Chapter 7%
This time, he thought it would be the same.%
But instead, the automated message replied: “The number you dialed is not available. Please check the number and try again…“>
Ethan stared blankly at the number on the screen, unable to process it for a long time.
Just then, a man in work clothes approached, looking puzzled. “Sir, are you looking for someone?“>
“I…” His voice was hoarse and flat. “I’m looking for Ethan Sinclair.”%
“Oh, the little girl–four years old, right? What’s your relation to her?”
Ethan’s Adam’s apple moved, and a flicker of pain passed through his dark eyes. He replied hoarsely, “I’m her father.”}
Saying those words, a sudden heaviness crushed his chest./
In his mind, a little girl stood quietly outside a restaurant, her round eyes peeking at him with a shy smile. The moment he noticed her, she nervously turned away and hid behind a wall.
He could almost hear her voice again, tearful, asking Hannah, “Why doesn’t Daddy like me?”
Hannah had gently replied, “Daddy doesn’t dislike you. He’s just really busy with work and making money for the family. So be a good girl and don’t disturb him, okay?”
But her eyes had been red when she said that.Z
Thinking back on those moments, it felt like shards of glass pierced his chest. Every breath was painful.
“Sir,” the worker continued, “the dead can’t come back. Please accept our condolences. But I couldn’t find the little girl’s urn when handling the funeral arrangements today. Did you take care of it yourself?“%
That sentence stunned Ethan. As if jolted by electricity, he turned and dashed back home in a panic.}
But when he arrived, he realized something he hadn’t noticed before–Hannah’s presence in the house had vanished./
He rarely came home, and the decor had always reflected the preferences of Hannah and Lily.
Now, the doll Lily adored was no longer on the sofa. The small blanket Hannah always used had disappeared.”
Everything that belonged to them was gone.%
They had left, and they took everything with them.
No wonder Hannah had seemed so reluctant when he tried to stay home after Ethan’s mother told him the truth.”
No wonder she appeared indifferent, no matter what he said in the days that followed.}
He had destroyed the last emotional anchor she had left in this house–by his own hand.
Unable to bear staying there, he left again and rushed to the Sinclair family estate.
Ethan’s mother wasn’t surprised to see him, but her expression was cold and unwelcoming.}
Her tone was sharp. “What are you doing here?”
“Mom, Lily isn’t dead, is she?” His voice cracked. “The people at North Shore Memorial Hall, said they didn’t see her ashes. Are you lying to me?“%
He didn’t want to sound desperate, but he was. Deep down, he hoped her answer would undo everything–that all of it had been a terrible misunderstanding.%
Ethan’s mother stared at him, almost pityingly, before her lips curled with disdain. “Do you know why they didn’t see Lily’s ashes? Because you never liked her. And Hannah, not wanting her daughter to suffer under your shadow, took her away for good.“}
“It was you who made sure my granddaughter never received the rightful title of Sinclair family’s eldest daughter–not even in death.” Over the years, when he flaunted Jessica in public as his wife, she had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to stop it–suppressing news, denying rumors, doing everything to protect Hannah and Lily’s dignity.”
She even approached Jessica directly, begging her to leave Ethan./
But he found out.”
Furious, he had stormed over and warned her coldly, “If you want the whole world to know how Hannah ended up pregnant with that child, then go ahead–make trouble for her.“%
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