NAYANIKA: Gadis Pengganti di Malam Pertama

Leo's words stopped me short.

I was surprised, even a little relieved, but more than anything, my heart ached for him.

I didn't answer right away. I met his gaze. "Could you really leave Dad behind?"

Leo lowered his head, nervously twisting his little fingers together. After a long silence, he whispered, "No."

My heart clenched.

"But, Mom—" He looked up again, his eyes red-rimmed. "Dad doesn't care about us anymore, does he?"

Hearing those words from my five-year-old son broke my heart. I could barely speak.

At only five, Leo could already see that Richard was neglecting us. Richard himself was completely oblivious.

It was bitterly ironic.

Whenever Richard ditched us for Vivian and Mia, I argued with him.

But he'd always turn the blame back on me, acting as though he'd done nothing wrong. "Elena, how can you be so selfish? You and Leo still have me, but Vivian and Mia have no one. I'm just trying to help them, and you can't even accept that?"

Then he'd always end with the same line to shut me up. "Do you want Jay to look down from heaven and blame me for this?"

It was the same every time. He used his dead partner's memory against me and guilted me into silence whenever I complained.

And I swallowed it, again and again.

But Leo was different.

He wasn't me.

He was only five. He shouldn't have to go through this.

I took a deep breath, pulled Leo into my arms, and said softly, "Leo, how about we give Dad one last chance, okay?"

Leo didn't say anything, but there was hope in the way he looked at me.

I paused and let out a long breath. "Your birthday is in three days. If Dad remembers and spends it with you, let's give him one more chance. Okay?"

The truth was, I didn't expect him to.

But one look at Leo told me he wasn't ready to give up on his dad, and I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

I couldn't be the one to destroy a child's last hope in his father.

The light returned to Leo's eyes. "Really, Mom?"

I nodded, sounding a lot surer than I felt. "Of course."

Leo smiled.

It was the first time in a long time I'd seen him smile like that.

I made one last silent plea. Richard, this is your last chance.

Please don't let us down.

On the way home, I texted Richard a photo of Leo holding up his first-place trophy, grinning from ear to ear.

"Your son was amazing."

The message showed as read, but he didn't reply for a long time.

It had been almost four hours since the competition ended.

Leo stood in the entryway, staring into the empty living room. "Mom," he asked quietly, "is Dad... staying over at Mia's again?"

A dull ache spread through my chest, but I forced myself to sound reassuring. "No, sweetie. Something probably just came up."

Leo looked me straight in the eye, his expression serious. "Really?"

I nodded.

But I didn't believe it either, and the bitterness must have shown on my face.

That night, it took me a long time to get Leo to sleep.

He tossed and turned and refused to close his eyes. He kept whispering the same thing. "Mom, do you think Dad will remember my birthday?"

I told him yes.

I couldn't say how long it took before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

I tiptoed out of his room and closed the door behind me. Only then did I pick up my phone.

I thought there'd be a reply from Richard.

Even a simple "sorry" would have meant something.

Instead, I found an Instagram post Vivian had shared ten minutes earlier.

The caption read, "The night feels softer with the people I love beside me."

The post included a photo.

Richard lay on his side near the edge of the bed, cradling a little girl who was fast asleep.

His face wasn't in the shot, but there was no mistaking the wedding band on his left ring finger, glinting in the lamplight.

It was our wedding ring.

I stared at that photo for a long time.

So it wasn't that he didn't have time to answer my text.

It was that another woman and her child were taking up all of it.

I felt numb as one question kept running through my mind.

Richard, would you even remember Leo's birthday three days from now?