21
be a good boy. Your nanny is with you. Go to bed. When you wake up again, Mommy and I will be there, okay…”
Before he could finish, Harper suddenly looked up and yelled toward the phone, “Who are you? He’s my daddy, not yours! Don’t call him that!”
Her shout startled both Carter and Maddox.
“Daddy…” Maddox began to choke up. Carter glared at Harper before hastily reassuring Maddox.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. I love you. That was just another little kid throwing a tantrum. She wasn’t talking to you. Don’t cry.”
Carter had never glared at Harper before. She felt hurt. Tears began falling again.
Carter had to coax Maddox for a long time before he finally stopped crying and went to bed. He put down his phone and looked at Harper.
When she saw that Carter had ended the call, Harper began wailing as well. “Why can other kids call you ‘Daddy‘? You’re my Daddy! No one else can call you that! You’re mine!”
As she cried, she tried to swat at his phone.
“Harper Miller!” Carter snapped. Her wailing was giving him a headache, so his tone was
harsh.
Harper froze, and her wails turned to quiet sobs.
“You’re my daughter. Why did you call another man your father?”
This time, Harper stopped crying. She looked at Carter with red–rimmed eyes.
In a calm voice, he said, “Do you know how much it hurt me when I saw you calling another man ‘Daddy‘?”
He couldn’t accept his daughter calling his wife’s affair partner “Daddy“. That meant that hist entire marriage was nothing but a joke.
“What you need to do now is to understand what you have done wrong and correct them. Grow up well. Don’t concern yourself with me anymore.”
With that, he stood up and left without sparing her another glance.
“Daddy? Daddy!” Harper burst out into tears.