I'm Done Being Your Family

After Allison Blake cheated on me with my best friend, my mom took my side and accidentally blinded Allison in her left eye. My dad was even more furious. He choked Trevor Hayes until he passed out. Allison wanted to press criminal charges. I begged her to let it go, and she gave me an ultimatum. "First, I'll end things with Trevor and come back to you, and you'll never bring up divorce again. "Second, you can only see your parents once a year. The rest of the time, you're not allowed to visit or spend time with them." I agreed. From then on, I only saw my parents on New Year's. This Thanksgiving, Allison was away on yet another business trip. I bought some pumpkin pies, planning to sneak over and visit my parents. But outside the door, I saw my mom massaging Allison's shoulders. "I hit you a little too hard back then. It's a real shame about your eye…" Allison didn't seem bothered. "It's fine. With Tristan's temper, he would've divorced me if you two hadn't helped me. This works out pretty well. Your place has become a safe haven for Trevor and me. It's nice and safe here." Trevor poked his head out. My dad opened the door just then, telling them that dinner was ready. Watching them all get along so well, something inside of me died. Perhaps Allison had forgotten that I still had a copy of the divorce agreement she signed when we got married. Chapter 1 The Thanksgiving Betrayal They crowded around Trevor as they ushered him inside, then gathered around the dining table. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I could see all the dishes spread across the table. Once everyone was seated, my dad raised a finger to his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet, then pulled out his phone. A second later, my phone rang with an incoming video call. I wiped away my tears and tapped the answer button with trembling fingers. My dad's loving face appeared on my screen. "Happy Thanksgiving, Tristan. Have you had dinner yet?" My mom squeezed into the frame beside him. "Are you home alone again? This is all our fault. We shouldn't have acted so rashly back then. Now, you don't have anyone to spend the holidays with." They'd say the same thing every year, making me feel incredibly guilty each time. I held back my tears and forced a smile. "Why did you make so much food for just the two of you?" My dad looked startled, and my mom reached over to take the phone. "It's Thanksgiving, after all. Your dad and I are all alone, so we made a few extra dishes. Don't worry about us. We'll see you during New Year's." I glanced at Allison and Trevor, who were sitting on the other side of the table. "Mom, turn the phone around so I can see." Everyone looked startled, and my mom's expression darkened. "All right, my phone's about to die. I'll hang up now." She ended the call and urged everyone to start eating. Trevor sat there as everyone kept putting food on his plate. He smiled happily, as if trying to calm the situation. Watching Allison patiently peel shrimp with her head bowed made my stomach turn. I couldn't bear to watch another second, so I turned and walked away. … On the cab ride home, I still couldn't believe what I'd just seen. However, the ache in my heart and the photos on my phone reminded me that it was all real. When I got home, I dug out the divorce agreement. Allison had personally handed it to me on our wedding day. "Tristan, I'll never divorce you as long as I live. This agreement is meant to keep me striving to be a good wife, while giving you a choice and protecting you." Allison had already signed it, and it stipulated that we'd split our assets equally. Three years ago, after discovering her affair, I'd pulled out the same agreement. My vision blurred, and tears spread across the paper as my hand shook around the pen. Just as I was about to sign, the doorbell rang. I put the agreement away and went downstairs to answer the door. A local courier handed me several boxes of food. "Hello. Your parents asked us to deliver these to you. Could you sign for them, please?" I signed for the package and opened the containers. They were all dishes my mom had made. But upon closer inspection, I realized they were all spicy dishes, just like the ones she'd sent me in previous years. I'd thought my parents' tastes had changed. It had never occurred to me that these were all dishes Trevor liked. Fighting back my nausea, I dumped every last dish into the trash. Chapter 2 The Family I Lost I'd barely finished dumping the food into the trash when Allison called. When she saw how pale I looked, she frowned slightly. "I just got back to the hotel, Tristan. Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling sick?" I looked at her, a bitter taste filling my mouth. "Allison, tell me the truth. Where are you really?" A flicker of alarm crossed her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. "Didn't I already tell you I'm on a business trip?" She got up and turned in a circle, holding her phone out to show me the hotel room. "See? I'm at the hotel. Why are you imagining things again? I'll be home in two days at most. Just stay home and wait for me." Since she'd lost sight in her left eye, she always unconsciously tilted her phone to the right during our video calls. But this time, her shrunken left eye was right up against the camera, as if she wanted me to see it. My heart gave an involuntary twinge of pain. I didn't answer and simply hung up. Allison then transferred some money to me and sent a text. "Sorry I can't be with you for Thanksgiving, so buy yourself something nice. I have to get back to work." Suddenly, I remembered the security cameras at my parents' house. I opened the app, only to find a message saying the administrator had kicked me out and I no longer had permission to view the cameras. A bitter smile crossed my face. Apparently, in my parents' eyes, I'd stopped being family a long time ago. I opened my blocked contacts and unblocked Trevor. His social media posts began appearing on my screen one after another. His latest post had gone up just an hour earlier. "All my favorite foods. Happy Thanksgiving!" The photo showed a table laden with all the food my mom had made. Both my parents had liked the post, and my mom had even left a comment. "I'm glad you like it. I'll make it for you again next time." Scrolling further back, I found a photo of Allison and Trevor with their fingers interlocked and their hands pressed against her belly. "Daddy loves Mommy, so that's why the baby wanted to come into this world." I froze in shock. Was Allison pregnant? I hadn't heard a word about it. Obviously, the baby wasn't mine. My parents had liked nearly every one of Trevor's posts. … By the time I'd finished scrolling through them all, I could barely hold my phone anymore. I clutched my chest, struggling to breathe through the pain. For the past three years, my own parents had been taking care of the man who'd destroyed my marriage. The home I'd lived in for over a decade had become a safe haven where they could hide their affair. Meanwhile, Allison hadn't just refused to cut ties with Trevor. She was having his baby. All this time, I'd been the only one kept in the dark, foolishly feeling guilty toward everyone involved. I couldn't take it anymore. I got in my car and drove to my parents' house. I needed to look them in the eye and ask why they were doing this to me. I knocked for a long time, but no one answered. I entered the door code, but the lock kept telling me it was wrong. With only one attempt left, my fingers trembled badly. I typed in Trevor's birthday, and the door unlocked. I stood in the doorway and broke down sobbing. I pushed the door open and realized no one was home. All kinds of baby supplies were piled on the floor. A family portrait hung on the living room wall. It showed my parents, Trevor, and Allison together. The photo of me with my parents had been taken down and left in a corner. I went upstairs and pushed open my bedroom door, only to freeze. My room had been remodeled to look exactly like a hotel room. I immediately pictured Allison standing there, talking to me on a video call. My legs gave out. I collapsed to the floor and started retching uncontrollably. Then I heard the door open outside, followed by some footsteps. Chapter 3 The Final Straw They walked in together, laughing and chatting. My mom spoke first. "We've bought almost everything the baby needs. Trevor's going to be a dad soon. We should get him a few outfits while we're at it." My dad chimed in. "Allison has a prenatal checkup tomorrow. Let's go shopping the day after instead. Have her tell Tristan she'll be back a day later." Allison replied calmly, "Okay. I'll call Tristan in a bit and tell him a meeting came up." Then, I heard Trevor asking my mom to get him his slippers and my dad to wash some fruit for him. Allison pulled out her phone as she headed upstairs. "I'll go to my room and video-call Tristan first." However, just as she reached the door, my phone started ringing inside the room. … When she saw me, her phone fell to the floor. That was when I noticed she was wearing a prosthetic left eye. It looked completely natural. Back then, I'd tried to convince her to wear one, but she'd refused. She'd said, "I want to remember this lesson for the rest of my life. I'll never make the same mistake again." Looking back, I realized she'd wanted me to remember her missing eye—and the two conditions she'd set for me. "Tristan? How did you get here?" Allison stared at me in disbelief and reached for me in a panic, but I pulled away. My parents hurried upstairs when they heard the commotion. Their first reaction was to demand an explanation. "Didn't we agree you'd only see us once a year? How could you just come back without even telling us?" I laughed bitterly, tears filling my eyes. "How else would I have found out you were secretly taking care of Allison's lover?" For the past three years, my parents had always arranged to meet me at restaurants, claiming they were too old to cook at home. After dinner, they'd keep finding ways to stall me, never letting me go home. "I haven't been home in three years, and the door code is Trevor's birthday now. You've even turned my bedroom into a hotel room! Are you even my parents?" My dad raised his hand and slapped me across the face. "That, you know! Why are you making such a scene then?" The slap caught me completely off guard, leaving me dazed. Allison stepped forward and took hold of my arm. "Dad, talk to him. Don't hit him!" She looked over my face and spoke softly. "Tristan, just calm down and hear me out, okay?" Trevor had come upstairs without me noticing. He pushed them aside, walked straight up to me, and dropped to his knees. "Tristan, this is all my fault. Please don't fight with Allison or your parents because of me. I know you're angry. You can hit me or curse at me if you want." He knelt there, tears streaming down his face as he looked between Allison and me. Allison let go of my arm and reached down to help Trevor up. "Tristan, Trevor isn't in good health. Whatever you want to do, take it out on me." Watching them support each other, I suddenly felt like the guilty one. I leaned against the wall, my voice trembling. "Let's get divorced, Allison. I'll let you two be together." Allison hesitated, then handed Trevor over to my mom. Turning back to me, she said firmly, "Tristan, you promised me you wouldn't bring up divorce again." I met her gaze and laughed bitterly. "What about you? You promised me you'd end things with him." My gaze fell to her slightly rounded belly. "And now, you're pregnant with his child…" She stepped closer and took both my hands. "But after what happened, Trevor lost everything. He even lost you, his best buddy… You two used to be so close. Can you really stand by and watch him end up with nothing?" Chapter 4 The Breaking Point Trevor dropped to his knees again, choking back sobs. "I'm sorry, Tristan. This is all my fault. I couldn't let go of Allison, so I came back to her. I never meant to take your place. I never forced Allison to divorce you. I know it's wrong, but I just want a little warmth in my life." My mom helped Trevor to his feet, looking at him with sympathy. When she looked at me, there was a hint of disgust in her eyes. "Why do you have to make things so difficult for Trevor? With your personality, Allison would have found someone else, even if Trevor weren't in the picture." After hearing that, I could no longer stay on my feet. I slid down the wall and sank to the floor. My mom's expression softened slightly, and she told my dad to help me up. "Didn't we keep this from you for your own good? Otherwise, your marriage to Allison would have fallen apart long ago." My dad hauled me to my feet and sighed. "Can't you just stay home and behave yourself? Trevor only wants to have a child with Allison. He doesn't want anything else." Trevor nodded along. "That's right. I don't want anything, Tristan. Please, leave my child alone." I hadn't even said anything, yet they'd already made me out to be a monster who wanted to hurt the child. I stared at Trevor as a sharp pain shot through my head. "You may not want anything for yourself, but aren't my parents and my wife all gathered around you anyway?" Allison frowned. "Tristan, you're still my husband. What are you so worried about?" The pain in my head grew worse. I staggered, unable to keep my balance, and began to fall forward. Allison's expression changed. She thrust out a hand and shoved me away. "Don't touch Trevor!" She actually thought I was going to attack him. My back slammed into the doorframe, and I fell to the floor, blood streaming from my nose. I lowered my head and saw blood dripping onto the floor. Allison followed my gaze to the blood and immediately grew alarmed. She was just about to help me when Trevor grabbed her. "Allison, my chest really hurts…" My vision was growing blurry. I called out anxiously, "Allison…" She frowned, glanced back at me, and said to my dad, "Dad, help Tristan up. Let's all go to the hospital." But my dad scoffed. "Why go to the hospital? It's just a nosebleed." Allison thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Come with me to take Trevor to the hospital, Dad. Mom, stay here and look after Tristan." I watched Allison walk away, calling her name again and again, but she never once looked back. The front door shut, and my mom impatiently cut me off. "Enough. Why are you still putting on an act? They've already left." I felt cold all over and looked at my mom. "Mom, please call 911." Instead, she returned to the couch and turned on the TV. "You just want to follow them to the hospital and cause trouble for Trevor. Do you think I don't know you? You put Allison through hell three years ago. If your dad and I hadn't stepped in, she would've divorced you a long time ago.” She went on and on without sparing me a glance. Leaning against the wall for support, I slowly made my way outside. Then, I turned back and asked her, "Mom, what did I ever do wrong?" She stopped snacking and looked at me. "You've done nothing wrong, but Trevor is your half-brother. You're both my children. He's already had such a hard life. I just couldn't bear to see him suffer…" I gave a bitter smile and stopped the recording. After calling 911, I passed out. … When I woke up, I was already in the hospital. The doctor stood beside my bed. "You had a brain hemorrhage. It's a good thing you called 911 when you did. We tried calling your family using the numbers in your contacts, but we couldn't reach anyone." Yet, I felt strangely calm. Not one of them contacted me while I was in the hospital. After I was discharged, I went home with the paperwork from my surgery. I took out the divorce agreement again and signed it without hesitation. I left the division of our assets to my lawyer. Then, I packed my bags, sent the recording to my dad and Allison, and booked a flight overseas.