Chapter 4

Claire's POV

Ethan never came home that night.

The next morning, Ella was still making excuses for him.

"Daddy must be getting my birthday surprise ready."

I didn't correct her. I simply ate breakfast with her and helped decorate the living room.

She chose the cake herself, and we blew up the balloons together.

Every few minutes, she ran to the window to check outside, afraid she might miss the moment Ethan came home.

Morning passed.

Then noon.

As the sky gradually darkened, there was still no sign of him.

Finally, I called Ethan.

"It's Ella's birthday today. What happened to the surprise you promised her?"

The background on the other end was noisy. I could faintly hear music and people laughing.

Ethan sounded as though he had only just remembered what day it was.

"The birthday present? I left it in the nightstand. Take Ella to Switzerland and have fun. The plane tickets are there, too."

"Are you not coming home?"

"Something came up at the company. I can't get away. Just go and enjoy yourselves for a few days. We'll talk when I'm done here."

Before I could say anything else, he hurriedly hung up.

I stood there with my phone in my hand, unable to move.

His big birthday surprise was nothing more than a pair of plane tickets he had arranged in advance.

Ethan couldn't even be bothered to come home and wish his own daughter a happy birthday.

Almost at the same moment, Sophia updated her social media account.

The photo showed a share transfer agreement beside a bouquet of flowers.

Her caption read:

"Everything I want, he gives me."

I recognized the company name on the agreement.

It was the business division I had spent ten years building with my own hands. And now Ethan had handed it to Sophia as a gift.

I had negotiated critical partnerships for Cole Group, handled countless crises, and even poured my own savings into the company when its cash flow collapsed.

Yet throughout all those years, I had received nothing more than an ordinary executive's salary.

Now Ethan could casually give everything I had worked for to another woman without a second thought.

"Mommy."

Ella's voice came from behind me.

She was clutching her phone, her face deathly pale.

On the screen was Ava's latest post.

"Thank you, Mommy, for making me the cutest little birthday cake. Today is the happiest day of my life."

Ella stared at the photo, then finally broke down sobbing.

"Is Daddy not coming home?"

I walked over and wrapped my arms around her.

"Something might have come up."

Even I couldn't find a better excuse to offer her.

She clutched my clothes and cried so hard that her whole body trembled.

"Why does Ava get everything she wants, but Daddy can't even come home for my birthday?"

I closed my eyes, tears slipping down my own cheeks.

None of this was her fault.

She shouldn't have to keep pushing her own wishes aside, afraid to ask for anything more than a little attention from her father.

"Mommy," she sobbed, "I don't want to wait anymore. Please take me away."

I held her tightly and gently nodded.

"All right."

I carried our packed suitcases downstairs and took one last look at the home I had lived in for ten years.

The divorce papers lay on the dining table.

I didn't take anything that didn't belong to me. I left everything behind except the luggage that belonged to Ella and me.

That evening, we boarded a plane to Zermatt, Switzerland.

I never looked back.

Meanwhile, in another city, Ethan was busy holding a wedding ceremony with Sophia.

He believed that as long as he sent me away, he could keep both a stable family and the woman he had spent years longing for.

He had no idea that this time, I was truly gone.