âIâm sleepy.â Simonaâs hands gripped Matthewâs neck tightly. He wanted to sleep, but couldnât because of the unfamiliar place.
Her body kept rubbing against his arms.
Matthew hugged his daughter tighter, caressing her back with his large palms. He coaxed her patiently, âGood girl. Let me cuddle you to sleep.â
Simona rested her little face on his chest, feeling that Daddyâs embrace was really warm. She could feel how strong her father was under his clothes, as well as his temperature, âDaddy, will you leave mommy and us again in the future? I donât want to be separated from you. I want you to live together with Mom, Samuel and me, like other childrenâs families. They have father, mother and grandparentsâ¦â
The more she spoke, the lower her voice got. In the end, I could barely hear her.
Matthew lowered his head. The girl had completely hidden her face in her arms.
The corner of her eyes that she left uncovered was streaked with tears.
âWhen I saw other children in their parentsâ arms or being pushed in the swing, I envied them so muchâ¦â
From the time he was born, in his world there was only Mom, Samuel and Grandma.
There was no father figure in her life.
After she met Matthew, she liked him and was attached to him because she was afraid he would leave her again.
Then she would go back to being a child without her father.
Matthew leaned back a little and held her little face in his hands. She was probably short of breath in his embrace, or it was probably because of the aggravation she had experienced, her eyes were red. Tears hung from her long lashes. She leaned down to kiss the tears away from her daughterâs eyes and said huskily, âNo. I will never leave you again in the future.â
His lips were warm and soft. The little girl closed her eyes instinctively. Her fatherâs breath was so close to her. He held her and kissed her, and she felt so happy.
It was so easy for her to be satisfied. A single kiss had melted her heart.
However, she did not know that her words also provoked discomfort in the man.
At the time, Dolores was pregnant. She knew that it had been he who had pushed her away so that they had been separated for so many years.
She wondered what she could do to make it up to the mother and the children.
âBoy, why donât you go back to sleep?â The camper was quite large. Behind the driverâs seat was a couch. Boyce was studying the routes while half lying down. Samuel was sitting next to him, leaning against the window, and looking out. Hearing Boyceâs voice, he didnât look back, âIâm not sleepy. I donât want to.â
Simona had been glued to Matthew. She didnât want to look at the scene, which would make her uncomfortable.
If Matthew really loved them, why would he have left Mom in the past?
She wondered why Matthew suddenly seemed so remorseful.
âUncle Boyce, what kind of man is he?â Samuel had mixed feelings about Matthew. He wanted to get closer to Matthew, but he couldnât let go of the fact that Matthew had left Dolores earlier.
Boyce was a little surprised. He sat up, âWho do you mean?â
Samuel pointed to his back. Boyce understood who he was asking about. He hooked Samuelâs neck and pulled the boy into his arms, âBoy, thatâs your father. Why do you call him âheâ?â
âWhy would I call someone whoâs left me abandoned âfatherâ?â Samuel raised his head, looking rather proud. In fact, he envied Simona very much because she could call him âdadâ so easily.
However, he was finding it rather difficult.
He was still angry that Matthew had abandoned them earlier. Matthew had not abandoned Simona and him, but he had also left his mother, which he would not forgive so easily, although Matthew seemed pretty good now.
Boyce looked at the little boy and could tell he had a knot in his heart towards Matthew.
He rubbed the boyâs hair and said, âYour father shouldnât have known your mom was pregnant at the time. Because of his character, even if he didnât like it, out of responsibility, he wouldnât have divorced her.â
What mattered to Samuel was not whether Matthew would take on the responsibilities. Instead, it mattered more to him that Matthew didnât like his mother. He wondered if Matthew had married Mom even if he didnât like her.
If he didnât like her, why would he have married her?
Was there something wrong with him?
âIn that case, didnât he drag Mommy into an unhappy marriage?â asked Samuel with a frown.
If it were up to him, Mommy could have found someone to love her, couldnât she?
Boyce rubbed his little nose, âBoy, what are you thinking? Donât worry about grown-up affairs. Youâll grow old before your time.â
Samuel curved his lips, âUncle Boyce, youâll be the first to grow old.â He counted on his fingers, âAfter twenty years, youâll be an old man. At that time, I will still be a young man.â
She turned away from him as she finished her words.
âHey, brat!â Boyce couldnât help himself, âSlow down. Iâm not going to do anything to you. Your father is very protective of you.â
So far, Boyce was still upset that Matthew wouldnât let him touch Simona.
The more he thought about it, the angrier Boyce got.
What a mean man!
She was only his daughter, wasnât she?
Boyce believed that he might also have a daughter in the future.
However, he had to admit that Dolores was very capable. She had given birth to twins of different gender, who had fully inherited their parentsâ advantages: her son was intelligent and her daughter was beautiful. Boyce believed that he too would be delighted if he had two such children.
The only problem was that he wasnât as lucky as Matthew.
âUnfortunatelyâ¦â Boyce heaved a sigh, leaning against the back of the couch. Just as he was about to pick up the phone and continue studying the routes, Matthew emerged from inside. Boyce snapped up, âWhereâs your daughter?â In fact, he wondered why Matthew was willing to go out alone.
Shouldnât he stay inside to accompany his daughter?
âSheâs sleeping.â He picked up Boyceâs phone and looked at the planned routes. âIs this the only way?â he asked.
âNot really. However, by my judgment, he would take the farthest ones to hide from our search, which could not be easily found because there was no surveillance. The shortage is that those roads could be quite bumpy, so he wouldnât be able to drive too fast.â
âSend two men to scout ahead on the trails.â Matthew wanted to see if they could find any tracks. Since his children were with him now, he couldnât leave them.
Otherwise, he would do it on his own.
âSure,â Boyce said, âIâve sent my men out there.â As he spoke, he cast a glance inward. Then he walked over to Matthew, âI can tell the little guy has the knot in his heart toward you.â Matthew certainly knew the fact.
He knew it all too well.
âHeâs blaming you for Doloresâ divorce.â Matthew looked down. He seemed to be looking at the phone, but his thoughts were not on it.
Boyce gave him an ambiguous look, âYou didnât like her at the time, did you? How could she get pregnant?â
At the time, Matthew wasnât happy about the marriage, something both Boyce and Armand knew. If he had not been groomed by his birth mother, he would not have married Dolores.
Since he didnât love or like her and Mary was with him at the time, Boyce wondered how Matthew had gotten Dolores pregnant.
Matthew shot him an indifferent look, âStop being so nosy.â
For that matter, he didnât want to talk about it with anyone as long as he knew exactly what had happened.
It wasnât worth telling everyone.
Otherwise, they would know that Dolores had gotten pregnant before she married him.
Boyce knew him very well. Since Matthew was unwilling to talk about it, no one could make him talk.
So Boyce picked up his phone and continued to study the routes, trying to find a better route that was a short distance and not so hilly.
Inside the compartment, Samuel was lying on the bed, tossing and turning. He was not sleepy at all. With one hand supporting his head, he looked over at Simona, who was sleeping soundly. He reached over and pinched her nose gently, âUngrateful little girl. How can you call him daddy so quickly?â
Simona felt her nose tingle. She rolled over and tilted her head to sleep on.
Samuel felt rather bored. He rolled over and lay on his back on the bed. Staring at the lamp, he murmured, âWhen can we find Mom?â
Suddenly, the watch on the phone on his wrist began to ring. He raised his hand and looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen. He didnât know that number and wondered if the call was from Mom.
Thinking about it, she immediately pressed the button to answer.
She put the watch next to her mouth and called, âMom?â.
On the other end of the line came a womanâs voiceâ¦..
.