?Chapter 598:


    “Besides, you handled it well. Joy is fine now, right?”


    “Fine?” Melba pointed to Joy, who appeared distressed. “No, she’s frightened.”


    Seeing the tears welling in Melba’s eyes, Hadley realized just how rattled she truly was.


    “Melba, why don’t you take a breather? I’ll look after Joy. I can help her settle down.”


    “Okay.” Melba nodded. “Joy feels closest to you. Just being near you will help her forget the scare.”


    “You’re right,” Hadley said, offering a gentle smile.


    That night, as Hadley bathed Joy in the soothing warmth of the bathroom, she ced Joy’s favorite rubber duck in the tub. But Joy didn’t giggle as she usually did.


    Hadley sensed that something was seriously amiss.


    “My dear Joy, is something bothering you today?”


    “Mom.” Joy looked up, her big eyes blinking, hesitant to speak.


    “Hmm?” Hadley felt a twinge of anxiety. “What’s troubling you, Joy? Can’t you share it with Mom?”


    “No, I just…” Joy shook her head. Though young, she sensed that her question might disturb her mother, which was why she had kept it bottled up. But now, under her mother’s gentle gaze, she felt the weight of her thoughts pressing down.


    “Mom, every child has both a mom and a dad, right? With both a mom and a dad, that’s how I came to be, isn’t it?”


    Hadley froze, her mind momentarily nk as the question hung in the air like a delicate thread.


    She had never imagined that Joy’s worries would revolve around this.


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    From the moment Joy took her first breath, Hadley had known this day would eventually arrive.


    Joy wasn’t conceived from love between her parents…


    Her father harbored resentment toward her mother.


    Over the years, Hadley had skirted the issue, never once mentioning it in Joy’s presence.


    But what was destined to happen couldn’t be avoided.


    “Mom.” Joy’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she tugged at her mother’s sleeve. “Do I have a dad too?”


    Hadley’s heart twisted painfully, and she managed to nod. “Yes, of course.”


    “Then…” Joy’s face brightened. “Mom, where is Dad? Why hasn’t he evere to see me? Doesn’t he like me?”


    Hadley’s heart felt as if it might crumble. “No, that’s not it…”


    Her eyes reddened. “How could that be? Dad loves you very much. When you were little, Dad was with you.”


    Though only for a fleeting moment, when Joy was still nestled in her mother’s womb.


    “Really?” Joy’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I don’t remember. I must have been too young! So why doesn’t Dade to see me now?”


    “That’s because…” Hadley struggled for words, her voice trembling as she tried to soothe her daughter. “He is very busy. His work keeps him extremely upied, more than you can imagine.”


    “Oh.” Joy seemed to understand. “Then, when Dad finishes his work, will hee to see me?”


    Looking into her daughter’s hopeful eyes, Hadley reluctantly nodded. “Yes.”


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