The Man My Son Called Daddy

While shopping at the supermarket with my three-year-old son, he suddenly called out Daddy! to a man's back.

I quickly covered my son's mouth.

Sorry, sir...

The man turned around.

When I saw his face clearly, the rest of my words stuck in my throat.

It was Sebastian Knight.

His gaze fell on my face, then slowly moved to the child.

The air went quiet for a moment.

I instinctively pulled my child closer and said calmly, "Long time no see. We have to go now."

As we left the supermarket, my son tugged at my sleeve and asked, "Mommy, who was that man?"

I looked down and straightened his collar.

"A stranger."

My son is three years old.

Counting back, Sebastian and I have been separated for three years now.

...

By the time we got home, it was completely dark.

Ian asked me, "Mommy, who was that man really?"

I closed the refrigerator door and turned to look at him.

"I told you, a stranger."

"But he kept staring at me."

Ian tilted his head, looking puzzled.

"He seemed like he knew me."

I didn't answer.

Instead, I walked over, picked him up, and headed to the bathroom.

I mechanically helped him bathe.

But in my mind, I couldn't stop replaying Sebastian's expression.

Three years.

I thought we'd never see each other again in this lifetime.

But fate had other plans.

At ten o'clock that night, Ian finally fell asleep.

Those eyebrows, that nose---they really did look like Sebastian's.

Like they were carved from the same mold.

My phone vibrated.

I picked it up.

It was a friend request on SnapChat.

"It's me."

Of course I knew it was Sebastian.

Always so presumptuous.

As if the whole world should revolve around him, as if everyone should remember everything about him.

I calmly pressed the lock screen button.

I didn't accept it, but I didn't reject it either.

I turned off the light and lay down beside Ian.

In the darkness, memories from three years ago came flooding back like a tide, scene by scene.

All those images I thought I'd forgotten, all those wounds I thought had healed---they were all torn open again.

Three years ago.

When Sebastian and I first got together, we actually had a happy period.

He was very gentle then.

He would drive to my office building and wait for me to get off work.

Every time I walked out of the building, warmth would flood my heart.

He remembered which bakery's chestnut cake I'd mentioned liking.

On rainy days, he would tilt most of the umbrella toward me.

I truly believed I'd met the right person.

But reality slapped me in the face soon enough.

The gap in our backgrounds was like an insurmountable chasm.

He was the heir to the Knight family.

He had a driver, a private chef, and every piece of clothing he wore cost more than my monthly salary.

And me? I was just an ordinary working girl fresh out of college.

I rented an old apartment in the suburbs, took the crowded subway to work every morning, and ate fifteen-dollar takeout for lunch.

I was always afraid of being looked down on by people in his circle, afraid they'd say I was social climbing.

So I never took his money.

When we went out to eat, I would quietly transfer him half the bill.

Every time he received the transfer, he would frown and say it wasn't necessary to split things so clearly.

But I insisted.

I thought this almost stubborn independence would earn me equal respect.

But I was wrong.

Sebastian had a friend named Jonathan.

He was also a colleague at my previous company.

Jonathan and I were just acquaintances.

We barely even chatted on SnapChat.

When we ran into each other at the office, we'd just nod and say "morning." That was it.

Until that party.

The party was at a very upscale private club.

It was my first time at a place like that.

The private room was filled with smoke, with men and women I didn't know sitting around.

Everyone was dressed so elegantly.

The women wore sparkling jewelry, and the men's watches were clearly worth a fortune.

I sat next to Sebastian, completely out of place.

That's when Victoria appeared.

She was Sebastian's childhood friend, a real socialite.

She walked over with a wine glass, her gaze scanning me up and down.

Then she smiled and turned to Sebastian.

"Sebastian, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Sebastian held my hand.

"This is Rain. My girlfriend."

Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Rain. I heard you and Jonathan are quite close?"

All eyes turned to me.

Victoria pretended to look surprised, covering her mouth.

"Oh my, did I remember wrong?"

I froze for a moment and instinctively looked at Sebastian.

He was leaning back on the sofa, playing with a lighter.

He didn't say anything.

Didn't even look at me.

I could only force myself to speak.

"We just worked at the same company before. We've only met a few times."

"Just met a few times?" Victoria's smile was loaded with meaning.

"How strange. I heard Jonathan used to pursue you."

My hand clenched tight.

"That's not true, Miss Victoria. You heard wrong."

"Really?" Victoria shrugged.

"Then maybe I did hear wrong."

She raised her glass and clinked it with Sebastian's.

"But Sebastian, you'd better keep a close eye on her."

Sebastian lifted his eyelids and gave Victoria a cool glance.

"My business is none of your concern."

Victoria smiled carelessly and returned to her seat.

I spent the rest of that party on edge.

On the drive home, the atmosphere in the car was heavy.

Sebastian didn't say a word.

"Sebastian." I called his name.

He kept his eyes on the road.

"What?"

"Jonathan and I really aren't close."

Sebastian turned the steering wheel as the car entered the residential area.

"I know."

His voice was calm.

But I didn't catch the dismissiveness hidden in those words.

From that day on, Victoria started spreading rumors in their circle.

Saying I used to date Jonathan.

Saying I was a gold digger who specialized in seducing wealthy men.

I was shaking with anger.

The water glass in my hand was trembling so much the water nearly spilled.

But what made me feel even colder was that these rumors reached Sebastian's ears.

He changed.

He stopped picking me up from work like before.

He used to arrive ten minutes early, leaning against his car door waiting for me.

When he saw me come out, he'd smile and open the car door for me.

Now he stopped coming.

His text replies got slower and slower.

They used to be instant.

Then they became a few minutes.

Then hours.

When we occasionally ate together, he would casually drop Jonathan's name into conversation.

"Jonathan got a new car today."

"Jonathan's going to Europe on business next month."

Every time he mentioned it, he would look at me with that penetrating gaze, as if observing my reaction.

That look made me very uncomfortable.

Like an interrogation, watching to see if I'd slip up somehow.

One night at his apartment.

I finally couldn't take it anymore.

His apartment was in an upscale complex on the west side of the city.

The living room was huge, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city at night.

I put down my water glass and looked at him.

"Sebastian, what's been going on with you lately?"

He sat on the sofa, looking at his laptop screen.

"Nothing. Just busy with work."

"Is it because of what Victoria said?" I cut straight to the point.

Sebastian looked up, his gaze heavy as he stared at me.

"What did you hear?"

"What I heard doesn't matter." I took a deep breath.

"What matters is whether you believe it."

I walked up to him, crouched down, and looked into his eyes.

His eyes were deep brown.

I used to feel safe looking into those eyes.

But now, all I saw in them was coldness and suspicion.

"I'll explain one last time. Jonathan and I are just colleagues. The person I like is you. From beginning to end, only you."

Sebastian looked at me.

"If he's just an acquaintance, why didn't you mention him before?"

I froze.

"Because there was nothing worth mentioning." I looked at him in disbelief.

"I can't exactly report every male colleague I know to you, can I?"

Sebastian let out a cold laugh.

"Don't want to mention him, or feeling guilty?"

My whole body stiffened.

"What did you say?"

"Rain, you really don't need to be so defensive."

He stood up, looking down at me.

"I'm just asking."

He turned and walked toward the balcony, lighting a cigarette.

The lighter flared up, then went dark.

Through the glass door, I watched his back and suddenly felt he was so unfamiliar.

I thought if I was sincere enough, he would eventually believe me.

But I didn't know.

The seed of doubt in Sebastian's heart had already begun to grow wild.

That night, I didn't stay at his place.

I walked alone through the late-night streets.

The wind cut across my face like a knife.

I had no idea that the worst was still to come.

The breaking point came half a month later.

That day was Sebastian's birthday.

I'd spent a month's salary to buy him a watch he'd had his eye on for a long time.

I'd looked at that watch in the mall three times, each time pretending I was just passing by.

The sales clerk behind the counter probably remembered me by then.

When I bought that watch, my bank account had less than a hundred dollars left.

But I was so happy.

I put the watch in a deep blue gift box and tied it with a bow.

I went to his office full of joy.

But in the underground parking garage, I saw him standing with Victoria.

The parking garage lights were dim.

Victoria held an elegant gift box in her hands, smiling as she handed it to him.

"Happy birthday, Sebastian."

Sebastian took it.

"Thanks."

"Is Jonathan coming today?" Victoria asked casually.

"Yes." Sebastian said.

"Well, you'd better keep an eye on Rain." Victoria laughed behind her hand.

"Don't let them rekindle old flames. That wouldn't look good for you."

I stood behind a pillar, expecting Sebastian to refute her.

But he didn't.

So this was what I was to him---a woman who needed to be watched, to be warned about.

I turned around and threw the watch box into the trash.

That night, we had our most explosive fight in his apartment.

I poured out all the grievances I'd been holding in for the past two weeks.

Sebastian finally said what he'd been holding back too.

His eyes were red as he stared at me.

"Did you get close to me because of Jonathan? Did you settle for me because you couldn't have him?"

I looked at him in disbelief, tears streaming down my face.

The tears flowed down my cheeks, unstoppable.

"Sebastian, are you insane?"

"Answer me!" He grabbed my shoulders so hard it hurt.

His fingers dug into me like iron clamps, my bones creaking under the pressure.

"Have you ever really liked me? Or do you just like money? Can anyone sleep with you as long as they have money?"

I looked at this man who was nearly mad.

The fortress in my heart came crashing down.

I didn't struggle.

I just let the tears fall.

"Sebastian." I looked at him, my voice hoarse.

"You never believed me."

I pulled away from his grip and turned toward the door.

"Let's break up."

The next day, I moved out of that apartment.

Sebastian didn't try to stop me.

He didn't even send a single message.

When I was packing, his hands stayed in his pockets.

He stood in the middle of the living room, watching me pack my things into boxes one by one.

From beginning to end, he didn't say a word.

When I walked out of the complex dragging my suitcase, the sun was bright.

I stood at the roadside waiting for a taxi.

The sunlight shone on me, warm.

But I couldn't feel any warmth at all.

Beep beep beep---

The alarm pulled me back to reality.

I took a deep breath and sat up in bed.

Wash up, make breakfast, send Ian to kindergarten, then go to work.

Life had to go on.

My current company was in an office building in the CBD.

I was holding coffee when I walked downstairs.

My steps froze.

Outside the entrance, a black Maybach was parked.

Sebastian leaned against the car door, wearing a well-tailored black suit.

He was smoking.

The smoke dispersed in front of him, blurring his features.

When he saw me, he stubbed out the cigarette and straightened up.

Colleagues passing by were all sneaking glances at him.

I gripped my coffee cup tighter, forced myself to look away, and walked straight ahead.

"Rain."

He called my name.

I ignored him and quickened my pace.

He took several steps forward and blocked my path.

"We need to talk."