He's my child, a part of me, so a glimmer of hope lingered in my heart.
But in the next second, my boy yanked his hand away and shouted, "I'm staying with Aunt He forever! I'm not going anywhere with you!"
My heart sank instantly.
Jonas pulled Ashier behind him, dumped the bowl of pasta into the trash, and looked down at me with disdain.
"Hey, Andy, who are you kidding? Come on, you begged me to marry you every year! Ha! No way you'd actually just run away now."
With that, he took Ashier by the hand and walked out of the door.
Before they left, I heard him muttering to himself, "Ugh, I really made the right decision to put you under my name when you were born. If it had been on hers, who knows what kind of mess we'd be dealing with."
Ashier chimed in with his tiny voice, "I'm happy you didn't marry her, Daddy!"
The door closed behind them, and my strength gave out. My fever was relentless, sapping my energy.
Trembling, I dragged myself to the hospital
After a few IV drips, the fever subsided somewhat.