Tyler and I hadn't been very close in these past couple of years. As his company had grown bigger, his days were filled with meetings, business trips, and projects while I stayed at home with our son, dealing with the daily grind of housework and childcare.

Whenever he returned early, he would get home at eleven in the night. As I had been exhausted from my day, I couldn't stay awake at that time. We would barely exchange two words before falling asleep separately.

But that wasn't how we started. When we were young, we were the most important, irreplaceable person in each other's lives. Here he was now, talking about divorce.

Was this really the same man who promised to grow old with me and take care of me forever?

Tears blurred my vision as I looked at him. I just wanted to see it in his eyes if he had ever loved me.

Tyler impatiently lit another cigarette and started smoking. Without a word, he drove straight to Danny's school and muttered, "Let's get the kid first, we will talk later at home."

I checked the time and realized that we were over an hour late. There were no other parents waiting outside. I called Danny's teacher. He told me he was in the office and asked me to come get him.

As I was walking into the school, my mind was still spinning. Tyler had just brought up divorce. How did we get there?

Before I could think much about it, Danny ran into my arms. I was always the first parent to arrive, but today I was the last. Danny was so upset that he burst into tears when he saw me. I wiped his tears while fighting back my own tears. I took his hand in mine and walked back.

At the entrance, Tyler was waiting by the car. As he saw Danny's red eyes, his face darkened. "Why are you acting like a girl, crying all the time?" he scolded our son. "Can't you man up a little?"

Danny froze while clutching my sleeve tightly.

"Can you just stop that! Picking on a kid doesn't make you tough," I retorted. I kept my voice steady and picked Danny up to comfort him.

"He's too old to be carried," Tyler complained.

His face and voice were full of irritation.

He was definitely taking out his frustration with me on our son. I wanted to fight back but I didn't want to upset Danny further, he had seen enough. I didn't want to give him emotional scars, so I kept quiet.

Tyler turned to me. "Do you now see the kind of mother that you are? You are raising a boy and he couldn't act like one. You have spoiled him so much that he has become rotten."

Tyler had once said this before, but I brushed them off as meaningless complaints. After talking with Rachel today, I had now realized his contempt for me. He must have been building it up for a long time. My heart ached and anger rose up inside me. I knew instantly that I would be unstoppable this time.

"Boys need their father around to develop masculine traits. You're always working late and traveling. You only spend less than two hours a month with him. What right do you have to criticize?" I stood my ground. Holding Danny tighter with one arm, I snatched the car keys from Tyler's hand. "If you don't want to come home tonight, just don't bother."

With that, I got in the car with Danny and started the engine. As I hit the gas pedal, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Tyler. He was still standing there in confusion, not sure whether to chase after us or not. I steeled myself and shot the car out of there like a bullet.