“ Ethan Hill, you’re already thirty-two. Why are you still so childish?” she said coldly. “Felix is six years younger than you, yet he’s more mature. This IVF plan was carefully thought through. Once we fulfill my uncle’s last wish, Felix will give us the child. You’ll still be the biological father, and he’ll help raise it. Isn’t that enough?”
Her words were calm, even logical—but they cut deep.
So this was what I amounted to: a man unworthy of fatherhood, lucky even to raise another man’s child.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as memories flooded back.
Ten years ago, I was the poor student everyone mocked. Clara, then our class monitor, stood up for me. I still remember her fiery words on the podium, calling out those bullies and exposing their arrogance. She shone like sunlight in my dark world, tutoring me, paying me generous fees, and giving me confidence.
I thought our paths were bound together forever. But after graduation, disaster struck. The Lynn family was accused of smuggling; their assets were seized, and her father died mysteriously in prison. Overnight, Clara became a fugitive, hounded by creditors.