrella and saw that there was a hole in it, reminding me of the broken relationship between her and me.

The rain trickled in through the gap. It wasn't enough to drench me, but it was enough to leave me completely disheartened.

After getting into my Uber, I came across an older video on Dustin's social media account. He was telling the world about his baby.

"My precious baby girl is born! My wife decided to name her Ruby Nielson. How cute!"

Ruby was the name that I had once chosen for the child that we'd lost.

Back then, Erina had only just founded her company not too long ago, and she aborted our seven-month-old baby for the sake of her career.

I had wept and begged her all night to change her mind, even offering every penny of my savings in exchange for the baby's life, but I still wasn't able to stop her.

And now, she had handed that very name over to someone else's baby. She'd completely forgotten my pain and the death of her own child in her belly.

I scrolled down with trembling hands, and soon, the truth began to surface.

The day I was struck by a car and broke my leg, Erina and Dustin had sent me hundreds of concerned text messages asking me about my condition, but in reality, they were partying on a cruise ship all night long.

The day I was rushed to the ER because of my gastritis issues, Erina had called a deliveryman to bring me some soup, but in reality, she was with Dustin on a seven-day excursion to Yeropah to see the aurora borealis.

On my birthday, Erina told me that she was working overtime at the company and didn't have time to come home and celebrate with me, but in reality, she was out camping with Dustin to see the starry night sky in the woods.

There were hundreds of posts and reels about everything they did, and I watched them over and over again like some form of self-torture until I became so numb I couldn't even shed a single tear anymore.

I had harbored doubts about Erina in the past, but I still clung to a shred of wishful thinking, hoping that I was wrong.

But now, with all the facts spelled out for me, I had to admit that they had pulled wool over my eyes and played me like a fool from the very beginning.

I went home to Mom and Dad's place, intending to retrieve my important documents, but when I opened the door, I was met with a completely unfamiliar interior inside my own room.

All of my belongings had been cleared out, and what greeted me was a brand-new room setup instead.

I reached out to touch the computer on my desk, but a sharp voice immediately rang out from behind me, "Don't touch that!"

Mom and Dad stood in the entryway with bags of groceries in their hand, looking at me with reproach.

"Dustin doesn't like it when other people touch his stuff."

I turned to look at them. "Then, what about my things?"

"They're in the storeroom."

"But this is my room."

Mom glared at me and walked into the kitchen. "Dustin is my foster son. Don't tell me you're going to fight him over that as well."

I was shoved to the side of the doorframe. My clothes were still wet from the rain, and the fabric all clung to my skin. But neither Mom nor Dad bothered asking me if I was fine.

My nose began tingling, and my eyes stung with tears. "What about me? Am I not your son anymore?"

Mom didn't even bother looking up. "Why are you comparing yourself to Dustin? He's kind and filial and thoughtful, and he's like a ray of sunshine by our side. Just looking at him makes us happy.

"Unlike you, always walking around with that scowl on your face like the world owes you something."

She sighed and continued, "If you never stood in the way, Erina and Dustin would have been together ages ago. They were in love all along, but they had to hide it away so painfully for your sake. Can't you just be a little more considerate of them?"

My own mother was telling me to be more considerate of my wife and the man she was having an affair with. I couldn't believe it.

Still, I gave her a wry smile and nodded.

"In that case, he can very well take my place officially as your son from now on."

Dad glanced over impatiently and said, "What is it now? What kind of scene are you making? Where do you think you're going?"

I replied, "I'm going to Seafare City for work. I won't be coming back."

As I said this, I took out my phone to check the job offer, but instead, I saw an email stating that I had failed the assessment for the hospital I'd applied to in Seafare City.

"We received a report that you are suspected of falsifying your résumé, and you also have a record of multiple violations involving corruption and bribery.

"Consequently, you have failed the assessment and are permanently barred from employment."