Chapter 1

Alexander Morrison discovered that when he made excuses to accompany Charlotte Clarke and her daughter, I no longer tried to stop him. Even our daughter, Kimberly Morrison, no longer cried or threw tantrums.

The moment he stepped toward the door, our daughter picked up a forgiveness coupon and asked him carefully, "Uncle Alex, can you not go see them today and stay home with Mom and me instead?"

Alexander didn't stop walking. His voice drifted back from the doorway, carrying a hint of reproach and urgency.

"Kimmy, be good. Pearl is sick, and I need to take care of her. You still have so many coupons left anyway.

"Just tear this one up, it doesn't matter. Remember to forgive me after you use it."

Kimmy's eyes turned red as she tore the coupon in her hands into pieces and threw it in the trash. Looking at the table with only two forgiveness coupons remaining, I knew the day we would leave wasn't far away.

After Alexander left, Kimmy stared at the door for a long time. Her light brown eyes filled with hurt tears, but she refused to let a single drop fall.

I walked over and hugged her, wanting to take her back to the living room. But Kimmy grabbed the corner of my shirt and looked up at me with a tearful voice, asking, "Mom, why doesn't Uncle Alex like me? Am I not a good girl?"

Her words and the sadness in her voice made my nose sting, and I almost cried too.

I ruffled her soft hair and said, "Kimmy, you're my most well-behaved treasure. Uncle Alex doesn't dislike you either. It's just that someone's sick, and Uncle Alex went to help them."

Kimmy nodded and didn't ask any more questions. I knew she hadn't accepted this answer, but rather that she didn't want me to be sad too.

I carried her to the dining table and brought out the cake we had baked together that morning to celebrate her sixth birthday. After lighting the candles, Kimmy was about to make a wish when the sound of fireworks suddenly came from outside the window.

Then Alexander's voice rang out from the large screen by the river. He stood in the center of the screen, his expression gentle as he said, "Today is a special little girl's birthday.

"I want to wish her a happy birthday here. Tonight, all the fireworks in the city are set off for her."

Hearing Alexander's words, Kimmy's eyes, which had been fixed on the big screen, immediately lit up.

With her face full of excitement, she hugged my leg and said with a laugh, "Mom, Uncle Alex still remembers my birthday! He didn't forget!"

I smiled and touched her hair.

Her cheeks were flushed with excitement as she held a green piece of paper and said, "Mom, for my wish this year, I want to give today's forgiveness coupon back to Uncle Alex.

"He went to help someone, but he still remembered my birthday. I shouldn't have torn up the coupon."

The fireworks went off precisely at the stroke of midnight. But the words spelled out by those fireworks pierced both mine and Kimmy's eyes like daggers.

"Dearest Pearl, happy 5th birthday, love from Daddy Alexander."