Chapter 20
After all, Harper was still his daughter, a child he had raised from a young age. He knew very well that he was also partially to blame for her being closer to Adrian than to her own father.
If he had noticed it earlier and guided her properly, their relationship wouldn’t have ended up like this.
Selene was the real issue. If she hadn’t brought Harper to Adrian just because he had said that he liked kids, Harper wouldn’t have grown closer to Adrian and abandoned her own father.
Nancy sat beside Carter and took him and Maddox into her arms. “It wasn’t your fault, Carter.”
When they had first arrived in this world, Carter had told her about all this, including the ten
years he shared with Selene and the child he had had with her.
Even though he had died in this world, his soul still carried the weight of those memories. He couldn’t forget them.
“Just remember, the fact that you cared for that child yourself and didn’t leave her in anyone else’s hands proves your love for her.
“Even if she was young, she should’ve come to you immediately when she found out that Selene was cheating on you if she really loved you, rather than running off with Selene to be with Adrian,” Nancy said.
She continued, “The reason she became so attached to Adrian was because you forbade certain things while he allowed them–even if those things could have endangered her.
“A child who loves his father wouldn’t abandon him in a car accident or lie to him repeatedly just for a few petty favors. She stopped being your child a long time ago. Now, she’s just a stranger who shares your blood.
Besides, the real problem here is Selene. She should’ve hired a live–in nanny when you weren’t well enough to care for Harper and she didn’t know how to do it herself. There are so many people in the Miller family. Someone is bound to have experience in childcare.
“Why did she have to get a lying secretary to care for her daughter? Cheating is cheating. Why did she feel the need to cover it up with so many lies?
“So, whether you see the child or not, you’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve fulfilled your responsibility as a father. If you need to blame anyone, blame Selene. If she hadn’t cheated on you, none of you would’ve ended up like this.”
Carter rubbed his face and took a deep breath. “You’re right. Harper is nothing but a stranger to me. However, I still want to talk to them and make things clear once and for all. I don’t want them to disturb my life.”
When the system had first told him about the follow–up mission, he hadn’t fully understood it.
But now he did. He had left too abruptly; he hadn’t had the chance to say what he needed to say to Selene and Harper.
Therefore, he needed to take this opportunity to make things clear so that they knew they would never get him back again.
He patted Maddox on the head. “Be a good boy, Maddox, and go to bed. We need to go to the hospital for a visit. I promise we’ll be right here when you wake up, okay?”
Maddox nodded obediently and kissed both of them on the cheek. “Come back soon.”
In the quiet corridor of the hospital, Selene, who had just returned, saw Carter walking toward her. Her eyes lit up in surprise. Just as she was about to go to him, she saw Nancy following right behind.
She froze.
Carter didn’t even look at her. He just pushed the door open and entered.
In the room, Harper was throwing a tantrum at the nurses, lying on the bed with an IV drip in her arm. When she saw him enter, she immediately stopped crying and tried to hug him.
However, Carter stepped aside quickly. He nodded at the nurses, signaling that they could leave. Once they were gone, he sat down on a nearby chair.
“Daddy.” Tears began falling as soon as Harper spoke.
Carter remained unfazed. He acted as if she was just a stranger. Only after she had finished crying did he speak calmly, “Are you done?”
Chapter >.
“Harper Miller, I remember teaching you to be polite and not to lie to others. But how many lies have you told me just to see Adrian? Just because he gave you snacks and toys that I didn’t allow, you lied to me repeatedly, even protecting him during the car accident,” Carter said.
He thought that he wasn’t angry with her, but seeing her again still stirred up the resentment in his heart.
He had raised her with high hopes. He wanted her to inherit his virtues and live a joyful life. He had never taught her to lie, yet under Selene’s influence, she lied to him time and time again.
“I gave you a chance before. When you and your mother first started meeting Adrian secretly, I asked you to tell me the truth about where you were going. I confirmed with you multiple times that you were going somewhere else and not to Adrian’s place. What was your answer?”
he continued.
Back when Selene first cheated on him, he had consoled himself with the knowledge that he still had his daughter. He had poured all his love into her. He planned to wait until she was
older before he divorced Selene.
Unfortunately, the daughter that he had loved with all his heart didn’t love him back.
“I didn’t let you have a lot of snacks because you have a delicate stomach. The snacks could have given you diarrhea in the best case and a hospital visit at worst. The doctors told you this countless times during your checkups. Did you listen to them?
“And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to let you play with toys. Did you know that some toys carry pathogens that could trigger your allergies and land you in the hospital? The toys that I gave you are all sanitized.
“The ones Adrian gave you are not only bad in quality but also unsanitary. In fact, you’re lucky you made it this far,” he said with a hint of sarcasm at the end.
After a year apart, Harper now knew her mistakes. She lowered her head as Carter reprimanded her, tears falling quietly.
In the past, Carter would’ve picked her up and held her, comforting her gently. Now, though, he just watched her coldly.
The silence in the room was broken by the sudden ringing of his phone.
Carter picked up the call. Maddox’s voice came from the other end. He sounded tearful. “Didn’t you say you would come home soon, Daddy? I woke up, and you and Mommy weren’t here. I’m
scared…”
Unlike his coldness toward Harper, Carter softened as soon as he answered the call. “Maddox,
C
