Page 224 of My Ruthless Neighbor

We began from being enemies who couldn’t stand each other to being neighbors and then became life partners.

I had given up on happiness but my wife came into my life and made me realize that there was still hope. She helped me see that I deserved a second chance at life.

We both went through traumas that haunted us our entire lives. It still does. But the only difference is, we don’t suffer alone. We seek each other out and grieve together.

I don’t shut her down when things become too much. Instead, we sit and talk it out. She listens to me patiently and holds me in her arms when I need healing.

The same goes for her. When she is having one of those gloomy days, I give her strength.

Living with her makes living life so much easier and lighter. She made my journey of self-forgiveness easy. I still don’t lie. But I am not that strict with people who lie anymore. All because of my little liar.

After Raleigh and I literally destroyed Genesis Media’s reputation by exposing their wrongdoings against us, they had to shut down their agency.

We are now dubbed as the Ruthless Men of the advertising industry. Our wives love to tease us about it.

Summer and I got married soon after Raleigh and Hannah. Because we didn’t want to wait.

We purchased a mansion in Malibu soon after our wedding. When Summer expressed her wish of living with Eomma and Abeoji, I was uncertain about the whole idea of living together. Not because I didn’t want to.

It was because I wasn’t sure they would want that. To live with a son who grew distant after Amy. But I was surprised when they agreed. Like Summer and I, they’ve suffered too. And they yearned for a family.

Abeoji and I finally did what we should have done a long time ago. Grieve. We embraced each and shed tears, finally acknowledging our loss. That day when the light breeze caressed my face, I immediately sensed it was Amy. She was happy seeing us together at last.

My two-year-old daughter squirms in my arms as soon as she spots her mother. “Mommy—” I put a hand over Amy’s mouth, silencing her.

“We talked about this, Amy.” I chide her gently then lower my hand.

“Sorry, Daddy.” She grins, her dark brown eyes glimmering which tells me she’s not really sorry.

We are currently hiding in the darkened hallway of our mansion while my four-year-old son, Aiden is hiding behind the gigantic sofa in the living room.

“Archer? Is anybody home?” Summer calls out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Harper toddling toward me. Harper is my three-year-old adopted daughter. “Daddy!” She squeals as soon as she reaches me, her mocha skin glowing in the sparkly princess dress she is wearing.

Summer turns in our direction and I hurry to her and crouch down to pick her up. I left her with Raleigh for two minutes and she managed to escape him.

This is so not going as planned.

Today is a big day for Summer. She just opened her third NGO called the Sunshine Project. It’s for the children who are treated poorly in the foster system. The project provides educational assistance as well as focuses on improving every aspect of children’s lives mainly health and social needs.

Summer and Raleigh suffered a lot in their childhood. And she always had this drive to do something for underprivileged kids. Because nobody did that for her.

I am so damn proud of her. After giving birth to Aiden, she continued modeling for a while then opened her very own clothing line. She funded the venture with the money she earned through modeling.

She worked hard on creating something unique by collaborating with designers and stylists. They came up with outfits inspired by Summer’s quirky fashion sense and it paid off. Because it quickly set the trend and her clothing line became one of the most successful brands in L.A.

I finally told her about the investment I had made in her name using the money she was paying me every month for her car. She was upset that I didn’t tell her about it but got over it and used the return on that investment for social causes.

Aiden was one year old when we adopted the twins—Harper and Gordon. We met them through the NGO Summer was volunteering at. As soon as she held them in her arms, she decided she was adopting them.

And a year later, we had Amy, our youngest. She was a surprise. And we couldn’t be happier to welcome her to our big family.

When Eommaheld her for the first, she burst into tears because she looked exactly like Amy when she was an infant.

She strongly believed that Amy was reincarnated. Because she also shared a birthmark on her neck similar to my sister’s. Naming her Amy felt right.

I can’t say I fully believe in my mother’s theory but sometimes, when she looks at me with her soft eyes, it feels like it really is Amy.

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