The Day My Daughter Fired Her Father

When my husband, Xavier Galvan, finally returned, it was already 2:00 am. Our daughter, Tina Galvan, had already come out of the operating theater, and the nurse, Sherry York, was wheeling her into the ICU for further observation.

Meanwhile, I had also just gotten off the phone with Dad.

Xavier came up to me, a woman's perfume still strong on his clothes, and asked, "So what's Tina's condition like now? What did the doctor say?"

In the past, I had always hoped that he would ask more about Tina and show more concern about her. I wanted him to show himself as a good father to her and not let her suffer the same fate as I did of being treated as a mere dispensable substitute for his first love instead.

But today, I didn't even look back at him as I replied calmly, "It's nothing much. She's okay."

Xavier frowned.

"What is this behavior, Heather Shaw? Tina is my daughter too!"

"Really?"

I smiled slightly, still not turning around to face him.

…

Just a week ago, Tina had been diagnosed with a congenital heart disease. Meanwhile, Xaiver's first love, Winter Singleton, had also just returned to the country after years of being abroad.

I held Tina in my arms, waiting anxiously at the hospital for her results, while Xavier refused to pick up a single one of my calls as he drove all the way to the airport to pick Winter and her son, Ian Becker, up.

Tina was hospitalized that night.

And the first story that Winter posted on her Instagram was a video of Xavier interacting with Ian, captioned, "We still ended up together after all the things we've gone through. I think that it's the start of something romantic."

In the video, Xavier was telling Ian to refer to him as "Daddy".

I had been married to him for seven years, and we had a five-year-old daughter together. After she was diagnosed with a heart condition and hospitalized, he never even bothered calling once.

Meanwhile, Winter was his first love, and the moment she set foot into the country after her divorce, Xavier had her son call him "Daddy".

I replayed the video on my phone a total of 33 times. That was the first time when I realized that both Tina and I never meant much to him after all.

For the days following that, I busied myself communicating with her doctor and surgeon about the upcoming heart surgery, ferrying myself back and forth between our home and the hospital.

As for Xavier, he never even came home once during those few days.

He had been worried that Winter couldn't get used to living by herself back here, so he personally escorted her around to scout out suitable places for her to rent. He also cooked for her and Ian three times a day, worried that she couldn't get used to the food here.

I had been married to him for so many years, and I never knew he could cook.

Finally, it was the day of Tina's surgery. She cried all night long because she was scared. She said that she wanted her dad and asked me why Xavier wasn't here to keep her company at the hospital.

I had no other option but to call him again. This time, he finally picked up. But his voice was impatient and annoyed.

"What is it now? Didn't I tell you not to call me just because you felt like it, Heather Shaw?"

"Tina's heart surgery is tomorrow."

Xavier hesitated.

I listened to the sound of Winter and Ian laughing and giggling in the background and continued, saying, "Tina's really scared and wants you here.

"Xavier, for the sake of our seven years of marriage, come over to the hospital now."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he shot back in anger.

I chuckled.