My Toxic Wife Gave Our Son Away, Now She’s Begging on Her Knees

Chloe didn’t get home until 9 PM. By then, I was already packing my bags. The bedroom was a total mess. She walked in with a sneer. She was clearly here to fight for Carlos. "You know Carlos just found out he's sterile! Why would you rub salt in his wound? Don't you think you're being incredibly cruel?" Looking at this self-righteous woman spitting words at me, I found it almost hilarious. This was my wife. She was terrified that a single word from me would hurt Carlos. Yet, she didn't care at all about how terrified I was when she lied and told me our son was missing. I didn't even want to argue. I stood there, holding a glass of water, watching her storm around the room, frantically packing up the rest of Leo's things. My mind flashed back to two mornings ago. I had barely sat down at my desk at work when my phone rang. Her voice was trembling on the other end: "Liam, what do we do? Leo is gone! I lost him!" Through her sobbing, she claimed Leo had wandered off at the mall. I panicked. I immediately called my friends and organized a search party around the mall. Even as I frantically searched every corner, I didn't forget to call and comfort her. But where was she? She was probably by Carlos's side the whole time. Because Carlos had just been diagnosed with infertility. He could never have biological children. Her heart bled for him. She wanted to be with him twenty-four hours a day, terrified he might do something drastic. And when I called her a few more times to get more details about how Leo went missing, she got annoyed. She thought I was interrupting her time with Carlos, so she blocked my Snapchat and my number. For two days and nights, I didn't sleep or eat, searching desperately. Still, there was no sign of him. Just as I was on the verge of a total breakdown, I stumbled upon Carlos's Instagram update. "A family of three. Simple happiness." In the photo, Carlos was holding a sleeping Leo with one arm, his other arm wrapped around a blushing Chloe. They looked like a perfect, happy family. At that moment, all the strength drained from my body. I couldn't understand what I was to Chloe. Seeing me sitting silently at the table, Chloe's anger flared up again. "Why aren't you talking? Playing mute again? Giving me that silent treatment—who do you think you are?" "I already explained it to you on the phone. Carlos can't have kids." "Isn't it perfect to give Leo to him? He didn't ask for much—just one child!" My hands trembled around the glass. I forced down my rage, looking up at her. "He can ask for whatever he wants. But Leo is mine. Bring him back." Chloe lost her temper, throwing a pile of clothes right at my face. "Liam, have you had enough?!" "I've told you a thousand times, Carlos and I are strictly platonic! I'm just trying to help him!" "You're always jealous whenever I'm near him. Now that he's sick, why do you have to throw a tantrum?" "Carlos was right. You're just a controlling, insecure guy trying to satisfy your own ego!" I was too stunned to speak. The scratch on my leg from searching for Leo began to throb.

Just as the pain made me break into a cold sweat, the doorbell rang. Seeing me sit there, Chloe went to open it. "Hello, we received a report of a missing child..." Before the officer could finish, Chloe cut him off frantically. "No, we found him. Sorry for wasting your time." She slammed the door shut. Turning back to me, her face was twisted in rage. She screamed: "Liam, are you crazy?! Why the hell did you call the cops? You did this on purpose, didn't you!" "Carlos was right. You just wanted to terrorize me so I'd submit to you!" She was about to keep screaming, but when she noticed my pale face, she stopped and took a few hesitant steps forward. But she quickly froze. "Oh, please. Are you seriously faking it now?" "You work out every day. You're telling me searching for a kid for two days made you this weak?" "I get it. You're trying to copy Carlos to get my sympathy, aren't you?" Looking at her sneering face, I felt a wave of disgust. So Carlos being sterile meant he was fragile and needed protection, but me being genuinely hurt was just "faking it"? He could play the victim to steal my child and enjoy everything that belonged to me, and she found it completely justified? I gritted my teeth and wrapped a bandage around my shin, sinking back into my chair to catch my breath. Seeing this, Chloe pulled a box of chocolates out of her purse and tossed it onto the table. Her voice softened slightly. "Here. Eat up." "Carlos made me bring this back for you." "He said Leo is safe with him, so you don't have to worry. Consider this box of chocolates his apology." "Liam, we're doing this for the kid's sake." "Just accept it. We can still be friends. You can visit Leo whenever you want." I looked at the half-melted chocolates on the table, my heart turning to ice. The packaging had clearly been opened. Most of the chocolates had melted together, exposing crushed almonds. If I looked closely, I could even see bite marks on the corners of some pieces. "No, thanks." My voice was raspy. My throat burned. Chloe didn't use to be like this. She used to love me. She knew all my likes and dislikes. She knew I had a life-threatening almond allergy—that I couldn't even touch them. But ever since Carlos came back from abroad, she had become a completely different person. Seeing me reject her offering, Chloe snatched the box and threw it at me. The sticky dark chocolate splattered all over my white shirt. "Enough, Liam! Stop being so ungrateful!" "If you keep throwing this tantrum, you'll never see Leo again." "Don't forget, I'm the one who gave birth to him!" I froze, the pain in my leg instantly forgotten. I never thought the woman I had been married to for five years, the woman I loved deeply, would one day use our son to threaten me. "I want to see Leo. Now." The thought of little Leo being ripped away from his parents, crying out for his dad somewhere, sent a sharp pang through my chest. Chloe smirked, thinking she finally had leverage over me. She grabbed her phone to FaceTime Carlos. "Sure. But you have to apologize to Carlos first." I snapped my head up, utterly bewildered. "You stole my son and gave him away, and now I have to apologize to *him* just to see my own kid?" Chloe lost it. She hurled her phone at me. "Your kid? Don't forget, he came out of my body! Without me, you wouldn't even have a son!" "And as for Carlos?" "Let me make one thing clear: he's my child, and I'll let whoever I want raise him!" "If you don't want to apologize over the phone, fine. You can apologize to him in person!" With that, she grabbed my hair and dragged me toward the door. The sudden movement tore the wound on my leg open again. Fresh blood soaked through the bandage.

The agonizing pain made me think of Leo. He was such a sweet, sensible boy. He must be so scared right now. I remembered how much Chloe had changed after she picked Carlos up from the airport. She stopped caring about me, and she barely paid attention to Leo. Until a week ago, when Chloe, who had been MIA for weeks, unexpectedly came home early and cooked a huge dinner. She apologized softly, claiming she had been neglecting us because of work. Leo was so happy that day. But he didn't understand—what kind of "work" makes a mother completely ignore her child for three whole months? Yet, despite the flimsy excuse, I chose to believe her for the sake of our family. Ever since Carlos returned, she hadn't sat down for a single meal with our son. I had tried to respect her choices. Even when Leo cried for her, I did my best to soothe him. But now, I finally understood. It was all because of another man. That rare family dinner was interrupted by a phone call from Carlos before we even started eating. Carlos's low, depressed voice on the line sent her into an instant panic. She grabbed her car keys and bolted. Leaving behind a resigned me, and a heartbroken Leo. The trail of blood on the floor was hard to ignore. Chloe finally noticed, and her grip on my hair loosened. She hesitated. "Are you really hurt?" I could only offer a bitter laugh. When we first got married, we were so in love. Chloe’s entire world revolved around me. Back then, let alone this much blood, she would worry over the tiniest bruise. And now? Every vow we made had become a worthless, forgotten promise. An impatient look crossed her face as she grabbed her keys. "Fine. If you were hurt, why didn't you say so earlier? Let's go to the hospital." I didn't argue. I let her help me into the car. The moment I sat in the passenger seat, I realized her car had completely changed too. On the dashboard was a bottle of cologne from France—where Carlos had just returned from. And in the corner of the rearview mirror, there was a Polaroid of her and Carlos. Seeing my eyes fixed on it, Chloe looked slightly guilty. "Don't overthink it. It's just a silly photo we took as friends. He pasted it there for fun." "If you don't like it, I can take it down...?" I leaned my head against the window, closing my eyes to block out the sun. "It's fine. Just take me to the hospital." As a man, how could I not see through Carlos’s little games? He was quietly invading my space, marking his territory, and mocking me. In the past, I would have thrown a fit. But now? I didn't want this woman anymore. Anything related to her no longer mattered. We had only been driving for a few minutes when Carlos called. Over the phone, Carlos’s whiny voice was accompanied by Leo’s hysterical crying. My heart clenched. Helpless, I grabbed Chloe’s arm. "What's wrong with Leo?! Why is he crying like that?!" But Chloe didn't care about my panic. She pulled over to the curb, unlocked the passenger door, and shoved me out. She left me with one sentence: