Chapter 1

My wife, Seraphina, has been paralyzed for six long, agonizing years since our son, Leo, was born.

To take care of her, I walked away from a high-flying career at a top tech company – a future many would kill for – to take on odd jobs, mostly unclogging drains.

People would visibly recoil, holding their noses, treating us like we were some kind of… social pariahs. Dirty, smelly, an embarrassment. But my son, Leo? He’d just see another dollar earned, another small victory.

“Dad,” he’d say, his voice so small, “even my dirty clothes look good if it means Mom gets better. All I want is for Mom to be healthy.”

Seraphina always insisted that because we were poor, we shouldn’t be vain or try to keep up with others.

She made Leo, a child of only six, always shrink away, feeling less than everyone else.

But that day, when we went to unclog the drains at an opulent mansion, I saw her sitting in the living room, decked out in designer clothes, dripping luxury from head to toe.

A man was practically glued to her side.

Seraphina held a small boy on her lap, spoon-feeding him a slice of gourmet cake – the kind of cake Leo wouldn't even dare to glance at, let alone dream of tasting.

“Children need the best from an early age, so they don’t grow up insecure,” she cooed.

“Leo’s just like his useless dad, dull and clumsy, always dirty and stinking. No one could ever like a kid like that.”

“It’s a pity I can’t shake off that useless man. If only I could marry *you*, our company’s technical problems wouldn’t still be unsolved.”

Leo silently hung his head, a single tear splashing onto the marble floor.

All our efforts, all our sacrifices, were just a pathetic joke in her eyes.

I pulled out my phone and accepted the job offer from the rival company to Seraphina’s family business.