Chapter 2

2.

Laughter and playful chatter echoed continuously from the living room.

Maisie called out for Mommy over and over.

Natalie answered every single time with a sweet, tender voice.

Listening to the noise outside, I quietly planned my next steps.

After a while, my phone rang.

It was my mom.

She warmly asked if I had eaten my birthday meal yet.

She asked if I had enjoyed a nice birthday cake.

Hearing her voice, I suddenly realized I hadn't eaten a single bite all day.

Before hanging up, my mom asked hesitantly when I would visit home again.

In the five years since moving away, the times I went back could be counted on one hand.

At first, it was because work was too busy.

Later on, Natalie kept complaining that traveling back and forth was too exhausting.

When I stepped out of the bedroom, Maisie suddenly hurled a plastic toy straight at me.

"Bad guy! Why are you in my house!"

"Are you trying to steal my mommy again!"

Before I could even speak, Derek bowed his head and apologized to me.

"I'm so sorry, Colin. Maisie is just a child, please don't take it to heart."

Natalie, standing right beside him, darkened her face and snapped:

"It's not a big deal! You don't need to apologize."

"Besides, Maisie only acts like this because he scared her before."

As she spoke, she shielded Derek and his daughter behind her back.

"Colin, you aren't really going to hold a grudge against a five-year-old girl, are you?"

"If you are, I would feel utterly embarrassed for you."

I hadn't said a single word, yet all the blame had already been pinned on me.

"Carry on. I just came out to grab something."

I walked over and opened the fridge.

The cake I had specifically baked for myself was gone.

I glanced toward the living room.

Sure enough, a cake was sitting on the coffee table, completely smashed and ruined.

Noticing my gaze, Natalie remarked dismissively:

"Oh, that was your cake? Maisie said it tasted terrible, so she left it there."

"If you want some, I can buy you a new one later."

I picked up the ruined cake that I had spent hours preparing and tossed it straight into the trash can.

"No need," I said calmly.

Then, I turned around and headed for the front door.

Before I could take more than a few steps, Natalie chased after me and grabbed my arm.

"Colin, where do you think you're going!"

I looked at her with genuine confusion.

This was the very first time Natalie had ever left Derek behind to chase after me.

"Why did you follow me out?"

Natalie seemed stunned by my question.

In the past, whenever she chased after me, I would be overjoyed.

No matter what she had done, I would instantly forgive her.

Her expression grew awkward, clearly unprepared for my cold indifference.

"I... I saw you leaving without saying a word, so I came out to check on you."

I gave a careless nod. "I'm just heading out to grab some food."

Just then, Derek walked over, holding Maisie's hand.

"Colin, Maisie was just saying she wants to go for hot pot. If you don't mind, why don't you join us?"

"Think of it as my way of making things up to you."

"I don't really like..."

Before I could finish, Natalie cut in and accepted on my behalf.

She then ordered me to go get the car.

Since I had already decided to leave, I had no desire to argue with her.

I followed her instructions and drove the car out of the garage.

When I pulled up, Natalie naturally slid into the back seat alongside Derek and his daughter.

Only after the car started moving did she seem to realize what she had done.

She offered an uneasy explanation.

"Maisie is still young and very clingy, so I just..."

Looking through the rearview mirror at the harmonious family of three in the back, I cut her off coldly:

"It's fine if you all sit together. The passenger seat is dangerous anyway."

Natalie froze in shock.

Those were the exact words she had thrown at me before.

Back when I had argued with her about who got to sit in the passenger seat, she had snapped impatiently:

"What's there to fight over a passenger seat for? It's not even as safe."

For the rest of the drive, I felt like a hired driver, watching the three of them laugh and play in the back.