Chapter 5

I took out my own phone too.

“Let’s play the security footage of you pushing a child, and watch it together.”

Zhao Xue’s expression changed.

There were security cameras at the school gate, and I had already informed the homeroom teacher.

The teacher came out and brought the children to her side.

“Ms. Zhao, while students are at school, the school is responsible for their supervision. Parents who want to visit need to arrange it in advance.”

Zhao Xue was about to argue, but the security guard had already come to the entrance.

My mother-in-law pointed at me and cursed.

“You’ll get what’s coming to you!”

I walked the children home.

Zhao Nian didn’t say a word the whole way.

Only after we got home did she ask me, “Mom, does Dad want to take us away too?”

I crouched down.

“Dad is still your dad, but no one can just take you away.”

Zhao Hang asked, “Then why did Grandma say both we and the house belong to the Zhao family?”

“Because she wants you to think the house has something to do with her.”

“But the house clearly belongs to you, Mom.”

“You need to remember: a person’s surname doesn’t decide who truly treats them well.”

That evening, Zhao Ming came home.

When he saw the children sitting beside me, his expression turned ugly.

“Why did you take the kids to school to make trouble?”

“My mother and Zhao Xue went to the school to see them.”

“They only wanted to visit the children.”

“Zhao Xue shoved Zhao Hang.”

Zhao Ming looked at our son.

“Did she really push you?”

Zhao Hang pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Zhao Ming crouched in front of him.

“Dad’s asking you.”

Zhao Hang looked up.

“She pushed me into the wall.”

Zhao Ming’s expression stiffened.

“She probably didn’t mean to.”

Zhao Nian suddenly spoke.

“Dad, are you going to take us to live with Grandma too?”

Zhao Ming stood up.

“Who told you that?”

“Grandma said we all belong to the Zhao family.”

Zhao Ming glanced at me.

“Wanqing, don’t put ideas in the kids’ heads.”

“I haven’t said anything to them.”

“You’re making them afraid of me.”

I put the security-camera photos from the school on the table.

“You can’t see the person who actually frightens them.”

Zhao Ming picked up the pictures and set them down again.

“Think carefully about the lawsuit.”

“I already have.”

“Do you really think you’ll be fine divorcing me and raising two children by yourself?”

“At least I won’t have to give three people from your family a room.”

Zhao Ming’s face darkened.

“Don’t push me.”

“You’ve already pushed me all the way to court.”

He didn’t stay for dinner. He slammed the door and left.

In the middle of the night, I received a message from Zhao Xue.

“Mom has decided to move in with you. Tomorrow she’s bringing a locksmith to change the lock.”

I didn’t reply.

The next morning, my mother-in-law really did show up at the door with a locksmith.

When Zhao Ming took out his key to open it, I had already asked the building management to hold the elevator on the ground floor and notified security to come upstairs.

He stood outside the door and called in, “Wanqing, open up.”

I opened the door but held my phone up in front of him.

“What do you call bringing a locksmith to change the lock of a home you don’t own?”

Zhao Ming glanced at the security guard and lowered his voice.

“Do you really have to take this so far?”

“I’m just protecting the door to my own home.”

Standing behind him, my mother-in-law suddenly told the locksmith, “Open the door. I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens.”

I immediately called the police right in front of them.

The locksmith hurriedly put away his tools.

Zhao Ming angrily raised his hand and pounded on the door.

The children were so frightened they hid in their room.

I turned on the recording.

“Go ahead and keep pounding.”

He stopped.

After the police arrived, they asked what had happened and checked the property deed and purchase documents.

One officer told Zhao Ming, “If you have a dispute over property ownership, you can resolve it through the legal process. You can’t force your way into a home without the owner’s consent.”

My mother-in-law sat on the ground and cried.

“My own son wants to live in his own home, and he needs someone else’s permission? Is there any justice in this world?”

The officer glanced at her.

“Ma’am, the person listed on the property certificate decides who can move in.”

Zhao Ming’s expression was truly awful.

After the police left, he stood in the hallway and asked me, “What do you want me to do?”

“Withdraw the lawsuit and take your mother away.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then we’ll continue.”

He stared at me and suddenly said, “You think this is the only thing I can do?”

That evening, my lawyer called.

She told me Zhao Ming had filed a request for sole custody of both children.

I gripped the phone and asked, “What grounds does he have?”

“He’ll argue that your personality is too domineering, that you’re keeping the children from their grandmother, and that you make decisions about the family home on your own.”

“The house is my premarital separate property.”

“We’ll submit evidence for that. But custody will also depend on the children’s living conditions, who has directly cared for them, and each parent’s income.”

Zhao Ming has a stable job and earns 12,000 yuan a month.