Chapter 1

At the kindergarten parent-child showcase, Sinclair abandoned his daughter Juliet, who was wearing a princess dress, and hurried away because of a phone call from his childhood friend.

Juliet finished playing the piece alone onstage, and after she stepped down, she calmly threw the out-of-print piano score he had bought into the trash.

“Mom, I won’t need Dad to listen to me play piano ever again.”

Looking at the light that had gone completely out in Juliet’s eyes, I did not scream or make a scene, but packed our bags overnight and took Juliet away, disappearing from his world for good.

Later, Sinclair searched the whole world for us like a madman.

But when he finally found us, he saw Juliet riding on another man’s shoulders, sweetly calling him “Dad.”

The backstage of the kindergarten auditorium was hot and noisy, and the air was filled with the excited chatter of children and the reminders of parents.

Juliet wore the Snow White dress we had carefully picked out, her little hand clutching tightly at the corner of Sinclair’s suit jacket.

She tilted up her small face, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the man beside her.

“Dad, it’s almost our turn! Are you nervous? I was even practicing the sheet music in my dreams last night.”

Sinclair gave an absentminded hum.

His brows were slightly furrowed as he kept lowering his head to check his watch, and his gaze never really landed on Juliet at all.

One minute before the host announced them, his phone rang abruptly.

As soon as he answered, Margaret’s sharp, aggrieved crying pierced through the speaker, so clear that it could be heard even from half a meter away.

“Sinclair, come quickly! Brooks was fighting over a toy with someone at the amusement park, and he got pushed down and hit his head!”

“He’s crying so hard he can barely breathe, and he keeps saying he wants you, and I really don’t know what to do all by myself…”

Sinclair’s face changed at once, and he suddenly pulled his hand back.

He pulled away with too much force and flung Juliet aside.

Juliet was caught off guard, stumbled, got her foot caught in her skirt, and nearly fell hard onto the floor.

Sinclair did not even look at Juliet and threw out a perfunctory sentence.

“Something happened to Brooks, so I have to go check on him, and you can play by yourself.”

After saying that, he turned and rushed outside.

“Dad!” Juliet anxiously reached out to grab his sleeve, and a sob entered her voice.

“It’s almost our turn, and you promised you would be with me!”

“Stop making trouble! Brooks doesn’t have a dad to protect him, so do you know how pitiful he is? Can’t you be a little more mature?”

Sinclair impatiently brushed away Juliet’s hand, pushed open the backstage door without looking back, and disappeared at the end of the hallway.

“Next, please welcome Juliet and her father, who will bring us a piano duet.”

The host’s announcement came from the front of the stage.

The curtain slowly opened, and the spotlight shone down.

Juliet stood all alone in the center of the stage, while the piano bench beside her was empty.

Whispers of confusion immediately rose from the parents below the stage.

My chest tightened, and my eyes instantly reddened, and just as I was about to rush onto the stage and carry her down, Juliet bit her lip and climbed onto the piano bench by herself.

The piece that should have been cheerful and smooth came out broken and uneven under her fingers, and she hit the wrong keys several times.

Under the glaring light, her tiny shoulders trembled slightly, but she stubbornly refused to stop.

When the song ended, scattered applause sounded from below the stage.

Juliet walked off the stage.

She did not cry, did not make a scene, and did not throw herself into my arms for comfort like she usually did when she felt wronged.

She walked straight to the corner backstage and picked up the out-of-print piano score Sinclair had just given her yesterday.

She had begged for it for more than half a month before Sinclair finally asked someone to buy it, and last night, she had hugged the score happily and been too excited to sleep.

With a smack, she threw the score into the trash without hesitation.

Juliet lifted her head, and in her bright black-and-white eyes, the admiration and hope she once had for her father had gone out completely.

She looked at me, and her voice was so calm it was frightening.

“Mom, I won’t need Dad to listen to me play piano ever again.”

I crouched down and hugged her cold little body tightly.

There were no hysterical questions, and not a single tear fell.

I only pressed her hard into my arms and replied softly, “Okay.”

At that moment, I clearly heard the sound of a string snapping in my heart.

For six years, at every important moment of Juliet’s growth, Sinclair could always find an excuse to be absent.

And those excuses were always Margaret and her son.

I once thought that as long as I was tolerant enough, he would eventually settle down and return to our family.

But now, looking at the light in Juliet’s eyes completely extinguished, I only felt utterly sick.

It was time for this absurd farce to end completely.