The moment Blake was gone, I grabbed Cody and left the apartment.
Cody wrapped his arms around my neck, his innocent, wide eyes filled with curiosity. "Mommy, where are we going?" he asked, his voice small.
Thankfully, I’d been reborn just in time.
Although Cody's psychological trauma was already severe, it wasn't too late to fix it.
I stroked his head and smiled gently. "I'm taking you somewhere fun. From now on, I promise I'll make you happy every single day. No one will ever hurt you again, okay?"
Cody's face lit up, and he nodded eagerly.
Holding him, I hailed a cab and headed to a top-tier child development center in New York.
"Could you please arrange for the best psychologist for us?" I asked the front desk.
The receptionist was efficient, and by a stroke of luck, the center's highly acclaimed psychologist, Julian Bennett, was available.
The moment Cody saw him, he was instantly at ease.
"Mommy," he whispered in my ear, "I like this doctor. His eyes get all sparkly when he looks at me."
Julian approached us with a warm smile. "Shall we go play some games?"
Cody was usually shy around strangers, but there was something disarmingly kind in the man's gaze.
He reached out to Julian without hesitation and didn't resist when he was lifted into his arms.
Watching Julian gently guide him through the psychological assessment, I felt the massive weight on my heart finally begin to lift.
Just then, my phone buzzed. A direct message from Jessica on Instagram.
It was a photo. In it, Blake was holding Kyle, gently coaxing him to sleep. Jessica was leaning on Blake's shoulder, nestled closely against him.
It was a picture of domestic bliss. Who wouldn't think they were the perfect family?
She'd sent a message along with it.
'Blake is surprisingly good at getting Kyle to sleep. He must be a great dad at home, always helping you with your son, right?'
A great dad? I let out a scornful laugh.
Blake had never been a "great dad" until Jessica, newly divorced, reappeared in his life.
I had gotten pregnant with Cody due to a contraceptive failure.
When I first found out, Blake made his stance clear: he didn't like children. If I insisted on having the baby, he wouldn't know how to be a good father.
In short, he wanted me to have an abortion.
But how could I? The child was already a part of me.
I insisted on keeping Cody, and Blake gave me the cold shoulder for months. It was only much later that he reluctantly gave in. When Cody was born, he stayed true to his word.
He shouldered none of the responsibilities of a father.
Postpartum recovery, newborn care, even the smallest bit of support—he always had an excuse. Work was too busy, his schedule too packed. I handled everything alone.
Cody grew up in a home practically devoid of fatherly love. It wasn't until he was older, cried less, and was easier to manage that Blake began to show him a sliver of affection.
I used to tell myself he just wasn't a "kid person" and I couldn't force him.
But I eventually realized the truth. It wasn't that he disliked children; he just disliked my child.
The day Jessica announced her divorce, Blake didn't come home.
Later, I saw him in a video she posted. He was fumbling to soothe a crying baby.
"Blake said he doesn't know how to soothe babies," Jessica chirped to the camera, laughing playfully. "But he's willing to learn! Hahaha, I'm so thrilled!"
This was the same man who used to frown in annoyance at the sound of Cody's cries. Now, he was smiling so wide his eyes crinkled, completely unfazed by another child's wails.
That child wasn't even his. He was Jessica's with her ex-husband.
And yet, Blake doted on that child as if he were his own flesh and blood.
My Cody got nothing.
I ignored Jessica's blatant provocation. Our "exchanges" were just her sending well-crafted taunts into a void of my silence.
In the past, I was too heartbroken to respond. Now, I was simply indifferent, a spectator to her drama, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver the fatal blow.
I calmly took a screenshot of the tens of millions of dollars in our joint investment account.
Then, I sent it to Jessica.
She fell silent.
But I knew it was just the calm before the storm. Patience had never been her virtue.
