"If this is what you want, then you have won. I give up." Rain was so crushed that he had to close his eyes for a moment. He was really hoping that they would move into his house, but not in this way. Seeing his daughter cry struck the softest depths of his heart, making it too painful for him to continue.

  "Rain, do you think that I am such a cold-hearted and calculating woman that would use my own children against you?" 'I never expected that they would behave like this. Judging from their earlier response, I have thought that they would love to live with you, ' Annie wondered.

  "The truth is right in front of us. If you don't want to live with me then tell me straight. Don't use the children as a tool for your rejection, "Rain said, enraged. To use one's own children against the other parent, struck a chord with Rain. It reminded him of his own family when he was growing up. His mother used to be denigrated for using him as a weapon against his father. This made him extremely sensitive when he saw that Annie was doing the same with their children.

  "You can believe what you want. But I didn't do that!" Annie burst out. She felt wrongly accused by him. Her eyes were red with tears.

  "It doesn't matter to me anymore. Since you have rejected me so strongly, then I wish you well, good-bye!" Rain looked at his children longingly. He then turned and left with a heavy heart as he couldn't bear to see them crying because of him.

  Annie's heart was full of bitterness. Once again Rain turned his back on her and walked away hurt and lonely. She knew that probably this time he wouldn't be back again, which meant that she had extinguished a good chance of them getting back together.

  "Mommy, doesn't daddy love us anymore?" Huey asked, looking at her with a sad face. 'If he loved us, he wouldn't have left us, ' he thought.

  "No, he will always love you two. He left because he's angry at mommy, not at you two." Annie felt nervous. Even she questioned what was going through Rain's mind.

  "Mommy, you don't love daddy. Is that why you don't want to move to daddy's house with us?" Joyce asked in a little voice. Her eyes were full o

  a chance to talk to her.

  "Sounds good," Annie said, thinking for a moment and then agreed her offer.

  "Annie, you are very good at keeping a secret. You never told us that Rain was the father of your children, why keep that from us?" Belinda gave her a stern look pretending to be angry with her, but inside she admired her courage.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hide it from you all. I just didn't know how to tell you." 'If I had told them that Rain was the father of my children, they would probably all think that I had an ulterior motive, ' she thought.

  "Well, I guess you are right. Anyway, have you two talked about when you are going to have the wedding?" Belinda asked directly, curious and worried about them.

  "Well no, not yet," Annie said, frowning. 'Why do they all just assume that we are going to get married, ' she thought sadly.

  "Well, you should both make the time to have the wedding. After all, your children are growing up very fast. It's not good for you both to wait for too long. Besides, Rain has been waiting for you for a very long time." Belinda couldn't understand the brotherhood that Rain had with his mates. But she could tell how much Rain was in love with Annie that she could see with her own eyes.

  "Was he really waiting for me?" Annie asked a little surprised. She did wonder if Rain might look for her after she disappeared, but now to hear it with her own ears from someone else……