Chapter4
1498 Words
Lily gasped when she saw the man she never expected to see again. Her once hostile expression upon seeing Walter slowly transformed into one as cold as ice.
Hatred now flowed through her veins, making her want to leave immediately.
The events from five years ago were forced back into Lily’s memory—the painful sequence of events, beginning with being trapped and losing her innocence, to being abandoned by the man who had recently become her husband.
Emma ran straight toward Ethan. Ethan picked up the little girl and held her close.
"Lily, I'm back!" Ethan repeated his earlier words.
This time, with a girl calling him ‘Dad’ and Lily, ‘Mom,’ he hoped that Lily would soften and not be so harsh toward him.
“For what? After five years of silence, leaving me alone to give birth to your child and raise her? And now you say you’re back? What kind of joke is this?” Lily asked, her voice full of emotion.
Her eyes welled up with tears. They filled to the brim and slowly began to fall. All the pent-up emotions from years of hurt had now reached their peak.
“Forgive me, Lily,” Ethan said, his face filled with deep regret.
Ethan took a step forward, then another. He tried to get closer to Lily, hoping to speak gently, with more meaning.
"Five years ago, why did you leave without a word? Why did you abandon me without saying goodbye?" Lily bit her red lip and glared at Ethan.
“I wanted to be a man worthy of being your husband!” Ethan answered quickly.
Lily stood silent, staring deeply into Ethan’s eyes.
“I didn’t want you to be ridiculed. I didn’t want you to carry the shame of having a poor, useless husband for the rest of your life. That’s why I left—to find a better life. It was all for you,” Ethan explained, his voice trembling.
Whatever was on Ethan’s mind, his only goal now was to make amends with Lily and lift her up to great heights. He wanted to raise her status so high that no one would ever dare look down on her again.
“Ugh!” Grace spat at Ethan’s words, feeling disgusted by them. She thought they were nothing but sweet lies—sugary yet poisonous.
“Your words are sweet. You’re very good at twisting the truth to make yourself seem like a good man. But... you’re no better than me,” Grace said, her face full of annoyance.
“In fact, before you left, you even asked my husband for money in return for marrying Lily. You really are like a snake,” Grace continued, curling her lip.
The debt he owed Duncan was one of the reasons he had to leave. And now that he had returned, of course, he was ready to pay back that debt—he even planned to double it.
“I didn’t ask for money, Ma. I just borrowed it,” Ethan said.
“That’s the same thing!” Grace shouted. “That’s just what poor people say—‘borrowed.’ When in reality, they can never pay it back.”
“But I did borrow it, and I will pay it back, Ma,” Ethan said earnestly.
Duncan furrowed his brow and stared sharply into Ethan’s eyes. Then he said, “How could you pay it back? With what money? It’s impossible for you to repay it.”
In truth, Duncan and Grace didn’t care if the money was returned. They were simply using it as leverage to make Lily hate Ethan even more.
Once Lily’s hatred for Ethan reached its peak, the path to match her with Walter would become much easier.
Lily couldn’t stand it anymore. She was sick of seeing Ethan and all his nonsense.
Borrowing a large sum of money from someone who wasn’t even fully his father-in-law was utterly shameless.
Lily stepped closer to Ethan and slapped him hard across his left cheek.
Slap!
“Get out! I’m sick of looking at you! Get out right now!” Lily screamed, pointing toward the door.
She threw Ethan out while glaring at him, but the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. Her heart was utterly shattered.
But suddenly, as Lily kicked Ethan out, the little girl in his arms began to cry loudly.
“Mom, don’t make Daddy leave. All my friends have dads, but I don’t. I want a dad too, Mom. Don’t make him go! Please!”
Emma sobbed uncontrollably, trying to stop her mother while clinging tightly to her father.
She hugged him so tightly, terrified of losing him again. She couldn’t bear the thought of living without a father once more.
Lily panicked. She couldn’t bear to see her child cry, especially so desperately.
So, she couldn’t get angry or blame Ethan in front of Emma.
Lily took Emma and held her in her arms. She wiped her daughter’s tears, saying, “Mama won’t make Daddy leave, I promise. Emma, don’t cry anymore, okay?”
No matter how deep her hatred for that man, Ethan was still her daughter’s father. And for Emma’s sake, Lily was willing to do anything, to endure anything.
“Daddy, Mama promised me she won’t make you leave, so now you have to promise me you won’t leave Mama and me again. Okay? Promise?” Emma asked, smiling slightly through her tears.
The conversation between mother and daughter was soft, but it rang clearly in Ethan’s ears. It hit him like lightning, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
When he first saw Emma at the airport, Ethan noticed that her features resembled his own. And at four years old, it dawned on him—Emma was his biological daughter.
Could it be because of what happened five years ago?
If Lily had carried the pregnancy for nine months and today was Emma’s fourth birthday, everything matched the timeline of his departure perfectly.
The more Ethan thought about it, the more shocked he became. Suddenly, he stepped forward quickly and looked at Lily with teary eyes.
He trembled and asked, “I-Is she really our child? My biological daughter?”
Lily hesitated. But after a moment, she nodded. Ethan had the right to know the truth.
Even though he had suspected it, Lily’s confirmation stunned Ethan.
He immediately hugged his daughter tightly and whispered in her ear, “Daddy promises I’ll never leave you two ever again.”
His voice was soft, but the promise was loud and clear. It’s never easy to make a promise that lasts forever.
“Let go of my granddaughter!”
In that heartwarming moment, Lily’s mother stepped forward and took Emma from Ethan. Not wanting to hurt his child, Ethan had no choice but to let her go.
His anger almost exploded. But when he looked at his daughter, then remembered the pain Lily had endured giving birth to her and the humiliation she had suffered for years, he calmed himself down again.
“Lily, I know you have a soft heart, but this time, your father and I won’t let you fall into the same trap twice.”
Lily’s mother was furious. She pointed at the gold and diamond jewelry on the table.
“These are all engagement gifts from Walter. Your father and I have saved them for you. Now, all you need to do is finalize your divorce with this useless man, and then you can prepare to marry Walter,” Grace said.
Even before the divorce was mentioned, Lily’s mother had already been planning her next marriage. If it weren’t for his wife and daughter, Ethan would have fought back right from the start.
Emma cried again after hearing what Grace said.
“Grandma, don’t make Daddy leave. I want to stay with him! I don’t want to lose him again!”
Even though Emma was young, she understood Grace’s words, and it made her cry again. Her cries tore at Ethan’s heart, a heart newly awakened to fatherhood.
Grace grew impatient and snapped at her granddaughter coldly, “Emma, be quiet! Your father is dead. He’s not your dad. If you cry again, I’ll lock you in a dark room!”
Clearly, Emma’s little body trembled, and she dared not cry anymore. She could only hold back her tears, her eyes filled with sadness as she looked at Lily and Ethan.
Seeing his daughter so terrified, Ethan realized Grace must have locked her up before.
His long-suppressed anger reached its peak. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became icy, as if the temperature had dropped several degrees.
*****
Author’s Note:
Thank you so much for reading and being part of this journey!
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