Love in Disguise Episode 1

Love in Disguise Episode 4

The next five years seemed to pass in a blur for Samantha, filled with the quiet rhythm of motherhood and the occasional, distant memory of Derek. After that last conversation at her doorstep, Derek had slowly faded from her life. At first, he had tried to stay in touch, sending occasional messages or emails asking about Lily, but Helen was relentless. She couldn’t stand the idea of her son being tied down to Samantha and their daughter. Eventually, Helen won. One day, Derek stopped calling.

Samantha soon learned from mutual acquaintances that Helen had orchestrated Derek’s relocation out of the country. She pushed him to accept an international business opportunity—one that would take him far from the life he had tried to build with Samantha and Lily. The rumors were that Helen believed the distance would help Derek "forget" about Samantha and move on. And it worked. Just like that, Derek was gone, and with him, any chance of reconciliation.

For Samantha, the initial months after Derek left were hard. There was always that lingering hope, the small voice in the back of her mind that wondered if he would return, if he would fight for them. But as time stretched on, that hope dwindled. Derek was gone, and she had to face that truth. So, she buried her heartache deep and focused on the one thing that mattered: raising her daughter.

Lily Hayes was growing into a bright, beautiful, and fiercely independent little girl. She had her father’s dark hair and her mother’s sharp, determined gaze. At five years old, she was already starting to show signs of her intelligence, always asking questions, always wanting to know how things worked. But more than that, she was strong-willed, a fire in her spirit that sometimes made Samantha smile and other times left her exasperated.

From an early age, Lily had asked about her father. She had noticed, of course, that her friends at school had fathers who picked them up, who were part of their daily lives. But for Lily, there was only her mother. Samantha had always been honest with her daughter in an age-appropriate way, explaining that her father had loved her very much but had to go away for reasons beyond their control.

At first, those answers satisfied Lily’s curiosity. But as she grew older, her questions became more pointed. "Where is he?" she would ask. "Why doesn’t he come back? Doesn’t he want to see me?"

Samantha never had the heart to tell Lily the full truth. She didn’t want to burden her with the knowledge of Helen’s interference, nor did she want to paint Derek as the villain. Deep down, Samantha knew that part of Derek had wanted to be there for Lily, but he had been too weak to stand up to his mother.

By the time Lily turned six, her curiosity about Derek turned into a quiet determination. Samantha would often catch her daughter staring at the single photograph she had of Derek, which she kept tucked away in a drawer. In the photo, taken during their high school years, Derek had his arm wrapped around Samantha, both of them laughing. It was the only physical reminder of their time together, a piece of the past Samantha couldn’t bring herself to destroy, even though she rarely looked at it anymore.

Lily, on the other hand, seemed fascinated by it. "Is that him?" she would ask every now and then, her small finger tracing the outline of Derek’s face. "That’s my daddy?"

"Yes," Samantha would answer, her voice soft but firm. "That’s your father. He loved you very much, Lily."

"Then why doesn’t he come see me?" Lily’s wide, curious eyes would lock onto her mother’s, seeking an answer Samantha wasn’t sure how to give.

"He had to go away for work, baby," Samantha would say gently, brushing a hand through Lily’s dark hair. "Sometimes adults make choices that are hard for kids to understand. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you."

Lily would frown, unsatisfied but too young to argue. However, as the years passed, her determination to meet her father only grew stronger.One evening, as Samantha was tucking Lily into bed, her daughter looked up at her with a seriousness that belied her seven years of age. "Mom, I’m going to find him one day," Lily said with quiet conviction. "I’m going to find my dad."

Samantha felt her heart lurch. Lily had never been this direct before. The fire in her daughter’s eyes told Samantha that she was serious. Lily was strong-willed, just like her mother, and when she set her mind to something, she wouldn’t let it go easily.

"You don’t need to worry about that, sweetheart," Samantha said, trying to sound reassuring. "Your life is here, with me. We have everything we need, don’t we?"

Lily nodded, but there was a flicker of something behind her eyes—determination, perhaps even a little rebellion. "I know, Mom. But I still want to meet him. I have to know who he is."

Samantha’s chest tightened. She didn’t want to deny her daughter the chance to know her father, but the idea of reconnecting with Derek, of reopening the wounds she had worked so hard to heal, terrified her. What if he had changed? What if he wasn’t the man Lily imagined him to be? And what if Helen, the woman who had caused so much pain, was still lurking in the background?

But Samantha knew better than to dismiss Lily’s feelings. If she pushed too hard, it would only make Lily more determined. So, she nodded, giving her daughter a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Someday, if you still want to, we’ll see what we can do," Samantha said, her voice gentle. "But right now, let’s focus on today, okay? We’ve got a big day tomorrow—remember your art class?"

Lily’s eyes brightened at the mention of art, a passion she had inherited from her mother. "Yeah! I’m going to paint a picture of us tomorrow, Mom! Me and you. And maybe Dad too, if I get it right."

Samantha smiled, her heart aching with a bittersweet love for the child she had raised. "I’m sure it’ll be beautiful, just like you."

As Lily drifted off to sleep, Samantha stood at her bedside for a while, watching her daughter’s peaceful face. In so many ways, Lily was the best parts of both her and Derek—creative, intelligent, and strong. But there was also that yearning in her, that need to know the part of her life that had been missing for so long. Samantha couldn’t keep that from her forever, no matter how much she wished she could.

Later that night, as she sat in the living room, staring at the framed photographs of her and Lily on the wall, Samantha found herself thinking about Derek. Where was he now? Had he moved on, started a new life somewhere far from the small town they had once shared? Did he ever think about the daughter he left behind?

Samantha had done everything in her power to give Lily a good life, to make sure she never felt the absence of her father too deeply. But she couldn’t ignore the truth—Lily was growing up, and with every passing year, her curiosity about Derek would only deepen.

Samantha knew the day would come when Lily would want to search for her father. And when that day arrived, Samantha would have to face the past she had tried so hard to forget. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet.

For now, she would cherish the life she had built with her daughter, knowing that someday, sooner than she wanted, Lily would be old enough to seek out the answers for herself. And Samantha would have to let her.

But no matter what happened, one thing was certain: Lily was her world, and nothing—no distance, no past mistakes—could ever change the bond they shared.