"Cason, this is too much! Jeremy is already heartbroken over Cathy, and you’re being so sarcastic. Why are you being so nasty?"

Jocelyn glared at me, clearly thinking I was just bitter and mean-spirited.

"Whatever."

I said dismissively and walked away, ignoring both Jocelyn and Jeremy.

As Jocelyn watched me walk away, a flicker of confusion crossed her face.

She expected me to be furious and jealous, but instead, I treated her as if she didn’t exist, completely ignoring her presence.

My icy demeanor and complete lack of response seemed to throw her off.

For the first time, she left Jeremy and rushed after me.

"Cason, what’s going on? Are you still upset about me not dropping Iris off at preschool? It’s been days. Do you really need to be this rigid?"

Jocelyn’s voice softened, but there was still a hint of accusation.

I responded flatly, "There’s no need."

Seeing my cold response, Jocelyn finally dropped her defenses and tried to explain. "Jeremy was really shaken by Cathy’s death. When I got his call that day, he sounded so distressed that I rushed to be with him and left Iris halfway. Was Iris upset? I’ll bring her a gift when I get back. She’s such a good girl. She’ll understand and forgive me, right?"

If Jocelyn had put even a fraction of the care she gave Jeremy into our family, she might have noticed that our daughter was gone.

But she didn’t. For her, there was only room for Jeremy.

I suddenly felt that the past thirteen years had been in vain.

"There’s no chance left," I said flatly and turned to leave, not wanting to say another word to her.

Seeing how resolute I was, Jocelyn quickly grabbed my hand. "How can you say there’s no chance? Please, don’t be so upset. I’ll make it right. I’ll handle dropping off and picking up our daughter every day. Will that work for you?"

Jocelyn, realizing how unusual my reaction was, tried to make things right.

If Iris were still here, I might have been willing to forgive her.

I used to be the kind of person who couldn’t stand to see her upset and felt guilty over even the smallest inconvenience she faced.

But at this time, it was too late.

"Let’s schedule a time to handle the divorce paperwork," I said, pulling my hand away from Jocelyn and walking off without a glance back.

"Wait!"

Jocelyn called out, her face a mix of confusion and resentment. Frustrated, she shouted after me, "Cason, you’ll regret this!"