We agreed we were going to spend Christmas together as a family of three. I briefly stepped out to grab my daughter’s Christmas gift, but quickly realized that I had forgotten my keys. However, when I came back, I was locked outside the villa.

I rang the doorbell countless times, but no one came to let me in.

Through the glass window, I saw my daughter happily smiling in the arms of my wife’s childhood friend who had returned from overseas.

“Uncle Jones, you smell so nice. Not like my dad. He’s always sweaty and smells so gross. I don’t even want to spend Christmas with him!”

My wife, Lily Quinn, looked at them indulgently and agreed.

“Your dad hasn’t seen much of the world. He really doesn’t know how to celebrate holidays properly.”

I froze in place as my fingers turned cold.

Yara turned and saw me outside the window. Her face was filled with disgust.

“What are you staring at? Why are you standing outside like some monster? You almost scared me to death! You’re not like Uncle Jones at all. He’s so elegant and well-mannered!”

However, ten years ago, I was a top sales director at a well-known multinational company.

Back then, I had the chance to be transferred to New York. Yet Lily unexpectedly got pregnant and suffered severe reactions. She was at constant risk of miscarriage.

I voluntarily gave up that opportunity to take care of her and our daughter.

Now, that sacrifice had somehow become undeniable proof of my uselessness.

I took a deep breath and threw the Christmas gift I had bought for my daughter into the trash.

Then I messaged someone saved in my contacts as “Apprentice”:

[Is that overseas position you mentioned a few days ago still available?]

The reply came almost instantly:

[Of course! Mr. Lane, as long as you’re willing to come back, you’ll always have a place waiting for you!]

When I saw the characters on the screen, I put my phone away and responded with just one word:

[Okay.]

Before I could even turn around, the villa door was suddenly flung open.

Yara rushed out like a gust of wind, tiptoeing as she peered into the trash can.

Inside was the limited-edition Elsa doll she had been talking about for half a year — the one I had searched all over the city to buy for her.

“Why did you throw away my present? That’s mine!”

Her face flushed bright red with anger, but when she saw the stains on the edge of the bin, she hesitated and did not dare to reach in.

Instead, she stomped her little shoes and burst into tears.

“You’re so stingy! Bad daddy!

“Uncle Jones gave me a Burberry dress the moment he arrived. What about you? You didn’t even open the door, and now you’re throwing away my gift. You did it on purpose!”

The dress she was wearing had sloppy stitching. It was clearly a knockoff.

However, I did not expose it. I just watched her quietly as she raged.

“Yara, is that any way to talk to your father?”

Carson stepped forward with a gentle smile.

“Melvin, don’t blame the child. I’m actually allergic to sweat, so Yara was just worried I’d feel uncomfortable.”

Lily came out right after him, frowning at me.

“Alright, Melvin. It’s Christmas. You bought an outdated toy, so don’t blame the child for not liking it.

“Yara just prefers trendy things. What’s wrong with that?”

If this had been before, I would have slammed the receipt on the table and told them how difficult it was to get that doll.

I would have exposed the fake dress.

I would have argued. I would have been furious.

However, I would not do that now.

“Uncle Jones, don’t mind him. He’s doing it on purpose. He just can’t stand seeing us happy!

“I wish I could change dads. Uncle Jones, you should be my dad instead!”

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

That face which was so similar to mine, at least seventy percent in likeness, looked up at me with open defiance.

I still could not understand how the child I had raised with my own hands could harbor such hostility toward me.

However, I no longer wanted to understand.

If they wanted to be a family, then so be it.

I still had things in the house to pack, and my phone was almost out of battery.

I walked past Yara as she clung to Carson and stepped inside.

As we passed each other, the scent of cologne on Carson drifted into my nose.

It was the same brand Lily had bought just a few days earlier.

Back then, she said it was a gift for a client.

So that “client” was right here.

Nevermind. It did not matter anymore.

…

The next morning, I woke up early and made myself a bowl of noodles in the kitchen.

I had just put the noodles in the pot when Yara came out after washing up.

She wrinkled her nose and said in a muffled voice:

“Uncle Jones is taking me to English high tea to make up for Christmas!

“Don’t think that just because you made me breakfast, I’ll forgive you for throwing away my present.

“You’re the only one who likes such greasy stuff!”

I added an egg and did not even look at her.

“I wasn’t planning on making it for you anyway.”

Her expression froze for a split second. Then she grabbed Lily’s hand and said angrily,

“Mommy, I want Uncle Jones to be my dad for my English speech contest today!”

After all, she was my child.

Lily’s health had been poor after she was born, and I was the one who raised our daughter with my own hands.

I could not understand how it was that her real father was right here, yet she insisted on wanting someone else to be her dad?

“Why?”

As though regaining her pride, Yara lifted her chin and looked at me.

“All my classmates’ dads are handsome. You only wear those dull plaid shirts. You look so outdated and cheap!

“Uncle Jones has lived abroad for so long. He’s good-looking and speaks English well. If he comes with me, he’ll make me look good!”

My grip tightened around the spatula as I turned to look at Lily.

Even now, I was still hoping ridiculously that she would step in as a mother.

That she would teach our daughter not to be materialistic and not to look down on her own father like this.

However, Lily only nodded.

“She’s right.

“The parents are all wealthy or influential at a private school like this. Carson can also help me expand my network.

“In three days, the investors will visit the company. If I can use this opportunity to connect with someone, it’ll be worth far more.

“You… can just stay home and mop the floors.”

Her tone was casual, as though she were speaking to a member of the cleaning staff.

People said that children were a reflection of their parents.

So this was what my daughter had become under her mother’s influence.

Still, it did not matter anymore.

I just hoped her mother would still have time to correct her.

“Have fun.”

“Tsk. How fake.”

Yara snorted under her breath, slung her backpack on, and happily followed the other two out the door.

Finally, the house fell silent.

I took a taxi to a law firm in the city center.

After being locked outside last night, I had already contacted a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement.

When I received the document, still faintly smelling of fresh ink, I felt an unexpected sense of relief.

On my way back, I got out of the taxi and saw Yara standing on a stage.

Her school was right near our home, and the stage was facing the main gate.

Back then, to secure her enrollment, I had begged everywhere and scraped together everything just to buy a home in this school district. I had been one step away from throwing away my dignity.

Almost unconsciously, I stopped walking.

On stage, Yara stood in a little dress, drenched in sweat, frozen in front of the microphone.

“My father is… is…”

She had forgotten her lines and looked frantically toward Carson in the audience.

However, Carson was busy scrolling on his phone.

It was only after someone beside him nudged him did he lazily mouth a few words to her.

The lip movements did not match at all.

Yara panicked even more. She stammered a few lines in English before finally breaking down under the audience’s boos and running off the stage in tears.

I felt nothing as I watched it all happened.

A month ago, I helped her revise that speech and practiced every pause with her.

Now that she had chosen Carson as her father, it was Carson’s responsibility.

If he could not handle it, that had nothing to do with me.

I turned to leave, only to bump into Yara as she came running out of the side entrance.

Her face was covered in tears. The moment she saw me, her sadness turned instantly into rage.

It was as though I were the perfect target for everything she felt. She rushed at me and shoved me.

“It’s all your fault! Why did you come here? You brought bad luck to me. I forgot my speech because of you!

“Why don’t you just die?

“If you were dead, Uncle Jones could be my real dad. He would definitely help me win first place!”

This was the daughter I gave up my career for and raised with everything I had.

Despite this, she was willing to wish me dead for another man.

Carson walked over unhurriedly, pretending to comfort her as he patted her head.

All her overwhelming emotions finally spilled over.

Yara buried herself in Carson’s arms, crying uncontrollably.

“Melvin, honestly, I told you not to come. Now look at what you’ve done. You scared the child so badly.”

Carson looked at me with open provocation. His eyes were full of smug satisfaction.

However, I had only been passing by on my way home. What did this have to do with me?

Was her failure due to nerves, or because she never practiced properly?

Just because I was her father, was I supposed to take responsibility for everything and clean up her mess?

“Yara, I’m your father, not a piece of tissue you use to wipe your problems away.

“You’re nine years old. It’s time you learned some responsibility. Stop blaming everything on me.”

Then, I turned and walked toward home, not bothering to look at her again.

Back at the house, I packed all my important documents and personal belongings into a small carry bag.

As for the clothes and watches, I left them untouched.

Click. The lock turned. They were back.

“Don’t cry, Yara. It was just bad luck today. How about I take you to KFC?”

Carson’s voice was unusually gentle. Yara even stopped crying for a moment.

“Really? My dad never lets me eat KFC. He says it’s junk food. Uncle Jones is still the best!”

“Of course it’s not your fault.”

So that was why he sounded so gentle, Lily had just gotten off work.

That same voice I used to hear every night now continued,

“Yara just wasn’t in the right condition today. The fact that you came with her already makes you more responsible than her biological father.”

Was it not her who told me not to go?

Now she was blaming me again.

I let out a cold laugh and placed the divorce agreement on the bedside table.

That way, Lily would see it before going to sleep.

After finishing, I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the bedroom.

Yara was wiping her tears when she shot me a vicious glare.

“What are you looking at? I’m talking about you!”

When I looked at her tear-streaked face, still twisted with hostility, I was suddenly reminded of the day she was born.

Back then, Lily had unexpectedly gone into premature labor and was extremely weak.

I had to take care of my bedridden wife and my daughter in the incubator at the same time.

I went nights without sleep, blaming myself over and over.

I blamed myself for not taking better care of my wife, for not being a good enough father, and for letting her come into this world early and suffer so much.

After she was taken out of the incubator, even a simple sneeze made me panic.

I was always careful with her digestion, afraid to give her anything that might upset her stomach.

I had never expected anything like this.

“Yara.”

I sighed.

“I really spoiled you.”

“You didn’t spoil me at all! You forced me to do homework, forced me to eat disgusting vegetables, and you were never nice to me!”

Yara sprang to her feet and screamed at me, “If Uncle Jones were my dad, he’d take me to KFC every day, take me out to play, and would never force me to do anything!”