Leah froze. Clearly she hadn't expected me to take it this far.
She sighed and reached over to take my hand.
"Honey, don't be angry."
"I only thought, since you've sponsored Roland all these years, that you were fond of the boy."
"I had no idea you couldn't stand him."
"Fine, fine, fine. I promise I won't contact him again. Just stop throwing around the word divorce every five minutes."
I pulled my hand away and didn't bother looking at her.
Leah cleared her throat a couple of times.
"So, honey, the company's sending me on a business trip for a few days."
"You rest up at home. I'll bring you back a gift."
I'd thought that with Roland out of the picture, this household could hold together a little longer.
After all, it would be too cruel for a girl this small to grow up in a broken home.
I never expected that the next afternoon, when I got off work and went to pick my daughter up from her activity class,
the teacher hurried out to meet me the moment I reached the door.
"Nina's dad, what are you doing here?"
"Nina was already picked up by her mom and a young man."
A bad feeling rose in my chest, and I quickly called Leah.
The phone rang for a long time before she picked up.
"Leah! Where did you take my daughter?!"
Leah's voice came back light and cheerful.
"Off work already, honey? I've already brought her home."
"There's a surprise waiting for you here, so hurry back!"
I couldn't care less about any surprise. I hit the gas and drove home as fast as I could.
I pushed the door open, and there was Roland, sitting on the couch.
A glass of milk in his hand, lifting it toward my daughter's lips.
In my last life, this was exactly how Roland did it, when I wasn't there.
He mixed a heavy dose of crushed sleeping pills into her milk and coaxed my three-year-old daughter into drinking it down.
By the time I found her, her little body had already gone cold.
Terror flooded through me.
I rushed over like a madman and knocked the glass out of Roland's hand.
"Get away from my daughter!"
A sharp crack.
The glass shattered on the floor, white milk splattering everywhere.
My daughter burst into terrified sobs.
I pulled her tight against me, shaking all over.
Roland cried out, staring at the milk across the floor, at a loss.
Leah came running from the kitchen at the noise.
She saw the mess on the floor and her crying daughter, and screamed at me.
"What the hell has gotten into you?!"
I kept my eyes locked on Roland, grinding out my question to Leah.
"I'm asking you. Why is he in my house?!"
Leah quickly pulled Roland behind her, shielding him.
"My trip got canceled, and Roland happened to arrive at the station, so I picked him up on the way for a meal."
I looked at her coldly.
"Leah, did everything I said just go in one ear and out the other?"
"What did I tell you yesterday? You contact him again, we get divorced!"
The moment she heard that, her temper flared too.
"You are completely unreasonable!"
"I brought Roland over on purpose, just so you could see for yourself what a fine young man he is!"
"Spend a few more days around him and you'll change your mind, I promise!"
"I was trying to keep ten years of your sponsorship from going down the drain, and instead of understanding me, you threaten me with divorce!"
Roland peeked out from behind Leah, eyes rimmed red, stubborn and wronged all at once.
"Sir, don't blame Auntie. This is all my fault."
"You two are both my benefactors. I don't want you fighting because of me."
"I'll leave right now, so I won't be in your sight."
He made a show of going for his luggage, then stopped at the door.
"As for the tuition and living expenses, don't worry, sir. I'll find a way on my own."
"Even if... even if I have to steal or rob for it, I'll scrape the tuition together somehow."
Leah grabbed Roland's arm, her face full of pity.
"Roland, don't say such foolish things!"
"Don't you worry. Even if he won't sponsor you, Auntie will put you through college!"
Then she turned and glared at me, vicious.
"Look at what you've done!"
"I actually thought you were a generous, big-hearted man. I never imagined you could be this petty!"
"You're shoving a good kid straight into the fire!"
