My Future Dad Admitted He Abandoned Me Chapter 10

My Future Dad Admitted He Abandoned Me Chapter 10

picked up, forcing my voice to sound steady and normal.

“Hey Mom.”

“Hazel, how’s everything over there? Are you eating well?” Mom’s soft voice filled my ears, instantly

calming every tight nerve in my body.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“Hazel, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?” She caught the shake in my voice right away, panic creeping into her words. “Did something happen? Tell me everything.”

I hesitated for a second, then told her every detail about running into Vaughn.

Silence stretched on the line for so long I thought the call had cut off.

Then Mom’s calm voice came through the speaker

“Hazel, wait there for me. I’m flying out to you right now.”

Three days later, Mom arrived at the base.

The second she saw Vaughn, both of them froze solid.

Thirteen years had passed, Mom still looked elegant and beautiful. Time treated her gently, only drawing faint thin lines at the corners of her eyes.

Vaughn was almost sixty, his hair fully gray.

“Elara…” Vaughn’s voice shook, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. “You came.”

Mom watched him, her gaze as calm as still lake water.

No hatred, no love. She looked at him like a stranger she hadn’t seen in decades.

“Vaughn. It’s been a very long time.”

“Elara, I’m so sorry.” Vaughn dropped straight to his knees in front of her.

The general who’d commanded thousands of soldiers on the battlefield, never bowed to anyone, knelt there sobbing like a little kid who’d made a terrible mistake.

“I failed you, I failed Hazel. I know I messed up everything beyond repair. I don’t ask you to forgive me-only give me a chance to make amends.”

Mom stepped forward quickly and pulled him back to his feet.

“General Hale, there’s no need for this. Everything that happened is long behind us now. I let all of it

go a long time ago.”

“Let it go?” Vaughn let out a bitter empty laugh, despair heavy in his eyes.

“I can’t. Elara, I’ve thought about you every day for thirteen years. I dream about you laughing and calling my name, about Hazel holding out her tiny hands for me to grab. I wake up every morning with my pillow soaked through with tears.”

“If I could turn back time, I’d never believe Seraphina. I’d never let you get hurt even once. I’d love you and Hazel with everything I have, and the three of us would stay together forever.”

“The past can never be changed.” Mom said softly, her tone flat.

“Vaughn, we aren’t the same people we were anymore. In our real world, I built my own career, my own life, and Hazel grew up healthy. We have a whole new future waiting for us, and we don’t need

to look back.”

“I know.” Vaughn nodded, his eyes dimming like burnt-out candle flames.

“Just knowing you two live well is enough for me. As long as you’re happy, I can rest easy.”

Mom watched him quietly for a long moment before speaking again.

“Vaughn, this isn’t all on you. Seraphina’s schemes were far too cunning to spot. I made my own mistakes too. I shouldn’t have chased you while hiding my true motives just to complete that system quest, lying about what I really wanted. If I hadn’t acted that way, you never would’ve had to endure all this suffering.”

“No, all of this is my fault.” Vaughn cut her off quickly. “I was blind and stupid, couldn’t tell truth from lies, and I threw away your real, genuine love.”

“Let’s not go over all this again.” Mom waved a hand to stop him. “I came here to take Hazel home. We’re pulling out of this exchange program.”

“Don’t leave!” Vaughn rushed over to beg. “Elara, don’t go. I promise I’ll never bother you again. I

just wanna catch tiny glimpses of you two from far away, nothing more.”

“There’s no point in dragging this out, Vaughn.” Morn shook her head. “It’s better to remember each other how we once were, instead of dragging all this on. Staying here will only trap all three of

us in old pain. Let’s go our separate ways, and leave each other alone from now on.”