’What is he trying to do? Save me just so he can choke me to death again?’

’How cruel...’

How she wanted to scream at him, ’Tristan Grayson, do you even have a heart?!’ But she couldn’t make a sound.

All around her, there was nothing but the endless sound of the man’s voice. She felt as if she were trapped in darkness, unable to escape.

’This must be what hell is like,’ she thought.

She didn’t know how long she had been trapped in the darkness before she finally saw a sliver of light. Then, she felt someone tugging at her arm. She forced her eyes open and saw Kiki.

Kiki was tugging her arm, glaring at her angrily.

She frowned, watching Kiki for a long moment before her head cleared. "Kiki, what’s wrong?"

Kiki let go of her arm, sat on the bed, crossed his arms, and tilted his chin up slightly. "I’m sorry," he said coldly.

"Hm? What?" Mika clearly couldn’t follow Kiki’s train of thought. She sat up in bed and asked, a little confused.

Seeing Mika so confused, Kiki looked at her huffily and enunciated each word, "I. Am. Sorry."

"Sorry?" Mika raised an eyebrow and pulled him into her arms.

"Mhm." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"What are you sorry for?" She didn’t understand. ’Why is he apologizing to me so early in the morning?’

Kiki lowered his head, looking wronged. "Yesterday, I called you a bad woman."

"Then do you think Mommy is a bad woman?" ’So that’s what this is about.’ A warmth spread through Mika’s heart as she chuckled softly.

"I don’t know." Kiki wanted to say yes, but he remembered what his daddy had said and could only shake his head, answering against his true feelings.

"Heh..." Hearing Kiki’s words, a bitter smile touched Mika’s lips. "Kiki," she said, "Mommy is planning to move out today. If you don’t like me, you won’t have to see me anymore."

Kiki looked up in surprise. "You’re leaving?" His voice trembled slightly, catching in his throat.

’Is this woman abandoning me? Just because I called her a bad woman?’

’But I already apologized...’

Kiki didn’t know what was wrong with him. He just wanted to cry...

Mika fought back tears and said with a smile, "Mhm. Mommy was originally going to spend some time getting to know Kiki, and then take you with me when I left. But, since Kiki doesn’t like me, I’ve decided it’s better to leave you here with Daddy."

Hearing Mika’s words, Kiki couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into tears.

Mika was startled by his sudden outburst. "What’s wrong, Kiki?" she asked urgently. "Why are you crying?"

"SOB..." Kiki rubbed his eyes, refusing to let Mika touch him.

"Kiki, what is it? Won’t you please tell Mommy what’s wrong?"

"Just go! I never want to see you again, you bad woman!" ’Liar. They’re all liars. All that talk about being a family and living together was a lie.’

’Daddy lied to me, and this woman lied to me too.’

’I knew it...’

"Sigh..." Mika’s heart ached, but she had no idea what to say.

’I want to cry, too...’

’Never wants to see me again?’

Kiki cried for nearly half an hour before he finally stopped. Mika looked at his swollen eyes, sighed softly, and asked cautiously, "It’s the weekend. How about Mommy takes you out for the day? I can bring you back tonight."

Kiki didn’t answer her, simply sitting on the bed with red-rimmed eyes.

Mika put Kiki’s shoes on, grabbed her purse from the bed, and carried him out of the room.

Once downstairs, she took the key from her purse, placed it on the coffee table, and then left with Kiki...