Chapter 4

By the time I opened the door to the meeting room at the office, documents in hand, everyone else had already gathered there.

At that moment, Carl was sitting in the CEO's seat.

When he saw me, he smiled. "Since everyone's here, let us begin. Everyone still remembers this, right? Ten years ago, when my father passed away, he stated clearly in his will that only the person who manages to develop a high-sensitivity robot can inherit the company.

"And now, I have developed the high-sensitivity robot he wanted. The help from my wife has been instrumental in the development of this robot. So now, I'd like to have my wife, Nora Palmer, give us a thorough introduction."

When Carl finished speaking, Nora entered the room in a white suit.

She had the slides displayed on the screen as she gracefully delivered the presentation to the audience. However, the wall of words on the slides described the fruits of my labor, which I had painstakingly worked on for years.

In the end, I couldn't stand it anymore. Stepping forward, I gripped Nora's arm and shouted at her with reddened eyes, "Nora, what are you doing?"

But in the next second, she shook off my hand.

Then, turning to the audience, she parted her lips and said, "Everyone, I'd like to confess something right now. A year ago, Carl and I successfully developed the high-sensitivity robot. Adam somehow caught wind of it, so he wanted me to steal the core technology and hand the robot to him.

"But I knew that this was Carl's pride and joy. I'm also aware that with his hard work and capabilities, he more than deserves the position as CEO of Moore Group."

In an instant, I heard people hurling insults and accusations at me. Meanwhile, Carl was receiving all the acknowledgment and praise.

As I stood among the crowd, I looked up at Nora. Our gazes only met for a split second before she hastily lowered her head to look away.

For so many years, I had spent so much effort on developing the high-sensitivity robot. I hid nothing from Nora at all.

Nora knew better than anyone what the success of that project meant for me. She also knew just how much I suffered and sacrificed over the years.

I had never expected her to ultimately trample my trust and weaponize it with another man to ruin my reputation.

I opened my mouth to speak, but in the next second, my phone suddenly rang in my pocket.

It was a call from Ben.

Ben said Rick had gone missing.

Without a second thought, I got up and immediately rushed out. However, Nora ran after me and grabbed my arm. "Adam, you owe Carl an apology."

With reddened eyes, I screamed at the woman in front of me, "Nora, your child's missing!"

In the next moment, a flash of panic crossed her face. "Mia? What happened to Mia?"

Getting up, Carl held Nora's hands and said softly to her in comfort, "Mia's fine. The nanny just told me she's sleeping at home."

Nora immediately let out a sigh of relief, and her expression relaxed as well.

Looking at the woman whose demeanor had just completely shifted, I clenched my fists as I turned around and ran outside. I left her with the words, "Nora, you've failed as a mother!"

I had just exited the building when I spotted Rick on the opposite street. He looked like a mess, and there were bruises all over him.

I rushed up to him and held him in my arms.

Rick told me everything as he sobbed. "Dad, Ben took me to the amusement park, and I saw the baby Mom was holding yesterday. I just wanted to take a closer look, but while Ben was getting ice cream for me, they took me away and beat me up. They even said I shouldn't have existed and that I should die…"

I was just about to comfort Rick, but in the next second, a strong force pulled me to my feet, forcing us apart.

By the time I finally registered what was happening, Rick and I were already pinned down by bodyguards.

Nora was standing in front of me. She raised her hand and slapped Rick across the face. "How did I end up giving birth to a wretch like you? What were you trying to do to my daughter? I should've aborted you!"

I struggled against the bodyguards' restraints with all my might.

Then, I suddenly caught sight of a large truck speeding toward us. It was about to run into Nora.

And Rick was running straight in Nora's direction.

I had no idea how a five-year-old could be so strong, but he managed to shove Nora aside.

"Rick!" I shouted.

Almost in an instant, Rick was lying in a puddle of blood.

I rushed over to him and picked him up in my arms. Tears were streaming down my face.

Rick smiled weakly at Nora, who was rooted on the spot. Then, he asked in a faint voice, "Mom, if you don't love me, why did you give birth to me?"

Nora staggered forward.

With reddened eyes, she reached out to touch Rick's face, but I quickly swatted her hand away.

Holding Rick tightly in my arms, I screamed at Nora through the tears, "Don't touch him! Nora, it's been five whole years, but you've never looked him in the eye! It was his birthday yesterday. It was his birthday, but he made a gift specially for you!"

As Nora looked on in shock, I took a deep breath. Then, I raised my head, closed my eyes, and said in a low voice, "Nora, from this moment on, my son and I never want to see your face again."