He Braved a Storm for Her Hair Tie,I Walked Out With Our Child Forever

A hurricane was tearing the city apart. I told Vivian Simmons, again and again, to make sure he picked Ian Abbott up from preschool on time.

He promised. Every word of it.

But three hours after the final bell, my son was still trapped inside that thundering, lightning-split building, crying for his mother.

I cut my business trip short and rushed to get him myself. On the way home, we ran straight into Vivian. He was holding a hair tie.

He stared at the boy who shrank behind me, not sparing a single glance at his scraped, bleeding arm.

Instead, he snapped, "Didn't I tell you to walk home on your own?"

"Scared of a little storm. What kind of man are you?"

I was about to fire back when his precious junior colleague popped out, all giggles, and slid her hand through his arm with practiced ease, lifting the hair tie from his fingers.

"Exactly, sweetie. You should learn a thing or two from your daddy."

"He braved a whole hurricane just to find me a hair tie. Isn't he amazing?"

They smiled at each other, impossibly close.

My son gripped my hand. His voice was barely there.

"But Mommy, Daddy's being brave for some other lady."

"That kind of brave isn't right, is it?"

I smiled faintly and stroked his head. "So does Ian know what we should do?"

He nodded, every word landing solid.

"Teacher said bad habits that don't belong should be thrown away, bravely."

"Mommy, let's throw Daddy away too."

Vivian's brow creased.

"One time I'm late, and this is the kind of thing that comes out of your mouth."

"Who raised you into such an ungrateful little brat?"

He fixed me with a cold stare, the meaning unmistakable.

I tucked the boy behind me and said, quietly, "Just once?"

"This month alone, it's been three times."

Vivian's face darkened, but I kept going, slow and even. "June first. Children's Day."

"I had a fever. I asked you to go to the parent meeting at the preschool. You didn't."

"Because you and your 'junior colleague' took her niece to the amusement park."

"June fifth. Ian was at the hospital on an IV drip. You didn't pick up the phone. He walked home alone."

"Because your junior colleague suddenly wanted pineapple cakes from the West Side, and you had to go buy them for her."

"June tenth"

"Enough!"

Vivian glared at me, his patience gone. "They're all little things. You really have to keep a tally going to this day?"

I pushed up Ian's sleeve and bared the wound, already scabbed over.

"Little things?"

I clenched my teeth and stared at him, biting off each word. "On the fifth, Ian walked home by himself and was nearly hit by a car."

"The doctor said these scars are hard to remove. He'll carry them his whole life!"

Vivian stayed perfectly unbothered.

"I've said it before. A real man doesn't make a fuss over a few scratches."

"Doesn't make a fuss?"

I gave a faint smile and glanced at Rain Whitlock's arm, at the scar so faint you could barely see it, my jaw tight.

"If it's really nothing, then why did you pull every string you had just to erase one 'unimportant' scar for her?"

Rain laughed softly, hooked her arm around Vivian's, and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Katherine Cooley, don't get so worked up."

"A scar on a boy isn't ugly anyway. But I'm different. I'm delicate, you know."

"It's my fault, so don't blame him, okay?"

Vivian gave her nose a helpless little pinch and said gently, "It's not your fault."

"Some people just go looking for trouble where there is none. Ignore her."

I watched him pluck a leaf from her hair without a second thought, his gaze nothing but tender.

Something inside me snapped clean.

The wind howled. Over the loudspeaker, a voice warned that a second wave of the storm was about to hit.

Vivian didn't hesitate for a second. He stuffed Rain into the car, then climbed into the driver's seat himself.

When the engine was already running, it seemed to occur to him that we still existed.

"Find a place to wait it out," he said offhandedly. "I'll drop Rain off and come back for you."

"Vivian, if you want to take this out on me, fine. But don't punish Ian for it!"

I glanced into the back seat. It was crammed full of the gifts he'd bought Rain, no room left for anyone else.

Boxes I couldn't even count, each one wrapped to perfection.

I'd seen them in his study once, every single one wrapped slowly and carefully by his own hands.

Seven years of marriage. Ian was five.

The only gift my son and I had ever received was a music box Rain hadn't wanted.

The car peeled away, leaving nothing behind but exhaust fumes.

Soaked to the skin, I had no choice but to hurry Ian into a convenience store by the road, the two of us a sorry sight.

Chewing on a warm rice ball, I asked suddenly, "Would you be okay starting preschool in a new city, sweetheart?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead he asked, "Will Daddy come too?"

I shook my head. Ian gave a small, uncertain nod.

So I pulled out my phone and accepted the transfer.

If the marriage was beyond saving.

Then maybe letting go was the better choice.

By the time the downpour eased and the sun blazed back out, Vivian still hadn't come for us.

I was used to him breaking his word. I didn't bother waiting any longer and just hailed a cab home with Ian.

The second we stepped inside, Ian's face changed.

He didn't even stop to take off his shoes. He bolted straight to the trash can and snatched up the empty box inside.

"Mom, my limited-edition figure is gone..."

My son's eyes went red in an instant, staring at the empty box, on the verge of tears.

My stomach dropped. One person came to mind immediately.

When I called Vivian, he admitted it without hesitation.

"I took it. Tell me how much it cost and I'll send you the money."

"Chloe Whitlock kept pestering Rain for that one and Rain couldn't say no. Cut her some slack."

I almost laughed in disbelief. Through gritted teeth, I said, "You think this is about money?"

"That gift was something my mom bought for Ian. Who gave you the right to just hand it off to someone else?"

My mother is an illiterate woman from the country who doesn't even know how to ride the subway.

But because Ian once said he liked it, she snuck out on her own and asked around until she found the address of the mall.

A hundred-degree day, six hours in line under a brutal sun, just to barely snag this one.

Ian had cried when he got it.

But Vivian only said, light as air, "I'll cover whatever your mom paid as a shopping fee. Happy now?"

"Stop making a scene. Chloe's about to cut the cake. Don't ruin her birthday."

I was about to snap back when Rain cut in, sharp and impatient. "Katherine, I'll pay double, all right? Stop getting on his nerves."

"His experiments haven't been going well lately. He's already worked up over it!"

"It took me forever to cook him soup and porridge just to settle him down. Can you please not set him off again?"

The call clicked dead.

But I couldn't unhear his last words. "There, there. Don't be upset."

After getting Ian settled, I hailed a cab straight to the Whitlock house.

Through the window, I could see Vivian and Rain standing on either side of Chloe, watching over her as she made her wish.

Someone nearby asked her what she'd wished for.

Chloe smiled sweetly and pulled Vivian's and Rain's hands together.

"I wish Uncle Vivian and Auntie would be together forever, and stay by my side forever!"

The room erupted in teasing cheers. Rain's face flushed scarlet in an instant.

Vivian cleared his throat twice, stealing a glance at her.

Even as I shoved the door open with a bang, their clasped hands never came apart.

The moment they saw me storm in, everyone fell silent.

Vivian instinctively pulled Rain behind him, glaring at me with cold eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"You came to make trouble over a toy?"

"Katherine, when are you ever going to get over that cheap, penny-pinching streak of yours?"

Rain tugged at his hand and said in a soft, coaxing voice, "Come on now, Vivian."

"People who grow up poor are like this. Otherwise she wouldn't have gone working in a nightclub for spending money back then."

"It's all her hard-earned cash. I'll just pay her back, that's all."

She plucked a necklace off her own neck and tossed it on the floor in front of me. "This should cover it."

"Take it and go. Don't ruin our party, okay?"

But I didn't so much as glance at the chain she'd thrown me like alms to a beggar.

I stared straight at Vivian, who couldn't hold my gaze, and let out a bitter laugh. "What else did you tell her?"

"Vivian, you know perfectly well I only went there to save up for my mother's surgery!"

"And I kept myself clean the whole time. I never did a single sordid thing!"

But Vivian gave a cold little laugh, his face blank. "Drop the act. Working the floor as a 'pure' hostess in a nightclub. Isn't that a joke?"

"Just because I didn't call you out doesn't mean you can treat me like a fool!"

In an instant, the way everyone around me looked at me changed.

As if I were a woman who'd thrown herself away, and Vivian was the innocent, decent man I'd dragged down.

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. I picked up the figure and turned to leave.

But Chloe darted out, snatched it from my hands, and slammed it to the floor. It shattered to pieces in an instant.

She pouted and glared at me, sulking. "You're a bad woman who picks on Auntie. I won't let you get your way!"

A shard sliced my foot, but Vivian didn't even bother to look.

Instead, he praised Chloe. "Good job, sweetheart."

"From now on, that's how you protect Auntie. Don't let anyone pick on her, understand?"

Chloe puffed out her chest proudly. Rain kissed her cheek again and again, and Vivian stood guard beside the two of them, looking for all the world like a family of three.

And I stared at the wound on my foot, and suddenly I laughed.

When the laughter had drained me almost numb, I calmly pulled out a document I'd printed long ago and dropped it in front of Vivian.

"Since I bother you so much, this marriage isn't worth keeping anyway."

"Sign it. Let's divorce."

"It's better for both of us."

In the end, Vivian still refused to sign.

He had me forcibly thrown out of the Whitlock house, leaving only one line behind. "We'll talk at home."

I didn't keep fighting. Instead, I turned around and called the police, reporting them for disturbing the peace.

On the way home, Vivian called me dozens of times. I didn't answer a single one.

So he switched to the cold shoulder too, simply staying away from home for days on end.

I didn't care in the least. After finishing my transfer paperwork at the office, I planned to head straight to Ian's preschool to handle the school transfer.

But when I got to the school, I found out Vivian had already moved Ian's enrollment record somewhere else.

The teacher sighed, then said through gritted teeth, "Ms. Cooley, don't blame me for speaking out of turn."

"I know that preschool. It's a new private one, and I hear the management is a real mess. There have been several incidents of students getting hurt."

"You should really talk it over with Mr. Simmons and bring Ian back here."

Swallowing my anger, I dialed Vivian and told him to cancel the transfer immediately.

But he only said flatly, "Absolutely not."

"That school was started by Rain's brother. He doesn't have many students yet, so he really needs the kids."

"And her brother studied early childhood education abroad. He's more qualified than a lot of teachers here."

"Rain said her brother will give Ian special attention."

I almost laughed out of sheer fury.

"Qualified? If he's so qualified, why have there been several incidents of students getting hurt?"

"Just to please your precious little colleague, you don't even care about your own son's safety!"

Vivian hung up on me, but I drove straight to the Whitlock house anyway, and walked in just in time to catch the two of them feeding each other lunch.

I didn't have the patience for it. I cut straight to the point. "Cancel the school transfer right now. I will never agree to it."

"Forget the safety issues for a second. That preschool is three hours from the house. Are you going to make Ian wake up at four every morning just to get to school?"

Vivian said nothing.

Rain, though, smiled brightly. "Don't worry about it, big sister. Ian can just live here with us."

She pushed open the door to the storage room beside her, then coughed as the dust hit her.

Still, she went on. "I'll have the housekeeper clean it out. It'll be livable in no time."

"My brother goes to work right past there, so he can take Ian to school. So convenient."

"And Vivian comes over all the time, so Ian will still get to see his daddy."

I looked at the room, barely fifty square feet, with nothing in it but a dust-coated iron-frame bed. I almost laughed.

"Vivian. You actually plan to make your son live in a place like this?"

"Her dog lives better than this."

Vivian's brow knit, and he said with irritation, "Enough. He's got a place to sleep, that's more than fine."

"You grew up in a worse hole than this back in the village, and you didn't lose an arm or a leg over it."

"Ian's too soft anyway. This is perfect for him. It'll toughen him up."

I stared at him, dumbstruck, and was about to speak when I caught the red marks on Rain's neck.

In that instant, another strained wire inside me snapped.

I rushed into the bedroom like a woman gone mad, and the rumpled bed was the first thing I saw.

And the used condoms in the trash can.

Not one. Five of them.

Vivian had followed close behind me, and when he saw I'd discovered everything, his composure cracked for only a heartbeat.

Then he steadied himself. "I drank too much last night. It was just a moment of weakness."

"I already made it clear to Rain this morning. This one time won't affect our relationship."

"Your relationship? Then what about ours?"

I stared at Vivian in disbelief, my stomach so sick I felt like I could throw up everything I'd eaten the night before.

"When you were sleeping with her, did you think about me even once? Did you think about Ian?"

"Filthy. You're disgusting."

"That's enough!"

Vivian shoved me away as I lunged to hit him, ice-cold and without a shred of patience.

"I make one mistake, and you want to nail me to the pillory for it?"

"You really want me to drag out every one of your past stunts and pick them apart one by one?"

"A woman who's been ridden by a thousand men, mounted by ten thousand. What right do you have to call me filthy?"

The words were out, and both of us froze.

After a long moment, he spoke slowly. "That came out too harsh. Don't take it to heart."

"Neither of us is thinking straight today. Go home and think it over."

"Don't ruin all these years we've had together over one small thing."

Every word came out calm, deliberate, as if I were the one who'd done something wrong.

Seeing me frozen there, Rain still smiled brightly. "Katherine, you know, this wasn't our first time."

Vivian moved to stop her, but he couldn't catch her words in time.

"Actually, the first time for me and Vivian was in the car."

"You remember. That day of the hurricane, when he was out looking for a hair tie for me."

"It wasn't until I got in the car that I found out he'd prepared twenty-five gifts for my twenty-fifth birthday."

"I was so moved that I made up an excuse to have him park in the garage, and then we just..."

"Honestly, he didn't want to at first, but once I made him feel good, he stopped holding back."

"We didn't even use anything that time. You know how wild he can get, don't you?"

Rain's smile was wrapped in undisguised malice, and it cut into me until my whole body ached.

But even after I'd laid everything bare, Vivian only let out a tired sigh.

It's better that you know. At least now I don't have to keep stressing over hiding it.

The past is the past. From now on, neither of us brings it up again. We just live our lives. All right?

I shook off his hand as he reached for me, my voice gone hoarse. : Do you actually think that's possible?

Either you sign, or I file and drag this out until everyone knows. Your choice.

I turned and walked off. Vivian chased me a few steps before Rain grabbed him and pulled him back.

She didn't even have to say anything. Her eyes just went red, and all of his anger drained out of him as he started soothing her again.

And me, even with tears streaming down my face, nobody cared.

Several days passed, and Vivian still hadn't done a thing.

So I went and transferred Ian's enrollment record back myself, and printed out a few copies of the divorce papers while I was at it.

Once I got home, I planned to just take Ian and go.

But before I could even open the door, the neighbor lady rushed up to me, frantic. : Katherine, your husband just hauled Ian off by force.

There was a woman with him too, and something felt off about the whole thing. You'd better watch yourself!

Something was wrong. I knew it instantly and bolted for the entrance of the complex.

Sure enough, there were Vivian and Rain, forcing a sobbing Ian toward the car.

In that instant every shred of reason left me. I rushed over, shoved Rain aside, and snatched Ian back.

When she fell, Vivian's face went dark at once. : Are you insane?!

Rain scars easily. She can't take the slightest injury. Do you have a death wish?!

I ignored him, because Ian's face had gone a ghastly, impossible white, his breathing fast and shallow.

Only when he saw me did he manage to get the words out. : Mommy, my chest hurts so bad, I can't breathe.

Daddy said I was faking, but I wasn't

My son suddenly went limp, fainting right there in my arms, and the terror of it nearly knocked my legs out from under me.

But Vivian's eyes never left Rain and her sniffling. He scooped her up and walked away.

I clutched Ian and begged him through my tears to drive us to the hospital.

He just shoved us off and roared, : Knock off the act!

If Rain's injury doesn't heal right and she's left with a scar, you and I are not done!

The car tore off again, right before my near-hopeless eyes.

And I, holding a child whose breaths were growing fainter and fainter, could only wave down car after car, helpless.

By the time Ian was finally rushed to the hospital and stabilized,

the doctor pulled off his mask and spoke gravely. : The boy's condition isn't good. If you want a real cure, you'll need to take him somewhere with more advanced care.

I nodded numbly, looking at my sleeping son, and called my best friend to help pack up my things from the house.

Then I booked overnight flights, a direct route to Ashford City, where my transfer was waiting.

I'd just cleared security and was about to power down my phone before takeoff when Vivian's call came through.

Which hospital are you and Ian at? I'm coming right now.

I let out a cold little laugh and answered evenly. : Don't bother. You couldn't make it anyway.

Vivian froze, then blurted out, : What's that supposed to mean?

I watched the flight attendant giving the gentle reminder to switch off all phones, my voice as flat as it could go.

My transfer paperwork is done, and Ian's already switched schools.

From this day on, he and I have nothing left to do with you. Nothing!