5
525words
Emily was lying across my doorstep.
I step over Emily's waist. Lily, with her backpack, hops over and giggles.
Emily rubbed her sleepy eyes and chased after us. She naturally took Lily's hand.
I'm about to slap it away when Lily beams.
"Mommy, can you stay at my school gate a bit longer? I want everyone to know I have a mom. Then they won't gossip about Daddy, and those aunts won't chase him…"
"Lily Miller!"
I snap.
Emily looks at me, pained.
I used to be gentler than a sloth; now I'm sharp and fierce.
She can imagine the trials that transformed me.
Emily scoops Lily up.
"Of course.I'll stay all day, every day, with you and Daddy."
She reached out to take my hand, but I moved away.
Dirty.
Emily, at 5'11", towers at the preschool gate, causing a stir.
"Lily, is that your mom? She's gorgeous. Matches your dad perfectly."
"Why's your dad so grumpy? He's ignoring her..."
I didn't want to have anything to do with Emily.
But the house issue needs her, so we stick together for now.
I got on a bus and sat in the back row.
Emily sat beside me.
When the bus started moving, I changed seats.
She wasn't used to riding the bus and stumbled, hitting her head. I couldn't help but smirk.
The house is occupied by an elderly couple—Nathan's parents.
Emily was shocked.
I laughed.
It's clear now.
Nathan stole the house meant for us, giving it to his parents to live in.
The 3,000-square-foot condo has marble floors, smart appliances, and a dozen exquisitely decorated rooms.
Even their dog has its own space.
My rental apartment's master bedroom, where Lily sleeps, is just 150 square feet.
Their kitchen had all kinds of fancy appliances, but I spent my days cutting fruit at a bubble tea shop. My hands hurt, and then I'd go home and cook dinner with painkillers on.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I crouched down, feeling all the exhaustion of the past four years hitting me at once. The first year after the divorce was really hard.
Big companies turned me down because I was a single dad with a three - month - old baby. So, I took jobs that paid in cash at shops that were more lenient with hiring.
Raising a one - year - old was expensive, and she got sick often. Money vanished fast.
I worked multiple jobs, guzzling coffee to stay awake. I was so tired that I often slept in my clothes.
I had no one to lean on, no family wasn't there to help.
I felt like my mind was like a tightly stretched rubber band, about to break.
My knees buckled.
Emily, distressed, holds me." James, don't think about the bad.I'm here.I'll protect you. No more suffering."
As a kid, when classmates mocked my orphan hood, Emily fought them off.
Wiping her wounds, she promised to protect me forever.
But later, she brought the storms that wrecked my life.
If she wasn't bankrupt and in desperate need, would she even remember our bond?
