Chapter 3

I had never asked Lily to call me mom.

Because a mother is irreplaceable to anyone.

Fearing she would become withdrawn due to her parents' divorce, I always cared for and loved her as a friend.

She had curled up in my arms many times, sharing secrets she refused to tell Ethan or Olivia.

And she was the first to know I was pregnant, and that I was terrified of horror dolls.

Three days ago, she had called me:

"Summer, I sent you a gift. It's in the package locker at the entrance of our gated community."

"Are you going downstairs now? Open it then. Yeah, right now."

Until the moment I tumbled down the stairs in terror, I had never suspected she had ulterior motives.

I spoke coldly:

"No need. I don't want to see you right now, and I don't make friends with people who hurt me."

Lily's eyes welled up with tears instantly. She suddenly yelled stubbornly:

"Mom was right! You don't like me at all! You're only nice to me to please Dad!"

"Once you have your own baby, you'll like me even less!"

With that, she turned and ran out.

I frowned.

A thought seemed to flash through my mind.

Before I could catch it, Maria walked in anxiously.

"Lily and her mother have left. She looked so sad."

"Just now she kept asking me if you were in pain... Maybe she knows she did wrong and wanted to apologize..."

I didn't say anything.

I didn't want people to think I was bullying a child.

But I truly couldn't bring myself to smile at her right now.

Because of our unpleasant conversation, Ethan chose to work in his study.

I had yet to recover from the post-surgery anemia and weakness.

The incision on my abdomen where my uterus had been removed throbbed with pain.

I drifted off to sleep, feeling lightheaded.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly ran a high fever.

In my daze, someone was gently calling my name.

When I opened my eyes, Ethan was looking at me with deep concern.

"Summer, you have a really high fever. Do you have a cold? Come on, let me take you to the hospital."

The next second, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed Olivia.

Ethan frowned but chose to answer it anyway.

For some reason, he glanced at me and put it on speakerphone for the first time.

"Ethan, the moon lamp you custom-made for Lily suddenly won't turn on. It might be broken. She has night blindness, and I sleep so heavily at night."

"Without the night light, I'm afraid she'll trip and hurt herself if she gets up in the middle of the night. Come over and fix it now."

Ethan remained silent for a few seconds.

"Alright."

I held his hand.

"Ethan, I've always been the one in charge of Lily's medical checkups. She has never had night blindness."

Olivia heard me over the phone and immediately sneered:

"What a joke! Lily is my flesh and blood. I know her ten thousand times better than you do!"

"Ethan, we had a deal when we divorced. Just because we're separated doesn't mean you can skimp on your love for our daughter."

"Are you going to dump everything on me now just because you're afraid your little trophy wife will get jealous? Do you even care about the hardship I went through giving birth to your child?!"

She hung up angrily.

Ethan sighed and slowly pulled his hand from my grip.

"Summer, be reasonable. Don't make things difficult for me at a time like this."

"Olivia has a point. She definitely knows her daughter better than you, a stepmother. Maybe you should reflect on whether you've been paying enough attention to Lily's health."

"I'll wake Maria up and have her take you to the hospital."

I stared at him blankly.

Throughout Lily's childhood, every time she fell ill, I was the one who stayed up all night by her bed, barely eating or drinking.

Even when buying snacks for her, I would meticulously check the ingredients list to ensure there was nothing harmful.

And this was considered "not paying enough attention"?

Suppressing the intense grievance in my heart, I said softly:

"Ethan, let's get a divorce."

He froze, his smile turning thin and cold.

"Summer, you're not the first person to threaten me with divorce, and I never fall for that."

Indeed. When Olivia had a massive fight with him and demanded a divorce, Ethan had agreed on the spot.

But at least she had his child and his lingering affection. I had nothing.

Taking my silence as regret, he spoke coldly before leaving:

"Take a few days off from the preschool. I'll arrange a doctor for you. Once your fever is gone, go get your tubes tied."

I spent the night hooked to an IV drip at the hospital, and my fever finally subsided.

The doctor said the incision was slightly inflamed and warned me to be extremely careful with my movements.

I had to avoid tearing the stitches, which could cause severe complications.

Ethan never showed up that night.

The next morning, I sent Maria home to rest since she had watched over me all night.

I planned to collect the divorce papers from my lawyer after my IV drip was finished.

Suddenly, Maria received a call from Ethan.

It turned out when Olivia went to wake Lily up for breakfast, she found Lily missing.

She hadn't been found yet, so Ethan wanted Maria to check the house quickly.

As soon as Maria left, my phone rang.

It was Lily's smartwatch number.

As soon as I picked up, her crying voice came through:

"Summer, help me..."