Chapter 2

On the day of the air show, Oscar and I waited at the entrance for two hours. However, Francine never showed up.

I called her seven times, but she didn't answer a single one.

It wasn't until 3:00 pm that her assistant, Toby Holland, finally told me that Dale had suddenly gone missing. Worried something might have happened to him, Francine was searching everywhere for him.

Oscar lowered his head and kicked at the pebbles by the roadside. "Mom's just trying to save Mr. Stratton. He's had such a hard time since losing Zachary."

I turned to look at him. "But today is your birthday."

He fell silent for a moment before murmuring, "We can always make up for a birthday later.

That sounded exactly like what Francine would say.

I said nothing more and took Oscar into the air show. After it ended, Oscar said he wanted some cake. So, we went to his favorite restaurant.

As we passed a private dining room on the second floor, he suddenly stopped.

Through the half-open door, I caught sight of a blue-and-white cake on the table.

Dale sat in the middle wearing a birthday hat, with Francine seated to his left. And Oscar, who should have been beside me, appeared on the projection screen inside the room.

It was obvious that the video had been prerecorded.

Dressed in an old jersey that clearly wasn't his, Oscar looked into the camera and said, "Mr. Stratton, Mom said today is Zachary's birthday too. I'll celebrate with you, so please don't be sad anymore. Whenever you miss Zachary, you can come find me."

Dale lowered his head, his tears falling onto the cake. Francine gently patted his back. In that moment, they looked like a married couple mourning the loss of their child.

Oscar clearly hadn't expected me to catch them here, and he avoided my gaze.

I pushed open the door and walked in.

Francine immediately stood up. "Ian, what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering her, I turned to ask Oscar, "When did you record that video?"

"Yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Oscar's lips parted, but Francine answered for him, "I told him to keep it from you. Dale had only just started to get his emotions under control, and I didn't want you picking another fight with me over this."

I let out a small laugh. "So, you taught Oscar to lie to me too?"

Francine frowned. "How can you call that lying? We were just trying to comfort a father who lost his son."

Dale wiped away his tears and stood up.

"Mr. Baxter, please don't blame Francine or Oscar. This is all my fault. Today is Zachary's first birthday since he passed away. I just couldn't bear it anymore, so I asked them to keep me company."

As he apologized, his eyes drifted toward Oscar. It was as though he were looking at a son he'd lost and miraculously found again.

Francine stepped in front of him, shielding him from me.

"Ian, Dale just lost Zachary. You're a father too, so you should understand what he's going through."

I looked down at Oscar. "Do you think I should understand too?"

Clutching the hem of his shirt, Oscar gave a small nod. "Dad, you've already celebrated 12 birthdays with me, whereas Mr. Stratton can never do that for Zachary ever again."

The countdown above our heads suddenly shifted—6 Days and 11 Hours.

I took the birthday present I'd prepared from my bag and placed it on the table.

"Since you've already chosen to celebrate with Dale, I won't intrude."

A flicker of panic crossed Oscar's face. "Dad, where are you going?"

"I'm going home." I glanced at Francine. "And to prepare the divorce papers."