Fulfilling Your Happiness
Chapter 1
I came home from a business trip, tired and
dusty, only to hear my four–year–old
daughter say to my wife,
“Mommy, I like Daddy Greg better. Can I go
to the amusement park with him again next
time?”
Through the crack in the door, I saw my wife,
who had always been cold towards me, ruffle
my daughter’s nose and say with a smile,
“Of course, sweetie. He’s your real dad.”
Greg was my wife’s first love, her “white
moonlight.”
The paternity test results were in.
I smoked several cigarettes, unable to bring
myself to open the envelope.
Until my secretary, Jason, knocked and came
in, his brow furrowing at the strong smell of
smoke in my office did I realize how out of
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control I’d been.
“Mr. Howard, we secured the Power Group
project.”
He held a thick stack of documents.
I snapped back to reality. “Put it there, I’ll sign
it later.”
Jason nodded and left.
I wiped my face and gently opened the
paternity test report.
The results showed that my daughter, Lily
Howard, whom I’d loved for four years, wasn’t
mine.
The dust settled.
I felt no anguish or sorrow, just a strange
calm.
Looking back, there were signs. Years ago,
my usually cold wife, Jessica, surprisingly
cooked a candlelit dinner.
We drank aged red wine, and in the heat of
the moment, I forgot protection.
く
But Jessica, who usually hated unprotected
sex, didn’t blame me. Instead, she calmly said,
“I’m in my safe period.”
She even started to be gentler with me, which
was shocking. More shocking was that she,
who didn’t want children, got pregnant, and
even volunteered to keep the baby.
She had a difficult delivery.
I vowed she would never suffer childbirth
again, so I got a vasectomy.
Now, I realize how foolish I was. Jessica knew
who the father was.
She only wanted to have her first love’s child.
If I hadn’t come home early from my business
trip last week and overheard my daughter’s
innocent words about “two daddies,”
I might still be in the dark.
My story with Jessica was a typical wealthy family business arrangement.
Her family’s company was in trouble, so they
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sought help from my parents.
The only difference was that I’d secretly loved
Jessica for a long time. I also knew she didn’t
love me; she had a first love, who’d gone
abroad and with whom she’d broken up.
She married me solely to solve her family’s
urgent problems.
After marriage, she remained cold towards
- me.
I thought my sincerity would win her over.
That with enough time, she’d feel my love.
After Lily came along, we seemed closer.
I thought I’d moved this “ice queen,” but
reality slapped me hard.
We’d been married for five years.
Our daughter knew about her other father.
Jessica watched coldly as she manipulated
- me.
To her, I must have been a joke.
My phone vibrated. A rare text from Jessica:
[“Su Yang said you’re back from your trip.
Why aren’t you home? Lily’s been asking for
her daddy.“]
A wry smile touched my lips.
I came home last week hoping to surprise
them, but the surprise was on me.
No man can immediately calm down after
this, and I didn’t want to argue with Jessica in
front of Lily.
So I secretly moved to an apartment closer to
the office.
A week had passed, and only now did she
notice I was back from my trip? But that
night, despite my anger, I still texted her.
I told her I’d be busy lately and that the
apartment near the office was more
convenient.
Jessica didn’t see the message.
Or maybe she saw the notification, but just
swiped it away without reading.
At this point, I felt incredibly tired. Was it my
fault for forcing feelings in this business
marriage?
I didn’t reply to Jessica.
She had little patience with me. Seeing my
silence, she called.
The phone connected, and she immediately
started questioning me:
“Henry, didn’t you see my message?”
“Sorry, I was working late.”
“Working late? Do you remember you have a
family? Lily keeps asking for her dad! Is this
how you treat your daughter?”
I was silent.
I also wanted to ask Jessica.
Did she remember she had a family, did she remember that Lily was someone else’s child? But looking at the family photo on my desk, I held back.
“Lily’s sick. She wants pastries from Happy
く
Days, go get them and bring them to the
hospital.”
She coldly dropped the words and hung up.
Then she sent a location pin.
Thinking of Lily’s adorable face and how she
calls me “Daddy,” I softened.
After all, she’s the daughter I raised.
I drove to Happy Days, bought Lily’s favorite
custard buns and chicken feet, and rushed to
the hospital.
I reached the ward door.
Lily’s clear voice came from inside.
“Daddy Greg, I was so brave today; I took my
medicine and got my shots!”
I paused, peering inside. A young man in a
white coat smiled gently – Greg, Jessica’s
first love.
He affectionately ruffled Lily’s head:
