At our Thanksgiving dinner, I happily announced that Chloe was pregnant. My dad, Arthur, immediately proposed: “Chloe, let me hire an eight-pack male housekeeper for you.” “You’re pregnant, you shouldn’t be doing any chores. Having a handsome male housekeeper will not only keep the house clean but also satisfy your physical needs. We wouldn’t want you to feel frustrated during pregnancy!” Chloe almost choked to death on her turkey. I slammed my fork down in displeasure: “Dad, what kind of sick joke is that!” Arthur glared at me with a sinister look: “I’m not joking. What woman doesn’t cheat?” “When your mother was pregnant with you, she hooked up with our male housekeeper. Every woman in this world cheats, so why would your wife be any exception?” A sudden surge of anger rushed to my head. Just because his wife cheated on him, why the hell did my wife have to cheat on me too! Chloe looked like she was sitting on pins and needles. She nervously wiped her sweat, then tightly held my hand. “Arthur, please don’t test me. I promise I will never do anything to betray Ethan!” My dad’s smile froze on his face. Jealousy quickly crept into his eyes. “Oh, my silly daughter-in-law, Ethan has already betrayed you a long time ago. Why are you being so loyal to him?” My eyes widened in disbelief. “Dad, what nonsense are you talking about now? I have never done anything behind Chloe’s back!” Arthur smirked triumphantly. As if he had been prepared for this, he pulled a crumpled piece of loose-leaf paper from his pocket. He slid the paper into Chloe’s hands and lowered his voice: “This is the creepy letter Ethan wrote to a girl back in high school. I intercepted it. I even made a hundred copies of it and plastered them all over his school.” “Harassing a girl at eighteen—I would never do something so shameless. What does this prove? It proves Ethan is a degenerate creep. He’s definitely messing around behind your back.” “Even a good man like me got cheated on. You don’t need to treat a trash guy like him like a king. If you want to cheat, just do it.” My dad let out a cold snort. His expression was filled with utter contempt. I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug deep into my palms. The sharp pain was burning, but I couldn’t feel it over the numbness in my chest. Those suffocating memories instantly flooded back to me… Growing up, my dad’s favorite phrase was: “If I didn’t have it, why should you?” “I didn’t even have clean underwear when I was a kid, why should you? Just wrap yourself in any old rag!” “I’m not buying you a razor. No one bought me one when I was young, so why should you use my money? Figure it out yourself!” I grew up with no new clothes, no decent underwear, and not even a proper razor. When I was eighteen, a kind girl in my class noticed my struggle. She hesitantly handed me a bag one day. Inside were clean underwear, shaving cream, and a brand-new razor. She quietly told me to ask her for help if I ever struggled again. I was so moved that I wrote her a heartfelt thank-you letter. But my dad insisted it was a “harassment letter.” He called me shameless and claimed the girl only bought me those things because I had threatened her. My dad dragged me to a clinic for a reproductive exam. He yelled in the hallway for everyone to hear: “Check if he’s even functional, or if he’s just a sexually frustrated freak!” When the results came back completely normal, he looked dazed, almost utterly disappointed. But quickly, he changed his narrative. “So what if you’re physically normal? You wrote creepy letters to a girl at eighteen. Your mind is already filthy. You’re just a lowlife. No decent girl will ever want you.” “I was clean and decent, yet I ended up with a woman like your mother. A piece of trash like you is only fit to marry a worthless whore.” My dad heavily edited my thank-you letter, turning it into a truly disgusting, explicit note. He posted a hundred copies of it around the school. From then on, that girl avoided me like the plague. My classmates looked at me with disgust and mocked me daily. I didn’t have a single friend. Even the teacher who used to like me the most started looking at me with pure loathing. Later, I worked hard and escaped that small, run-down town. My career took off, and I started earning more and more. My dad actually apologized to me back then. He said he was only trying to prevent me from dating in high school so I wouldn’t ruin my future. I thought he had finally changed. But now, he was bringing up the past again just to trash me in front of my wife! After reading the “letter” with a look of utter confusion, Chloe looked at my dad as if he were a lunatic: “Arthur, whether this thing is real or fake, it’s ancient history.” “I don’t care about the past. I only care about our future.” “I am very happy with Ethan. Don’t worry, I will never betray him.” 2 Chloe squeezed my hand. Her warmth slowly melted the icy chill in my bones. Most of my anger faded away. Ever since the letter incident, my dad kept drumming it into my head that I didn’t deserve a good girl. After I started working, he kept setting me up on horrible blind dates. A girl under house arrest, a convicted scammer, a woman who had been divorced three times… My dad always said that since he couldn’t get a good woman, I certainly didn’t deserve one either. But Chloe had never let go of my hand from the very beginning. Chloe’s loyalty only made my dad furious. No matter what lies he spewed, Chloe stayed by my side. So, he turned his target back onto me. “Ethan, how many months along is she?” I answered warily, “Almost four months.” My dad smiled, looking relieved. “Four months… Heh, then you’re about to become impotent soon.” “Ethan, you’re finally going to taste this misery. When your mother was pregnant, I worked myself to the bone to support the family. My body broke down, and your mother called me a useless excuse of a man. That’s why she slept with the male housekeeper.” “Once you ruin your own body from stress, Chloe will definitely find someone else.” Looking at the satisfaction in my dad’s smile, I couldn’t help but shiver. A cold, desolate sadness washed over me. We were father and son, not enemies. Why was my dad so eager to see me fail? Why did he desperately want my wife to cheat on me? Shouldn’t a father want his son to be happy? At the thought of me being betrayed, the excitement on my dad’s face was completely unmasked. He gestured wildly as he rambled on: “Being impotent is nothing. That’s the least of your worries.” “With Chloe pregnant, you’ll have to work like a dog to support the family. You’ll go bald, get wrinkles, grow a beer belly, and look so ugly that Chloe will want to throw up just looking at you! Once you turn into that monster, Chloe will naturally jump into another man’s bed.” “I had to go through all that pain. Why shouldn’t you experience it too?” Even Chloe, with her gentle temper, was thoroughly enraged now. She glared at my dad coldly: “Arthur, that’s not going to happen.” “My family has money. Ethan doesn’t need to destroy his health to work. He only needs to do what he loves. I am going to use my entire trust fund to support his startup.” “Besides, even if Ethan does end up looking like that, I would only feel heartbroken and blame myself. Why would I ever cheat on him?” My dad opened his mouth, his eyes turning blank. I thought he was going to throw another tantrum. Tantrum about how hard he worked in his youth to the point of ruining his body, and why I got to have it easy. But he didn’t. My dad silently kept putting food onto Chloe’s plate, muttering, “Eat more.” In his eyes, there was jealousy, but even more, there was deep loss and misery. My heart suddenly gave a sharp, painful throb. No matter what, my dad had raised me all by himself. His jealousy was real, but his twisted love didn’t seem entirely fake either. He was old. Chloe and I should try to tolerate him as much as we could. The Thanksgiving dinner ended in a bizarre, tense silence. Soon, Chloe reached her second trimester. Chloe took me to see the office space she had rented for my startup, but we were stopped by the property manager. “Mr. Miller, the lease was canceled by your father.” “If you have any questions, you should talk to him.” With a loud *thud*, my heart sank to the bottom of my chest. I rushed back home immediately to confront him. The moment I stepped through the door, my eyes were blinded by the brand-new Rolex on my dad’s wrist. I didn’t even have to guess where the money came from. Furious, I grabbed his wrist and demanded: “When I got married, you said you didn’t have a new watch when you married, so why should I. I felt bad for you, so I gave you the watch Chloe bought for me without a second thought.” “Dad, if you wanted a new watch, you could have just told me! I would have bought it for you! Why did you cancel my office lease?!” Hearing the words “office lease,” my dad’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot. 3 He gnashed his teeth and glared at me, a terrifying hatred emanating from his eyes. He slapped me hard across the face: “You have the nerve to ask?!” “When I wanted to start a business back then, nobody helped me! I had to be a slave to corporate America my entire life! Why? Why is Chloe willing to give you her trust fund to support your startup? You don’t deserve it!” I held my burning cheek, completely dazed. That phrase again. I felt incredibly wronged and helpless. Why did my dad lose his mind every time my life got slightly better? Could a father really envy his own son to this extent? While I was lost in thought, my dad suddenly lunged at me and violently yanked at my pants. His eyes shone with a manic, excited light, filled with twisted anticipation: “Chloe is over five months pregnant now. You must be exhausted. Let me see how pathetic and shriveled you’ve become!” The moment he saw that I was perfectly healthy and functional, the wild grin froze on his face. He rubbed his eyes, staring in absolute disbelief. Finally, he had to accept the bitter truth that my body was perfectly fine. My dad burst into tears, ripping open his own shirt to point at his worn-down, frail chest, glaring at me with pure hatred: “To raise you, I ruined my own health! Your mother called me a useless piece of trash and cheated on me!” “I became a broken man, so why the hell do you get to be perfectly fine?!” My dad roared. Amidst my anger, a wave of pity washed over me. His life had indeed been bitter. Perhaps it was the decades of misery that had twisted him into this monster. Trembling, I opened my arms, wanting to hug my dad, wanting to repair this broken father-son relationship. “Dad, everyone’s body is different.” “I’ll take you to a specialist. We can slowly get you treated, okay?” My dad opened his arms too. I thought he was going to hug me, to accept my peace offering. But I was dead wrong. In the next second, my dad raised his foot and violently kicked me straight in the groin. He used all his strength, stomping on me repeatedly. “To hell with your ‘different bodies’! You just had it easy, enjoying all the luxury!” “I became a useless wreck just to raise you. If the father is a wreck, the son must be one too!” My dad stood over me, panting heavily, the tip of his shoe stained with my blood. That kick had landed directly on my most sensitive part with maximum force. My vision went black from the agonizing pain, and I collapsed onto the floor, curling into a ball. I looked down; my inner thigh was already swollen, bruised a horrific shade of purple and red. To make me just like him, my dad was actually trying to castrate me. Enough. This was enough. As if the pain and despair weren’t enough, my dad raised his foot again, preparing to stomp down once more. In absolute terror and despair, I screamed for help: “Chloe!” Chloe burst through the door, horrified by the bloody scene. She flew to my side. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Clutching my bleeding groin, I blacked out. In the hospital, Chloe held my hand, her voice trembling with lingering fear: “Don’t worry, Ethan, you’re going to be okay.” “Your dad is insane. I’m already looking into some reputable psychiatric facilities. We are cutting him off after this.” I nodded in agreement. When we returned home from the hospital, we found my dad sitting in our living room. I instantly regretted ever giving him a spare key to our apartment. Seeing my hospital gown, my dad rolled his eyes in annoyance: “I didn’t even go to the hospital when I chopped off my finger at work, and you ran to the ER over a little scratch? Why do you get to go to the hospital?” “Chloe, you need to control him. Going to the hospital is a waste of money. He has absolutely no backbone!” My already shattered heart stabbed with pain once more. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. My dad happily got up to answer it. He respectfully welcomed a young man inside. The guy was young and handsome, dressed in flashy clubwear, with his eight-pack abs faintly visible through his semi-sheer shirt. Chloe and I exchanged a confused look. 4 Like presenting a prize, my dad pushed the young man toward Chloe with a sly grin: “Chloe, this is Justin. The personal assistant I hired for you guys.” “Look at him, he’s fit and capable. Isn’t he a million times better than that pale, sickly husband of yours?” Justin licked his lips and gave a suggestive, charming smirk. I stared at them coldly, my heart dropping into a bottomless ice cave. My dad was doing it again. Just because my mother cheated during her pregnancy, he was hell-bent on making my wife cheat too. Before I could even lose my temper, Chloe’s face darkened, and she began pushing them out: “Dressed like that? Does he look like he’s here to do housework?” “Arthur, I will hire a professional service myself. As for this ‘gentleman,’ please take him and leave immediately.” With that, Chloe shoved them toward the door. But my dad was stubborn. He grabbed the doorframe, refusing to budge. He gave Chloe a highly suggestive look: “Oh, Justin is very ‘capable’ in more ways than one!” “You have to give him a one-day trial. If he really is useless, I’ll take him away. But you can’t judge a book by its cover and rob this poor young man of a job opportunity!” Justin also blinked his large, puppy-dog eyes and pleaded in a deep, sultry voice: “If I don’t find a job soon, my family is going to sell me to offshore illegal casinos to pay off their debts.” “Chloe, Ethan, please, just give me a chance!” My head was throbbing from their badgering. Fine. It was just one day. What could they possibly do in twenty-four hours? If they refused to leave tomorrow, I would just call the police. Seeing my silent compliance, my dad and Justin exchanged a knowing smile. Though they smiled brightly, a chill ran down my spine. The next morning, I woke up to find the bed beside me empty. I called out Chloe’s name, but there was no response… until I checked the guest bedroom. Chloe and Justin were lying in bed together, completely naked. Their faces were flushed, their bodies tangled in an extremely intimate position. Even with my eyes closed, I could guess what had happened. An overwhelming wave of agony crashed over me. I roared in fury, grabbing a glass mug from the nightstand and smashing it onto the floor. My dad walked in, looking at me with absolute triumph, as if he had just won the lottery. “Your mother cheated when she was pregnant, so why shouldn’t your wife?” “Hmph, I had to live with a cheating whore my whole life, why do you get to have a perfect woman like Chloe? Now look at you, your wife is a cheater too.” My dad grabbed my arm: “Come on, don’t embarrass yourself here. Stop ruining their post-sex bliss.” “Divorce Chloe. I’ll introduce you to a woman who is actually a perfect match for you. I think Scarlett would be great.” I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat feeling like a razor blade. I knew Scarlett. She had been married five times, divorcing each husband immediately after taking their money. She had had countless abortions, and she even had a severe, incurable STI! I thought my dad was just jealous of me. This wasn’t jealousy. This was pure, unadulterated hatred! He hated seeing me happy, and he only felt joy when I was dragged down into the mud. My eyes fell upon a bottle of heavy-duty liquid aphrodisiac sitting on the corner of the table. My heart seized. To force my wife to cheat, my dad had actually resorted to drugging her. I violently shook off my dad’s hand, casting away the very last shred of familial affection I had left. Unlocking my phone, I dialed 911: “Yes, I’d like to report a crime. Someone has been poisoned and physically assaulted. The address is…”
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