On New Year's Eve, I went to court for the last time.

The judge asked if I still wanted to file for custody of my daughter.

I shook my head and said, "I'm here to withdraw my case. I'm going to stop fighting for custody anymore. I agree with the divorce."

Vivian and I had been married for nine years, and the divorce had dragged through six hearings.

I spent six New Year's Eve in court.

There had been no joy, only hysterical accusations.

I was tired.

My daughter was tired, too.

So, I finally stopped holding on.

I had already booked my flight home for the year.

The judge didn't ask anything else as he simply handed me a divorce agreement.

I had just signed it when the door opened. Vivian and Nancy walked in.

Maybe Vivian thought I was still going to fight her in court, just like I had the last six times. Her voice was cold as she said, "This will be the seventh time you dragged me to court, Landon. You really don't know when to quit."

Then, she sneered.

"But you're going to lose this time. Nancy's already eight. She has a say about who she wants to live with."

Nancy hid behind Vivian, and the way she looked at me was distant and cold. She didn't even hesitate when she said, "I want to live with Mom and Jason."

I suddenly thought of the video Jason Reed had sent me the night before. Apparently, they celebrated New Year's Day early and already had dinner together. With how happy they looked, they were like a real family of three.

At the table, Nancy had frowned and said, "This is all Dad's fault! He makes us celebrate New Year's Day early every year."

I wanted to explain to my daughter that it wasn't true. The hearings had been pushed back to New Year's Eve every year because Vivian claimed she could not get away from work. I hadn't done it on purpose.

But then Nancy rambled on, "After all these years, he's still so attached to us like some crazy person. I hate having a dad like that… It would be so much better if Jason were my dad."

At that moment, I stopped wanting to explain.

Everything I did for the trials in the past six years felt like a joke. As it turned out, the daughter I fought for didn't want to stay with me, and she certainly didn't see me as her dad.

So, when Nancy said to my face that she wanted to live with her mother, all I could feel was a dull ache in the chest.

"It's fine," I said. "I'm here to withdraw my petition anyway. I don't want you anymore, either."

Nancy's eyes instantly reddened with anger as if she didn't expect me to say that.

"You're lying! If you really didn't want me, you wouldn't have brought Mom to court!"

I took out the signed divorce agreement and then pointed to the line where I had voluntarily given up custody.

"I just signed it," I said, my voice cold. "I forgot to tell you that you didn't need to come to court today."

Vivian clearly had not expected me to have already finished signing the agreement. It took her a long time to speak.

"Have you thought this through? Once we're divorced, it won't be easy for you to see Nancy after this."

I nodded.

Vivian and I had been married for nine years. By the third year, we were already arguing about the divorce because of Jason.

I had fought for six full years for Nancy, all because she had cried and begged me to stay in her broken voice when she was two.

However, so much has changed in the past six years. My daughter was not the only one sick of it. I was tired, too.

So now, I handed the divorce agreement to Vivian.

"Sign it."

I'm giving you your freedom back.

Vivian looked at the divorce agreement, then at my pale face.

Suddenly, her tone softened as she said, "You know I never really wanted a divorce. No matter how good Jason is, he'll never be Nancy's real father. I just wanted you to know your place."

My place?

From the day I married Vivian and moved into her family's home, I had become an unpaid babysitter everyone could order around.

Vivian's mother, Agnes, hated me from the bottom of her heart and often humiliated me in front of outsiders to the point that she would ignore me.

But I endured it all for Vivian's Sake.

And how did she repay me?

On New Year's Eve six years ago, I had closed my eyes for ten seconds to make a wish. Just as my heart was filled with optimism, Vivian suddenly admitted she had cheated on me.

"Jason is spending New Year's Day alone and I feel bad about it, so I've decided not to hide it from you anymore. I'm going over later to keep him company."

I couldn't accept it. One was the person I loved most, while the other was the childhood friend I trusted most. How could they have cheated on me behind my back?

I went to confront Jason in my fury, but I got into a serious car accident on the way instead. While I was in the emergency room, the doctors kept warning my family I might not make it, but Vivian never came.

After I got better, I demanded a divorce and custody of Nancy so we could leave together.

But… No one cared.

Instead, Agnes only looked at me with scorn.

"You're just a man who rushed to marry into our family. What makes you think you can fight us for custody of Nancy? If you're a smart man, you'll take the money and scram!"

Only then did I understand that after all these years, I had never had a place in this family.

That was why Vivian's words only made me want to laugh.

Did she expect me to go back and take it all again in silence?

I refuse.

I really didn't want to get involved with them anymore, so I pointed to the wife's signature line on the agreement and raised my voice. "Enough talk and just sign it already."

Vivian's face darkened, and she quickly signed her name.

"Don't regret this," she said.

Regret?

I looked at Nancy and saw the indifference on her face. It was the same coldness she had inherited from Vivian. Even the disgust in her eyes was the same.

Everything was so obvious now. There was nothing to regret.

I put away the divorce agreement and turned to Nancy. "No one will ruin your New Year's Day celebration anymore. I won't bother you anymore, either."

No one knew how I had gotten through those six New Year's Days. While everyone else was preparing to spend the New Year's Day holiday with their families, I sat there holding a cold lawsuit filing and reading through it page by page.

The fear of losing tormented me until I could not sleep at night. Only when I held my daughter's photo could I sleep for a while.

I couldn't see Nancy at all during normal days because of Agnes's interference. I only saw her once a year, in court on New Year's Eve.

I tried my best not to look too pathetic in front of my daughter because I wanted to keep the image of a good father in her heart. But now…

Nancy had chosen another man as her father. There was no need for me to keep playing pretend anymore.

Nancy frowned. She didn't answer me and turned to Vivian instead.

"Since Dad isn't going to bother us anymore, let's go find Jason. He's still waiting at home for us to prepare dinner together."

When I heard that, I almost laughed.

Back when I celebrated New Year's Day with the rest of the Sanders family, I had to prepare dinner all on my own. No one helped me. Agnes wouldn't let anyone help me, either.

I had hoped for Vivian, my wife, to give me a hand. Still, she always had an excuse. Either she was busy, or she was too tired that day.

I always carried Nancy on my back while she cried nonstop as I prepared dinner. Even after I finished preparing dinner for the family, Agnes always found something wrong with them.

Through all that, Vivian had never once spoken up for me.

Looking back now, Vivian had never truly loved or cared about me. Even the daughter I had given my all to raise since her birth was starting to become just like her mother.

Nancy grabbed Vivian's hand and wanted to leave, as if I were someone she hated.

Nancy hadn't always been like this. Before she turned three, she would always hold me so tightly that if I was out of sight for even a moment, she would cry and look for me.

Everyone said I would never get divorced.

But now, it seemed there was nothing that was perpetual.

I got a divorce.

Nancy stopped depending on me, too.

After Vivian and Nancy left, I called my mom. I told her I was coming home for New Year's Day.

My mom, Melody, asked excitedly, "Did you get custody of Nancy?"

I froze for a moment before I found my voice and said, "I withdrew the case. I don't want custody anymore."

She didn't ask why. All she could offer was a sigh. "Come home. This year, I made plenty of the smoked sausages you like."

I suddenly wanted to cry.

All these years, I hadn't had time to go home to my parents' for the New Year's Day because I had been fighting for custody of my daughter.

Every time my mom called and asked if I was coming home, I turned her down by saying I had a court hearing.

Although she never said anything, I knew many of my relatives were laughing at me behind my back for not letting things go. They said I insisted on dragging things to court until New Year's Eve and left Mom alone for the holidays.

So, this time, I gave up on wanting my daughter anymore.

I wanted to go home.

-

The next day, I started packing my things in the apartment I had been renting.

All these years, I had built my life around Vivian and Nancy to the point that everything I owned fit into a single luggage.

Just as I got into the car, I received a call from the hospital.

"Excuse me, are you Nancy's father? She accidentally ate peanuts and went into anaphylactic shock. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible."

I checked the time on my plane ticket and called Vivian, but she didn't answer.

Maybe there was still a hint of fatherly love inside me, because I immediately told the driver to turn around and head to the hospital instead.

But… When I arrived outside the ward, I heard laughter inside when I touched the doorknob.

It was Jason.

"Nancy, let's make a bet. Let's see whether your dad rushes over," Jason said.

Nancy's voice came from the other side of the door without a hint of weakness, much less an anaphylactic shock. "I don't think he will. He already said he doesn't care about me anymore."

"Then I bet he will. Your dad fought six years off in the courts for your custody after all. He won't give up on you that easily," Jason said.

I stood outside the door, listening to them making a bet on what I would do. It felt as if an interposing hand had closed around my heart. Even my fingertips started to tremble from the pain.

Fury surged in my chest.

I shoved the hospital room door open. Nancy was so startled that she covered her mouth, embarrassment plain on her face now that she had been caught.

"Aren't you in shock? Why did you lie?" I yelled, my voice filled with anger.

I had never imagined that my daughter would one day play a trick like this on me.

Nancy's face flushed bright red. She showed me the red marks from the allergic reaction on the back of her hand and muttered, "I didn't lie."

Jason stepped in front of her and said, "Landon, don't lose your temper to a child."

I stared at Jason. All these years, I hadn't gone after him only because Vivian had hidden him so well. The scenes of him cheating with Vivian played through my mind again and again.

I never could have imagined that my childhood friend would steal my wife.

And now, he had stolen my daughter too.

My resentment intensified, and I hit him in the face.

"That's for teaching her to lie."

When Nancy saw me hit Jason, she jumped down from the bed and she sank her teeth into my arm, her fists beating against my hand. "Daddy! Don't hurt Jason!"

Jason held his cheek, his eyes reddened and his voice filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Landon. This was all my fault. I just wanted Nancy to spend more time with you. I couldn't find a reason to make you come, so I had Nancy lie and say she was having a serious allergic reaction. I should've stayed out of this."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hospital room door opened.

It was Vivian.

She had heard him too, and her eyes were full of torment when she looked at Jason. When she turned to me, however, her eyes were filled with anger.

"Landon, are you mad?"