My Ex Is My Boss and He Wants Me Back Chapter 05

My Ex Is My Boss and He Wants Me Back Chapter 05

After leaving my job, I didn’t look for another one. Instead, I started a children’s clothing studio, and Lily volunteered to be my model.

Thanks to her sweet little face and the video editing skills I’d painstakingly mastered, I slowly built a small following. Between custom orders and occasional ad gigs, I could make ends meet—even put a little money.

I’d thought leaving the company meant putting Jasper behind me for good.

But I was wrong.

He showed up at my door holding a paternity test.

I wasn’t surprised.

The night before, while I was giving Lily a bath, her little face clouded with hesitation—like she had something to say but just couldn’t find the words.

I pretended not to notice and kept washing her hair. After a long pause, she mumbled softly.

“Mommy… I saw that uncle at school again today.”

I stayed silent, continuing what I was doing.

Worried I might be upset, she quickly added, “He didn’t talk to me! He just touched my hair and left.

You’re not mad, are you?”

Looking into her careful eyes, I sighed softly.

To a child, her parents are her whole world.

Lily’s first word was Mommy. Her second was Daddy.

But no one ever answered that second call.

When she turned three, she asked why other kids had both a mom and a dad, and she only had me.

I didn’t hide the truth or make up a story about Daddy being far away. I told her plainly, “You do have a dad. But he and I aren’t together—and he might not even know you’re here. You can choose to find him, even live with him if you want, but I can’t be sure he’ll accept you. It was my mistake to have you without his knowledge.”

I showed her a photo of Jasper. Lily was bright, and children remember well.

She recognized him the second she saw him at the preschool—but she never went up to him.