“Dad, I want a different mom.”

Nina Fontaine had just heard a car pull into the yard. She knew Jasper Fontaine and Ulysses Fontaine were back, so she hurried out with a smile, ready to welcome them.

She never expected that the first thing she’d hear would be that sentence.

“Mom…” Ulysses froze for a second, guilt flashing across his little face. He was scared she’d heard him and would get mad… scared she wouldn’t cook his favorite dishes anymore.

But soon he relaxed again. He’d used French. His mom, who stayed home cooking every day, couldn’t possibly understand it.

“Ulysses, you—”

Before she could finish, Ulysses turned away and continued chattering to Jasper in French.

“Dad, look at Mom. She’s wearing an apron again, just cooking at home. She looks like some nanny. It’s embarrassing. I want Auntie Luna to be my mom instead. She’s so smart, she can do everything. She’s amazing.”

If the first sentence could still be brushed off as her mishearing…

This one hit her crystal clear.

When Nina gave birth to Ulysses, there had been complications. He was premature, fragile, constantly sick, and had a bleeding disorder.

She had dropped out of school, stayed up countless nights, poured every bit of patience and love into raising him, slowly nursing him into a healthy, chubby little boy.

And now, the child she held in the palm of her hand… called her a nanny. Said she embarrassed him.

And wanted the other woman as his mother.

Nina’s face went paper‑white from the stab of pain.

“Ulysses… what are you talking about?” Her hands shook as she clenched them tight, her voice trembling.

“I’m practicing speaking French with Dad. Mom, you don’t understand it, so don’t interrupt us.”

Ulysses Fontaine’s tone and expression were the perfect mix of perfunctory and annoyed, like he couldn’t even be bothered to hide it.

Then he went on in French, still clinging to his father’s arm as he said, “Daddy, don’t you like Auntie Luna too?”

Jasper Fontaine shot a cold glance at Nina Fontaine, whose face had gone completely pale, and with that low, velvety voice of his, replied in two smooth French syllables.

“Yes.”

“That’s awesome, Daddy! Then let Auntie Luna be my mom!” Ulysses’ eyes sparkled, his voice soft and sugary, full of a kid’s unfiltered innocence.

In his mind, swapping moms was no different from changing clothes or picking a new toy. Easy. Casual. No pressure.

And Jasper didn’t even try to correct him. He simply asked, “Then what about your mother?”

“Let her stay home and cook,” Ulysses answered like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Her cooking is really good. And she can’t bear to leave me. If I kick her out, she might cry.”

Wow. So considerate.

So ‘filial.’

Nina let out a bitter laugh in her heart.

The father and son duo were both convinced she didn’t understand French.

So they just kept going, completely unrestrained, holding a full-blown French conversation right in front of her.

But they didn’t know—Nina had hyperthymesia. She never forgot anything, tested at genius-level IQ, learned faster than most people breathed.

She spoke ten major languages and dozens of smaller ones.

French? Of course she understood.

And every word they said felt like a sharp blade, slicing straight into her chest, each cut deep enough to steal her breath and blur her vision with heat.

She knew Jasper didn’t love her.

But she never expected that the child she treasured like her whole world—her precious boy—would dislike her too.

His casual betrayal was what truly shattered her defenses, the blow that broke her heart clean in half.

Back then, she only got pregnant with Ulysses Fontaine by accident.

If Jasper Fontaine’s mother hadn’t knelt down begging her to keep the baby,

she probably would’ve ended the pregnancy long ago. There wouldn’t even be a Ulysses now.

Ulysses was born weak. One careless nanny, one moment of oversight, and the kid ended up in the ICU, hanging by a thread.

So she dropped all her plans for further studies and stayed home full‑time.

She took care of Ulysses herself.

She personally nursed Jasper’s grandmother, who’d been bedridden after a stroke.

She comforted his mother through depression after losing her husband.

She even handled his rebellious little sister.

She played the perfect stay‑at‑home wife, just so Jasper wouldn’t worry about anything.

Jasper worked hard, and he was undeniably capable.

In just a few years, with the dowry she’d brought into the marriage, he rebuilt the bankrupt Fontaine family from the ground up.

He became the richest man in Haishi.

But no one knew she was the wife of that billionaire—because their marriage was hidden from the world.

Neither father nor son cared about her. They walked right past her, chatting away as if she were invisible.

The evening breeze carried their voices straight to her ears.

Ulysses, buzzing with excitement, said, “Dad, Auntie Luna looked so cool riding that horse today. I really like her. I kinda wish she could be my mom.”

Jasper’s low voice was warm, tender—almost overflowing with emotion.

“Daddy likes her too.”

Nina Fontaine’s eardrums rang. Her face turned ghost‑white.

Every word from the father and son stabbed into her heart, tearing it open until it felt like it was bleeding out.

She kept telling herself over and over, like some desperate mantra,

Kids talk nonsense. Kids don’t mean it.

He didn’t mean to hurt her.

He doesn’t get it.

He’s still just a kid.

A mother should be patient, right?

But the spring wind can be such a jerk.

The moment it hit her eyes, the tears just started falling, completely out of her control.

No matter how many times she wiped them away, more kept slipping down.

She stood in the courtyard for a long time, long enough that her hands and feet went numb from the cold, a chill seeping all the way into her chest. Only then did Nina Fontaine move, almost robotically, turning around and heading back inside.

The heater washed over her the moment she stepped in, wrapping her up in warmth — yet none of it could reach the place that hurt the most.

And over in the living room, father and son were still chatting away, practically glowing as they replayed their horseriding trip with the mistress in their heads.

Not only that, they were switching to French as they excitedly discussed next weekend’s outing.

"Papa, Auntie Luna said she can take me to the amusement park next week. But I’m scared Mommy will want to come with us. Next week, can you tell her you’re craving one of her dishes? Please, Papa, please?"

"Alright."

"Then pick something super complicated, like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. If Mommy has to cook all day, she won’t have time to follow us."

A bitter smile pulled at Nina’s lips.

So that’s what it was.

It was the weekend, and she had planned to go out with Jasper Fontaine and Ulysses Fontaine as a family. But Ulysses had clung to her, whining that he wanted her Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

She couldn’t refuse him — not when he begged like that.

So she gave in.

That dish takes ages to make. She had worked nonstop from morning until afternoon, personally handling every step, just so the two of them could come home to a warm, hearty meal.

But she never imagined…

that this was what she’d get in return.

What “I’m hungry” — it was just another excuse to brush her off.

Nina Fontaine felt a dull, tearing ache spread through her chest, as if her whole heart had gone numb. A wave of cold despair washed over her, heavy enough to drown a person. For a second, she just… broke. She was so tired. Bone‑deep tired.

Moving like a ghost, she drifted upstairs and slipped back into her room.

Neither father nor son even noticed she was gone.

Lying on the bed, she let the tears fall without restraint. Her head felt foggy, buzzing with thoughts that tangled and stabbed like little needles. All those memories surged up — six years of marriage that felt more like she’d been widowed, living alone beside a man who never truly saw her.

She’d fallen for Jasper Fontaine at first sight.

But he’d never liked her. Their marriage was nothing more than an accident, a misunderstanding pushed all the way to the altar.

Back then, she honestly believed that if she poured her whole heart into this family, even the coldest stone would warm up eventually.

But she’d been wrong. Painfully, stupidly wrong.

Six years of marriage, and Jasper Fontaine’s heart and eyes were filled with only one person — his precious first love. Toward her, he’d stayed distant, polite, cold… from the very first day to now.

And now even her own son found her embarrassing. Unworthy.

Was there even a point to holding onto a marriage like this?

Nina stayed awake almost the entire night, staring into the dark until morning finally crawled in. When daylight filled the room, something in her finally settled.

She’d made up her mind.

She wanted a divorce.

The moment that resolve hardened in her chest, her weekday alarm shrilled beside the bed. Out of habit, she pushed herself upright, slipped on her shoes, and got ready to head downstairs to make breakfast for the father and son.

A few seconds later, her hands froze mid‑air, and she let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

She really had lived her life like some tireless workhorse.

Now that she’d decided to end this marriage, she wasn’t about to keep playing nanny for that father‑son duo.

Nina Fontaine turned around, headed into the bathroom, washed up, changed her clothes, and stepped out of the house, making her way to A University for breakfast and class.

Ever since Ulysses started kindergarten, she’d picked up her studies again.

Now she was in grad school at A University, tackling Medicine, Biology, and AI all at once.

Divorce mattered, sure—but her education mattered more.

With three majors stacked together, her schedule was packed from morning till evening.

Only after classes ended did she finally have time to go see her friend Chelsea York at the law firm.

She needed her to draft a divorce agreement—

one that would officially end this mess of a marriage.