I'd kept that wooden carving in the glass cabinet in the nursery all this time.
The boy picked up the rocking horse and tossed it in his hands.
"So ugly!"
He hurled it at the floor with all his strength.
The rocking horse hit the hard marble and shattered instantly, splintering into pieces.
Still not satisfied, the boy walked over to the largest fragment and stomped on it.
Wood chips flew everywhere.
I rushed forward, grabbed the boy by the shoulders, and pulled him away.
"What are you doing?!"
The boy dropped to the floor on cue, threw his head back, and wailed at the top of his lungs.
"Daddy! She hit me!"
Tony strode over and shoved me hard in the shoulder.
I lost my footing and slammed into the hallway wall. A dull ache bloomed across my back.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Tony jabbed a finger in my face.
"It's a piece of junk! It broke, so what? You're really going to pick a fight with a child over that?"
I braced myself against the wall and steadied my feet, my eyes fixed on the shattered rocking horse on the floor.
"You carved that for me with your own hands five years ago."
Tony let out a cold laugh, his gaze dripping with contempt.
"Five years ago my brain was scrambled. I could've carved a piece of garbage and you would've treated it like a treasure."
He bent down, scooped the boy into his arms, and patted his back to soothe him.
Faith walked over, pulled a hundred-dollar bill from her purse, and held it out to me.
"Flora, kids don't know any better. Here, take this and go buy yourself a new one."
I didn't take the money. My eyes stayed locked on Tony.
"Do you really have to destroy everything that's mine?"
Tony looked down at me from his full height and pointed to the long scar running across his forehead.
"If you hadn't run into the street like a lunatic that day, would I have gotten these scars all over my head trying to save you?"
"It's been years. Are you really going to hold one mistake over me forever?"
"I owe Faith a real family. What exactly do you have to feel sorry for yourself about?"
The next morning, I was sitting in the dining room.
Tony slapped a document down on the table.
Across the top, in bold letters: Parental Recognition Agreement.
"Sign it."
He pulled out a chair and sat down, rapping his knuckles on the table.
"Rufus has an interview at Stratton Academy next week."
"The school requires both parents to be present, and the child has to be a legitimate dependent registered under a local household."
"You'll issue a statement acknowledging Rufus as your biological son and register him under your name."
I looked at the agreement, then pushed it off the table onto the floor.
"Not a chance."
Tony slammed his palm against the table.
"Don't push your luck!"
"Faith is willing to let her own son call you 'Mom' for the sake of keeping the peace. What more could you possibly want?"
I stood up and looked him dead in the eye.
"Tony, let's get a divorce."
He froze for a second, then let out a sharp, humorless laugh.
He bent down, picked up the agreement, and tore it in half.
"Divorce? In your dreams."
He pulled out his phone and dialed the CFO.
"Luke Lawrence, cancel every credit card under my wife's name. Every single one, primaries and supplementaries."
"Any funds moving through the company accounts require my signature. Not a cent goes to her without it."
He hung up and immediately dialed another number.
This time, he put it on speaker.
"Mr. Lin, regarding next quarter's partnership, our company has decided to terminate your supply contract."
An anxious voice crackled through the phone.
"Mr. Henson, you can't be serious. We've been partners for five years. Mrs. Henson has personally managed this account the entire time..."
Tony cut him off.
"I'm running the company now. I say it's terminated, it's terminated."
