James glared at me coldly and then went back to his room with Brenda in his arms.
I then carried Laura to the table in my arms and was going to celebrate her birthday.
“Mom, does Dad not like me?” Laura asked all of a sudden.
I didn’t want Laura to be filled with hatred, so I lied to her. Laura’s a good girl, why would Dad not like you?”
“Then why doesn’t he carry me in his arms?” Laura lowered her head and began crying.
I kissed her pink cheeks, but didn’t know how to comfort her.
‘Silly child. Your dad wants you dead, so there’s no way thalie would want to carry you in his arms,‘ I thought. 1
I couldn’t help but start crying again.
My tears landed on the back of Laura’s head. She reached out and tried to wipe away my tears.
“Don’t cry, Mom. I don’t want Dad to carry me anymore. It’s all my fault that you’re crying again.”
James walked out of the bedroom and frowned when he saw Laura and me crying.
“Catherine, we need to talk.”
I wiped away the tears on my face. “What do you want to talk about? Your illegitimate daughter or a divorce?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Brenda isn’t my child. She belongs to Nova and her ex–husband. She has appendicitis and will be having an operation, so she asked me to take care of Brenda for a couple of days.”
I didn’t feel any better after hearing James’s explanation.
‘Nova… It sounds like they’re still close,‘ I thought. ‘No wonder he’s so nice to a little girl. She’s the daughter of his true love.‘
Seeing that I remained silent, James continued, “Brenda’s father abandoned her when she was born. That’s why she feels insecure all the time and has some mental problems as well. Nova’s afraid that she would become autistic, so she asked me to pretend to be Brenda’s father. Therefore, I hope that you won’t try to upset her…”
I interrupted him and asked, “James, do you know what day it is today?”
