Chapter 2

Kate's POV

The woman Caleb was talking about was me.

I lowered my eyes. To him, I wasn't even worthy of being addressed by name anymore.

The bodyguard answered honestly, "When we got there, this little girl was the only one in the house."

Caleb frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Search again. Kate has to be hiding nearby."

The bodyguard hesitated. "Mr. Steele, it looks like no one's lived there for a long time. There's about an inch of dust on the table."

Caleb scoffed. "She must've set it up on purpose to make people feel sorry for her."

He looked down at Claire as if she were something strange and foreign.

Claire broke free from the bodyguard and wrapped her arms around Caleb's legs.

I was stunned. This was only the second time she had ever seen Caleb.

Claire had no idea Caleb was the father who refused to acknowledge her, but something in their blood ties made her instinctively rely on him.

Caleb looked uncomfortable when she hugged him. He tried to shake her off as if she had burned him, but he didn't actually use much force.

He frowned and sneered, "Kate really is heartless, sending her bastard child to face my wrath."

I waved my hands frantically. "No, that's not true! Claire isn't a bastard."

She was our child, but he didn't believe that.

After Claire was born, I found out she had a hereditary heart condition that ran in the Steele family, so I went to Caleb.

His words from back then still rang in my ears. "Kate, do you think I'm still the same Caleb Steele I used to be? You fooled me once. Do you think I'll fall for your lies again?

"You had a kid with some other man, and now you want to pin her on me? Get the hell out of here. I'll give you 20 thousand dollars. Consider it a payment to end our five years together."

I said, "It's not enough."

He didn't want Claire, but she needed money for treatment.

Caleb gritted his teeth in anger. "I knew you were obsessed with money. Fine. I'll give you 50 thousand dollars—that's all you're worth."

Our five years of love had been reduced to something with a price tag.

I knew asking for the money would only make Caleb look down on me, but I didn't care. I used that money to get Claire the surgery she needed.

She would grow up healthy, so it was worth it.

At this moment, Caleb asked Claire coldly, "Talk. Where is your mom hiding?"

Claire looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. Her eyes and features looked so much like mine.

Caleb looked dazed for a moment. He stared at Claire's face for a moment, then quickly looked away.

"Mommy sleeps during the day and becomes a star at night," Claire said.

The moment he heard that, Caleb's expression hardened. He pulled his leg away.

"So now Kate has learned to use a sob story?" Caleb asked. "She taught a four-year-old to say things like that. Isn't she ashamed?"

Claire lost her grip and landed hard on her bottom.

I rushed over and tried with all my strength to catch her, but I couldn't. I could only watch her fall right through me.

The little box she had been clutching also fell to the floor.

Claire had gone two days without eating. It took her two tries to get back up, and my heart ached.

Caleb watched coldly from the side, his fists tightening for some reason.

Claire hugged the little box to her chest and patted her bottom, pretending to be brave. "Mommy, it doesn't hurt."

I was stunned. For a moment, I thought she could see me.

Then I remembered what happened when I had been bedridden with late-stage stomach cancer.

When she was two years old, she had already learned to take care of me. She would even sneak out while I was asleep to find whatever she could bring home.

One day, she came home covered in cuts and bruises after fighting with a stray dog. I was so worried that I coughed up blood.

Instead, she smiled and comforted me. She told me she wasn't hurt.

After that, whenever she fell or got hurt, she would always say those words to the empty air.

Hearing Claire say that, Caleb looked around. "Kate, come out!"

The whole place was silent.

I was standing right in front of him, but he couldn't see me.

Caleb waited for a moment, but he didn't see me.

He sneered, "What a heartless woman. She'd even use a child this young."

Then he said to the bodyguards, "Tell her to get lost."

With that, he went inside.

The door slammed shut in Claire's face.

The bodyguards exchanged glances.

One of the older ones couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "Should we take the kid back to her place?"

The other shook his head. "Mr. Steele said to make her leave. Let her find her own way."

In the end, they left Claire alone on the side of the road.