Chapter 3

Less than ten minutes after Sabrina posted that update, the likes had already passed twenty thousand.

The comment section was filled with congratulations.

You guys really look like a family.

Lily finally has a father who's willing to protect her.

Some people show up late, but they're more responsible than biological fathers.

I stood by Sophie’s desk, reading through them one by one.

There was no anger in my chest, only a numbness like being run over repeatedly by a blunt instrument.

These strangers didn't know the man in the photo had been married for eleven years.

Nor did they know his biological daughter had just been sitting in front of this desk, erasing him from the family portrait with an eraser.

Sabrina knew, of course.

She had intentionally chosen the photo from the main stage of the brand’s anniversary, where the phrase "BUILT FOR FAMILIES" behind them was glaringly clear. She hadn't even cropped out the wedding ring on Caleb's left ring finger.

She wasn't afraid of people finding out.

She was waiting for me to find out.

I saved the screenshot, clicked on her profile, and downloaded every single photo related to Caleb from the past three months, one by one.

The school bake sale. The parent-child baseball game. Weekend camping. The children's hospital fundraiser.

In some photos, there was only Caleb's back; in others, only his watch or cuff was revealed. Sabrina never wrote his name directly, but she always left clear enough clues so anyone familiar with him would recognize him at a glance.

In the past, when I occasionally came across these posts, I would tell myself Caleb was merely helping an old friend going through a tough time.

Looking at them now, I realized she had been slowly building a narrative all along.

A story about a single mother raising her daughter alone for years, who finally met a reliable man.

In her story, Caleb was the late-arriving father.

Sophie and I had never existed.

"Mommy."

Sophie’s voice pulled me back to reality.

She was still sitting in front of the desk, her eyes fixed on my phone screen. I locked the screen immediately, not wanting her to see those comments.

"It's getting late." I put the ruined drawing into a drawer. "Go to sleep first."

She pulled back the blanket and climbed in, but asked before I turned off the light, "Is Daddy coming back tonight?"

"I don't know."

It was the first time I hadn't given a firm affirmative answer on Caleb's behalf.

In the past, I used to say he was just busy with work, that he would come home, that he would definitely be with her tomorrow.

Those words were meant to comfort my daughter at first, but later became excuses to overdraw his credit.

Sophie looked at the ceiling, her voice very soft: "Then we don't have to wait for him."

I tucked her in without correcting her.

I was organizing the event reports in the dining room.

Caleb tossed his car keys onto the entryway table, his tie already loosened, carrying a scent mixed with champagne and Sabrina's usual perfume.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" he asked.

"Doing the event review."

"Overall results were good tonight." He opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water, speaking as if nothing had happened. "Media feedback is great, and investors are very pleased. The reach on Sabrina’s photos was particularly high, proving I was right to let them on the red carpet last minute."

I raised my head.

He was actually explaining to me the commercial value brought by that humiliation.

"Your biological daughter saw it too."

Caleb paused mid-sip.

"I know she's upset. When she wakes up, I’ll explain it to her."

"How do you plan to explain it? Tell her that because Sabrina gets higher engagement, she should give up her spot as your daughter?"

"Don't talk about an event as if it's a family trial." He set the water bottle on the table, fatigue creeping onto his brow. "Sophie is just a child; she'll forget in a few days. You keep emphasizing it, which is why she feels so hurt."

I looked at him and suddenly realized the hardest part of arguing with someone like him wasn't that he didn't understand at all.

He understood.

He just refused to admit that his choices had consequences.

As long as Sophie was eventually coaxed into feeling better, that missed promise never happened.

As long as I kept up the decency of the marriage, his tacit acknowledgment in front of the cameras that another mother and daughter were his family could be packaged as a well-meaning brand promotion.

"She already erased you from the family portrait," I said.

Caleb's expression stiffened for a second, followed by disapproval.

"Nora, you shouldn't allow her to lash out like that. She needs to learn to understand others, not turn her emotions into a punishment."

"She's eight."

"Eight is old enough to understand that Lily doesn't have a father and is in a tougher spot than her."

I closed my laptop.

That sentence stripped away any desire I had to keep talking.

In Caleb's world, the child who had a father should always yield.

Even if that father was absent time and time again, she had to be grateful simply because she had him in name.

He walked past me to go upstairs, then suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Sabrina is bringing Lily over tomorrow afternoon. They're shooting a family fitness short, and I've already had the crew set up the set in our home gym."

I looked up at him: "This is our house."

"It's only for two hours."

"Why not use the studio?"

"The vibe at home is more authentic," he answered naturally. "The brand wants a natural family feel. Haven't you always stressed that promotional content needs to feel real and lived-in?"

"What about Sophie?"

"She has dance practice tomorrow. It works out so we won't get in each other's way."

He had checked our daughter's schedule in advance.

Not because he wanted to watch her final rehearsal.

Not because he wanted to surprise her.

Only to make sure she wouldn't be home.

Tomorrow, another little girl would walk through my daughter's front door and play the role that should have belonged to her.