In the third year after our daughter was abducted, Arthur gave up the search. He said it was fate, that we couldn't be too selfish, and that moving on and living in the present was the most important thing. But later, his "first love" went missing too. Arthur’s hair turned white overnight. He spent the next fifty years searching for her. Reborn into a new life, I took the initiative to protect my daughter first and immediately demanded a divorce. I didn't expect that Arthur had been reborn, too. On his first night back, he booked a flight to take his first love on a romantic getaway. It wasn't until half a year later that he finally remembered his daughter. Clutching a cheap doll he bought from the airport gift shop, Arthur tried to pick her up from school. But my daughter pushed him away without hesitation, turned around, and threw herself into another man's arms. "I'm sorry, I already have a new daddy!" 1 When the news of Chloe's disappearance broke, Arthur and I had just had a massive fight. He gripped my shoulders, practically roaring. "Lily has been missing for three years! We've tried every possible way, but we just can't find her. Life has to go on. Can't you just look forward?" I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. My heart turned to ice. "But we are Lily's parents! If even we stop looking for her, she’ll truly never come home!" Lily was our daughter. When she was five, her nanny took her out to play in our gated community's park. The nanny turned her back for just a moment, and the child was gone. Terrified, the nanny didn't call 911 immediately, missing the golden window to save Lily. Arthur and I tried everything, but there was no trace of her. It was as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth. This year marked the third year of her disappearance. Yet, Arthur suddenly told me he didn't want to keep searching. He wanted me to give up, to look forward, to focus on our present life—saying we could always have another child. His cold, resolute attitude made me feel like I was looking at a stranger. Lily was a piece of my own flesh and blood. To have a piece of my heart violently carved out was an agonizing pain I could never just "give up" on. Because of this, we had the most explosive argument of our marriage. In the past, I loved him more, so I was always willing to yield. Arthur relied on my love to force my compromises. But when it came to Lily, I would absolutely never back down! Everything in the house that could be thrown was shattered. Screaming hysterically had drained every ounce of my energy. Yet he just stood there, watching me coldly as if I were a clown. "Evelyn, you are too selfish! Are you going to tear this family apart for a child we can't find?" His initial guilt had gradually warped into impatience. Leaving those words behind, he turned, walked into his room, and locked the door. The chaotic living room plunged into a sudden, suffocating silence. I sat on the sofa, staring at photos of my daughter on my phone, tears streaming down my face. But the next second, a notification popped up in our old high school alumni group chat. It said Chloe Adams had gone missing. She was the smart, beautiful girl who transferred into our class in high school and captured the attention of countless boys—Arthur included. I had barely processed the message when the tightly locked bedroom door was suddenly thrown open. Arthur looked frantic, desperately dialing his phone over and over, but the calls wouldn't go through. He muttered to himself, "Chloe, please don't let anything happen to you..." Arthur was famous for his composure. Even when Lily went missing, he maintained his usual calm. I had never seen him panic like this, his hands physically shaking. To Arthur, Chloe was the untouchable "white moonlight" of his heart. In the past, I hadn't thought much of it. Arthur was the boy I had loved since childhood. Our families ran in the same elite circles; we were practically childhood sweethearts. I loved him, always had. But he was naturally aloof, so his special treatment of Chloe in high school had once crushed me. But later, Chloe chose to study in Paris, voluntarily giving him up. Their budding romance died before it could bloom. Arthur was depressed for a long time before he gradually stepped out of the shadows, never mentioning Chloe's name again. I stayed by his side, just like always, year after year. Fortunately, I finally waited long enough for him to confess his feelings to me. We started dating, got married, and had our beautiful Lily. I truly cherished our relationship. But looking at it now, I was nothing but a colossal joke. I used to think Arthur only lost his composure over Chloe because of that lingering high school crush. But I never imagined that when Chloe actually did go missing, he would be so overwhelmed with grief that his hair turned white overnight. Yet, when Lily was taken, he remained perfectly calm. Not a single slip of composure. It turned out— A child born to a woman you don't truly love will never be loved, either. In the end, Arthur decided he had to help the Adams family search for the missing Chloe. I asked him, "What about our daughter?" What about the daughter who had been stolen by traffickers for three whole years? Arthur's eyes darted away evasively. "We searched for Lily for three years. That's long enough. But Chloe is different. She just went missing. Maybe if we try hard enough, we can find her?" That "hard enough" lasted a lifetime. I spent my entire life searching for Lily, and he spent his entire life searching for Chloe. We fought countless times over this. I begged him to give up—Chloe had her own family and friends looking for her, but Lily only had us. She needed us more. But Arthur furiously rebuked me. "Evelyn, you are too selfish! Chloe is a living, breathing human being. How can we just give up on her?" Disappointment, heartbreak, and pure hatred finally killed whatever love I had left for this man. By the time we reached our twilight years, we still hadn't found Lily or Chloe. We both lay in our respective hospital beds. I stared at a faded photo of my daughter. He stared at a photo of Chloe, his eyes filled with endless sorrow. It was the ultimate irony. "If I could do it all over again, I truly wish Lily never had you for a father." Because he simply didn't deserve it! 2 But I never expected that I would actually be reborn! And I was reborn right back to the very day my daughter was taken. I tore out of the house, sprinting down the street, desperate to save my Lily before those monsters could get to her. Thank God. Before the trafficker could reach her. I lunged forward, snatching my child into my arms, screaming at the top of my lungs for the negligent nanny to call 911 immediately. A kidnapper sneaking into a luxury gated community was a massive scandal. Many residents, terrified that the trafficker might have accomplices targeting their own kids, crowded around, waiting for the police to arrive so the monster could face justice. I didn't leave either. But in the midst of waiting, I saw Arthur rushing out of the house from a distance. At this exact time in the timeline, he should have just returned from a business trip, exhausted, sleeping off his jet lag in the bedroom until evening. It wasn't until the nanny couldn't find Lily that I was forced to wake him and tell him she was missing. That was when he had suddenly jolted awake. But why were things different now? Could it be that Arthur had been reborn too? But if he had been reborn, he should know that the most urgent thing right now was to save our poor Lily, not to run out in a panic. I didn't have time to dwell on it. The police arrived, and I had to take Lily to the station to give a statement. By the time we finished the paperwork and returned home, the sky had already darkened. "Where's Daddy?" Holding my hand, the moment Lily walked through the door, she peeked into the master bedroom. She loved Arthur so much. She loved hugging his legs and calling for him in her sweet, babyish voice. But the bedroom was empty. Arthur still hadn't returned home. Lily looked a bit disappointed, but she was always a good girl. She forced a smile, assuming her dad just had too much work, like always. "I haven't finished my book yet anyway. Daddy would be mad if he knew I wasn't reading!" She giggled, ran to the living room, found a spot to sit, and seriously began reading her storybook. The regrets of my past life made me unwilling to leave Lily's side for even a single step. I held her as we sat in the living room. She turned to smile at me, kissed my cheek, and said, "Don't be sad, Mommy. Daddy will be home after work. We'll wait for him together." Perhaps it was because of the memories of my past life. This man, whom I had once loved so deeply and then hated for half a lifetime—now that I had a second chance, even if everything was back on track, I absolutely refused to wrong myself or my daughter ever again. Divorce was inevitable. But Arthur's phone was completely unreachable. It was turned off every time I called. He had vanished into thin air. For a full day and night, I couldn't get in touch with him. "Did the bad guys take Daddy away?" Even though Lily was young, she was more mature than kids her age and incredibly perceptive of my emotions. She tugged at my dress with her little hands, her eyes filled with sadness. I quickly bent down and scooped her into my arms, soothing her gently. "No, baby. Daddy is probably just caught up with something very important. But your birthday is the day after tomorrow. Daddy will definitely be back by then." "Really?" Her big, round eyes were wide open, full of pure hope. 3 But the truth was, he went to find Chloe. That night, as I held Lily and read her a bedtime story until she fell asleep, I picked up my phone, opened Instagram, and immediately saw Chloe's latest post. One picture. One sentence. The picture: A pair of hands wrapped intimately around her waist. The sentence: After all the twists and turns, I finally waited long enough for your confession. On the index finger of that right hand, there was a distinct scar. Hilariously enough, Arthur had the exact same one. In the comments section, everyone was congratulating Chloe and this unseen man, wishing them a lifetime of happiness. I glanced at the location tag on the post. It was Santorini, Greece. That island was famous for being a top destination for couples. When Arthur and I first started dating, he promised to take me there for a romantic vacation so we could show off our love to the world. But he was always "too busy with work" and said we had to wait. That wait stretched until we got married, and then until we had a child. I waited year after year, but it was all an empty promise. Yet now, Arthur had dropped everything to make up for the lost love of his youth. He took his "white moonlight" on a romantic getaway overseas, living his best life. I looked down at the photo, my heart completely devoid of any emotion. Perhaps the disappointment from my past life was just too heavy. I had hurt, I had cried, I had screamed. After the hysterical breakdowns, whenever I looked into his eyes, all that remained was disappointment and hatred. I tapped on the image, zoomed in, and saved it to my camera roll. Since I had already decided on a divorce, I absolutely had to fight for full custody of Lily. And all the evidence proving his infidelity— I needed to back it all up. That way, during the divorce, I could secure the maximum advantage for myself. 4 I had a lawyer draft the divorce papers. But since Arthur was currently overseas and had deliberately cut off all contact, I couldn't hand the papers to him immediately. I could only wait, and in the meantime, I told my parents. But just as I expected, the moment I mentioned divorcing Arthur, my parents expressed intense opposition. I didn't hide anything. I told them bluntly about Arthur's infidelity. My mother looked at the photos, silent for a long time. Finally, she looked up at me, a complex expression in her eyes. "Evelyn, sometimes in life, you just have to turn a blind eye, and the days will pass. Besides, you two have a daughter now. For the sake of the child, can you please not be so selfish?" My own mother was telling me to tolerate my husband's infidelity—for the sake of the child. Even though I had known early on that my parents were emotionally detached, always putting business and family interests first, I never expected it to go this far. Even now, my happiness couldn't outweigh the corporate benefits our arranged marriage brought them. "No, Mom. If I choose to just 'get by,' that would be truly selfish and irresponsible. My life isn't Lily's life. I can take perfectly good care of her on my own." At least, with or without Arthur, there wouldn't be much difference from the past few years anyway. As for my Lily, I truly felt guilty that I couldn't give her a complete family. But I wasn't the one who destroyed it. So why should I be the one to swallow the bitter fruit Arthur planted? My father snapped. He slapped me across the face and swore that if I went through with the divorce, he would never let me step foot in their house again. Divorce meant I would become an Evelyn without a family. Unable to hold it back, I let a few tears fall. "Fine. Let's just consider our bond as father and daughter officially severed." Regardless, the divorce was happening. I took Lily and left. I didn't go straight home. Halfway through the drive, unable to keep my emotions in check, I found a quiet spot to pull over. In front of my daughter, I broke down and cried like a failure. Lily was so good. She unbuckled herself from her car seat, climbed into the passenger seat, and didn't say a word. She just gently patted my back and, when I looked up, pulled a few tissues to wipe my tears. "Mommy, don't be sad. Lily is here. Lily will always be here." Her voice was still soft and childish. I looked at her and asked, "If Mommy and Daddy have to separate, and you stay with Mommy, would you be okay with that?" Lily didn't answer immediately. She tilted her head, as if thinking. After a long while, she asked me, "If we leave Daddy, will Mommy be happy? Will you not have to cry anymore?" I didn't know how to answer her. Choking back a sob, I just hummed in agreement. Lily immediately smiled. She reached out her short little arms and hugged me, mimicking the way I always held her. "Lily wants Mommy to be happy. I don't want Mommy to cry. Daddy is mean, and I don't want him anymore either." Completely breaking down, I hugged Lily tight and sobbed. The little girl, who was smiling at first, suddenly pouted. As if she had suffered a massive grievance herself, she buried her face in my chest and cried with me. But she cried so hard and got so worked up that my chest suddenly flared with an agonizing pain. Lily knew I had a heart condition. She instantly wiped her tears and started scrambling around the car, searching for my medication. But the pain in my chest was so severe that my vision began to blur, pulling me toward unconsciousness. Right before I completely blacked out, I vaguely saw a panicked Lily grab my phone and, mimicking what I always did, dial Arthur's number. But the call never went through. 5 When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I was only dazed for two seconds. Then I scrambled up from the bed, looking around frantically. "Where's Lily?!" Passing out so suddenly. I was terrified something had happened to Lily. I couldn't bear the agony of losing her a second time. Perhaps hearing my voice, Lily, who had been sitting on the sofa reading a picture book, dropped it and trotted over to the bed. I pulled her into a tight hug. She sat by my side, her eyes still shimmering with tears. "Mommy, you're finally awake." Her voice still carried a hint of a sob, but she forced a bright smile, leaning against me obediently. She didn't say anything else; she just looked at me quietly. I asked her, "Lily, who brought Mommy to the hospital?" Lily counted on her fingers, trying to remember. "It was a really handsome uncle." Just as she finished speaking, someone pushed the hospital room door open. The person said, "You're awake?" I looked toward the door. The moment I saw who it was, my eyes went wide in shock. "Nolan Vance?!" Nolan Vance was my high school classmate. But he and Arthur were complete opposites. Arthur was aloof, like a flower on a high peak—sacred and unapproachable. Nolan was pure sunshine. He was passionate about everything and everyone, always wearing a smile that warmed everyone around him. Not only that, we were childhood friends. Grandpa Vance had adored me since I was little. Back then, our families used to joke about an arranged marriage. But then I met Arthur, and I devoted all my attention to following him around. Later, Arthur and I officially started dating. Around the same time, Nolan received an acceptance letter from a prestigious university overseas and left the country. In my past life, Nolan never moved back. Or if he did, I was so consumed with my missing daughter that I never noticed. Seeing him so suddenly now felt like a lifetime had passed. "You have a heart condition. Doctors warned you since you were a kid to avoid extreme emotional swings. Good thing I happened to be driving by." Nolan peeled an apple for me, meticulously cutting it into small cubes and placing them on a plate. He stuck toothpicks in them, handed one piece to me, and gave another to Lily. Lily thanked him, flashing an innocent smile. "Uncle Nolan, how did you know Mommy likes her apples cut into tiny pieces?" Nolan gently tapped her nose. He looked at me, his eyes full of the same warm smile as always, just with a hint of teasing now. "Since she was little, she's been the most spoiled. If it wasn't cut perfectly, she wouldn't eat it." Lily shook her head. "But at home, Daddy never cuts fruit for Mommy. Mommy always prepares it and brings it to Daddy." Hearing this, Nolan's smile vanished. He stared at me quietly without saying a word, holding my gaze for a long time. "What is it, Nolan? Why are you staring at me like that?" It was making me feel a bit uneasy. I pretended to look down and eat the fruit, but Nolan suddenly reached out and flicked my forehead. It actually hurt a little. "Nolan, that hurts! I'm a patient!" I couldn't help but yelp. We were childhood friends, so we were familiar with each other's boundaries. Aside from the initial awkwardness of meeting again, we easily slipped back into our old, comfortable dynamic. Around Nolan, I was always unreasonable and liked to tease him. And he would always let me. Just like now, even after I yelled at him, he completely ignored it and handed me another piece of apple. "Calm down, eat some more fruit." I took the plate, shoved two pieces into my mouth, and muttered, "We haven't seen each other in years, and the first thing you do is hit me without even explaining why?" Nolan smiled and shrugged. "Can't help it. I've liked bullying you since we were kids." With that, he turned and walked out, saying he was going to find my attending physician. I was looking down, eating the fruit, so I didn't hear the words he muttered just before he walked out the door: "I just can't stand seeing you wrong yourself. If I could smack that love-struck brain out of you, I would." 6 There wasn't anything seriously wrong with me physically. After I woke up, the attending physician gave me another checkup and cleared me to go home and rest. Since I had made up my mind to get a divorce, I had no intention of staying in the marital home, which was under Arthur's name. I planned to move out with Lily. I owned several properties under my own name. I let Lily pick her favorite one, and we prepared to move in immediately. When Nolan found out I was getting a divorce and moving, he came over to help without a second thought. In less than a day, he moved all of Lily's and my belongings over. The new house was just one street away from where Nolan currently lived. Lily was thrilled when she found out. "Do you really like Uncle Nolan?" That night, as I held Lily in bed, she snuggled into my arms, chattering endlessly about him. Over the past few days, Nolan acted like he didn't have a job, coming over to mooch meals every single day. The moment Lily got out of school, she stuck to him like glue. The two of them hit it off instantly and played together brilliantly. They even made plans to go out on the weekend, completely leaving me out of it. Honestly, I felt a little like a third wheel. Lily sensed I was feeling a bit down and quickly hugged my neck, kissing my cheek. "Uncle Nolan is so nice. He's willing to play with me and he's so patient. Not like Daddy. Daddy always says he's busy, he's forever busy. He didn't even come to my birthday yesterday. Uncle Nolan stayed with me, and he even gave me the present I wanted the most. If... if Uncle Nolan was my daddy, that would be great." As Lily finished her sentence, a flicker of sadness crossed her eyes. A child's world is simple. She might not be old enough to fully understand everything, but she was sharp enough to feel Arthur's emotional distance. In contrast, Nolan gave her the fatherly love she had never experienced. My heart ached for my daughter. I pulled her into a tight embrace. Arthur really didn't deserve to be a father. 7 In the afternoon, Lily came home from school. She didn't look very happy. I asked her what was wrong, but she barely answered me. It wasn't until dinner time that she finally spoke, her voice pitiful. "Kindergarten is having a parent-child event. A lot of the activities require the dads to participate. But... Daddy..." I sighed and said, "It's okay, Mommy can do it too." Lily shook her head, still looking miserable. She stared down at the rice in her bowl, lost in thought, when the doorbell suddenly rang. I didn't need to guess to know who was here to mooch a meal. My previously depressed daughter shot her head up instantly. "Uncle Nolan is here!" With that, she scrambled out of her chair and ran to open the door for him. "Lily looks even cuter today." Nolan carried Lily to the dining table, the two of them looking as natural as a real father and daughter. I felt a twinge of jealousy and glared at him playfully. "I almost died giving birth to this precious girl, and she's closer to you than she is to me. It's like you're the one who gave birth to her." Nolan's smile grew even brighter. He leaned right into my words. "If that's the case, then just pretend I did. I promise I'll raise this precious girl right." I quickly snatched my child back from his arms. "In your dreams! This is my precious girl!" Lily squeezed my hand, looking like a wise little peacemaker. "Stop fighting, you guys! One is Daddy, one is Mommy. Lily loves both of you!" Right. Just a few days ago, they had done a mock "adoption" ceremony. The two of them played along perfectly, calling each other "God-dad" and "Precious God-daughter." Lily looked at Nolan, blinked her big eyes, and suddenly asked, "Mommy, since he's already a daddy anyway, can Uncle Nolan be my daddy and go to the parent-child event with me?" I looked at Nolan, and he was looking at me, as if waiting for my approval. I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head. "That's probably not a good idea..." "But all the other kids' dads are going to be there. Only my dad... He hasn't called me in so long. Why can't Uncle Nolan be my dad? Mommy, I don't want the other kids to make fun of me and say I'm a kid whose dad doesn't love her." The more my daughter spoke, the more heartbroken she sounded. She even started shedding tears, which shattered my heart. Nolan quickly chimed in. "Lily is my god-daughter now. That piece of trash Arthur is living it up overseas. I should definitely go! Do you really want Lily to be mocked by the other kids?" Naturally, I didn't want that. So, on Monday, Nolan took on the role of "Dad" and went to the kindergarten event with me. The games were simple. Some tested the coordination between father and daughter, and others tested how well the parents knew each other. For example: "What is Mommy's favorite color?" Nolan: "Purple." "What is Mommy's favorite fruit?" Nolan: "Apples." "What does Mommy hate the most?" Nolan: "She hates being lied to." Nolan answered every single question perfectly in record time. I couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up. The host was one of the kindergarten teachers. Holding her script, she smiled at the kids, hyped up the atmosphere, and then asked the moms one last question. "So, who is Daddy's favorite person?" Many parents wrote down their child's name. I wrote Lily's name too, because for questions like this, you're supposed to write the kid's name. But Nolan's answer was—You. "Me?" I didn't process it at first and instinctively pointed at myself. The host smiled and said, "It looks like Lily's parents are very much in love! Out of all the dads here, he's the only one with a different answer." For some reason, my heart suddenly started beating a little faster. It didn't return to normal even after the segment ended. Nolan held Lily's hand and walked up to me. "What's wrong? Is your heart bothering you again?" His voice was gentle as always, his eyes filled with genuine concern and inquiry. I shook my head. "Nolan, why didn't you write Lily's name?" Nolan's smile paused for a moment before he replied, "Since I'm acting as Lily's dad, naturally, my favorite person is Lily's mom. So... saying I like you, I don't see any problem with that answer." There was a problem. A huge problem! My heart beat even faster.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "418560", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel