Lucy’s smile faltered for a brief mont. But she quickly forced it back, not wanting her daughter to notice the slight change in her expression.
"That’s a wonderful drawing, baby," she managed to say.
She took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down. Lucy focused on her daughter, whose eyes sparkled and oblivious to the truth.
"My sweetheart is such a talented artist. Maybe soday, you’ll draw sothing for mommy to hang on my bedroom wall."
The little girl liked her idea. "I’ll draw one tomorrow! But... mommy,"
Lucy watched as her daughter’s smile turned downward. "What’s wrong, baby?"
"Can we go to the park tomorrow?" the little girl looked at her with an expectant look.
What Lucy wouldn’t do to give whatever her daughter wanted. But Lucy had to swallow hard as she replied, "Mommy won’t be ho for a bit, baby. Wait till I co back and I’ll take you to wherever you want."
"But I want you here now."
The words her daughter uttered hit her like a punch to the gut. The longing and sadness in her daughter’s voice and eyes were almost too much to bear. Lucy chewed on her lips as she resisted the idea of booking a flight now to see her daughter.
Not yet, Lucy. Get a grip! You need to finish what you started.
Hearing no reply from Lucy, her daughter’s eyes beca teary. It was such a heart-wrenching scene that Lucy felt her resolve slowly crumble.
"Mommy, why did you go there?"
"I’m..." Lucy held back. She couldn’t tell her daughter the truth, that she was back to her holand to take revenge on her father. Even if her daughter had never t Landon, she would be upset if she learned the truth.
But Lucy didn’t expect that her daughter would finish her sentence with beaming eyes.
"Are you there to look for my daddy?" the little girl suddenly said.
"What?" Lucy was stupefied by what her daughter said.
"Daddy is there, right?"
Lucy didn’t know how her daughter could be so on point; it was almost like she could see sothing Lucy couldn’t.
"I’m right! When can I see him? Mommy, take him with you so we can play at the park!"
The little girl squealed in glee, jumping to conclusions before Lucy could confirm anything.
She was so happy that Lucy had never seen her daughter this happy.
Lucy felt bitter and sad that her daughter would be so happy that she would et Landon. But Lucy wasn’t ready to shatter her daughter’s hope, not yet. For now, she could play along. She was too young, only three years old, to understand why she couldn’t see her daddy, why Lucy had to keep her hidden from Landon.
As her daughter babbled on eting her ’daddy’, Lucy found herself drifting into the thoughts of the possibility of Landon eting her daughter—of what Landon would do if he learned he had children with her. They were already divorced, but that didn’t take away his rights to their daughter.
"Mommy, are you listening?"
Lucy blinked, refocusing on the screen, where her daughter was staring at her with a slight pout. Her small round face and features collided with Landon’s; it gave a bit of fright to Lucy.
There was no denying it.
Her daughter, Adeline, shared a striking resemblance with Landon. Especially their eyes, which had the sa shade of color. Ocean-blue eyes.
"Sorry, sweetie. Mommy’s just a little tired." She mustered another smile. "Your aunt Vanessa, where is she?"
"Aunt Vanessa went out to buy so snacks!" the little girl told her.
Lucy cursed inwardly. She needed Vanessa there right now. She didn’t want her daughter to continue talking about her dad, or there would be a lot of problems Lucy didn’t want to think about now.
Sadly, Vanessa didn’t co back. So, Lucy had to veer the topic away to escape. "Tell more about your day, sweetie."
"Okay!" the little girl agreed. "Yesterday, Aunt Vanessa took to the garden—"
As her daughter’s voice filled the room again, Lucy let herself be swept up in the mont, pushing back the guilt that lingered beneath the surface. But as she watched her daughter recall, the fun things she did while she wasn’t there, Lucy couldn’t help but wonder how much longer she could keep up this lie from her daughter.
At the end of their call, Vanessa still hadn’t returned. So, Lucy had to stay on the call with her daughter until the latter finally stopped speaking as her energy finally depleted, and fell asleep.
"Sleep well, baby."
Lucy didn’t hang up so she could watch over her daughter. But she also couldn’t keep herself awake; her eyes turned heavy as they ever so slowly closed.
When Lucy woke up, the video call had already been disconnected. Vanessa left her a ssage, telling to rest more and to take care of her body.
After Lucy replied to her best friend’s ssage, she turned to pull the covers in her apartnt, only to see that the sun was already rising.
It was a new day.
Lucy went through her morning routine as usual. When she was ready to leave, Lucy finally went down. But on her way out, she ca across Old Penny, who was standing by the gate, looking like she was waiting for soone.
Sohow, Lucy had an idea who Old Penny was waiting for, but she tried to not show it as she strode forward, intending to pass the old woman by.
But Old Penny caught her before she could fully get out of the gate.
"Bring this with you. It’ll be cold later."
A rough-looking scarf rested in the old woman’s outstretched hand. No doubt it was the sa scarf she had made a ss of last night.
But Lucy stared at it for a mont before taking it.
"Thank you. I’ll wear it when I get the chance."
The scarf wasn’t even made of expensive materials, but it was warm to the touch. Besides, 12 hours hadn’t even passed yet. Old Penny did everything to make the scarf. So, how could Lucy refuse it?
Lucy headed out and arrived at the Southwest Branch at 8 am. She reviewed her work a bit and redone so spots she didn’t like.
By 10 a.m., Lucy planned to sketch a continuation of her work when she received a call from an unknown number. She let it ring a few tis, and just when the caller was about to give up, she finally picked up.
It was a call from the saleslady at the store a few days ago.
Chelsea wanted to et her in a cafe in front of Westwood Group’s main branch.
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