Chapter 1

After five years with Chloe, it felt like she only saw me as her personal ATM.

She brought her ex-boyfriend, Liam, who had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old, back to our home.

She claimed Liam thought she was his mother and that she had to take responsibility for him until his memory returned.

To keep him happy, she spent my money taking him on trips. She’d forget our anniversaries but always remembered his birthday, and she'd demand I grovel and apologize to him without even knowing what happened.

She even forced our engagement ring off my finger and gave it to him, just because he said he liked it.

My heart was utterly crushed. I decided to give up.

But then, when I moved on with someone else, Chloe looked at me with red-rimmed eyes and asked, "Can't you… please not marry her?"

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One evening, Chloe and I were kissing passionately on the bed, just about to get more intimate.

Suddenly, her ex-boyfriend, Liam, burst through the bedroom door.

Chloe glanced at the doorway, frantic, and tried to escape my embrace.

She even shoved me away forcefully.

I was caught off guard and tumbled off the bed, my head hitting the floor with a painful thud.

But Chloe didn't even notice my condition.

She walked straight to a whimpering Liam and gently asked him,

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Liam buried his face in Chloe’s arms, crying aggrievedly:

"I had a nightmare again. I dreamt Mom didn't want me anymore.

"Mom said I wasn't Uncle's child, and Uncle didn't like me, so Mom was going to throw me away.

"I'm so scared. What should I do?"

The "Uncle" Liam kept talking about was me.

Even though he claimed he had amnesia and called Chloe "Mom," he stubbornly insisted I wasn't his dad; I was just "Uncle."

A bad uncle trying to steal his "Mom."

I stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

Watching Chloe gently pat his back.

Listening to her soft reassurances:

"Don't be scared, I'm right here.

"No one dares to throw you away, not even Uncle.

"Mommy always loves our little Liam the most."

I was supposed to be her boyfriend.

But at that moment, I felt as superfluous as a stranger.

My girlfriend was cupping another man's face, telling him she loved him the most.

A bitter ache spread through my chest.

I clenched my fists, my nails almost digging into my palms.

The next second, I watched Liam kiss Chloe's cheek. The veins in my forehead pulsed with fury.

When Liam's crying finally subsided, he let go of Chloe.

He looked at me with a hint of apology, then said:

"I'm sorry, Uncle Alex.

"I was too scared, that's why I lost control and kissed Mommy in front of you.

"You don't mind, do you? You're just a normal boyfriend. I'm Mommy's precious baby."

Of course, I minded, but what could I do?

Liam and Chloe used to date. After they broke up, they still worked at the same company.

It just so happened that during a company retreat, they were involved in a car accident. Liam shielded Chloe with his body but was knocked unconscious by the impact.

So, Liam was Chloe's lifesaver.

A few days ago, Liam finally woke up, but he had amnesia. His mind had regressed to that of a child. He couldn't remember anyone but insisted Chloe was his "Mommy."

And Chloe actually agreed to play "Mommy," bringing him home to care for him.

Originally, I was against it.

But Chloe said:

"Liam saved my life.

"Now he doesn't remember anything, and he only thinks I'm his mother. He has no one but me. I can't just abandon him.

"If you're going to be so petty and can't understand, then I'll just move to the company dorm with him."

Clearly, this "son" Liam was more important to her than I was.

My heart just seized up.

A suffocating pain wrapped around me, like thorny vines.

Chloe and I were never on equal footing from the start.

She was proud, but also stunningly beautiful and from a privileged background.

Countless guys chased after her.

I was the one who fell for her first.

I shamelessly pursued her for half a year before she finally agreed to be my girlfriend.

In front of her, I had always been humble.

I didn't want to lose her.

So, no matter how reluctant I was, I put up with it.

However, Chloe's indulgence towards Liam far exceeded my expectations.

She allowed Liam to place their joint photo right in the center of the living room bookshelf.

In the picture, Liam was smiling brightly, linking arms with Chloe.

And Chloe had a tender smile gracing her lips.

It was a total eyesore.

Chloe's expression darkened, and she said coldly:

"I'm just taking a picture with my son. Are you going to be jealous about that too?

"You weren't like this when you were chasing me. You know I don't like controlling, narrow-minded men."

Her sharp tone made my eyes sting with tears.

Her brow furrowed deeper, a clear sign of annoyance.

"Don't be so dramatic. I don't like it."

When Liam cried, she would gently comfort him.

When it was me, she just found it annoying.

I swallowed the lump of hurt in my throat, the pain in my heart growing heavier.

A few days later, Liam suddenly wanted to travel.

Chloe called me for money, saying she wanted to go on a trip.

I thought Chloe wanted a romantic getaway with me, so I happily transferred her $200,000 for the trip and even hired a caregiver and nanny for Liam.

However, I waited and waited in my office but heard nothing from Chloe.

Then, the caregiver called.

Chloe and Liam weren't home.

A terrible possibility echoed in my mind, so I called Chloe.

"Hello? What do you want?" Her voice was impatient.

"Where are you now?" I asked cautiously.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm traveling. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." And she did.

My heart suddenly felt like it had been punched, a bitter ache spreading through me.

Just then, my phone chimed with a text message.

"So sorry, Uncle! Mommy and I are traveling!" The unfamiliar number sent a picture: Chloe and Liam wearing matching outfits, holding hands, sitting on chairs at an airport.

They were incredibly close.

"Mommy and I are clearly wearing matching parent-child outfits, but so many people said we looked like a couple and called us sweet."

"Uncle, why didn't Mommy bring you on the trip? France is beautiful."

Every day after that, I received messages from that strange number.

Sometimes it was photos of them eating together, sometimes videos of them holding hands, even pictures of them gazing at each other in front of the Eiffel Tower, or kissing each other's forehead.

Even… a photo of them lying together on a white hotel sheet.

I couldn't take it anymore, so I called Chloe to confront her:

"So you took the money I gave you to travel with him? What about me? I'm your boyfriend. Did you even think about me when you were lying in bed with him?"

"Why are you yelling? I told you, he just sees me as his mom, and I only see him as a child. Can you stop being so sensitive?"

"No matter how immature his mind is, he's still an adult man. What if—"

"You just love to maliciously speculate about people. Now you're talking about 'my money' and 'your money' so clearly. When you were chasing me, you said you'd spend all the money you earned on me. Don't make promises you can't keep."

"But I—"

"I'm not like you, breaking promises and being irresponsible. I promised I'd take responsibility for him, and I will. If you can accept it, fine. If not, then let's break up."

"No… don't break up… have fun…"

I knew she couldn't see me on the other end of the phone, but I still forced out a difficult smile.

"Can we go to the Seine River tomorrow?"

I heard Liam's whining voice on the phone.

"Of course, honey. Whatever makes you happy. Just get well soon."

Chloe's voice was so incredibly gentle, I had never heard her speak like that to me.

Listening to their laughter through the phone, my chest tore with pain.

What was I to Chloe, really?

A dispensable boyfriend?

Or an unrequited, ever-giving ATM?

A bitter ache and raw despair twisted in my gut.

My vision blurred.

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