They arrived at the school just before five, with ten minutes to spare before sses ended.


    Eleanor turned to the man in the car. "I''ll go get her. You can wait here."


    Ton, her words implied that she didn''t want them to be seen together.


    "Alright,"n replied gently, but after Eleanor got out of the car, he felt a dull ache in his chest.


    Did it bother her that much?


    When Eleanor came out holding Evelyn''s hand, the little girl was thrilled to hear that her daddy was there too. She hopped and skipped with joy. "Yay! I love it when Mommy and Daddy pick me up from school together."


    "My daddy came to get me!" a little boy called out deliberately to Evelyn.


    "My daddy came too!" Evelyn shouted back, a hint of defiance in her voice.


    Eleanor''s heart clenched for a second.


    Seeing her daughter''s innocent, radiant smile, a wave of sadness washed over her.


    In a child''s simple world, having both parents pick her up from school was the greatest happiness.


    Evelyn skipped over to the car.n got out, bent down to lift his daughter into his arms, and gently opened the door to help her in. Eleanor got in from the other side.


    On the way home, Evelyn chattered happily about her day at school, finally breaking the heavy silence in the car.


    Eleanor couldn''t help but think back


    to when she was a baby, just learning to talk. She used to love styling her hair in two little pigtails and dressing her in cute clothes. Evelyn would blink her Big, grape-like eyes adorably while ying inn''s arms.


    During that time,n worked from home almost exclusively, canceling everything except the most critical meetings.


    The first thing he did when he came home was to hold his daughter. So, despite his busy schedule, he had always been a gentle and patient father in Evelyn''s eyes in the past, her phone''s memory was mostly filled with photos and videos of


    Evelyn and him.


    Aplex emotion welled up inside her. Watching her daughter grow into a little girl, she realized some memories could only be memories. In reality, they had long since chosen different paths.


    Learning that Vanessa had staged the evidence ofn''s affair had brought her a great deal of closure, allowing her to face him calmly.


    Understanding the kind of person Vanessa was, she could also grasp the helplessness of his situation. The memory of him choosing to save Vanessa first at the pool two years ago had finally faded from her mind.


    In a situation where Vanessa was the only one who could donate stem cells, he had to choose to save her Three lives were at stake. At the time, Vanessa was not only the


    primary donor but also the future


    source for experimental blood work


    needed to find a cure.


    "Mommy, what are you thinking about?" Evelyn asked curiously, noticing her mother''s silence.


    Eleanor snapped back to the present. Looking at her vibrant, lovely daughter, she wondered what she would have done inn''s position at the pool.


    If she had been in his shoes, forced to save only one person, she probably would have made the same choice to save Vanessa.


    Not because of love, but because of responsibility.


    The weight of three lives was far heavier than personal feelings.


    Besides,n was a calmer and more rational person than she was.


    This realization brought Eleanor an unprecedented sense of relief. During their divorce, the scene by the pool had been like a thorn in her heart. Now, that thorn had finally been removed.