Chapter 04

"Mom… is Dad leaving?"

Kirana's voice was soft. Her hand clutched the edge of my jacket, her small fingers clenched tight.

Kirana gripped my clothes with—

I felt my chest tighten. My little daughter's tiny fingers trembled against the fabric of my shirt.

Kirana looked at Arvan, then at Lara, then asked again in a voice barely above a whisper, "Mom, why is that auntie's child calling Dad 'father'?"

Lara immediately panicked. Her face went pale instantly. She reacted quickly, kneeling in front of Rio, her voice still gentle but with something rushed underneath.

"Rio, sweetheart. Just call him Uncle Arvan, dear. Uncle, not father."

The child looked at his mother in confusion. "But Mommy said—"

"Call him Uncle." Lara cut him off with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Rio finally nodded, though his face still looked confused.

Arvan frowned. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But I was faster. I pulled his arm to the side, far enough from Kirana and Lara's earshot.

"What are you doing?" My voice was low, but I made no effort to hide the anger in it.

Arvan pulled his arm from my grasp. "I'm not doing anything."

"You let that child call you Father. In front of Kirana." I looked at him directly. "Do you know how many times Kirana has cried silently because you never come home? And now she has to watch another child hanging around your neck like that?"

"Lara just lost her husband." Arvan's jaw tightened. "Rio needs a male figure. That's not my fault."

"Lara is none of my business." I cut him off. "But Kirana is your business. She's your daughter. Don't bring the drama of your relationship with your lover in front of that child."

"Lara is not my lover."

"Arvan." I sighed. "I don't care how you define your relationship. What I care about is the agreement we made. You promised to spend time with Kirana until her birthday." I stared at him without blinking. "Or do you want me not to sign those divorce papers?"

Arvan fell silent.

I saw something move in his eyes. Not anger, but something more complex than that.

He turned his face away. Glanced toward Kirana sitting alone on the bench, hugging her rabbit doll, staring at the tips of her shoes.

Something in Arvan's expression shifted.

He turned toward Lara.

"Sorry, Lara." His voice was softer. "I can't accompany you this afternoon. I already promised to spend time with Kirana today."

Lara looked at him for a moment. Her smile didn't change, but her eyes spoke something else. "It's okay. You can spend time with Rio another time."

She took Rio's hand and left without looking back.

Arvan stood still for a moment. Then he walked toward Kirana.

I followed from behind.

"Kirana." Arvan crouched in front of our daughter.

Kirana looked up. Her eyes still held unanswered questions.

"Dad's not leaving after all," Arvan said. "Let's continue our outing. You said you wanted to show me the flower stand?"

Kirana stared at him for several seconds, as if weighing whether those words could be trusted. Then her smile returned, slow but real.

"Yes! The last star on Kirana's map."

Kirana nodded enthusiastically. She hugged Arvan's neck tightly.

I watched from a distance with mixed feelings. My heart warmed seeing my daughter's smile, but it also ached remembering everything that had happened.

Since that day, Arvan came more often.

The first three days he was still stiff—sitting on the sofa with his phone in hand, answering Kirana's questions with short sentences. But Kirana didn't give up. She dragged Arvan to the drawing table, forced him to color butterflies with pink crayons, then laughed loudly when Arvan went outside the lines.

"Dad can't color," Kirana judged seriously.

"I'm a busy adult," Arvan answered flatly. "No time to practice."

Kirana considered that answer with the expression of a little judge. "Okay. Kirana will teach Dad."

Arvan didn't refuse.

The following days moved slowly but surely. Arvan picked Kirana up from school, helped her with homework, read her bedtime stories.

Arvan's phone often rang with Lara's name on the screen, but he never answered when he was with Kirana.

Sometimes Lara sent long messages, but Arvan only glanced at them then ignored them.

I observed all these changes carefully. Not wanting to hope too much, but finding it hard not to feel something different.

On the weekend, Kirana asked us to hike a small hill on the edge of town.

Arvan agreed without much question.

That morning, the three of us set off. Kirana walked in the middle, her hands held by both of us.

The hiking trail wasn't too difficult, but rocky and steep in some parts.

Kirana laughed cheerfully while doing little hops on the path.

"Be careful, sweetheart," I reminded her repeatedly.

We were almost at the summit when Kirana slipped on slippery rocks.

I reflexively jumped to protect my daughter. I managed to catch Kirana, but lost my balance.

My body tilted backward.

Arvan moved quickly. His hand grabbed my waist, pulling me to his chest before I fell.

Time seemed to stop.

I landed in Arvan's embrace with my breath caught. His arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

We stared at each other.

Our faces were only inches apart. I could feel his warm breath on my face.

My heart beat very fast. Too fast.

My eyes locked onto his dark eyes that also stared at me with strange intensity.

For a moment, I saw something there. Something soft, something warm.

"Hehehe." Kirana laughed while covering her mouth. "Mommy's heavy, huh? Dad had trouble catching her."

I immediately came to my senses. My face heated up.

I pushed Arvan's chest and stepped back awkwardly.

But his expression changed drastically. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced again by the familiar cold stare.

His face hardened. His jaw tensed.

"You always find a way," he said in a low voice, directed only at me.

I frowned. "What?"

"Even in a place like this you're still trying to seduce me."

Arvan's words hit me like cold water on a winter morning.

I opened my mouth to argue. There were many things I wanted to say, about how tired I was of being constantly accused, about how unreasonable Arvan's bad prejudices against me were. But my words got stuck in my throat.

It hurt.

Too painful to express in words.

Arvan didn't even give me a chance to speak. He immediately turned and took out his phone. Arvan walked away a few steps, answering a call in a low voice.

Kirana tugged at the edge of my jacket with a confused face. "Mom, where's Dad going?"

"Taking a call for a moment, sweetheart." I smiled at her to hide the tears beginning to pool in my eyes. "Come on, let's look at the view from up there first."

Kirana nodded. She had already redirected her attention to her stick again.

I didn't look back toward Arvan.

But in my heart, I felt something crack.

No matter how good Arvan was to Kirana, he would never change toward me.

In Arvan's eyes, I would always be a woman full of deceit who stole his life through dirty means.

Nothing could change that.

And perhaps it was time I stopped hoping.