Too Late For Remorse

To my utter disbelief, even my husband didn't believe me.

As it turned out, Leonard had concluded that Gillian wasn't his child.

His shouts startled his parents awake. When Lincoln saw that Leonard was back, tears fell down his cheeks; he looked just like a lost and helpless child.

"My son, you're finally back! If you came any later, this family would probably take another name! I was so afraid I would die of anger because of this woman, and never see you again!"

Leonard hurried forward and held Lincoln's arm while glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.

I looked straight at him, trying my best to calm myself down. Despite my best efforts, my voice still trembled.

"I didn't expect our decade-long relationship to be so fragile. You saw me pregnant with Gillian for nine months. You saw me give birth to her. She's your flesh and blood! How could you doubt her?!"

Yet, Leonard remained unmoved and continued looking at me in disdain.

"My ten years with you have been in vain. I could tell since a long time ago. Gillian looks nothing like me. To think that she really is another man's daughter!"

My in-laws' insults and attacks were nothing compared to Leonard's accusations.

I looked at the ugly faces of the entire family. A bitter chuckle escaped my lips.

People say that you have no idea whether your spouse is man or beast till the very last moment. I was confident in Leonard; never in my wildest dreams had I imagined something like this would happen to me.

Now, my eyes were finally opened to the truth.

"It's fine if you mistreat me, but don't do that to Gilly. We'll go to a hospital for a paternity test right now. I'll pay for it!"

With that, I made a move to stand up. Leonard grabbed my hair roughly, eliciting a gasp of pain from me.

"You might want to embarrass yourself, Madeline, but I don't! It's not worth it for me! That brat isn't worthy of even a minute of my time!" he snarled.

At his words, I smiled self-derisively. "You mistreat us, and don't even give us a chance to defend ourselves. How is that fair? I've already said that Gilly isn't an illegitimate child. She truly is your daughter!"

I looked firmly at Leonard, refusing to yield even an inch.

Lincoln's resolve faltered when he saw how certain I was, and he pulled Leonard's sleeve.

Leonard looked at me with furrowed brows, about to say something—when Maria cut him off.

"Pfft! The cheek of you to feel mistreated! We're the ones at the short end of the stick, suckers who raised another man's child! I'm sure you're in cahoots with the hospital to fool us so we'll continue raising Gillian!"

I watched on silently as Maria bared her fangs, ready to attack.

For some reason, I found her acting strangely today. She was a cheapskate, so she should have immediately agreed to me covering the cost of the paternity test. Why did she react like this instead?

Leonard, noticing the disdain in my eyes, immediately spoke up for his mother.

"Mom's right. Dad has already brought Gillian to do a paternity test once. The report clearly states that she has no blood relation with my dad. Why should our entire family torment ourselves with you?"

I scoffed. "You think there's going to be a problem with the paternity test I'll take. Why don't you suspect the paternity test results your dad got?"

Suddenly, a loud smack rang in the air. My cheek swelled and turned red in an instant.

"How dare you compare yourself to my dad, you loose woman!" Leonard roared.

His slap had woken me up completely. The moment he struck me, the very last vestiges of hope I was still clinging to disappeared into the depths of the night.

"If you continue being unreasonable, I'll post this online and let everyone see how indecent you are! Don't be so shameless, Madeline!"

I rubbed my buzzing ears, smirking. "Hah! Do whatever you want. But this is my house. You should be the ones leaving!"

Leonard flared up at my words.

"How dare you chase us out! You're the one who cheated on me! You should leave without a cent to your name! Sign the divorce papers and move out with that little bastard! Quit being an eyesore around here!" he demanded.

My husband, usually so gentle and mild-mannered, was now glaring at me threateningly.

We were shouting so loudly, we ended up waking the sleeping Gillian. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, but upon seeing Leonard, she broke into a joyful smile.

"Daddy! You're finally back! I really love you! Daddy, Mommy was hurt…"

Before she could finish, Leonard raised a hand and slapped her without hesitation.