After the Third Betrayal, I Left

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To give my son a complete family, I endured Gideon's three affairs.

After the school's Children's Day family performance ended, he finally came clean with me.

While you were jumping around on stage in that mascot costume, I had her pinned against the curtain backstage.

She's shy, so she held back her voice. Then you tripped and fell, and she finally let out a moan.

Following his reminiscent gaze, I looked across at the woman handing out candy to the children.

Her name was Lily, a student from a poor family I'd sponsored for four years until she became a preschool teacher.

Just moments ago, she'd said to me with tears in her eyes:

"Sutton, if Gideon ever treats you badly, I'll be the first to stand up for you."

Gideon blocked my line of sight, his tone contemptuous.

"Now it's your turn to choose. Keep celebrating with our son... or like before, get a divorce?"

I looked at my son throwing himself into Lily's arms, and suddenly felt utterly disgusted.

This rotten husband and son I didn't want either of them anymore.

"Why her of all people?"

My hands trembled as I fought to keep my voice steady.

Gideon just laughed lightly.

"Sutton, don't play dumb."

"Lily is young and vibrant. She understands me... All the women around you know how to act sweet better than you..."

"Not like you, spending every day obsessing over the kid and nagging about trivial nonsense."

This self-righteous arrogance disgusted me more than the affair itself.

"Mommy!"

Seven-year-old Mason rushed over, clutching a handful of colorful candies.

He stuffed the candy into his pocket and pointed at the lunch box I was carrying, complaining.

"Mom, the lunch you made tastes awful. It's all vegetables with no flavor at all."

Mason pouted and held up his candy like a treasure.

"Lily's candy is so sweet! She said she'll bring me some every day from now on."

I looked at the cheap, dye-filled candy in his hand and reached to take it away.

"Mason, your cough hasn't healed yet. You can't eat anything this sweet..."

Mason pushed my hand away, his little face scrunched up as he hid behind Gideon, muttering under his breath.

"Mom, are you going to make a scene about divorce again..."

"Today is my special day. Can't you just let me enjoy it?"

Even my son had grown accustomed to calling my pain "making a scene."

I stood frozen in place, my whole body cold.

Just then, Lily walked over with tears in her eyes.

"Sutton, I'm sorry..." She bit her lower lip, her voice timid.

"Gideon and I just got confused for a moment. Don't blame him it's all my fault."

While crying, she naturally crouched down and pulled Mason into her arms, gently patting his back.

"Don't be scared, Mason. The adults will handle adult problems. Lily will always be on your side."

Mason hugged her neck tightly, nodding repeatedly.

Right in front of several other parents, Gideon reached out and put his arm around Lily's shoulders, half-sheltering her in his embrace.

"Sutton Reed, today is Children's Day. If you want to fight, do it at home."

I held back from making a scene until the crowd gradually dispersed.

I reached out to take Mason's hand and bring him home.

But he forcefully shook me off and ran straight to Lily.

He looked up at her, his eyes full of anticipation.

"Lily, can you come to our house for dinner tonight?"

That evening, Gideon actually brought Lily home.

Lily changed into a pair of pink bunny slippers the ones Gideon had bought just a few days ago.

When I'd asked him why he bought women's size small slippers, he'd said the supermarket was having a sale and he'd grabbed them randomly.

She walked into the kitchen like she owned the place and pulled fried chicken and sweet sauce from a bag.

"Mason, come wash your hands! Your favorite fried chicken is here!"

She smiled sweetly, but her eyes held a hint of provocation.

"Gideon specifically told me Mason's been craving this, so he asked me to bring some over."

I stood in the entryway, watching her naturally open the dish cabinet and take out plates and utensils.

I suddenly realized Gideon had already given another woman a rehearsal of this home.

At the dinner table, Mason ate with grease all over his mouth, not even glancing at the vegetables I'd made.

"Mom's food has no flavor at all. Lily's food is so much better."

As he gnawed on a chicken leg, he proclaimed loudly.

I frowned, looking at the dipping sauce. "Mason is allergic to peanuts. Does that sauce have peanut pieces in it?"

Lily immediately put down her fork and knife and looked at Gideon with an aggrieved expression.

"Sutton, I checked the ingredient list. There are absolutely no peanuts."

"Are you being too sensitive, or do you think I'd deliberately harm Mason?"

Gideon reached out and ruffled Mason's hair, his tone clearly dissatisfied.

"Sutton Reed, stop being so paranoid all the time."

"It's because you're constantly on edge that you've raised the kid to be so fragile."

"Lily is a professional preschool teacher. Don't you think she knows these things? Stop making mountains out of molehills."

Watching Gideon's self-righteous attitude, watching their "happy family of three"...

I found this meal impossible to swallow.

After dinner, Lily voluntarily took over dishwashing duties.

When I walked into the kitchen to get water, she was rolling up her sleeves, deliberately exposing an old silver bracelet on her wrist.

The bracelet had a distinctive design with a small star charm dangling from it.

It was my wedding anniversary gift from Gideon three years ago.

I'd really liked it at the time and wore it for a long time, only putting it away after the clasp broke.

"That bracelet..." I walked to the kitchen doorway, my voice tight.

Lily continued washing dishes while saying softly:

"Gideon said you don't like these feminine things, that it was just gathering dust in a drawer, so he gave it to me."

Every sentence sounded like an apology, but every word was declaring her claim over this man.

"That's fine. You can wear it..."

I walked out of the kitchen with my water glass. Gideon grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the balcony.

He closed the sliding door, lit a cigarette, and looked at me coldly through the smoke.

"Sutton Reed, I'm warning you stop throwing divorce around so casually."

"Do you think divorce is some kind of fun game?"

He exhaled a smoke ring and began recounting our three previous remarriages.

"The first time, Mason had a high fever in the middle of the night. You couldn't handle it alone and called me crying, begging me to come back."

"The second time, your mom's high blood pressure sent her to the hospital. She needed someone to run around paying bills. Who did all that?"

"And the third time... You can't leave this home, and you can't leave me."

"Lily is understanding and obedient. She won't threaten your position. You'd better be smart and not make things worse."

Every time I'd softened, every compromise I'd made for the sake of our child and family, had become his ammunition to humiliate me today.

Back in the bedroom, I opened the bottom drawer.

Inside lay three divorce certificates, neatly arranged, along with three remarriage registration photos.

In each photo, Gideon smiled with deep affection.

And I, each time, had foolishly believed he'd truly changed.

But it turned out he'd just grown more certain that I would never leave.

Late that night, I got up for water and passed by the children's room. The door was slightly ajar.

Lily's hushed voice came from inside: "Mason, if Mommy and Daddy really separate, who would you want to stay with?"

I stopped in my tracks and held my breath.

The room fell silent for a long time.

Then I heard the son I'd risked my life to bring into this world say:

"I want to stay with Daddy and Lily."

Early the next morning, I took a shift-change request to the kindergarten principal's office.

I didn't want Mason to continue staying in Lily's class. I was afraid she would corrupt him.

But the principal looked at my request with difficulty.

"Sutton, actually Lily is quite attentive to Mason normally."

"Besides, I've heard from other parents that you manage the child too strictly. The kid is under a lot of pressure."

I froze. "Other parents?"

Walking out of the office, several parents who were usually active in the group chat immediately surrounded me.

"Sutton, it's actually normal for young teachers to be close with children. Don't be too sensitive."

"Exactly. Every mom struggles with childcare these days. If a teacher is willing to pay extra attention, you should count yourself lucky."

Only then did I understand Lily had long ago painted me as a controlling woman in everyone's eyes.

Walking to the end of the hallway, Lily suddenly emerged from the storage room and cornered me.

"Sutton, do you know why Gideon likes me?"

I looked at her coldly. "Because you're cheap enough."

She didn't get angry. She said softly, "Gideon says I'm like you when you were young. But he also says you've become too boring."

She took a step forward.

"Actually, Gideon has talked to me a lot about you."

"Like that college roommate of yours, and the postpartum caregiver when you were in confinement, and your former dance partner."

"Gideon said every one of them understood him better in bed than you do, knew better how to make him happy."

Lily laughed brightly. "Sutton Reed, you really are a failure as a person."

My brain exploded with a roar.

All those years of what I'd thought were misunderstandings and coincidences had actually been humiliations Gideon left for me.

At noon when I got home, I threw my bag hard onto the sofa and confronted Gideon, who'd just gotten off work.

"Is what Lily said true?"

"My college best friend suddenly going abroad, the postpartum caregiver bringing you soup in the middle of the night, my dance partner leaving the group chat was it all because of you?"

Gideon's hand paused as he loosened his tie. He frowned impatiently.

"Sutton Reed, what are you freaking out about? Those are all things from the past. Is it necessary to dig up old accounts?"

He stepped closer to me.

"Didn't you always know what kind of person I am?"

"All these years, haven't you been the one clinging shamelessly to this family, insisting on giving the child a complete home?"

Those years of what I'd thought were misunderstandings, what I'd thought were broken friendships they'd all been Gideon's chronic humiliation of me.

That evening, Mason came home from school.

He was carefully cradling a handmade award medal made from colored cardstock.

As soon as he walked in, he shouted excitedly.

"Daddy, look! Isn't the medal I made pretty? On Friday, the class is having a family activity for me!"

I walked over to look at his work.

But he took a big step backward, clutching the medal protectively to his chest.

"Don't touch it! Don't mess up the little flowers on top Lily helped me paste them on."

My hand, frozen in midair, slowly withdrew. On the back of the medal, written crookedly in marker, was a line:

Daddy, Me, Lily.

Mason hugged the medal to his chest, glanced up at me, and added softly:

"Mom, can you not come to Friday's activity?"

"I'm afraid if you come, you'll get upset again and make Lily angry."

I went to Friday's family activity anyway.

The classroom was decorated warmly and festively. Each child went onstage to display their drawing of "My Family."

When it was Mason's turn, he proudly held up his drawing.

I wasn't in the picture.

Only him, Gideon, and Lily.

All the parents politely applauded.

Lily, sitting in the front row, had tears in her eyes and covered her mouth, moved.

The teacher hosting the activity looked somewhat awkward and asked gently, "Mason, who did you draw? Why didn't you draw Mommy?"

Mason clutched his shirt hem, his voice loud.

"Mommy always controls me. She won't let me eat candy or watch TV."

"Lily plays with me and buys me good food. I want Lily to be my mommy."

Children's words cut the deepest.

The classroom immediately filled with a few awkward laughs, with some parents making excuses that children don't understand.

I stood up and strode toward the stage, wanting to take Mason home.

But Gideon suddenly grabbed my wrist from the side.

"Sutton Reed, what are you doing?"

In his eyes, even my heartbreak and grief had to happen at a time that wouldn't embarrass him.

I forcefully shook off his hand and rushed out of the classroom.

Just as I reached the stairwell, Lily pretended to chase after me.

"Sutton, don't be angry with Mason..."

While apologizing with her mouth, she forcibly stuffed a photo from the family activity into my hand.

In the photo, Mason stood on his tiptoes kissing Lily's cheek while Gideon stood beside them, smiling tenderly and indulgently.

Lily leaned close to my ear.

"Sutton, actually children are more honest than men. He knows who's more suitable to be his mother."

"Forcing yourself to stay in this family will only make everyone miserable."

I crumpled the photo into a ball, threw it in a nearby trash can, and left the kindergarten without looking back.

Shortly after I got home, Gideon returned with Mason.

He walked straight to the coffee table, pulled a document from his briefcase, and pushed it heavily in front of me.

It was a divorce agreement.

"Sutton Reed, since everyone's unhappy, let's just divorce."

He leaned back on the sofa, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather.

"You can keep living in this house temporarily, but custody of the child must go to me."

"You saw it yourself Mason is very emotionally unstable right now. He can't be separated from Lily's care."

Looking at that neatly printed agreement, I suddenly found it absurdly ridiculous.

I found it utterly absurd. "Gideon, you're asking me to hand over both my husband and son to a mistress?"

He frowned, his tone full of impatience.

"Don't make it sound so ugly!"

"We've reached this point because you don't know how to manage a family. Even the child rejects you you can't blame anyone else."

"Just sign it. Let's part on good terms."

Mason hid behind Gideon's legs, tightly hugging the teddy bear Lily had given him.

I crouched down and looked at the son I'd carried for ten months, my voice trembling.

"Mason, are you willing to come with Mommy? I promise from now on..."

"I don't want to!"

Mason hugged the teddy bear even tighter, tears welling up in his eyes.

He kept backing away, shouting at me through his tears.

"Mommy, can you stop forcing me!"

"I don't want to choose you! I want to be with Daddy and Lily!"

In that moment, I suddenly didn't want to cry at all.

I stood up, walked to the bedroom, and took out the three divorce certificates.

And one more thing a school transfer application I'd already stamped I'd already stamped.

I pushed all these items in front of Gideon.

Gideon looked at the transfer application, his expression finally changing, his brow furrowing tightly.

"Sutton Reed, what do you mean? What game are you playing now?"

I picked up the pen on the table and signed my name decisively.

"It means this time, I'm not coming back."