Chapter 1

My wife, Sienna Fairchild, has one ironclad rule. Every Monday, she has dinner with her brother-in-law.

During that time, she turns off her phone and blocks every message. Nothing, no matter how urgent, takes priority over their little family gathering.

Then one day, our daughter falls down the stairs at preschool and breaks her arm. I call Sienna over a dozen times, but not a single one goes through. With no other option, I call her brother-in-law instead.

"Abby got hurt at school. Can you have Sienna come to the hospital?"

The other end goes quiet.

Just when I think the call has been dropped, Sienna's voice comes through.

"My whole day belongs to them. Don't bother me unless it's actually important."

The line goes dead. I stand frozen, staring at my daughter crying on the hospital bed.

She looks up at me with red, tear-filled eyes. "Daddy, does Mommy not want me anymore?"

I choke back the lump in my throat as exhaustion washes over me. Maybe it's time to find my daughter a new mother.

Chapter 1

Joel's POV

By the time we got back from the hospital, it was already late.

The lights were on, and the front door was unlocked.

My wife, Sienna Fairchild, was already home. A few plates of half-eaten food were sitting on the dining table.

The second our daughter, Abby Whitman, saw her, her eyes welled up with tears.

She yanked free of my hand and threw herself into Sienna's arms, sobbing out every bit of her hurt.

"Mommy, my arm hurts so much. Why didn't you come see me?"

Sienna's gaze landed on the bandaged right arm, and her brow furrowed.

Instead of showing any concern, the first thing out of her mouth was blame.

"Abby, were you messing around again? How did you manage to do this to yourself?"

The accusation came out of nowhere, and the look in Abby's eyes went blank.

Anger flared in my chest, and when I finally spoke, my voice came out rough. "I called you. Why didn't you pick up? Our daughter fell down the stairs, and you couldn't even come to the hospital?"

Sienna pressed her lips into a thin line. "I already told you, I was at dinner with Kent tonight. She's not just my responsibility…"

"Would you even care if she died?"

"Joel Whitman, stop making a scene." Sienna's expression hardened, her voice rising.

I stared her down, eyes burning.

Abby had fallen from the second-floor staircase. She was lucky she didn't hit her head, and that all she got was a broken arm.

Ever since Sienna's older sister passed away, she'd taken everything on for Kent Palmer and his son Jamie.

When Jamie ran a fever, she rushed over to take care of him.

When he needed rides to school, she drove him herself.

When there was a parent-teacher conference, she was the one who showed up.

Sienna always gave the same excuse. "Abby's lucky. She has a whole family. But Jamie's different. His mom's gone, so I'm his mother now."

But I was the one who married her. We had a daughter too, yet she always came second.

A gentle tug at my shirt brought me back. I looked down and found Abby gripping my sleeve tight. She'd done this ever since she was little, every time she was scared or upset.

A lump rose in my throat. I opened my mouth, the word "divorce" sitting right on the tip of my tongue. Before I could get it out, someone knocked at the door.

Sienna opened it and froze when she saw who was standing there. It was Kent, with Jamie beside him.

Kent had a smile plastered on his face. "Sorry to bother you this late. I noticed you left your lipstick in my car. This is yours, right, Sienna?"

His eyes drifted to Abby, and surprise flickered across his face. "What happened to Abby? Was she being naughty again?

"Abby, you've gotta stop giving your mom so much trouble, kiddo. Be a good girl, okay?"

He kept going without waiting for an answer, then turned to me with that condescending tone of his. "Joel, don't take this the wrong way, but if you can't handle watching your own kid, maybe hire a nanny or—"

Something inside me snapped. I pointed at the door, hand shaking. "Get out!"

The whole room fell silent. The smile on Kent's face froze, and Jamie burst into tears beside him.

Sienna was the first to react. She slapped me across the face.

"Who told you you could talk to him like that?"

Abby was crying too, her eyes red and swollen. A flash of irritation crossed Sienna's face, and she grabbed Kent's hand.

"Let's go."

The door slammed shut behind them. Abby curled into my arms, reaching up with her left hand to touch the spot where Sienna had hit me.

"Daddy, does Mommy not like me?"

I didn't know how to answer that.

Chapter 2

Joel's POV

The next morning I was woken up by a video call from Sienna.

"Kent made a lunch reservation for us. Bring Abby and meet us there."

The second the phone rang, Abby had already wandered into my room. Her whole face lit up the moment she heard Sienna's voice.

"Daddy, I want to go. Mommy said I can come."

The refusal I'd been about to give died in my throat.

I felt nothing but exhaustion and resignation.

Abby was desperate for her mother's attention, and even the smallest scrap of warmth from Sienna was enough to make her glow.

With my daughter staring up at me like that, I caved.

We arrived at the restaurant around noon. Sure enough, Kent and Jamie were already seated in the private dining room.

The moment Abby saw Jamie sitting next to Sienna, the light in her eyes dimmed. She asked carefully, "Mommy, can I sit next to you?"

"No! Aunt Sisi's staying with me!" Jamie threw both arms around Sienna's and stuck his tongue out at Abby.

Sienna gave a helpless little laugh and pointed to a seat one spot over. "Abby, how about you sit with Daddy instead?"

My jaw tightened. I picked Abby up and sat her down beside me. She didn't cry or make a fuss. She just watched Jamie, quiet and envious.

Kent broke the silence. "Joel, I spoke out of turn last night when I shouldn't have. That's why I'm here today, to make it right. We're family, after all. No sense holding a grudge overnight."

Before coming, I'd told myself that as long as Abby was happy, I could put up with anything.

But the way Sienna looked with Kent and Jamie, like they were their own little family, was suffocating.

"If you really want to apologize, then stop inserting yourself into my marriage. Her sister may be gone, but Sienna still has her own family.

"And Abby didn't break her arm because she was being naughty. She fell down a staircase and was lucky she didn't crack her skull open. If something worse had happened, how exactly would you make that right?"

I laid it all out, plain and clear. Kent's expression shifted. He clearly hadn't expected me to throw his apology back in his face, and the mood at the table turned heavy.

Sienna slammed her glass of water down on the table. "I invited you here for lunch, not to start something."

There it was again. She had no pushback against Kent, no attempt to see my side, and every word out of her mouth was a shield for him.

The rest of the meal was unbearable. I couldn't taste the food at all.

When Jamie finished the shrimp on his plate, he hopped off his chair and ran straight to Abby. Before any of us could react, he grabbed her injured right arm in one hand and used his other hand to rip the locket off her neck.

"I want this!"

He snatched it and spun around to show it off to Kent and Sienna.

Abby screamed. The chain left a raw red welt across her throat, and blood was already seeping through the bandage on her arm.

Sienna shot to her feet. I swung and slapped Jamie hard across the face, all while Kent's shout rang out beside me.

"Daddy, it hurts!" Abby sobbed.

The room was nothing but crying. Kent was still laying into me. "How could you hit a child? Jamie doesn't know any better!"

Blood had soaked almost entirely through the bandage on Abby's arm.

Sienna instinctively grabbed her car keys. "I'll drive you to the hospital."

But Jamie latched onto her leg. "No! Don't go! Aunt Sisi, you promised you'd stay with me today!"

He threw himself on the floor, kicking and wailing. I saw the hesitation flicker across Sienna's face, and my heart sank completely.

I didn't bother with any of them. I grabbed Abby and headed straight for the hospital.

After all, she would've chosen them anyway.

Chapter 3

Joel's POV

I rushed Abby to the hospital. The doctor took one look at her arm, and his expression turned serious.

"Children's bones are fragile to begin with. This is her second fracture. If it's bad enough, it could affect how the bone heals."

My stomach dropped. Her arm was swollen to nearly twice its size, and the sight of it made my chest ache.

Abby couldn't hold it in anymore and broke down sobbing. "Daddy, is my hand going to stop working? Why won't Mommy come with us? Does she not like me?"

I rubbed her back over and over, doing everything I could to calm her down.

When I couldn't stand watching her suffer any longer, I stepped out into the hallway and took a deep breath.

I was about to call Sienna when I saw her latest post on social media. She'd taken Kent and Jamie to a portrait studio, and the three of them had taken a family photo.

I closed my eyes as a dull, spreading ache settled through my chest.

Abby was four years old, and all three of us had never once sat for a photo like that.

I knew Sienna's sister had entrusted Jamie to her before she died, and that was why I'd put up with all of it for so many years.

I could accept her looking after Kent and his son. What I couldn't accept was her abandoning our family to do it.

The second the call connected, Sienna's impatient voice came through. "I know Abby's at the hospital. I'm already on my way."

Before calling, I'd already sent her our location and followed up with several messages. She'd read every single one and hadn't replied to any of them. I tried to say something else, but she hung up.

I stood there for a long time. When I finally turned back toward the room, Abby was staring straight at me, her small face pale.

"Is Mommy coming?"

I opened my mouth, then nodded. I walked over and gently squeezed her hand. "She is. She'll be here soon."

That was enough for Abby. She held on and stayed brave. Even when I told her it was okay to cry if it hurt, she shook her head.

"Mommy doesn't like kids who cry."

A lump lodged in my throat.

I sat by her bed and stayed with her.

I stayed until the sun went down, but Sienna never came.

At some point, Abby seemed to realize she wasn't going to, and she stopped talking altogether.

After her arm was treated, I brought her home. Even in her sleep, she couldn't settle, her face scrunched up like she was still in pain.

I sat there in a daze, and memories started surfacing. From the day Abby was born, every ounce of Sienna's attention had gone to Jamie.

When Abby was one, a fever landed her in the ICU, and Sienna left after a single phone call from Kent.

When Abby was two or three, Sienna dumped her with the neighbors while I was stuck in meetings so she could go be with Kent and Jamie.

We'd fought about it more times than I could count. The worst time, Sienna had pulled out a set of divorce papers she'd already signed.

"If you really can't take it anymore, sign these. But Abby's still little. She needs her mother. All I'm doing is honoring my sister's dying wish and looking after them. Joel, just try to understand me."

I'd backed down for Abby's sake. But now my daughter had suffered enough, and I was done holding it in.

A noise came from the front door. Sienna walked in looking worn out. The moment she sat down, I handed her the divorce papers.

"These are the ones you drew up. Let's get divorced."

Sienna's eyes opened. She picked up the papers and her face darkened. "Don't be ridiculous. I went to the hospital to find you, but you'd already left. You didn't even bother telling me, so I made the trip for nothing."

I said nothing. Sienna's expression gradually shifted as she realized I was serious.

Her eyes landed on my signature at the bottom, and her fingers paused for just a second.

Then she tore the papers to shreds and tossed them in the trash. "I'm going to pretend you never brought this up."

She stood and went to Abby's room.

I stared at the scraps in the wastebasket. My phone kept buzzing in my pocket. When I pulled it out and unlocked it, a message notification popped up on the screen.

"I'll be back next month."

Chapter 4

Joel's POV

Ever since the night I brought up divorce, Sienna had acted like a completely different person. She stopped going out and stayed by Abby's side every day.

Abby had been confused at first, but she quickly melted into the warmth of having her mother around. With Sienna taking care of her, Abby's face lit up with smiles more and more each day.

Over those few weeks, I came to understand just how much Abby needed Sienna. That was why I never told her I was planning to take her away.

On the day of Abby's follow-up appointment, I drove the three of us to the hospital. In the backseat, Sienna ruffled Abby's hair.

"Once your arm's all better, I'll take you somewhere fun, okay?"

Abby's eyes lit up instantly, and she nodded enthusiastically. "As long as I'm with you, Mommy!"

I watched the two of them through the rearview mirror, and the resolve I'd built started to crack. Part of me even dared to hope that Sienna had actually changed.

The moment I pulled into the hospital garage, my phone started blowing up with calls from work.

Sienna looked over at me. "Go ahead. I'll stay with Abby."

She paused, then added, "Don't worry. I already talked to Kent. I won't be going over there all the time anymore."

"Go to work, Daddy! Mommy's here with me!" Abby chimed in.

Without waiting for my answer, Sienna carefully scooped Abby up. I watched them walk away, sighed, and drove to the office.

On the way, I reminded Sienna more than once to stay with Abby no matter what. She promised she would.

But halfway through my meeting, an unfamiliar number came through. I rushed out to the hallway and picked up.

"Are you the father of Abby Whitman? Why is there no one here with her? You can't just leave a four-year-old alone at a hospital. She's been crying."

My mind went blank. I got back to the hospital as fast as I possibly could.

When I burst into the waiting room, Abby was sitting in a chair by herself, crying. A kind nurse had given her a lollipop.

I crouched down in front of her, barely able to get the words out. "Where's Mommy?"

Abby wiped her tears and clutched the candy tight. "She left. She told me to wait here for her, and then she just left."

My heart sank. I reached out and brushed the tears from her face. "How about I take you somewhere new to live?"

Abby went still for a moment. "What about Mommy?"

"We don't need Mommy anymore. There'll be someone new to take care of you, and she'll be even better."

Abby looked down at the floor. Just as I started to regret saying all of that to a child her age, she nodded firmly.

"Okay. I'll go with Daddy."

After we left the hospital, I went home and threw together a bag for the two of us, then headed straight for the airport.

Someone was already waiting for me in the VIP lounge. She waved when she saw us.

Right then, Sienna's call came in. Her voice was frantic.

"Joel, Jamie got badly burned with boiling water. I just finished dealing with it. Abby's still at the hospital, so you need to go get her and then I'll—"

Before she could finish, a pair of hands took the phone from me. The woman spoke into it, calm and clear.

"Ms. Fairchild, you don't have to worry. I'll be taking care of your daughter from now on."

The other end of the line went dead silent. After a long pause, Sienna's voice came back, sharp with shock and fury.

"Reese Covington? What are you doing with my husband?"