Vanished for Three Years, I Returned as a Dad

On the day we're supposed to register our marriage, my girlfriend Jenny Sutton has me removed from the city hall. She walks in with her childhood sweetheart, Ronald Walsh.

She looks at me without a flicker of guilt and says, "Ronald's kid needs his legal status sorted out. Once we divorce, I'll marry you."

Everyone assumes I'll wait. I'm the devoted fool who's already waited seven years, so one more month seems trivial.

That night, I go along with my family's plan and leave the country for a marriage of convenience. I cut myself cleanly out of Jenny's life.

Three years later, I return to the country with my wife, Ellie Olsen, who's a CEO, to pay respects at her family's graves.

A last-minute issue pulls her away, and she asks the local branch to send someone to pick me up. I didn't expect Jenny, not after three years.

"You have dragged this out long enough. Come back. Ronald's kid will be starting kindergarten soon. You can handle the school runs."

I was in the arrivals hall when I spotted someone holding a sign with my Elnish name on it. I walked over, and only then did I realize it was Jenny Sutton, my ex, whom I hadn't seen in three years.

She had Ronald Walsh with her, along with a few close friends. They were all craning their necks, watching the incoming passengers.

"Jen, isn't that your little lapdog, Peter Grant?"

Jenny looked just as surprised to see me, but she quickly masked it and spoke like she couldn't care less. "See? I told you. I knew he'd come crawling back sooner or later."

They broke into giggles as they looked me over.

"Peter, you vanished without a word back then. Now that Jenny has made something of herself, I bet you cry yourself to sleep every single night."

"And Peter, if you were trying to pass this off as a chance meeting, you could've at least dressed better. You didn't even bother to groom yourself."

"Or is it that without Jenny, you can't even afford decent clothes anymore? Things must not be going well for you!"

Back then, whenever I was going to meet Jenny, I always picked the clothes that suited me best. I dressed carefully and made sure she saw me at my best.

Now there was no reason to bother.

My wife, Ellie Olsen, stopped dressing formally after she got pregnant. I followed her lead and dressed for comfort. The casual outfit I was wearing had been custom-made for me at her request.

After listening to their remarks, I realized something else. They only knew my Elnish name. They had no idea that I was the person they were actually there to pick up.

When I stayed silent, someone I had been fairly close to in the past stepped in to smooth things over.

"Peter, it's good that you're back. Jen has actually been looking for you all these years. She kept asking around about you!"

Jenny's smile stiffened. Then she smoothed it away and spoke as if nothing had happened. "Ronald's kid will be starting kindergarten soon. You can handle the school runs from now on."

She was still the same, wrapped in her own sense of superiority.

But I was no longer the person who quietly endured everything she threw at me. Seeing her again, all I felt was disgust sitting heavy in my chest.

I didn't want to waste any more time standing there with them. I was about to make my identity clear when Ronald spoke first.

"Peter, don't blame Jen. She's doing this for your own good. You disappeared for three years. Who knows what you were doing out there? Look at you now, barely scraping by.

"Even if she wanted to give you my job as her secretary, you wouldn't qualify. Don't worry. Taking care of my daughter suits you better. No one will judge you for that."

After three years, Ronald still carried himself with the same arrogance, enough to make me frown in disgust.

Jenny mistook it for jealousy. A flicker of satisfaction crossed her eyes.