Chapter 3

Mia froze, staring hard at Logan and Leo.

Logan bent down and picked Leo up.

"Leo, stop it. Don't keep making Logan carry you." Serena pretended to pull him away, but Leo held on tight around Logan's neck.

"No! I like it when Daddy holds me, and he likes holding me!" Leo kissed Logan on the cheek. "I want ice cream."

"Okay, let's go get ice cream." Serena followed Logan, smiling, then turned after a few steps and called to me, "Amelia, come on!"

I crouched down. Mia's face was already covered in tears.

She lifted her little face. "Mommy, is that the person Logan likes?"

In that instant, I fell apart completely.

I pulled Mia into my arms, and my tears wouldn't stop.

Before I could answer, Mia wiped her own tears and took my hand herself. "Mommy, I want to go look one more time. I want to see what the person Logan likes looks like."

I took Mia's hand and walked into the ballroom.

Logan and the two of them were the center of attention.

When she saw Logan feeding Leo fruit with his own hand, Mia stood up.

"Mommy, Logan really likes them. He's smiling so much. Let's go. Let's not bother him."

Her words hit my heart like a boulder. I nodded. "Okay. Let's go home."

We'd just reached the door when Logan's secretary stopped us. "Mr. Logan says he wants to take Mia out. He asked you to leave her with me."

"Logan wants to take me out?" Mia's dull eyes lit up instantly.

The secretary nodded.

At the same time, I got a text from Logan: Taking Mia to see fireworks.

It was the first time in six years.

Something about it felt wrong. But looking at how much Mia wanted it, I couldn't bring myself to say no.

"Mia, take care of yourself. If anything happens, call Mommy right away."

"Don't worry, Mommy! I'll be really good so Logan will like me!"

I went home alone.

The moment I walked in, my phone rang.

"Mommy... Logan left me..." Mia was sobbing her heart out on the other end. "I'm so scared..."

"Mia! Where are you?"

"I don't know..."

"Don't be scared. Mommy's coming to find you right now. Don't hang up. Mommy will keep talking to you!"

When I found Mia near a bench in Central Park, she was huddled alone under a public phone booth, covered in snow, almost frozen solid.

It was like all the strength had been drained out of me. I ran over and crushed my daughter against my chest. "Mia! Mommy's here!"

"Mommy, I was so scared, I'm so cold..." Mia burrowed into my arms, sobbing so hard she couldn't speak. Her whole body was burning hot.

Before we even reached the hospital, she was running a high fever, so high she was talking nonsense.

"Logan, I'm sorry, I won't call you Daddy anymore, don't leave me, please don't leave me..."

My hands shook violently. My heart hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

Just because Mia had accidentally called him Daddy, Logan left her alone in the snow?

At the hospital, the doctor sharply told me I wasn't fit to be a mother, letting my child get this frozen.

I didn't defend myself. I knew Logan didn't love Mia. Why had I let him take her?

"Daddy... I want Daddy to hold me..." Mia's face was flushed red with fever, and she was still mumbling.

I gripped my phone and called Logan. No answer. I sent him a message: Our daughter's in the hospital with a high fever. I hope you'll come see her.

By morning, Logan still hadn't replied.

Serena's Instagram Story updated. It was a video of their "family of three" watching fireworks.

Logan was smiling so happily. He didn't give a single thought to Mia, burning up with fever.

My heart went completely cold.

To this man, Mia had never mattered, and I was less than a joke.

Mia stayed in the hospital for three days.

On the day she was discharged, Logan finally replied: Still at the hospital? I'll come pick you up.

When Mia saw the message, she smiled happily. "Mommy, Logan says he's coming to get us."

The minutes ticked by. From morning until noon, Mia kept her eyes on the door of her room.

"Logan's not coming, is he?" Mia asked softly.

"He must just be really busy and forgot. Mommy, let's go."

Mia smiled, fooling herself, hopped off the bed, and pulled me toward the door.

It felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I nodded. "Okay. Mommy will take you home."

We'd just reached the elevators when we ran into Logan.

"It's Daddy..." Mia started to call out, then quickly corrected herself. "It's Logan. He came to get us."

The next second, Serena stepped out of the elevator.

I squeezed Mia's hand hard.

Logan turned and saw us. He frowned slightly, looking uncomfortable.

"Is Leo okay?" Serena asked.

Logan shook his head. "He's fine. Just a scrape."

With that, he looked away and didn't glance at us again.

I finally understood completely.

He hadn't come for us. All he could see was Serena and her son.

I lowered my head and looked gently at Mia. "Mia."

Mia squeezed out a smile for me. "Mommy, let's go home."

The whole way back, Mia stared out the car window and cried without a sound.

When we got back to the house, Mia locked herself in her room.

I didn't bother her. I just stood quietly outside her door.

Two hours later, the door opened.

Mia was holding her old teddy bear, her eyes swollen from crying. That bear was the only present Logan had ever given her, and she'd always treasured it.

"Mommy, I don't want it anymore." Mia pretended to smile and pushed the bear into my hands. "Logan only has one chance left."

"Okay." My throat tightened. I didn't know how to comfort my daughter.

"I want to have a birthday party and invite my best friends. Can I?" Mia looked up at me, her eyes pleading.

Every other year, Mia's birthday had just been the two of us at home. Logan had never shown up and had never cared.

I said yes. I knew this was the last chance Mia was giving Logan.