By Zephyria But the child’s mind, which he thought would be swayed in half a day, didn’t budge even after a week. Even when he took her to her favorite brand’s toy store, she only came out with a teddy bear, and even when he gifted her clothes of an animation character that was popular among girls her age, she politely declined, saying it was alright. Growing impatient, Winston went so far as to have a variety of desserts that kids her age would like made and laid out in front of her, trying to coax Angela.
“I’ll give you one percent of Campbell Investment Company’s stock. There won’t be a more extraordinary offer than this.”
Anyone else would have revered Winston like a god. But his opponent was Angela, Yu-jin’s child.
Despite Winston’s declaration, Angela only glanced at him and, without much interest, picked at the snacks in front of her. After carefully tasting each one, Angela placed her favorite lemon cream tart on her plate, took a bite, and elegantly sipped her herbal tea. Winston, who had been silently watching her, finally couldn’t stand it and blurted out.
“What do you want, anyway?”
Even in the midst of all this, Winston couldn’t afford to lose any more points with Angela, so he suppressed his emotions as much as possible. Even to his question, asked in a deeply subdued voice, Angela paid no mind and only brought the dessert to her mouth. Winston had no choice but to watch. And it was only when the child was full and could no longer eat that she finally opened her mouth.
“Why are you asking me that?”
It was quite a quick question. Perhaps the child had been harboring this question all along about the favors Winston had been bestowing. Winston smiled and replied.
“Because I want to be friends with you, of course.”
Angela looked at Winston with wide eyes, then grabbed the cup with both hands and sipped her herbal tea again. Huffing, Angela turned her gaze back to Winston. To him, who was leaning back leisurely in his chair, Angela finally opened her mouth. In a very firm voice.
“Mr. Campbell, that’s very difficult.”
“What?”
Winston frowned unconsciously. The child flinched for a moment but, without losing courage, spoke her mind clearly.
“If you want to be friends with me, I’m sorry, but I have no intention of doing so. More than anything, trying to buy a friend with money is not right. If you want to make friends, you should try to win their hearts sincerely.”
Winston stared intently at the child’s face for a moment without saying anything. At first, he couldn’t easily understand what he had just heard. A beat late, Winston distorted his face and wore a suspicious expression.
“You’re really three years old?”
Asking with disbelief at her unbelievably eloquent speech, Angela raised her eyebrows and scolded him in a stern tone.
“Judging people by their age is very rude, Mr. Campbell.”
As if to show off, Angela folded the napkin she had spread on her lap and placed it on the table, lifting her chin. At her stubborn face, which resembled Yu-jin, he was dumbfounded yet his anger subsided. And Winston was dumbfounded again because of that. It’s absurd that he’s still so infatuated with Yu-jin. He just can’t tolerate Yu-jin being happy in a place where he isn’t. After plunging him into utter misery.
“Then Angie, what do I have to do to become friends with you?”
Winston spoke, ignoring another question that arose in his mind. Angela straightened her shoulders and answered primly.
“If you want to be friends with me, keep your promises first.”
“Promises?”
As Winston frowned at yet another incomprehensible remark, Angela questioned him as if she had been waiting for it.
“You said you’d let me see Daddy once a week if I listened well, right? I’ve followed everything you’ve told me to do so far. I haven’t caused any trouble either. So now, let me see Daddy!”
What the child wanted was clear. Of course, Winston had no intention of separating the two forever either. He just wanted to build a friendship with Angela before that.
But if he dragged this out any longer, his relationship with Angela would become irreparable. It was only now that Angela had stopped bursting into tears when she saw him.
That’s all the progress he’s made.
Winston nodded, suppressing his rising frustration.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my promise.”
“When?”
The child asked back without waiting. As if to get a definite answer this time. Winston had no intention of avoiding it either, so he answered without dragging it out.
“This weekend.”
Angela almost cheered for a moment. As expected, no matter how much she pretended to be mature, she was still a child, and Winston immediately saw through it, but Angela quickly feigned ignorance and answered haughtily.
“Then I’ll be waiting. I hope you don’t break your promise, Your Majesty.”
Winston raised his eyebrows, but the child nonchalantly got off the chair and walked out lightly. Winston, left alone in the snack room after the door closed, let out a frustrated sigh.
“Your Majesty, what’s with that, really.”
He roughly wiped his face with one hand, but his stuffy heart didn’t clear. Eventually, the days passed like that, and soon it was the weekend.
* * *
“Daddy!”
“Angie!”
Winston stood a few steps away, scowling as he watched the two of them rush to each other and hug tightly as soon as they saw each other. Regardless of his expression, Yu-jin and Angela hugged each other with all their might and didn’t know what to do with their joy, as if they were father and daughter who had barely reunited after ten years.
It’s only been less than a week.
Winston didn’t like this situation. He had brought Angela to the island on schedule because he had promised, but nothing had gone as he wanted in the meantime. For Winston, he had only become more certain of their bond. After repeatedly showering each other’s faces with kisses and hugging each other tightly several times, Angela finally looked at Yu-jin and asked.
“Daddy, how’s your body? Is the baby okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. I’m fine, how about Angie?”
As he hurriedly returned the question, the child smiled brightly and answered.
“I’m fine too. I listened well and behaved myself. I held back even though I missed Daddy.”
“Good girl.”
Yu-jin smiled back, but his heart ached so much. Angela was suffering because of his rash lie.
Should he tell her it was a lie now?
What’s the point if he’s going to be confined like this anyway? It would be better to confess honestly and beg to be allowed to return to the mansion…
“Daddy, a present.”
“Huh?”
Yu-jin, who had been contemplating for a while, was startled by the child’s voice. As he blinked in confusion, Angela was handing him the doll she had brought. As he accepted it in bewilderment, Angela blushed on both cheeks and said.
“It’s my sibling doll, I chose it.”
Yu-jin widened his eyes and looked down at the doll the child had handed him. The teddy bear with a pacifier in its mouth was about the same size as a newborn baby. It would be perfect for the baby to hug and sleep with. That is, if that child actually existed.
“You, chose it…?”
Barely asking in a trembling voice, Winston, who had been watching the two of them until then, opened his mouth for the first time.
“It’s true. I took Angela to a toy specialty shopping mall and told her to pick out everything she wanted…”
Winston, who had vaguely trailed off in a slow tone, glanced at the doll.
“She only came out with that. She said one is enough.”
Even that was a gift for her sibling. Yu-jin felt like his heart was collapsing with guilt.
What should he do?
Even if he confessed the truth to Winston, what would he say to Angela? Would she believe him if he said the child that existed had disappeared? No matter how young she is, and Angela is much more mature and intelligent than her peers.
Yu-jin, who covered his mouth with one hand and couldn’t bring himself to speak, hugged Angela tightly. Winston, who had been silently watching the two of them hugging each other with all their might, furrowed his brow with a serious expression.
There’s no room for me between those two.
Their bond was beyond imagination. If Angela accepted Winston even a little, Yu-jin would also weaken, but the child was like an impregnable fortress.
What should he do?
What should he do?
With Angela between them, the two were agonizing over completely different concerns. After letting the frustrating time pass, Winston was the first to come up with a solution in a state where they couldn’t find anything to say to each other. While Angela was eating snacks and dozing off, Winston called out to Yu-jin, who was lying next to the child, and asked abruptly.
“When is Angela’s birthday?”