The Last of My Forbearance

I was stunned. It only took a casual word from Charlie to completely ruin Jesse's one special day in the year.

When Janine saw how pale I looked, she turned away guiltily. "Let's just take them together since they're almost the same age."

Jesse stared at Janine and Simon Lloyd holding hands with a look of dismay. My heart ached for Jesse, and I had no idea what to say to him.

Simon was in a little bespoke suit with nicely styled hair, as Janine and Charlie stood protectively around him, looking like he was the main star of the day. Jesse stood in stark contrast as he was dressed ordinarily, with only me by his side.

I suddenly had enough, and I picked Jesse up in my arms to walk away.

"What are you doing, Joe? Are you upset because of Simon and me?" Charlie looked anxious as he tried to stop me. His nails dug deep into my arm, and I flung him off with pain. I had not used much strength, but Charlie fell hard onto the ground.

He looked at me in bewilderment. "Why did you hit me, Joe? Can't we just get along?"

My arm was still throbbing with pain from being grabbed so hard by Charlie, and I clenched my teeth in anger. I was about to question him when Janine suddenly slapped me. "Is this how you act as a father?! How can you bully another person in front of our son?"

It was a hard slap, and Janine still had her keys in her hand when she slapped, which scratched my face in the process. I started bleeding from the wound almost immediately.

Jesse ran over and spread out his tiny little arms in front of me protectively. He was crying while yelling, "Don't hit my dad!"

I ignored the wound on my face as I watched my son's lone figure in front of me, trying to shield me from Charlie, Simon, and Janine, and something inside me broke.

It was fine that Janine did not love me or care about me, but could she hurt our son again and again?

I stumbled over to hold Jesse in my arms and wiped away the tears from his eyes. I walked away without looking back, but that was also when Janine turned to look at me after she anxiously made sure that Charlie and Simon were fine.

Janine's eyes widened when she saw me walking away, and she quickly ran up to grab me, trying frantically to stop the bleeding on my face. "How did you get so seriously hurt? I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't bullied Charlie…"

My face was pale when I looked up at her, and there was sorrow in my eyes. It did not matter how hard I always tried to explain myself. In Janine's eyes, I was always the bully who hurt Charlie. Yet, it was because of Charlie that I lost my cat, my wife, and the ability to have more children.

It happened the first time I found her cheating on me. I had prepared lunch and was delivering it to her at the office, only to witness Charlie and her naked in a passionate embrace. I went mad and dashed forward to beat up Charlie, but Janine tried to stop me and we both fell to the ground. It was that blow that caused permanent damage to my reproductive system.

Janine was stunned to see tears in my eyes, and her heart ached for me at that moment. She tried to wipe away my tears, but Charlie suddenly started sobbing behind her. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have ruined your relationship."

With that, Charlie turned away and ran into the heavy traffic. Fierce honking was instantly heard in the air, and Janine let me go right away to run after Charlie without hesitation. Jesse and I looked at each other calmly before getting into the car and driving away.

When our car drove past them, Charlie was holding Janine quietly in his arms. His eyes met mine. The guilty look on his face had vanished, and I knew instantly that he was telling me that he won, but who cares?

Jesse and I moved to another house that night, but Janine showed up unannounced at around 11 pm. She looked upset when I opened the door without saying a word, and she said brusquely, "It's only a divorce. Why would you move out of the house? This is only temporary since we'll be getting remarried in a few days."

Janine walked casually into the house, sitting right on the couch and admiring the decor. However, she was stunned when she saw the family photo on the wall.