Chapter 2

At the sight before me, I froze.

Tilly was already five years old.

In my memory, Adrian had never once held her.

Not long after Tilly was born, she had a high fever and cried nonstop. The doctor said a father's embrace might help calm the baby down.

At that point, Tilly had been crying for three days without sleeping.

Even then, Adrian had only sat off to the side, head lowered, playing on his phone. He had said just one thing.

"I don't like children."

Looking now at the love all over his face, I finally understood.

It wasn't that he didn't like children.

He just didn't like my child.

A scolding voice not far away snapped me back to my senses. I turned to my side and realized my daughter was gone.

I looked up instinctively.

Tilly was standing in front of Adrian, looking up at him and calling him Daddy again and again, her little face full of hope.

"Daddy, look. I made this for you myself."

But the next second, Adrian stared blankly at the little girl in front of him and flung away the red braided cord in her hand.

"What kind of new scam is this?

"I only have one child. I don't know you."

After he spoke, Adrian impatiently shook off Tilly's hand when she tried to come closer again. Holding the baby, he turned to leave.

I rushed forward, pulled Tilly into my arms, and stepped in front of him.

"Adrian, what is this supposed to mean?"

Perhaps he hadn't expected to see me there, or perhaps he hadn't expected me to return without telling him.

For a moment, the man stood frozen. His eyes were filled with disbelief.

After a long pause, Adrian tightened his hold on the baby and spoke softly, a rare trace of guilt in his voice.

"You... why are you back?"

Then, as if realizing something, he suddenly looked at Tilly, who was wiping away tears beside me.

"Is she Tilly?"

My lips twisted. My eyes dimmed, and the bitter smile never reached them.

Tilly was already five.

And he still couldn't recognize his own daughter.

"Adrian, don't you owe me an explanation?"

"You..."

Before I could finish, several cars stopped in front of the restaurant, and a group of people got out.

When I saw the woman leading them, I froze. My eyes filled with pain.

"Long time no see, sis."

It was Willa Liddell.

My half sister.

Back then, she and her mother had destroyed the happy family I once had, driven my mother to her death, and sent me to a psychiatric hospital.

When I met Willa's provocative eyes, memories flashed before me one after another, and my body couldn't stop trembling.

"Why are you all standing outside? It's cold."

Willa naturally took Adrian's hand, her tone intimate.

Before I could speak, Willa beat me to it. She spoke loudly enough for everyone around us to hear.

"Maya, Adrian told me everything.

"You insisted on being with him. You were even willing to become the other woman. But now Adrian and I have a baby. Stop pestering him.

"Adrian and I are married. Are you still going to be like your mother was back then, a stumbling block in someone else's happiness?"

In an instant, everyone around us turned to look at me. They whispered among themselves, their words full of insults and contempt.