Chapter 2
Chloe scrambled up from the ground and stood in front of me.
Her face was etched with hurt as she looked at Damien.
“Daddy…”
Hearing Chloe’s soft voice, Damien’s heart seemed to melt for a moment.
I hugged Chloe tight, checking her for any injuries.
“Oh my! How could you be so careless? Look at that huge scar on her arm! What will she do when she grows up?”
Seraphina shrieked, pointing at the wound on Chloe’s arm.
Chloe tugged down her long sleeve, lowering her head.
“Look at our Stella. Not a single scar on her.”
Saying this, Stella even spun around triumphantly in front of Chloe.
I remained silent.
How did Chloe get that scar? Well, it was all thanks to Damien.
After he left, kids at school called her names, whispered about her not having a dad. They called her a ‘nobody,’ and even the teachers turned a blind eye.
I hated Damien.
But the one I truly despised was myself.
Damien’s face clouded over. He gently pulled Chloe closer, kneeling to meet her gaze. “Does it hurt, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice softer than I’d heard in years.
Chloe looked at me, then bravely replied.
“Daddy, it doesn’t hurt.”
Stella, on the other hand, looked ready to explode. Her eyes narrowed into slits of pure venom as she glared at Chloe.
Damien shielded Stella behind him, taking a deep breath before speaking to me.
“Perfect timing. Let’s discuss Chloe’s custody.”
Chloe didn’t understand what that meant, but she could read Damien’s tone.
She struggled free from behind Damien and ran to me, hugging me tightly.
“You walked out on us! You abandoned us! And now you’re talking about custody? Do you even have the right to breathe the same air as us?”
I looked at Damien with cold contempt.
My words were a direct hit, a verbal slap across his arrogant face. I could see the disgust for me deepening in his eyes.
Seraphina dramatically crumpled, her shoulders shaking with carefully orchestrated sobs.
“I know you hate me, but the situation was urgent back then. If you want to hate someone, hate me, just don’t hate Damien.”
Seeing Seraphina cry, Stella instantly clung to Damien’s leg.
“Daddy, did Mommy and Stella do something wrong?”
Damien looked at me with palpable irritation, but the moment his gaze shifted to Seraphina and Stella, his face softened into a tender, sickeningly sweet expression.
I couldn’t stand it. I picked up Chloe, ready to leave.
Damien reached out to grab Chloe, but I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.
“How could you hit Damien? Don’t you know how much Damien sacrificed for you all these years?”
My palm tingled, and I realized my face was already streaked with tears.
Sacrificed for us? What did Damien sacrifice for us?
Chloe almost died! She was clinging to life in the hospital because we couldn’t afford her surgery! I couldn’t even afford her medicine, she never had a new toy, and every single item of clothing she owned was a hand-me-down.
And Stella? A single one of her outfits probably cost more than Chloe’s entire course of treatment.
I hugged Chloe tighter, biting my bottom lip, and said each word slowly: “Stay away from us.”
“The day you left three years ago, I considered you dead.”
Chloe touched my face. “Mommy, don’t cry. Chloe’s heart hurts.”
Damien, still reeling from the slap, slowly composed himself. Then, he grabbed my arm, squeezing with brutal force.
He looked as if he wanted to crush me, his eyes blazing with fury.
“You can’t take care of Chloe! She’ll have a good life only if she’s with me!”
“You selfish woman! You don’t deserve to be a mother! If you truly love Chloe, you’ll let her come with me, where she can have a real life!”
His words were nothing but accusations.
The past three years, all my hardship and tears – he saw none of it.
Just as I felt myself collapsing, Chloe hugged me tighter in my arms.