A stampede happened at my daughter's kindergarten. Timothy Horuson was in a hurry to save his first love's son, and he pulled away someone else's hand. A hand reached out to him, hoping for him to save her. His daughter's hand.

And the light in my daughter's eyes faded. The longing for fatherly love she had held on to for so long vanished.

I risked my life to save her. She looked at me quietly. "I'll go with you, Mom. We'll leave Dad behind and go somewhere he'll never find us."

Heartless Father

That caught me by surprise, and then my heart ached. My daughter used to adore Timothy, even though he'd barely shown up, and even if he did, he never smiled at her. When I found out Timothy hadn't forgotten about his first love, I asked my daughter, very subtly, if she wanted to leave with me.

And she cried, every single time. "I love you and Dad, Mom. Why can't we stay together?" So I didn't get a divorce for Tabitha's sake.

Yet now she was the one who wanted to come with me. Timothy killed Tabitha's love for him. I looked at the scar on her forehead, and I felt my heart twist into a knot. I held her tightly in my embrace, and with a trembling voice, I said, "Of course. We'll leave. No one will hurt you. Timothy hates us? Then, we'll leave him behind."

Tabitha said sweetly, "It's my birthday tomorrow, Mom. Can I have one last birthday with Dad before we leave?"

Of course. She had one last sliver of hope for her father. Though he was always distant, Timothy would celebrate her birthday every year. Every year, he would give her a limited-edition Hello Kitty plushie. Every year, he would post a status update on the same day. It was the same every time.

A plushie pic and a sentence, if you could call it that.

"First year."

"Second year."

…

It almost felt like a father who deeply loved his daughter was making a record of his daughter's days, and that was why Tabitha still had hope for her father. That was why I kept telling myself that he loved us.

Then, three months ago, Timothy's first love, Willow Wisher, came back. Then, I found out he wasn't celebrating Tabitha's birthday at all. He was keeping a note of how long since Willow left him.

He only bought the plushies because Willow loved Hello Kitty. Tabitha and I meant nothing to him. I tried to tell Tabitha the truth, but I couldn't. It was the last time anyway. I should let Tabitha think her father loved her.

When we came out of the consultation room, we ran into Timothy. He was holding a boy. Nathaniel Watcher. Yes, that was Willow's son. The boy he saved while he abandoned his own daughter.

Willow was right beside him. Timothy was talking to her gently. Oh, I would've envied the couple if Timothy weren't my husband and the father of my child.

Willow saw us first, and she looked smug, yet she pretended to be surprised to see us. "Yvonne, long time no see. I've missed you."

Man, I was impressed with her acting. She came right to me just to gloat when she came back three months ago. She told me how much Timothy still loved her over the years and told me to get a divorce if I was smart.

And now she acted like we were meeting for the first time. Ah, well, why was I surprised? She was the same back in college. I used to think she was my best friend and told her everything.

I fell in love with Timothy at first sight and agonized over how I should confess. She told me to write a confession letter and volunteered to take it to Timothy. I took the advice and gave her the letter, but there was no response.

Before I could even wallow in my sadness, he'd become Willow's boyfriend, but she'd never seen him that much. She only knew him because I told her everything I knew about him. I was still reeling from the shock when my friends told me that they only started dating thanks to that confession letter.

I demanded an explanation, but she looked at me innocently. "Yeah, we only started talking because of the letter, but he fell in love with my looks."

I had no comeback for that. I lost my best friend and the person I loved overnight, so I went abroad to recover. Eventually, I graduated and came back home, but I got news about Timothy's business.

It ran into some sort of crisis, so Willow bailed on him and married someone else overseas. That hit him hard. I couldn't see him wallow in his misery, so I worked as his assistant. The company eventually got back on track.

We held a celebratory feast, and after a drunken mistake, I got pregnant. Timothy went MIA for a week. When he came back, he tossed a ring to me. "Abortion's going to hurt you. We should get hitched."

And so, we did. No wedding photos, no grand wedding. Only a marriage certificate to prove that we were married. For five years, Timothy said nothing about Willow. I thought he'd forgotten all about her.

But he hadn't. He only said nothing because it hurt his soul every time he brought it up. But she came back. Now he had his wish. The third wheel should retire now. Her final act had drawn to a close. That third wheel was me.

Venomous Woman

Timothy noticed the scar on Tabitha's forehead. For once, he felt guilty, so he apologized, "I didn't mean to abandon you, Tabitha."

Yeah, that was what he said, but he didn't even let go of Nathaniel.

Tabitha looked at the boy her father was holding and the woman standing with him. She envied them, thinking it was unfair for her, but she held back her tears and shook her head.

"I understand. Nathaniel has no father, so he needs a bit more attention."

He was stunned. That was the same thing he once told Tabitha. He was the one who arranged for Nathaniel to attend this school. Just in case the kids tried to bully the boy, he donated a whole library for the kindergarten, and everyone thought he was Nathaniel's dad.

He forbade Tabitha from telling anyone he was her dad, though. For two years, she was in kindergarten, and he'd never sent her to school or picked her up. He'd never joined her class activities.

For some reason, Nathaniel gathered all the kids and told them to ostracize and bully Tabitha because she was, in his words, a little bastard with no father.

Crying, Tabitha begged her father to pick her up from school and tell everyone that she had a father, and that it was the one who everyone thought was Nathaniel's.

Timothy said no. "It's bad enough Nathaniel has no father, and you want everyone to think he was lying? You're five years old, Tabitha. Grow up."

His exact words, not mine. Yet, when he heard it from his daughter, it stung a little. He wanted to hold her, but the moment he moved, Nathaniel cried. "I want Daddy Timothy to hold me!"

Timothy quickly hugged the boy and cooed, "It's alright, Nate, I'm here."

He looked so much like a loving father, but his own daughter had never felt that love. Now she had a scar on her forehead, and she could only watch as her own father gave his love to another child.

A long moment later, Tabitha hung her head low, her eyes red.

As if trying to draw attention to herself, Willow said, "Don't take this the wrong way, Yvonne. He just pities us. We're all alone, you see, so…"

I held Tabitha's hand and smiled. "I get it. He cares about his workers."

Willow's smile froze. She wanted to tell me she was closer to Timothy than we were? Well, I wasn't about to let her get that wish.

And she looked at me with venom in her eyes. The woman gave her son a look, and Nathaniel sobbed. "It hurts, Daddy Timothy. It hurts." He closed his eyes and clutched them like he was hurting.

Shocked, Timothy left in a hurry, the boy in his arms. He didn't even spare a glance for us. Right before he disappeared from our sight, Tabitha said loudly, "Dad!"

He stopped and looked at his daughter. There were tears in her eyes, and with a cracked voice, she said, "It's my birthday tomorrow. You'll come back, won't you?"

Her nose was red from the crying, and Timothy felt suffocated seeing that. He promised, "I will. Now, be a good girl and go back with your mother. I'll come back tonight."

My heart went out to Tabitha. I held her in my arms and thought, 'You have two more chances to see Tabitha, Timothy. You'd better treasure them.'

Dumb Father

We got home and started packing. Tabitha came over to me, holding her plushies. She was looking forward to something. This was the only gift her father had given her all these years. I didn't want to let her down, and the plushies did no wrong, so I let Tabitha stuff them into our suitcases.

She smiled, and I did as well. Then, someone came to the door. Tabitha and I raised our heads, surprise filling our eyes.

It must be Timothy.

And then our delight was destroyed. Willow and Nathaniel were right behind them. "Nathaniel's down with a fever, and Willow can't take care of him herself, so I'm letting them stay with us for a while," he explained as he looked at me.

I would probably be crestfallen in the past, but now I knew how important Willow was to Timothy, so I felt nothing. Calmly, I nodded.

Annoyed by my response, Timothy frowned. "You're not objecting?"

I looked at him weirdly. This was his house. He could invite anyone he wanted, so why would I object?

My silence angered him further. "The guest room's lighting is bad, and Nathaniel just went through a traumatic event, so they're staying in the primary bedroom. I'll stay with them tonight as well.

My heart sank. Though I couldn't care less about them anymore, I was still disappointed. 'Are you in that much of a hurry?' I thought. 'Tabitha and I are still here.'

Willow was surprised as well, but then she gave me a smug look. It hurt my heart to say yes, but I did it anyway. I had made up my mind to leave, so whatever he wanted to do, it was none of my business.

Timothy took a deep breath and was about to say something, but Tabitha cried. I turned around only to see Nathaniel trying to snatch Tabitha's precious plushie. He was about to push her down, but I quickly protected her.

Nathaniel fell back down and started throwing a tantrum. "That's Mom's favorite plushie! I want to give it to her!"

Willow chastised, "I'm over that age, Nathaniel. And that's expensive. I don't deserve it!" She could cry the moment she wanted to, and it gained Timothy's sympathy.

He said sternly, "Give Nathaniel the plushie, Tabitha."

Tabitha shivered in fear, but she looked at her plushie and argued quietly, "It's a birthday present from you, Dad. I don't want to give it away. Can I keep it?"

Timothy froze. He obviously didn't remember that plushie, but he didn't think Tabitha would cherish something he gave her on a whim so much.

Willow spoke up, as if she were a perfectly understanding woman. "Don't make this hard for Tabitha, Timothy. It's a precious plushie. Of course, she doesn't want to give it away."

He snapped out of it, and he got sterner with Tabitha. "You're just being petty now, Tabitha. Give the plushie to Nathaniel."

I knew how much Tabitha treasured this gift, and I was about to stop her, but Tabitha gave it away.

She had tears in her eyes, but she apologized, "I'm sorry, Nathaniel. You can have this."

Timothy was happy his daughter was so understanding, and he wanted to pat her head, but she dodged his hand. "I'm tired, Mom. Can you take me to our bedroom?"

I was heartbroken. I knew how much she was suffering. How sad she was.

Timothy seemed to realize he'd been too harsh on his daughter, and he quickly spoke up as if to patch up his mistake. "I'll get you a bigger plushie for your birthday tomorrow."

He thought Tabitha would be delighted, but she didn't even turn back. Quietly, she declined, "I don't like plushies anymore, Dad, but thanks anyway. Nathaniel can have it."

…

That was the first time Tabitha said no to him, and it made him uneasy. He wanted to hold her, but Nathaniel held his leg. When he turned back, I had already taken Tabitha into the guest room.

He had no idea that was the last time he could hold his daughter, and he wasted it.