Ida's tone was full of complaints.
As if the person who'd spent the past few days at another man's side wasn't her at all.
I didn't call her out on it. Instead, a faint smile tugged at my lips.
Ida mistook it for forgiveness. She rose on her tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to the corner of my mouth.
"Roland, I just knew it. You're not like your father."
Not like my father?
The words left her mouth without warning and drove straight into my heart like a blade. The pain stole my breath.
She knew. She knew exactly how much damage my mother's affair and abuse had done to my father and me.
If my father hadn't been strong enough, brave enough, he'd be the one buried in a grave right now.
He wouldn't have escaped abroad and built a life worth living.
And now, with a single careless sentence, she dismissed everything my father had fought to survive.
The worst part was that the knife she wielded had been handed to her by the man I used to be, the one who'd loved Ida Matthews with his whole heart.
Meeting my red, swollen eyes, Ida offered an awkward explanation.
"Sorry, Roland. What I meant was, you don't have to struggle the way your father did. Staying by my side is enough."
"Is that so?" I smiled suddenly, looking her straight in the eye.
Ida held my gaze. Something tightened in her chest without reason, but she didn't examine it. She assumed I was ready to make up.
She nodded eagerly, her voice sure. "Of course. Roland, you just have to trust me the way you used to."
I laughed coldly inside but let nothing show.
That was when my phone buzzed.
I looked up at her and said calmly, "My car's here. Ida, go take care of your work."
"Okay."
She still hadn't noticed anything off. She even walked me to the door, considerate as ever.
Before I got in the car, I called her name.
"Hmm?"
"Goodbye, Ida." The words left my mouth.
This was my final farewell to Ida Matthews. My farewell to the past.
She ruffled my hair and smiled. "Alright, go clear your head. I'll be home working hard, making more money to take care of you."
I said nothing. I just looked at her one last time, quietly, and gave a small wave.
The car was nearly at the airport when my phone started vibrating like crazy.
An unknown number.
I assumed it was a scam call and blocked it.
But as I backed out of the screen, I noticed an anonymous text message.
"Roland, your child isn't dead. Ida lied to you."
I stared at the words. My mind went completely blank.
The baby wasn't dead?
Ida lied to me?
I sucked in several deep breaths before I could think again.
My hands shook as I tapped into the message thread, typing one letter at a time:
"Who are you? What do you mean by..."
Before I could finish, a video came through from the other end.
It looked like it had been recorded in secret.
In the footage, Ida stood holding a small baby in her arms. Humphrey had his arms around both of them, their backs to the camera.
Humphrey spoke. "Ida, are you sure about this? You really want to register your and Roland's child under my name?"
My fingers clenched around the phone until my knuckles went white.
The next second, I heard Ida's voice. Certain. Unhesitating.
"I made you a promise, and I don't go back on my word. Besides, my child is your child."
"But..."
She cut him off and patted his shoulder lightly.
"I've already arranged everything. Roland won't find out. Don't worry. And with your condition, your health being what it is, it would be hard for you to have children of your own."
Ida paused for a beat, her tone breezy. "But Roland's different. If he wants another child, I'll just have one with him later."
