After They Spurned Me, I Took Back My Legs

Chapter 2

I wheeled myself away in silence, my back held ramrod straight.

I made my way back to the bedroom, and the door clicked shut behind me. "System, I regret it," I whispered.

As soon as I uttered the words, I heard its voice reply to me. "Exchange System Alert: Strong host regret detected, revocation criteria met. The exchange is eligible to be reversed. Warning: Revocation is irreversible. In 5 days, the leg health status of both parties will be forcibly reverted."

Five days. That was more than enough time.

I shut my eyes for a second, then called my dad. "Dad, I've thought through that thing you mentioned before. Book me a flight out of the country in 5 days, please."

Ever since Nathan laid all his cards on the table, he'd completely dropped the act. He didn't even try to keep his affair under wraps around anyone.

He even had the nerve to bring that woman Lena along to our son's kindergarten family sports day, bold as brass.

My son's kindergarten teacher was a good friend of mine. She called me, absolutely furious. "Gretchen, Nathan has gone too far! He brought that homewrecker along, passed her off as Noah's mom at the sports day! And Noah kept calling her mom like it was the most natural thing in the world!" she exclaimed. "Your husband's a total deadbeat, whatever, but how can your own son treat you like this? You went through hell and back to have him! You were the one who took care of him day and night for the first few years of his life! How can he hurt you like this?!"

I didn't get mad. I calmed my friend down a little, then hung up the phone.

Next, I grabbed the divorce agreement and headed to the kindergarten alone.

Through the fence, I got a clear view of the "happy little family" on the sports field.

Nathan was dressed in casual wear, standing side by side with Lena, who looked young and pretty in a short sports skirt.

Noah was darting around like a giddy little sparrow, one hand clutching Nathan's, the other wrapped around Lena's. His little face was lit up with a pure, unguarded smile I'd never once seen directed at me.

They were competing in the three-legged race.

They were perfectly in sync, like an actual, genuine family.

Quite a few people noticed me standing there. The onlookers started whispering among themselves.

Noah spotted me too. The smile on his face froze instantly, then twisted into clear, sharp embarrassment and disgust.

He tugged hard on the hem of Nathan's jacket.

Nathan looked over at me right away, his eyebrows snapping into a deep frown. He strode over quickly, his voice thick with unmistakable irritation. "What are you doing here? Don't you know you'll make the kid lose face in front of everyone?"

Lena followed right behind him, her face set in a delicate, pitiful little pout. "Gretchen, please don't get the wrong idea. This is all my fault. I promised Noah I'd come to the sports day with him, that's why I'm here… After all, given your condition, it's not like you can get around easily anyway." She paused for perfectly calculated effect, then let her gaze casually flick down to my legs, like it was a total afterthought.

Her fake, saccharine "thoughtfulness" was nothing but a thin veil for catty, passive-aggressive jabs and unmistakable smugness.

I hadn't even opened my mouth when Nathan fixed me with an ice-cold glare. "I told Lena to come. Noah needs someone there for him, needs a normal mom. Now get out of here before anyone figures out who you are."

More and more kids came swarming over from the school grounds. A few sharp-eyed ones spotted me and Lena, and yelled out loud enough for the whole yard to hear.

"Noah! That lady in the wheelchair looks just like you! Is she your real mom?"

"Yeah, yeah! She does! Your side profiles are identical! Wait, is your mom actually a cripple?"

"If the lady in the wheelchair is your mom, who's this other lady?"

"She's not! That cripple isn't my mom!" Noah's little face flushed bright red in an instant. He clutched Lena's hand so hard his knuckles went white, and shrieked at the top of his lungs to shut the other kids down. "This is my mom! She's pretty, young, and she knows how to dance!"