Chapter 2

I found it odd that Lucy wanted to go to the parent-teacher meeting. The doubts I had just managed to suppress immediately resurfaced.

Ever since Emilia started kindergarten, there had been more than ten parent-teacher meetings and various school events, big and small. Every single time, Lucy had declined. She'd said she was "too busy with work" or "had an important business event".

She had said the company was still in its early stages and that she had to devote all her energy to it so that she could give Emilia and me a better future.

I understood how hard she worked and how difficult it was for her, so I had always been the one to pick up and drop off Emilia. I also attended every school event.

I had never once complained.

Today, out of the blue, she'd volunteered to attend the parent-teacher meeting. It was completely out of character.

I didn't call her out, though. Instead, I replied, "Sure."

After that, I immediately sent a message to my assistant, Hazel Lynd. "Cancel the international conference at 9:00 am tomorrow."

Hazel quickly replied, "But Mr. Leander, the other party is one of our most important partners in Erovir. This meeting has already been postponed once..."

"I said cancel it," I repeated firmly.

Early the next morning, Lucy looked radiant.

She kissed me on the cheek and said gently, "Honey, I'm off to the parent-teacher meeting. Have a good rest at home."

I smiled and nodded as I watched her leave.

The moment her car drove out of the villa gates, the smile disappeared from my face. I immediately changed into my shoes, started another car, and followed her from a distance.

When we reached the kindergarten, I watched Lucy pull over.

Standing beside her car was a man in a white dress shirt. He was tall, handsome, and clean-cut. The moment he saw Lucy, he walked toward her with a bright smile while holding the hand of a little girl who skipped happily beside him.

It was my daughter, Emilia.

Idris moved closer to Lucy, and she slipped her arm through his while affectionately patting Emilia on the head.

She looked up at him with the brightest smile on her face and cheerfully called out, "Daddy!"

At that moment, I felt as though a bolt of lightning had hit me. I stared blankly at the three of them outside the car, my mind going completely empty.

I had imagined ten thousand possibilities.

I guessed that Idris was a scammer, and that the photos had been doctored. I also thought that maybe he was some obsessive admirer of Lucy's that I had never known about.

But never, not even once, had I imagined that my daughter would know him. She even called him "Daddy".

Thinking back, Emilia had started acting differently about a month earlier. She had stopped clinging to me like she used to. She no longer begged me to tell her bedtime stories. Even the smile on her face had lessened considerably.

I had worried about it for a long time.

My mind went back to a month earlier...

A month earlier was exactly when Lucy had returned from her two-month business trip overseas. She had told me the project there was too important, so she couldn't leave. Since it happened to be Emilia's summer vacation, Lucy took her abroad, saying she'd miss her too much.

At that time, I had laughed and said she was too much of a doting mother.

Later, when they came back, I had complained that Emilia wasn't as close to me as before.

Lucy had smiled and comforted me. "Silly, she's just dealing with jet lag. She hasn't adjusted yet. She'll be fine in a couple of days."

At that moment, every coincidence connected together in my mind.