Chapter 3

I never asked Poppy to call me Mom.

Because everyone's mother is irreplaceable.

Afraid she would become withdrawn because of her parents' divorce, I had always stayed by her side and protected her as a "trusted adult."

She had nestled in my arms many times, telling me the grievances she refused to tell Griffin and Veronica.

And she was the first person to know I was pregnant, as well as the only one who knew I was terrified of those creepy dolls.

Three days ago, she had called me.

"Ms. Weil, I sent you a gift. It's in the parcel locker downstairs."

"Are you going downstairs? Then open the gift. Yeah, right now."

Until I was so scared that I tumbled down the stairs, I never suspected she had an ulterior motive.

I spoke coldly.

"I don't need to. Right now, I don't want to see you, nor do I want to speak to someone who hurt me."

Tears instantly welled up in Poppy's eyes. She suddenly shouted stubbornly.

"Mommy was right! You don't actually like me at all. You're only nice to me to please Daddy!"

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

With that, she turned and ran away.

I frowned.

A thought seemed to flash through my mind.

Before I could figure it out, Connie walked in with a worried look on her face.

"Poppy left with her mom. She looked really sad."

"Just now, she kept asking me if you were in a lot of pain. She probably knows she was wrong and wants to apologize to you..."

I didn't say anything.

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

But I really couldn't bring myself to be nice to her right now.

Because of our unpleasant conversation earlier, Griffin stayed in the study to work.

And I still hadn't recovered from the anemia and weakness after the surgery.

The incision on my stomach from the hysterectomy was still aching—I had signed myself out of the hospital early, and the doctor had told me I had to rest for the next few days.

I fell into a groggy sleep.

But in the middle of the night, I suddenly developed a high fever.

In my daze, someone was softly calling my name.

When I opened my eyes, Griffin was looking at me with eyes full of concern.

"Norie, you're burning up. Did you catch a cold? Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

The next second, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed Veronica.

Griffin frowned but answered it anyway.

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

"Griffin, that moon nightlight you ordered for Poppy suddenly stopped working. It might be broken. She has night blindness, and I'm a heavy sleeper at night."

"Without the nightlight, I'm afraid she'll bump into something if she gets up. Come over and help fix it now."

Griffin was silent for a few seconds.

"I know."

I grabbed him.

"Griffin, I've always been the one taking Poppy to her physicals. She's never had night blindness."

Veronica heard me from the other end and immediately sneered.

"What a joke. Poppy is my biological daughter. I know her ten thousand times better than you do!"

"Griffin, we agreed back then that even if we divorced, the fatherly love you owe your daughter wouldn't be any less."

"Are you pushing everything onto me now just because you're afraid your young wife will get jealous? Does that do justice to the fact that I worked so hard to give birth to this child for you?!"

She hung up the phone angrily.

Griffin sighed and slowly pushed my hand away.

"Norie, don't make things uglier. Don't put me in a difficult position at a time like this."

"Ronnie was right about one thing. She is the biological mother, after all, so she definitely knows her daughter better than a stepmother like you. Maybe you should think about whether you haven't been paying enough attention to Poppy's health."

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

I stared at him blankly.

Ever since Poppy was little, every time she got sick, I was the one keeping watch by her bed, not even bothering to eat.

Even for the snacks I bought her, I would check the ingredient lists bag by bag to make sure there wasn't a single trace of peanuts.

So this was called not paying enough attention?

I desperately suppressed the anger in my chest and said softly.

"Griffin, let's get a divorce."

He froze for a moment, the smile at the corner of his lips faint and cold.

"Nora Weil, you're not the first person to threaten me with divorce, and I never fall for this trick."

Right. Back then, Veronica had a huge fight with him and brought up divorce.

Griffin agreed on the spot.

But at least she still had his child, that piece of his heart he couldn't let go of. And I had nothing.

He took my silence for regret and spoke coldly before leaving.

"Take a few days off from the kindergarten first. Once your fever goes down and your wound heals a bit, I'll help you make an appointment with the doctor to get your tubes tied."

I was given antibiotics in the ER and kept under observation overnight before my fever finally broke.

The doctor said the wound was a bit inflamed and instructed me to be very careful with my movements over the next few days. The wound hadn't fully healed yet, so I couldn't exert myself.

Otherwise, the stitches might tear, causing more serious consequences.

Griffin never showed up that night.

The next morning, I told Connie, who had stayed with me all night, to go home and rest.

I planned to go see my lawyer for the divorce agreement myself once my IV finished.

Connie suddenly received a call from Griffin.

It turned out that when Veronica went to wake Poppy up for breakfast, she found her missing.

They still hadn't found her, so he told Connie to hurry home and check.

Right after Connie left, my phone suddenly rang.

It was the number for Poppy's kids' smartwatch.

As soon as I answered, I heard her crying on the other end.

"Ms. Weil, help..."