Nothing Has Ever Changed

After he left, Cedric spent the next few days at the office.

Every night, he would text Eden punctually at ten o’clock. The messages were kept very brief each time.

“I’m busy. Take care of yourself and Mateo.”

Eden did not try to ask what he was doing as she would in the past, since she was very much aware of what he was up to. She focused on work instead of troubling herself over it.

Mateo's birthday was coming up. In the past, the family of three would gather and celebrate with a cake baked by Eden. It was a simple but fulfilling way of celebrating their child growing another year older.

This time, Eden and Mateo waited until ten o'clock at night, but Cedric was still nowhere to be seen.

Mateo turned to Eden and sounded very grumpy.

“Is Daddy not coming back yet? Call him and ask, the cake is melting.”

With that, Eden reached for her phone and called Cedric for the fifth time.

After ringing for what seemed like forever, he finally picked up.

Cedric read her mind before she could even ask, and said, “Eden, I’m not coming home tonight. You… ah!

“You celebrate Mateo’s birthday with him, alright? I’ll make it up to him when I get back. That’s all for now, don’t wait for me.”

His voice sounded somewhat muffled, and his tone was odd. He seemed to be speaking hastily and hung up immediately before Eden could even get a word in.

As soon as the call ended, Mateo went up to her.

“Is Daddy coming home?”

His face instantly darkened when Eden informed him that his father was not coming home. He angrily threw the present Eden had given him on the floor and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Useless! You’re useless! You’re the reason Daddy won’t come home!

“Just because you didn’t have a Daddy and Mommy growing up doesn’t mean you have to take away my Daddy from me! You’re disgusting!”

His high-pitched voice shot into Eden’s eardrums like a banshee’s shriek. It made her head throb violently, and her ears would not stop ringing.

She looked at Mateo with a completely astonished expression, too lost for words.

Mateo seemed completely oblivious to the impact his words had. He continued hurling insults at her.

“Why do I have such a useless mother? Why are you my mother?!

“My friends have mothers who are lawyers or doctors, but you don’t even know how to do anything! All you do is spend time with a bunch of poor and grimy kids. Other people have grandparents, but you don't even have a home! Have you ever thought about what other people think of me?”

His face became contorted with rage. It was a jarring contrast with his otherwise childlike face. Then, he angrily smashed the present before stomping back to his room.

The door slammed shut.

A minute later, he stormed out and tossed a piece of paper at her.

“I’m cutting ties with you! You’re not my mother, you piece of trash!”

Then, he knocked over the cake baked by Eden before fleeing back to his room.

Eden stood still with a blank look on her face. Soon, her blank gaze turned to sorrow when she read the words written on the paper Mateo had thrown at her.

It was titled “Severance Agreement”.

“I, Mateo Castle, voluntarily cut off my ties with my mother.”

Right underneath the distorted, illegible handwriting was a fingerprint stamped with still-wet blood.

Eden stared at the paper in disbelief for what felt like forever. She felt completely pinpricked and numb; voices were droning around her.

She could faintly hear the conversation coming from the room.

“Amelie, when are you going to marry Daddy? I want to be your page boy.

“My mommy is useless. She can’t even get Daddy to come home. If you were my mommy, Daddy wouldn’t do this. It would be a dream come true if you were my mommy! I dream of you being my mommy all the time.”

Eden felt her blood turning turgid in her veins, followed by a cold shiver. Maybe it was true, maybe her existence alone disgusted Mateo.

She was ashamed of her background just as much as of her job. She couldn’t even keep her husband around for her son. That must be why Mateo would not stop fawning over Amelie and curse at his own mother.

With these thoughts in mind, she smiled cynically at herself.

Then, she numbly dragged her feet back to her room, where she grabbed a pen and signed her name on the severance agreement. She folded it neatly before tucking it into a gift bag.

Then, she put the gift bag into the pile of presents Mateo had received.

She was sure Mateo would be very pleased with it once he opened it.