Son Wants a New Mom, Dad Says Denied

After being married to Caden Lancaster for seven years, I find a diamond ear stud that doesn't belong to me in his suit pocket for the first time. What's more, I haven't worn jewelry in a long time. I calmly place the stud on the dining table in the living room and wait for Caden to come back with our son, Felix Lancaster. As soon as Felix walks in, he spots the sparkling stud and says with disdain, "Mom, you're wasting money again." I hold back the urge to hit him. I ignore him and shift my gaze to Caden, who is standing behind him. "Explain yourself. Whose earring is this?" I say coolly. Caden doesn't speak. He stands there as if he is frozen in place. His handsome features stiffen. Seeing the scene, Felix suddenly bursts into laughter. "Dad, did you find me a new mom? That's great!" My six-year-old son imitates the mocking tone he heard from short videos and shouts at me, "Having a plain Jane mom like you is so embarrassing! Get out of my house! This looks like Ms. Sulvan's earring. That's great! I want her to be my mom. She's pretty, gentle, and she really likes Dad." Every word cuts deeply into my heart. Upon hearing this, Caden loosens his clenched fist. He takes two shoehorns from the cabinet behind him and smacks Felix on the head. He hands both of them to me and asks in a low, grim voice, "Which one do you want, honey? The wider one or the thinner one?" Chapter 1 I stared at the two shoehorns Caden Lancaster handed me. One was made of dark hardwood, wide and sturdy, clearly meant for delivering a proper beating. The other was plastic, thin and long, perfect for leaving bright red welts. The seven-year itch that had been burning inside me was doused by my son's betrayal, leaving me feeling oddly amused despite everything. Before I could choose one, little Felix Lancaster burst into tears with a wail loud enough to wake the dead, as if he'd suffered the greatest injustice in the world. "Daddy, you're hitting me! You're hitting me for this old, ugly woman!" he cried, stamping his feet, his small body trembling with rage. "I hate you! I hate her too! I want Ms. Sulvan to be my mom!" Caden's expression turned stormy as thunder. Without a word, he grabbed the thick hardwood shoehorn and brought it down hard on Felix's backside with a sharp crack. He put real force into it. Felix's crying stopped abruptly, his whole body frozen in shock, before he erupted into an even more agonized howl. "You hit me again! I'm calling the police on you! This is abuse!" I watched coldly, making no move to intervene. Caden dragged his wailing son to the corner and made him face the wall to think about what he'd done. Only then did he turn and walk over to me, his deep eyes filled with exhaustion and apology. "Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't raise our son properly." He picked up the earring from the table, his brow furrowed. "This does seem to belong to Ms. Sulvan, but I have no idea how it ended up in my pocket." I stared into his eyes. Caden had beautiful eyes with slightly upturned corners. In his youth, those eyes made countless girls scream. Now, mellowed by time, they appeared even more tender. He never lied to me. I knew that better than anyone. But the appearance of this earring wouldn't stop nagging at me. "Ms. Sulvan, the one who teaches their class literature, the really pretty one?" I asked. "Yes." Caden nodded. He then added, "But I don't think she's pretty." His survival instinct was strong, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to completely calm me down right now. "Then how do you explain this?" I pointed at the earring. Before Caden could answer, Felix sniffled from the corner and tattled, "It is Ms. Sulvan's! I saw her wearing it today. She dropped one and looked for it forever, but she couldn't find it. "She even said she hoped a handsome guy would find it, and she'd marry him to say thanks. Ms. Sulvan said before that Daddy is really handsome." Caden and I locked eyes, instantly understanding what had happened. Caden walked over and dragged Felix, who was covered in snot and tears, back to us. His voice went dead serious. "Felix Lancaster, you tell me the truth. Did you pick up Ms. Sulvan's earring and put it in my pocket?" Felix's eyes darted around. He pouted stubbornly, refusing to speak. "Speak!" Caden's voice went ice cold. Felix finally cracked and burst into tears again. "I just wanted Ms. Sulvan to be part of our family! "Ms. Sulvan is so nice, not like Mom, who wears those old pajamas every day with messy hair and doesn't look good at all! All my classmates laugh at me and say my mom looks like a maid!" Chapter 2 Kids often said the cruelest things. My heart clenched so tight I couldn't breathe. After seven years of marriage, I'd gone from a career woman, a rising star in the design world with a name people recognized, to a housewife who spent her days circling the stove and chasing after a kid. I gave up my dreams and the glamour all for this family. And in the end, in my own son's eyes, I was just some "old, ugly" woman who "looked like a maid". Caden froze too. He stared at my face, which had gone white in an instant, and heartbreak filled his eyes filled. He let go of Felix and strode over to me, pulling me into his arms. "What the hell are you saying!" he roared at our son, voice shaking with fury. "Felix, apologize to your mother right now!" "I won't!" Felix's chin jutted out as he glared at me. "I'm not wrong! Just look at her! Look at what she's wearing! She doesn't even brush her hair! "At the last parent meeting, all the other kids' moms wore dresses and makeup. But her? She showed up in a tracksuit! Tommy and the guys all laughed at me!" I went stiff. I remembered that parent meeting. That day, I'd been busy making the lunch Felix specifically asked for, then cleaning the house. By the time I looked at the clock, there was only half an hour left before the meeting started. I rushed to change into what I thought was a decent enough tracksuit and hurried over. I didn't even have time to look in a mirror. Apparently, in my child's eyes, that was utterly humiliating. Caden's arms tightened around me. He turned, his gaze ice-cold. "Felix, your mother gets up before dawn every single day to make you breakfast. After you go to bed at night, she's still cleaning the house. "She doesn't have time to dress up because she spends all her time on you. Do you think the things you just said are fair to her?" "I don't care!" Felix shouted. "I just want a pretty mom! Ms. Sulvan would be perfect!" "Fine. That's just fine." I gently pushed Caden away and took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. I walked over to Felix and crouched down, looking straight into his eyes. Those eyes looked exactly like mine, except right now they were full of disgust. "Felix, you think I'm not good enough anymore. You want to replace me, is that it?" My calm stare unnerved him a little, but he still nodded. "Alright." I stood up. The stabbing pain in my chest had gone numb, replaced by a hollow emptiness. I looked at Caden and said, "Caden, let's get a divorce." Chapter 3 "What did you just say?" Caden's face went even whiter than mine. He stared at me as if I'd just suggested flying to the moon. Even Felix, still sniffling in the corner, stopped and stared at us with wide eyes. "I said, let's get a divorce," I said again, quietly but clearly. "Since your son wants a new mom so badly, I'll make it happen. I'm done being the maid around here." I turned to head back to the bedroom, but Caden grabbed my wrist. "Beatrice!" Caden's voice carried a hint of panic. "Don't say things you don't mean. Felix doesn't understand what he's saying. I'll deal with him later. Don't take it personally!" "I'm not saying things I don't mean." I turned back to look at him. My gaze was calm, though my throat felt tight. "Caden, I'm tired. I'm really tired." The past seven years hadn't exactly been easy. At gatherings with friends, I watched the women who used to be my equals become leaders in their fields. They wore tailored suits and talked about their latest projects and stock portfolios, while I could only chime in with parenting tips. I never told Caden how that felt. When I woke up in the middle of the night to crying, fumbling in the dark to warm bottles and change diapers while he slept soundly beside me, I never told him about that exhaustion either. When I deleted the coat I'd been eyeing in my shopping cart for weeks so I could afford to sign Felix up for more expensive enrichment classes, I never told him how that stung. I thought this was just marriage, a life that I had chosen. But when everything I'd sacrificed got thrown back in my face by my own son, when he treated it like something shameful, that was when I realized all my effort had become a joke. "Honey…" Caden swallowed hard, and his eyes filled with anguish. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I haven't paid enough attention to how you feel. We won't get divorced, okay? Give me a chance. Let me make this up to you." "Daddy, is Mommy leaving us?" Felix finally grasped how serious this was. He ran over crying and wrapped his arms around Caden's leg. "Then who's going to make me food…" He hesitated, then said, "Ms. Sulvan?" Caden's expression darkened instantly. Felix quickly ducked his head, realizing that was a stupid thing to say. His father clearly didn't like Ms. Sulvan. Felix looked at me carefully. The disgust was gone from his eyes, replaced by fear. I smiled bitterly. They should have been everything I was proud of. But right now, all I felt was how ridiculous it all was. I didn't answer. I yanked my wrist free from Caden's grip, walked into the bedroom, and locked the door behind me. Outside, Caden was yelling, and Felix was wailing. "Felix! You just drove your mother away! I'm telling you right now, if this family loses her, you and I are done too!" "Daddy, I was wrong. I'm sorry! I want Mommy back! I don't want Ms. Sulvan anymore." "Now you know you were wrong? Too late!" I leaned against the door, listening to the chaos outside. Finally, the tears came. I didn't really want a divorce. I loved Caden, and I loved Felix too. I just couldn't stand being looked down on anymore. I needed a way out, a way to breathe. I needed to take a hard look at what these seven years had done to my life. Chapter 4 I stayed in the bedroom for a long time, until the noise outside finally died down. Someone knocked softly on the door. "Honey, can you open up? I made dinner—all your favorites." Caden's voice came through the door, careful and pleading, but I ignored him. "I made that little brat stand out on the balcony to think about what he did. He knows he messed up. He's crying and begging to apologize to you. "Honey, please don't be mad anymore. You can hit me, yell at me, whatever you want. Just don't shut me out. "Beatrice…" His voice got quieter and quieter until I could barely hear the catch in his throat. Something squeezed in my chest. This man had been devoted to me since college, spoiling me rotten. In seven years of marriage, we'd barely even argued. He took care of all the heavy lifting, made me tea when I had my period, and remembered every single one of our anniversaries. He was a golden boy, a CEO who commanded respect at work, but he was willing to drop all of that for me. How could I actually leave him? I wiped my tears and opened the door. Caden stood there with red-rimmed eyes. When he saw me, relief washed over his face, and he pulled me into a tight hug. "You scared me to death." He buried his face in my shoulder, his voice muffled. I patted his back and said quietly, "I'm hungry." "Right, let's eat. Come on." He quickly led me to the dining room. The table was covered with food, all my favorites, but Felix wasn't there. The offending earring was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Felix?" I asked. "Still on the balcony." Caden ladled soup into my bowl. "Letting him think about it a bit longer." I didn't say anything else and just ate quietly. The warmth spread through my stomach, and the ice around my heart seemed to thaw a little. We ate the entire meal in unusual silence. After dinner, Caden went to the balcony and hauled Felix back inside. The kid had been out in the cold wind. His eyes were swollen and puffy from crying, his nose was red, and he looked utterly pitiful. The moment he came in, he ran over and threw himself at my feet. "Mommy, I was wrong!" He grabbed my legs and cried so hard he could barely breathe. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. Please don't leave me. Don't divorce Daddy!" I looked down at him, feeling a mess of emotions. "Felix, tell me. What exactly did you do wrong?" "I-I shouldn't have said you weren't pretty. I shouldn't have told you to get out of the house. I shouldn't have wanted Ms. Sulvan to be my mom…" he sobbed, his eyes darting around nervously. Then he said in a squeaky, unconvincing voice, "Mommy, you're the prettiest. You're a hundred times prettier than Ms. Sulvan!" When he hurt me, he really hurt me. And when he lied, it was just as obvious. "Is that so?" I asked flatly. "But earlier you said your classmates all laughed at me for looking like a maid, didn't you?" Felix's crying stopped short. His little face turned bright red. Caden spoke up from the side, his voice low. "I already called Tommy's dad. Tomorrow I'm going to the school myself to have a chat with your homeroom teacher and those kids who've been running their mouths." He put particular emphasis on "have a chat". I could just picture Caden's cold face looming over a bunch of six-year-olds. Felix's face went from red to pale and back again. Finally, his pudgy little hands twisted together. "Daddy, do you have to go to school…" Halfway through the sentence, Caden shot him a look. Felix ducked his head and went completely silent. Looking at their matching guilty expressions, I let out a long sigh. "Felix." I pulled him up off the floor and looked him straight in the eye. "I can let this go, and I won't get divorced. But you need to remember something—I do things for you because I love you. That doesn't mean you get to take it for granted or treat me like garbage." I glanced around at our neat, well-kept home and said calmly, "Since you think the old me wasn't good enough, I'll change. "From now on, you handle your own business. Dress yourself, pick up your own toys, and check your own homework. I'm not going to spend 24 hours a day revolving around you anymore." Felix nodded, not quite understanding. Caden came over and wrapped his arms around me from behind. He looked at Felix and said, "And if you ever make your mother upset again, it's the shoehorn. Got it?" "Got it," Felix answered quietly. The family storm triggered by a single earring seemed to settle down after that. The misunderstanding was cleared up, and Felix apologized. Caden became even more attentive, practically glued to my side, terrified I'd actually pack up and leave one day. But the hurt was still there. And my dear son clearly wasn't done either. He just switched to a more roundabout strategy to continue his grand plan of getting a new mom. Chapter 5 The first weekend after the drama, I was still asleep when rustling sounds woke me up. I opened my eyes and saw Felix standing on his tiptoes by my vanity, acting suspicious. "Felix, what are you doing?" I asked. He jumped, startled, and whatever he was holding clattered to the floor. I looked closer. It was the barely-used set of ridiculously expensive skincare products I owned. "I… I wanted to make Mommy pretty," he said quietly, picking up the bottle. For a second, I felt a rush of warmth. Had this kid actually turned over a new leaf? I sat up and waved him over. "Come here." He shuffled to the bedside. "How do you want to make me pretty?" I asked gently. "Ms. Sulvan says women have to take care of themselves, or they'll age fast," he recited seriously. "She says she uses toner, serum, lotion, cream, and eye cream every single day. Mommy, you should use them too." As he spoke, he tried to smear the serum on my face. I caught his hand, not sure whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, alright. I got it. Go wash up, and we'll take you out later." That day, I did something unusual. I put on light makeup and changed into a dress I hadn't worn in ages. When I walked out of the bedroom, Caden was reading the newspaper, and Felix was playing with Legos. They both froze like someone had hit pause and turned to stare at me. Caden's eyes lit up with undisguised admiration. He set down the paper, walked over, and reached for my waist out of habit. "Honey, you look beautiful today." Felix ran over too, tilting his head up to look at me with bright, shining eyes. "Mommy, you look like a fairy today!" My mood lifted. I smiled and pinched his cheek. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. But I celebrated too soon. The three of us went to an amusement park and wore ourselves out completely. By the time we got home that evening, Felix was already asleep in my arms. Caden carried him to his room while I went to remove my makeup and wash up. When I came out of the bathroom in my familiar old cotton pajamas with a sheet mask on my face, Caden was leaning against the headboard, looking at his phone. He glanced up at me and smiled. "You must be exhausted. Come rest." I'd just climbed into bed when Caden's phone rang. It was a FaceTime call. He looked at the screen, his expression turning a bit odd, then declined the call. "Who is it?" I asked casually. "Nothing important. A work thing." He set his phone face down on the nightstand. I didn't think much of it and pulled off my sheet mask, ready to sleep. Then the phone rang again. It was another video call. Caden declined it again and put it on silent. My gut told me something wasn't right. Before he could stop me, I grabbed his phone. By the time he tried to intervene, it was too late. On the screen was a contact saved as "Felix's Teacher". The messages that just came through read, "Mr. Lancaster, is Felix asleep yet? Some of the girls in our class said they miss him and want to video chat to say goodnight." Below that was, "Mr. Lancaster, is now a good time?" My anger flared instantly. I looked up at Caden coldly. He immediately threw his hands up, looking completely innocent. "Honey, I swear, there's absolutely nothing between us. Felix gave her my number today! "He said it was to make it easier to discuss his schoolwork. I didn't think anything of it and saved her number too. I haven't even talked to her!" He swore up and down. I believed him, but I didn't believe Renee Sulvan. What kind of teacher would video call a student's parent in the middle of the night? And with some bullshit excuse about "the girls miss him". I opened Renee's profile. Her latest post was from half an hour ago. It was a carefully posed selfie with the caption, "Sleepless nights are perfect for missing someone." The background showed a trendy, upscale bar. She had heavy makeup on and a hazy look in her eyes that came off seductive. What made me even angrier was what I saw below the post. Caden's account had liked the post. Caden went pale. He immediately tried to defend himself. "What? Honey, I would never follow another woman's account! Let alone give her a like!" His words trailed off as he froze, seeming to understand. Then, his gaze shifted toward the next room.