Chapter 1 Chapter 1

For the nursery's Family Day, my husband, Gary Lane, said that he was busy at work and told our daughter, Emily Lane, and I not to participate in the event. I looked at Emily's disappointed face, my heart ached. Therefore, I decided to take Emily to the event myself. As soon as we arrived at the nursery, we saw Gary carrying a little boy in one hand and holding his childhood sweetheart, Shannon Harvey's hand in the other. They looked like a family of three and were very happy. That was until they saw me and Emily. Gary furrowed his brows a little and then let go of Shannon's hand. "Don't get me wrong, Jasmine. It's not easy for Shannon to raise a child as a single mother. It's the child's fifth birthday today. She wanted him to experience some fatherly love." I looked at him meaningfully, squatted down, and held Emily's hand. "Honey, say hello to Mr. Lane." Seeing what was happening, Shannon quickly held her son's hand and said apologetically, "Please don't be mad, Jasmine. Gary's just doing me a favor. My child never had a father. It's his fifth birthday today, and Gary's just fulfilling his wish. I looked at her with a meaningful smile. "If that's the case, since Emily and I are here, shouldn't you give Gary back to us? After all, we're the real family of three." Shannon was a little taken aback. But her son was unwilling to let Gary go. "Dad, you promised to spend the day with me and Mom!" The five-year-old child glared at me with fierce eyes. Before I could say anything, Gary stepped in front of the mother and son. He looked like he was protecting them. His voice was a little impatient. "Jasmine, you have a child as well. Don't you understand what a child wants?" "Shannon and I grew up together. I'm just spending one day with them. One day, that's all. Are you even going to make a fuss about such a minor thing?" His words infuriated me. 'Could it be that I'm the one to blame for Shannon's misfortune?' At that moment, the other parents of the nursery's students gradually arrived. Some came over to say hello. "Good morning, Shannon and Gary! The three of you are always here for every Family Day, unlike my husband, Jake. He always says that he's busy at work and doesn't care about his child at all." Shannon replied awkwardly and Gary tried to avoid eye contact. I couldn't help but ask, "Gary, so this is the one day you were talking about?" Gary became infuriated and grabbed my arm. "Jasmine, there are a lot of people here. Let's not make a scene." He then lowered his head, looked at Emily, and said in a low voice, "It's also not a good thing for Emily if you cause a scene, wouldn't you say?" Emily was a little puzzled when she suddenly heard her name being mentioned. She looked around and didn't seem to know what was going on. She leaned against my leg and her hand which was holding mine was already sweating. I could sense her uneasiness, so I squatted down and patted her head. "There's no need to be afraid. I'm here with you." I looked at Gary's, Shannon's, and Luke's receding figures. They were soon surrounded. Some greeted Gary with a smile in an attempt to please him. They were praising him because he was a successful businessman. He was only in his early 30s and was already the owner of a listed company worth billions of dollars. Gary was very proud of himself and was getting very cocky. As for Shannon, she looked at Gary with a glorious look on her face. Luke, who had been in Gary's arms, suddenly turned to look at me with a provocative look on his face. I couldn't help but sneer inwardly. 'It seems that Gary doesn't know his place anymore.' I had not been to the company for quite some time due to being pregnant. But I owned 75% of the Wing Group's shares. Technically, I was the one in control of the company. Gary got to where he was because of me. Due to the fact that we were husband and wife, I gave him a manager's title. I unlocked my phone and sent a message to the company's Human Resources Department. "Joe, remove Gary from the manager's position and make an internal announcement next Monday." I then sent a message to the company's Legal Department. "Ben, draft a divorce agreement for me and Gary." 'Gary, I'm the one who decides if you can depend on me or not,' I said inwardly.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Soon, the nursery's Family Day event officially began. Every family sat at the table that was prepared in advance. Emily looked at Gary, who was sitting in the front row, and asked with a disappointed look on her face, "Mom, why isn't Dad sitting with us?" I squeezed my daughter's soft face. She was still young and shouldn't be involved in such disgusting matters. "Because I'm a superwoman, so Dad has gone to help other children." At that moment, the nursery teacher announced the start of the first activity, block building. She also said with a smile, "There's a prize for first place. It'll be a Lego spaceship." Emily suddenly became excited and pointed at the spaceship. "Mom, I want that!""Okay, then let's do our best to earn it!" When the sand glass was about to run out of time, Emily raised her hand and shouted excitedly, "We're done, Miss!" The teacher came over, nodded her head, and was about to announce the winner. That was when a boy from the front row rushed over. It was Luke. He pushed the building blocks over and said arrogantly, "Now, I'm the winner!" Emily looked at the scattered building blocks and tears immediately began welling up in her eyes. She picked up a piece of building block and threw it at Luke. Gary immediately came over and said, "Emily, how could you hit others? Apologize to Luke right now." Emily wasn't backing down. "No way! He's the one who ruined my block build first! He's a bad guy!" I stood firmly behind our daughter. "Gary, everyone here knows who's in the wrong. Luke should be the one to apologize!" Shannon came over and pulled Gary's arm. "Forget it, Gary. Let's not make a fuss. You shouldn't argue with a child." The teacher wanted to calm things down as well. At that moment, Emily suddenly began to cry. "Dad, why aren't you protecting me? Why are you shouting at me?" How she addressed Gary caused everyone present to be dumbfounded. They looked at me, Gary, and Shannon. Gary's face immediately turned red. Shannon wanted to say something but couldn't. At that moment, Luke crossed his arms and said, "Who are you calling Dad? What nonsense is this? This is my dad!" Tears streamed down Emily's face as she sobbed and shouted in a sharp voice, "Dad, say something!" My heart ached and I glared at Gary. My voice became serious as well. "Gary, aren't you going to explain? Do you want others to misunderstand me and Emily?" Gary glared at me and picked Luke up. "What have I got to explain? Today, I'm Luke's dad!" After saying that, he patted Luke's head. For a moment there, other parents began looking at me and my daughter. "How could that child just call anyone her dad?""Emily never attended the nursery's Family Day in the past. This time, she came with only her mom. Do you think her mom's someone's mistress?""I've heard that Gary's the CEO of a major company and is very rich. I think Emily's mom wants to seduce Gary and is mistaken by her daughter." When others were talking about me and my daughter, Gary didn't say a word. He just stood there and tried to comfort Luke. Shannon stood at one side and looked at me with a smile. I pulled Emily, who was crying, into my arms and patted her back lightly. I wanted to beat the hell out of the two scumbags but this wasn't the right place. I couldn't let my daughter be hurt again. At that moment, someone who was trying to please Gary said, "Luke looks a lot like Mr. Lane. They're definitely father and son." I raised my head and looked at Gary. A flash of guilt appeared in his eyes. He didn't continue the conversation and just laughed. As for Shannon, she stood to one side with a happy smile on her face. I had seen Luke before, but I had never realized that Luke looked a little like Gary. Emily was crying nonstop. I had no choice but to ask the teacher to take us to the lounge. I wanted to comfort Emily first. After arriving at the lounge, I comforted Emily and she gradually fell asleep. Looking at her red eyes, my heart ached. I tiptoed out of the room and walked to the end of the corridor and called Joe and Ben. "Joe, Ben, bring my marriage certificate, the drafted divorce agreement, and the Letter of Dismissal to the Cross Lane Nursery right now. I want them ASAP!" When I was about to talk to them about the details, I suddenly heard a scream. It was Emily's. My heart skipped a beat.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

At the other end of the corridor, outside the toilets. Emily was pushed to the ground. She was sobbing and was surrounded. The person hitting her was Luke. He had a fierce look on his face. "Who said you could call anyone Dad? I'm going to teach you a lesson that you'll never forget!" With that, he kicked Emily in the stomach. The pain caused Emily to gasp. She wanted to dodge, but the boy behind her caught her. "Since you're the child of the mistress, you deserve to be beaten up.""My mom said that illegitimate children like her should be strangled!" Emily waved her hand to struggle and was crying. "Nonsense! He is my dad! Mom, Dad, help! They're hurting me! Mom, Dad, where are you?" When I saw what was happening, my head went blank and my blood was boiling. When those boys saw me, they looked at each other, and when they saw the fierce look on my face, they all scattered. I pulled Emily into my arms and only then did I realize that she was shaking. I quickly called the ambulance. "It's alright, dear. I'm here for you." When the ambulance arrived, the other parents were curious of what happened. I held Emily in my arms and rushed over. On my way to the ambulance, I saw Gary working on the block build with Luke with a smile on his face. As for Shannon, she was at the side and wiping the sweat off Gary's forehead. When he heard the commotion, he raised his head with a puzzled look on his face. He stood up and walked over to me. "What happened? What's wrong with Emily?" Before I could say anything, Shannon grabbed his hand. "Gary, you promised Luke that you'll keep him company today. You have no idea how happy he was last night when I told him that you'll keep him company today." Gary stopped dead in his tracks. I had already gotten into the ambulance with Emily. Emily had passed out. The doctor had already started treating her. When a female doctor lifted Emily's skirt, she couldn't help but gasp, "How could someone be so cruel to such a small child?" I immediately began to cry and was in a panic. There were countless bruises on Emily's delicate skin. There was also a major bruise on her waist. Her whole body was trembling and the doctor was obviously desperate. "Quick, connect her to the machines!" Two hours had passed when Emily's condition was no longer critical. Those two hours felt like a decade to me. Hatred and regret arose in my heart and I was starting to lose my cool. My mom was in tears and complained, "What were you doing? How could you have allowed this to happen to Emily?" Emily, who was having an IV drip, slowly opened her eyes and looked at me in a daze. "Mom, why did they all say that I don't have a dad? But I do have a dad! Why didn't Dad protect me?" I gently kissed her cheek and said, "I will protect you forever, Emily. You're my most precious treasure. As for Dad, we're the ones who's abandoned him." When I returned to the nursery, it was the end of the Family Day. It was the final activity. Every child was supposed to draw a picture of themselves and their parents. Gary was patiently coloring in the picture. Luke was quietly in his arms. Shannon was taking pictures of them with a satisfied smile on her face. They really looked like a happy family. But why was my daughter hospitalized and did the person who was responsible get to enjoy himself happily? I rushed over and slapped Shannon without hesitation. The sudden force caused her to stumble and knock into the table behind her with a loud thud. The sudden slap dumbfounded everyone present. Gary then shouted, "Jasmine, what the hell are you doing?" He then quickly pulled Shannon into his arms. His eyes were full of concern. "Shannon, are you alright?" Tears welled up in Shannon's eyes as she shook her head with a pitiful look. "Is there some kind of misunderstanding between us, Jasmine? I do apologize if there is." I sneered. "Don't you think it's a little inappropriate with just a verbal apology?" With that, I was about to slap Shannon again. Seeing what I was doing, Gary was about to stop me. I then turned and slapped Gary in the face. The handprint was obvious on his face. Gary covered his face and was taken aback. He then said angrily, "Jasmine, what is wrong with you? Have I been too nice to you?" At that moment, the teacher of the nursery came over to try and ease the situation. They asked me what happened. I pointed at Luke and said through gnashed teeth, "That brought led a few boys and went to beat my daughter up when I was making a call!" As soon as I said those words, Shannon interrupted desperately. "That's not possible. Luke is a very well-behaved child. You have to believe me, Gary!" I took a step forward. "Not possible? Then why did you think the ambulance was just here?" Gary stood in front of Shannon and Luke like a guardian again. "How could a child be so mean? It's normal for them to play fight. Let's not exaggerate things and resort to violence like a barbarian." Seeing how infuriated I was, Gary pushed me to the ground. My hands grazed against the ground and began to bleed. Those who tried to please Gary looked down at me with disdain. "Is she here to take advantage of Mr. Lane? Everyone knows that he's rich. She must wanted to scam some of his money! Haven't you taken a look at yourself in the mirror? You'll definitely be crying when the Legal Department of the Wing Group comes looking for you. Have you failed to seduce Mr. Lane in the past and that's why you're here to make a scene today? Don't you think you're no match for Mrs. Lane? You're just a mistress!" At that moment, the sound of cars appeared from a distance and closed in on the nursery. Soon, three high-end MPVs stopped outside the nursery entrance. Some of the parents with good eyes gasped. "There are logos of the Wing Group on the cars. They belong to the senior executives." Some people continued to please Gary. "As expected from Mr. Lane. He's called for the Legal Department of the company." With that, they looked at me with disdain. "Pity. You're done for. Everyone knows that no one can defeat the Legal Department of the Wing Group in Lonefoster. You'll definitely be facing a huge fine and time in prison!" Some of the parents who were KOLs were already excited and began recording with their phones. "I didn't expect to come across such shocking news today. Follow me netizens and I'll be streaming live on what will happen to this mistress." When Shannon realized what was going on, she looked at Gary in surprise. Luke, who was standing next to her, became even more arrogant.