Chapter 2

To comfort Lily, I took her to her favorite dessert shop.

The little girl sat on a high stool, quietly digging into her strawberry cake without saying a word.

I rubbed her head and pulled out my phone to reply to some work emails, only to be completely blindsided by Sarah's latest post.

Ten photos. All of Arthur and Luke.

Arthur was wearing the dress shirt I had personally ironed for him. Sitting on his broad shoulders was Luke, laughing hysterically.

Don't apologize. I should be the one thanking you for giving him the most complete childhood.

The background of the photos was the iconic Ferris wheel at Coney Island.

Six months ago, Arthur had uncharacteristically agreed to take Lily to Coney Island.

Lily was so excited she couldn't sleep the entire night before.

First thing the next morning, she put on her favorite Alice in Wonderland princess dress, strapped on her little water bottle, and held Arthur's hand in a death grip.

It was a weekend. The park was packed, and the sun was blazing.

To ride the carousel Lily had been dreaming about, we stood in the 90-degree heat for two solid hours.

Lily was sweating profusely, but she didn't even care enough to take a sip of water. Her eyes were sparkling as she stared at the line inching forward.

"Daddy, it's almost our turn! I want to ride the white horse!"

She happily swung Arthur's arm.

Right at that moment, Arthur's phone rang.

It was Sarah.

"Arthur, a water pipe burst in my apartment! Luke is so scared he won't stop crying. Can you come check on us?"

Even from two feet away, I could hear Sarah's fragile, damsel-in-distress sobbing through the speaker.

Arthur's face changed instantly.

Without a single word of explanation, he ripped his hand out of Lily's tight grasp.

"Daddy has an emergency. You guys play by yourselves."

"Daddy!" Lily instinctively reached out to grab the hem of his shirt.

Arthur swatted her hand away impatiently, his brow furrowed in annoyance.

"Behave! There's an emergency with Luke. Stop causing trouble!"

And just like that, he turned and marched away without looking back.

Lily didn't ride the carousel that day.

She stubbornly stood by the ticket booth, clutching the melting strawberry ice cream Arthur had bought her, waiting until the amusement park closed.

That day, she looked up at me and asked quietly, "Mommy, does Daddy not want me anymore?"

"Mommy."

Lily's soft voice snapped me back to reality.

I hurriedly flipped my phone face down, but I realized she had already seen my screen.

She didn't say anything. She just lowered her head and took another big bite of cake.

But massive tears were dropping silently onto the whipped cream.

Arthur didn't get home until 11:00 PM.

He brought with him the pungent stench of cheap rose perfume.

It was Sarah's favorite brand.

Seeing me sitting on the sofa reading a book, his footsteps faltered. He frowned slightly, clearly bracing himself for me to start a massive screaming match.

In the past, if he stayed out this late, I would have questioned him hysterically.

But today, I didn't even bat an eyelash.

The silence in the air was almost eerie.

He turned and walked toward the children's room.

"Lily, you're not asleep yet?"

Lily was still awake, sitting in bed reading a picture book.

Arthur walked over and, like a magician, pulled out a cheap, light-up fairy wand from behind his back. The plastic packaging was still on it.

"Lily, look what Daddy brought you!"

Arthur held out the wand. "This is a present from Daddy."

Lily didn't pounce on him with shining eyes like she used to. She didn't reach out to take the plastic toy.

She just looked up, fixing her quiet blue eyes—eyes so much like his—on the man standing in front of her.

Then, she curved her lips into a polite smile, her voice crisp and clear:

"Thank you, Uncle."