Chapter 3

Sarah POV

After two straight days of bumpy travel, I finally arrived in New York.

On this journey, I had barely closed my eyes, and I was still wearing the old coat I had put on when I left the station. It was covered in travel dust, and my hair was a little messy.

But I could not care about any of that. I did not even have time to go home and drop off my luggage. As soon as I got off the bus, I dragged my suitcase straight to the hospital.

However, the moment I stepped into the hospital, my steps suddenly stopped.

At the end of my line of sight, a familiar figure appeared before my eyes.

The man stood tall and straight, wearing a well-tailored dark coat. His bearing was noble and gentle, and even among the bustling crowd, he was still the kind of person people noticed at a glance.

It was Ethan.

He was holding a little girl about five or six years old in his arms. The child lay weakly against his shoulder, her small face flushed with an abnormal redness, and she looked very unwell.

And the woman standing beside him was none other than Mia.

They were talking to a doctor in a white coat, and Mia reached out from time to time to touch the child's forehead, her face full of worry, while Ethan tilted his head slightly and comforted her in a low voice.

What a warm and harmonious scene for a family of three.

I froze in place.

Even though I had already known all of this from that phone call, and even though I had kept telling myself along the way to stay calm, not to care, and that it was not worth it.

But when this scene truly crashed into my eyes, I still felt as if someone had stabbed me hard in the chest.

Just then, Ethan seemed to sense something, and his gaze swept over casually.

The moment our eyes met, his expression first turned shocked, then quickly became angry.

"Sarah?"

The words almost burst out of him, his tone full of disbelief.

I withdrew my gaze, did not want to deal with him, and turned to leave.

But I had just taken one step when Ethan stuffed the child into Mia's arms, strode after me, and blocked my path in just a few steps.

"Why are you here?"

He looked me up and down, his gaze sweeping over my travel-worn appearance and the suitcase beside me. Instead of showing even a word of concern, he furrowed his brows.

"Did you run back on your own?" His voice was very low and carried obvious anger. "Sarah Lane, do you know what kind of issue it is to leave your post without permission? Do you know you'll be punished? This is absolutely reckless!"

"I didn't..."

I had just tried to say that I had come back with approval, but Ethan cut me off and grabbed my arm with so much force that it hurt.

"Come on. I'll take you to the station and buy you the earliest ticket back. After you go back, write a proper self-criticism and accept the punishment!"

He dragged me outside, his steps fast and urgent.

He pulled me so hard that I stumbled and almost tripped.

"Daddy!" Suddenly, from not far behind us, the child cried noisily, her voice full of tears. "Daddy, I want Daddy to hold me..."

Ethan's movements clearly paused.

That word, Daddy, was like a needle stabbing into my eardrum.

My face turned even uglier, and I forcefully shook off his hand, my voice as cold as ice. "Ethan, I don't need you managing my affairs. If you have time to worry about whether I'll be disciplined, you should go take care of your own daughter first!"

Ethan froze, and a trace of guilt flashed quickly through his eyes.

"Sarah, it's not what you saw. I..."

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Mia, who was walking over with the child in her arms, interrupted him. "Ethan."

Mia stopped in front of us, and when she looked at me, surprise and complicated emotions intertwined in her eyes.

"Sarah, when did you come back? Why didn't you tell us in advance? Ethan and I could have gone to pick you up."

Looking at her hypocritical face, my stomach churned, and I felt utterly disgusted.

But I was anxious to see her mother now, and for the moment, I had neither the time nor the energy to settle accounts with them.

Without saying a word, I pressed my lips together coldly, turned, and walked away.

"Sarah!"

Ethan instinctively stepped forward to chase after me.

"Ethan." Mia grabbed his sleeve with one hand and said anxiously and worriedly, "Emma has a high fever and feels awful right now. She keeps crying for you to hold her. Let's take Emma to see the doctor first, okay?"

The child lay on Mia's shoulder, whimpering in discomfort, and called to him weakly, "Daddy... hold me..."

Ethan stopped in his tracks.

He looked back at his listless daughter, then looked at me.

A few seconds later, he took the child.

"Okay. Daddy will take you to the doctor."

When I had walked some distance away and could not help looking back, the three of them were already gone from the lobby.

I could not help tugging my lips in a mocking smile.

It turned out that whether he cared or not was so obvious, yet I only understood it today.

All these years, I had truly been blind to love a man like that for so long.