The Househusband Strikes Back

After my birthday party, I got far too drunk and made a mistake I could never take back. I slept with my friend's daughter and got her pregnant.

To make things right, I handed over more than half of my company shares as compensation. I promised him I would marry his daughter, Nancy Cooper, and give her the grandest wedding possible.

After the wedding, I willingly stepped into the role of a househusband. I cooked, cleaned, and kept the home running. However, Nancy spent less and less time at home. Her business trips grew more frequent, and even our son began to look down on me, as if I were nothing more than a man circling the kitchen all day.

At my mother's funeral, I noticed Nancy was nowhere to be seen, not even greeting the guests. I went looking for her around the venue. Just as I was about to return to the lounge to call her, a familiar voice drifted out from inside.

"Easy… Don't let him find out. I won't be able to explain it when I get back."

"Relax. He's an idiot, so easy to fool. Your dad set him up on purpose and drugged him because he wanted his family's assets. And you…" The man chuckled softly. "You made him play the role of our kid’s father. The whole trap was so obvious, yet he still didn't see it. What makes you think he'd notice us sneaking around at his own mother's funeral?"

"He's just that stupid," Nancy said lightly. "He believes everything I tell him. Gilbert, just wait a little longer. Once I deal with those stubborn old shareholders, I'll rename Lawson Group to Shaw Group. Then, you can finally enjoy being the one in charge."

I stood in place, frozen. It felt like the blood in my veins had turned to ice.

This was the ugly truth.

Every bit of it, every promise, every sacrifice, had been nothing but a carefully staged lie.

Something inside me went cold and quiet. Whatever hope I had been holding onto was shattered completely.

I decided then that I would disappear. Not just leave, but vanish. I would stage my death and make a clean break. I would erase myself from Nancy’s world forever.

However, after I left for good, she lost her mind, telling the world she loved me and begging me to come back.

I stood pressed against the hallway wall. The sounds coming from the room where Nancy Cooper and her assistant were kept getting louder.

The low, mournful music of the memorial still lingered at the far end of the corridor, but behind this door, the atmosphere felt completely different. It was heavy, intimate, and undeniably wrong.

"Oh, right. Those board members still won't sign the contract?"

"Don't even get me started," Nancy said, lowering her voice, irritation seeping through her every word. "Joshua may have stepped back, but those old fossils only listen to him, not me. Once I get that contract, I'm getting rid of every last one of them."

Her assistant, Gilbert Shaw, let out a quiet laugh, his tone light and suggestive.

"Hey, don't be mad, babe. How about letting your 'husband' help you relax a little?"

Soft laughter followed, the kind that did not belong anywhere near a funeral.

A gust of wind slipped through the hallway, nudging the half-closed door open just a crack more.

Inside, the two of them were completely lost in each other, unaware of anything else. Nancy's black mourning dress had long since been tossed aside. Her bare body pressed against the dark fabric, the contrast so sharp it felt almost mocking.

My fists clenched as I stared at the scene, my eyes burning. For a moment, I thought I might explode.

However, in the end, I gritted my teeth and turned away.

When I returned to the memorial hall, everything I had been holding in spilled out all at once.

At the front, my mother lay quietly in her coffin, as if she were only asleep.

My throat tightened, and my vision blurred. It felt like my heart was being torn apart, piece by piece.

Not far away, my son, Calvin Lawson, sat with his phone, yelling into his headset, "Go! Hurry up, you idiot!"

I strode over and snatched the phone right out of his hands.

"Who said you could play games right now? Your grandmother just passed away. Do you understand that? She's never coming back!"

Calvin froze for a second. Then, his expression twisted, and he snapped back at me, full of annoyance, "So what if she's dead? That old lady was always nagging me. It's better this way!"

I went completely still.

I could not believe those words had come out of my own son’s mouth. My hands shook as I grabbed him and brought my hand down hard on him.

His cries exploded through the entire hall.

The next second, someone rushed in and slammed into me, knocking me aside as they pulled Calvin into their arms.

"Calvin, are you okay? Let me see if you're hurt!" Gilbert's face was full of concern as he checked him over.

Nancy came running out right after, pointing at me as she shouted, "Joshua! He's just a child. Do you really have to be this harsh?"

"Ms. Cooper is right," Gilbert said calmly, looking straight at me. "Mr. Lawson, what you just did is considered child abuse. I could call the police right now."