My Husband Stayed With His Childhood Love—Our Daughter Called Him Stranger Chapter 03

My Husband Stayed With His Childhood Love—Our Daughter Called Him Stranger Chapter 03

I’d spent half a year on that dress. Every last stitch, sewn by hand.

It was the gown I’d made for Grace’s goodbye photo shoot—something to remember her kindergarten years by.

The first time she tried it on, she spun in front of the mirror so many times I lost count.

“Mommy, I look like a princess!”

“You are a princess.”

I carefully placed the starry-sky princess dress inside a protective garment bag and set it in the most visible spot in the living room.

To keep it safe, I even covered it with a glass display case.

That afternoon, I was in the kitchen pouring myself a glass of water when the doorbell rang.

I walked over, glass still in hand, and checked the peephole. Claire stood outside with Mason.

I opened the door.

“Hi, Sylvie.” Her smile was gentle and sweet.

“Nathaniel left an important file here. He asked me to come pick it up.”

“What file?”

“The blue one.” She glanced toward the living room.

“He said it’s in the second shelf of the study cabinet.”

I turned and went to the study.

The folder was exactly where she said it would be.

When I came back out with it in my hand, Claire was standing in the living room. Her gaze was locked on the princess dress.

Beside her stood Mason. He had a pair of scissors clutched in his fist.

“Mason, put those scissors down.”

The warning came too late.

He lifted the scissors and slashed them straight through the skirt.

By the time I rushed over, a huge tear had already ripped across the gown.

More than three hundred tiny pearl beads scattered across the floor with a sharp rattling sound.

His elbow struck the glass display case. It crashed to the floor and shattered.

“Mason!” Claire let out a dramatic gasp and crouched down to pull him into her arms.

“How could you touch things that don’t belong to you?”

Then she looked up at me, her eyes already red. “I’m so sorry, Sylvie.”

“Mason didn’t mean any harm. He just saw something pretty and wanted to get a closer look.”

I didn’t even look at her.

I crouched down, slow and quiet, and just stared at what was left of the dress.

Right then, the front door swung open.

Nathaniel walked in—and the first thing he saw was Claire on the floor, clutching a sobbing Mason to her chest.

“What happened?”

“Nathaniel…” The tears came instantly, spilling down her cheeks right on cue.

“I wasn’t watching Mason closely enough. He damaged Sylvie’s dress by accident.”

“I’ll pay for it—I swear I will.”

She grabbed Mason by the hand and begged.

“I’m a single mother. I don’t have the money to pay her back. Just please don’t take it out on Mason.”

Without thinking, Nathaniel caught her by the arm to steady her.

Then he looked at the shredded dress. Then at me.

“Seriously? It’s a dress. Was it really necessary to make them apologize?”

I stared him in disbelief.

“Her child shredded my dress, and you’re seriously asking me that?”

“Sylvie.” His voice turned colder. “I already told you. It’s just a dress.”

“Mason’s five years old. Are you seriously going to hold this against a child?”

“That wasn’t just any dress.”

“How special could it be?” He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen.

“I just sent you twenty thousand. Go buy yourself a designer dress and stop scaring Claire and Mason.”

I didn’t even glance at the notification.

On my knees in the shattered glass and scattered beads, I picked up the shredded pieces of fabric one by one and dropped them into a trash bag.

A shard of glass pierced my knee. Blood slowly seeped out and stained the ruined fabric.

Nathaniel frowned. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something. But in the end, he said nothing.

Then he left with Claire and Mason.

That night, I sat in the living room by myself for a long time.

Then I picked up my phone and sent the realator a message.

[Price drop. Urgent sale. Five million.]

[I want it sold in a week.]