I chase after Dean Wagner for five years while Graham Ashford chases after me for seven.

When Dean marries Emily Caldwell, I finally say yes to being Graham's girlfriend.

Graham is over the moon. He treats me like I'm everything to him, like he'd do whatever it takes just to make me happy.

But Graham doesn't believe in marriage.

Even when our daughter turns four, he still hasn't married me. He won't even let her call him "Dad".

One night, I overhear him joking around with his buddies.

"Your daughter's already four. You still aren't bringing your wife and kid home to meet your parents?"

Graham taps his knuckles on the table and laughs. "You know why I got with Nora and had a kid with her. I just want to make Emily jealous.

"Nora's easy to fool. She won't ever leave me, even if I never bring her or the kid home."

He thinks he has me all figured out, but he doesn't.

I turn and leave without a word, then plan to leave him for good.

A man like that doesn't deserve my love. And he sure as well doesn't deserve to be my daughter's father.

At my office, I booked flight tickets for me and my daughter for tomorrow evening and forwarded the itinerary along with my onboarding paperwork to the new company.

They replied almost instantly.

"Ms. Fields, we'll have someone waiting at the airport to receive you. We're looking forward to having you join us. See you."

I closed my laptop after reading the email.

Just then, my colleague, Maeve Brooks, walked over and placed a small plush cat on my desk.

"Ms. Fields, I heard it's your daughter's birthday today. This is just a little something for her," she said.

I gave her a warm smile. "Thank you. That's really thoughtful."

Maeve waved it off casually. "Don't mention it. Being a single mom can't be easy. Just don't carry it all on your own. Remember to ask her father for child support."

No one at the office knew that the CEO, Graham Ashford, was the father of my child. He never wanted anyone to know about us, never wanted the relationship public.

We had a daughter together, but no marriage, not even a certificate. On paper, I was a single mother.

I pulled at the corner of my mouth and said quietly, "He died. I have no one to ask for anything."

Maeve gave me a sympathetic look, patted my shoulder, and walked away without saying another word.

I printed out my resignation letter.

Just as I was slipping it into my bag, my phone rang.

I picked up and heard a cute, excited voice. "Mommy! I got a hundred on my math test today!"

My heart softened in an instant. "A hundred? My sweet girl, that's amazing."

Naomi beamed through the phone. "Daddy said if I got a perfect score, he'd come home and celebrate my birthday with me! Mommy, do you think he'll come tonight?"

My chest tightened. I kept my voice gentle and said, "Daddy's really busy with work. He might not make it tonight, but I'll ask him, okay?"

Her voice dropped, sounding disappointed. "Okay. I hope he's not too busy today."

I felt something sharp twist inside me.

No one understood how much my daughter craved her father's love more than I did.

I called Graham, but he didn't answer.

It had become like this after Naomi was born. Trying to reach him felt like calling into a void.

I pressed my lips together, grabbed the resignation letter, and headed out.

The moment I stepped out of the building, I stopped in my tracks.

Right in front of me, Graham was crouched down in front of Emily Caldwell, gently cupping her foot in his hands, carefully massaging her ankle.

Emily let out a soft whimper. "Graham, be gentle. That hurts."

Graham clicked his tongue. "I told you not to wear heels while shopping. Serves you right."

Even as he scolded her, his hands moved with care, gentler with every motion.

I stared at him, noticing the tenderness in his expression.

Graham had treated me well, but never like this.

I remembered one time, when I'd walked the entire city in three-inch heels just to close a deal. When I got home, my feet were covered in blisters.

Graham looked at me and said, "Next time, don't wear heels if you can't handle them."

Back then, I thought that counted as a concern. I'd convinced myself that even his cold remarks meant he cared.

Now, watching him gently cradle Emily's ankle, I realized how foolish I'd been.

Emily smiled, and her toes curled upward to stroke along Graham's jawline.

"You're more fun than your uncle ever was," Emily said playfully, her voice teasing and low. "Shame I married him instead."

Graham froze with her foot still in his hand.

I had always known Graham was Dean Wagner's nephew. I used to think he hesitated to marry me because I had once loved his uncle. But the truth was, he hesitated because his uncle had married the woman he wanted.

I let out a bitter laugh and turned to leave, but that fake-sweet voice called after me.

"Are you Nora Fields?"

I turned and gave her a polite nod. "Hello, Ms. Caldwell."

Graham and I locked eyes. His jaw was tight, and he quickly released her foot.

Emily slipped her heel back on and strolled toward me with a smirk. "You look like you've been doing well. My husband made the right call back then, helping a struggling scholarship student like you.

"You used to stop by Dean's place all the time, but I haven't seen you around lately. Is it because I'm there now and you feel awkward?"

It was true. I had once been a scholarship student Dean sponsored, and I had admired him for years.

After he got married, I disappeared from his life completely.

I looked her dead in the eye. "You're overthinking it. This has nothing to do with you."

She smiled like she knew better. "If you say so. You're welcome to drop by anytime."

Graham, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. His brows were furrowed, clearly showing his displeasure. "It's getting late. You should head home."

He cut the conversation short and helped her into her car. Only after she was gone did he turn to me.

"You saw that?"

I nodded.

He hesitated, then explained, "She got blisters on her feet, so I just gave her a quick massage. She's my uncle's wife now. Don't take it the wrong way."

I kept my expression cool. "I'm not taking it the wrong way. You don't need to explain. You look guilty when you do."

Graham's jaw twitched slightly, then he chuckled. "Why are you so worked up? Are you jealous?"

He leaned in and tapped my nose gently. "It's Naomi's birthday today. I'll go pick up a cake. You head home first."

That caught me off guard. For four years in a row, Graham had missed Naomi's birthday because of work.

But then I thought about the way our daughter lit up whenever she thought he might come home. So, I said, "Okay."

Three more days and I'd be gone. One last dinner together wouldn't hurt.

...

At home, I cooked dinner while Naomi put on her favorite dress.

Every few minutes, she ran to the front door to check, then came back to sit quietly on her chair.

"Mommy, when will Daddy be home?" she asked.

I glanced at the food growing cold on the table. Then, I picked up my phone and tried calling Graham again, but he didn't answer.

A sinking feeling settled in my chest. I forced a smile and said softly, "Sweetheart, let's eat first. Daddy might be caught up with work, okay?"

Her eyes turned red, but she nodded obediently.

She pulled a small cake out of her backpack and placed two tiny candles on it. "My teacher gave me this. She said I was the most well-behaved kid in class.

"I wanted to wait for Daddy so the three of us could eat together. But now..."

I looked into those teary eyes, and my heart cracked. I felt heartbroken for her and so disappointed in Graham.

Graham could treat me however he wanted, but how could he be so thoughtless with his own daughter?

I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "No matter what Daddy does, you'll always be my precious girl."

Naomi gave me a bright smile. "I know! As long as you're here, Mommy, I'm the happiest kid in the world!"

After dinner, Naomi quietly went to do her homework, and I started packing.

I found the stack of love letters Graham had written to me back when he was pursuing me. I struck a match and watched the pages curl and burn to ash.

Standing on the balcony, I happened to glance down and saw three familiar figures.

Emily was crying hysterically, her voice echoing up to my floor.

"You really think I can't live without you? I should've said yes to Graham's proposal back then instead of being blind enough to pick you!"

With that, she turned to Graham, tears streaming down her face.

"Graham," Emily said through sobs, "if I divorced Dean, would you marry me?"

Graham looked at her for a long second. "If that's what you want, I'd marry you anytime."

His words exploded in my mind like a thunderclap.

Years ago, when I first found out I was pregnant, I had hopefully asked him, "Should we get married? It'll make things easier for the baby, especially with paperwork."

He had frowned and told me, "Nora, marriage feels like a burden to me. The baby can have your name or mine, it doesn't matter. I don't need a marriage license to give you both a good life."

He gave me everything I asked for for five years, except commitment.

I had truly believed he didn't believe in marriage. But now, I knew the truth. It wasn't about marriage. It was about who he wanted to marry.

I let out a bitter laugh, turned to head back inside, and walked downstairs with the resignation letter in my hands.

Dean's car had already pulled away from the curb.

Emily was still crying in Graham's arms. He held her carefully, wiping the tears from her face.

But when he noticed me, he stiffened and instinctively stepped away from her.

"Emily and Dean had a fight," he said quickly. "She's crashing here for a couple of nights."

Emily blinked at me in surprise. "Nora? What are you doing at Graham's house? What's your relationship to him?"

Before Graham could open his mouth, I smiled and answered for him. "I'm the housekeeper. My daughter's still little, so I work two jobs to save up for a better school."

Graham's expression darkened.

Emily tilted her head thoughtfully. "A housekeeper? I thought maybe you were his lover, but that wouldn't make sense. The woman Graham likes is..."

She glanced at him, then back at me. "Since you're the housekeeper, could you bring my suitcase upstairs? I'll be staying here for a few days."

She turned and walked off like she owned the place.

Graham picked up her heavy suitcase and followed her.

I stepped in front of him and held out the resignation letter. "I've got a document here that needs your signature."

He looked at me like I was an annoyance. "What kind of document's so urgent?"

"It's a client proposal. They need the signed copy this morning, but I've been waiting all day for you."

Graham pressed his lips together. He took the folder, flipped it open, and as he scrawled his name across the bottom, he glanced up at me.

"Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

I actually laughed. He was asking me why I hadn't told Emily I was his girlfriend?

"If I had, you think you wouldn't have been upset?"

His pen faltered slightly. He didn't meet my eyes.

"Just sign it," I said. "I need to bring Ms. Caldwell's suitcase to her room."

Graham quickly scribbled the last of his signature, too distracted by the matter with Emily to even glance at the title on the top page.

Before he could flip through the rest, I smoothly slid the document back into my bag.

After that, I brought the suitcase upstairs to Emily's room.

She glanced at me and said with a smirk, "You're something else, you know that?

"Dean helped you through college, and now you're working for Graham. Looks like every man in my life has ended up connected to you."

I looked her straight in the eye. Dean had become her husband while Graham was her loyal lapdog. I never said a word about it.

"You've got me beat, Ms. Caldwell. You have a wealthy man like Graham as your backup. But I really wonder, if you're trying to have both of them, will you end up with either one?"

Hearing this, her smile vanished.

I didn't wait around. I went straight to Naomi's room, but I stopped just outside the door when I heard Graham's voice inside.

"I ran into Emily on the way home," he said gently. "She was really upset, so I had to take care of her. That's why I didn't get your cake. But tomorrow, I'll get you an even bigger one. Deal?"

Naomi's voice brightened immediately. "Really? That's awesome, Daddy! I'll wait for you to bring it!"

Through the crack in the door, I saw her throw herself into his arms, beaming.

I stood there with a frown.

Our flight was tomorrow evening. If he really brought the cake in the afternoon, maybe Naomi would leave without any regrets.