What Was Lost

Keith's Taunting

Aw, you won't be complaining every day about life with a leech anymore. We'll have to find some new entertainment. Oh, right. You asked me about changing Tina's last name to Sawyer, didn't you? I asked around. It can be done as soon as he's dead,' Fanny messaged.

With trembling hands, I scrolled upward through the chat.

There, I found multiple photos and videos Serene had secretly taken of me taking care of Tina, cooking, and even kneeling down to tie her shoes.

The chat was filled with mocking laughter, and Serene had clearly laughed along with them.

I could no longer stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

Before we were married, I was a college professor with a bright future.

But I could not help falling in love with Serene.

When she graduated, she suddenly agreed to date me. In fact, we got married right away.

On our wedding night, she burst out crying as she told me about her pregnancy. The baby's father was her first love, who had died while saving her from drowning.

Her father forced her to get an abortion, which was why she agreed to marry me.

I loved her, so I agreed to treat the baby like it was mine.

However, even though I waited on Serene and Tina hand and foot, Tina's family name was Warner.

Keith had only appeared in their lives for six months, yet she already wanted Tina to have the Sawyer family name.

I was a complete laughingstock.

Indeed, Keith was an outstanding, young, and handsome man. More importantly, he looked very much like her first love.

From the moment he appeared in our lives, I had been doomed to lose.

That afternoon, Mary, our servant, helped me erase all traces of myself from the mansion.

It was only then that I realized that we had not taken a single family photo all this time.

Pity shone in Mary's gaze.

In the past, Serene's parents had looked down on me, so they refused to let her hire a servant. Since I had so much free time at home, what right did I have to hire someone else to wait on me?

I did not even have the right to sit with them during meals.

Later on, due to my kidney disease, they reluctantly hired Mary to take care of Serene and Tina.

Mary had not been here for long, but she saw and heard how they treated me.

"Sir, if you don't mind, I actually have an old place that's still vacant. You can move in there. I won't make you pay rent. Don't worry. I won't tell Ms. Warner either."

As I had accepted a job teaching in a rural region, I would be leaving in a few days. The money saved could be used to buy clothes for my future students.

Thus, I accepted the offer. Mary would take me to my temporary home the first thing the next morning.

Before I knew it, it was ten o'clock at night. As I got up to get ready for bed, I heard the front door unlock.

Then I watched as Keith walked in with Tina asleep in his arms. Serene followed behind them.

"Joseph, Keith spent the whole evening entertaining Tina. As it's late, he won't be returning to the hospital. Get a guest room ready for him. I'll be putting Tina to bed."

She then went upstairs with Tina, leaving me alone in the living room with Keith.

Acting like he was the master of the house, he sat down next to me and barked out, "I want dark colors for my bedsheet. Also, light an incense for me. Oh, right. Get me a glass of warm milk before I turn in for the night."

I got up to leave, ignoring him.

With a snort of laughter, he stopped me.

"Who knew? A freeloader like you has a backbone. No wonder Serene said you asked for a divorce. I didn't believe her at first. You can divorce her, but don't even think about getting a single penny from her!"

The smug, scheming look on his face made me lose all desire to respond. There was no need anyway.