Chapter 55: Taking Peggy Away
Mia's POV
A few days later, I received a call from Sarah.
"Mia, are you free right now? Can you come to my home?"
Her tone was urgent, tinged with nervousness.
"What's wrong?" My heart tightened. "Did something happen to Peggy?"
"Yes," Sarah answered. "No one has come to pick Peggy up from preschool for several days now."
"I can't reach Mr. Adams, and Eva won't answer my calls either."
"I couldn't bear to leave Peggy alone at the preschool, so I've been bringing her home to stay with me."
What?! My mind buzzed.
Sarah's voice was filled with helplessness and worry.
"Eva warned me before not to contact you."
"But I had no other choice, so I'm calling you. Mia, Peggy... she misses you so much."
Hearing Sarah's words, anger surged through me, mixed with an overwhelming heartache.
How dare Eva treat Peggy this way?
Didn't Gavin say Eva would take care of her?
I immediately stood up.
"Sarah, thank you for telling me. I'm coming right now!"
After hanging up, I rushed to Sarah's house as fast as I could.
When I saw Peggy, she was sitting alone on the living room carpet, quietly holding her doll.
She looked even thinner and more haggard than when I first met her.
Hearing the door open, she looked up.
When she saw me, her eyes lit up instantly, but that brightness quickly dimmed again.
She even instinctively shrank back, like a frightened rabbit afraid of being abandoned again.
"Peggy." I called her name and walked toward her.
Hearing me, Peggy's eyes immediately reddened, tears streaming down her face.
She didn't rush into my arms like before, but just sat there, crying and asking.
"Mommy, have you abandoned me?"
My heart felt like it was being cut with a knife. I quickly pulled her into my arms.
"No, how could Mommy abandon you?"
"Then... then why haven't you come to see me for so long?"
She sobbed, her small hands clinging tightly to my neck.
"I missed you so much... I waited every day, waited for you to pick me up, but you never came..."
"I'm sorry, Peggy. It's Mommy's fault."
I held her, apologizing over and over, tears streaming down my face too.
Sarah told me that Eva had never cared about Peggy.
That day she and Gavin picked Peggy up from preschool was just for show.
After that, she never appeared again.
She sent a driver or nanny to pick up Peggy.
But these past few days, even the driver and nanny were nowhere to be seen.
After hearing this, the anger in my chest became uncontrollable.
How could Gavin treat his own daughter this way? Leaving Peggy with a vicious woman like Eva!
I decided to take a taxi to Gavin's villa right now and confront him.
But Peggy resisted strongly. She held onto me tightly, refusing to let go.
"Mommy, I don't want to see them..." she cried. "I just want to stay with you."
"I don't want to see Eva or Gavin. They're bad people!"
Seeing her like this, my heart ached unbearably.
In the end, I decided to take her home.
After Susan disappeared, Fiona worried about my state and moved in with me.
She was very surprised to see me bring Peggy home.
After hearing my explanation, she was just as angry as I was, cursing Eva and Gavin.
"Those two are inhuman! How can they treat a child like this?!"
After I bathed Peggy and coaxed her to sleep, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That evening, Fiona and I drank and talked.
She asked me, "What are you planning to do? Just keep raising Peggy like this?"
I nodded.
"I truly see Peggy as my own child. Since Gavin won't take care of her, I'm willing to."
I looked out at the night sky, my voice tinged with exhaustion.
"Besides, Susan's disappearance has made me so anxious. I can't sleep at night."
"At least when I'm with Peggy, I can feel a little happiness."
Fiona sighed and said nothing more, just gave me a comforting hug.
But I never expected that a few days later, the police would come to my door.
At first, I thought there was news about Susan and was overjoyed.
Until I saw Eva following behind the police, I realized something was wrong.
Eva said to the officer beside her,
"It's her, this woman kidnapped my child!"
My eyes widened. I immediately protested, "I didn't! You're the one who abandoned Peggy at the preschool!"
Eva put on a wronged expression.
"I didn't! I personally pick Peggy up from preschool every day."
"You're the one who wanted to use Peggy to threaten Gavin, so you deliberately stole her from the preschool!"
Her lies came so easily.
"I've been worried sick these past few days not being able to find Peggy!"
"If I hadn't checked the surveillance footage, I wouldn't have known you took her!"
The police officer asked seriously, "What is your relationship with Peggy?"
Eva immediately answered, "Peggy is Gavin's child, and I'm Gavin's fiancée."
The officer then asked me, "And you? What's your relationship with Peggy?"
I was speechless.
Because I wasn't Peggy's mother. I had no blood relation with her, not even any legal relationship.
With the police's help, I had no way to stop Eva from taking Peggy.
But as soon as Peggy saw Eva, she started crying.
"I don't want to go with you! You're a bad woman! I want Mommy!"
She clung to me tightly, refusing to let go.
I held Peggy tightly, insisting on contacting Gavin.
I didn't believe Gavin would be so cruel to Peggy, allowing Eva to hurt her.
The call connected quickly.
But Eva spoke first, complaining to whoever was on the other end.
"Gavin, I found Peggy. She was hidden by Mia! Tell her to give Peggy back to me."
From the other end came Gavin's cold voice.
"Let her answer."
Eva handed me the phone, her face showing a triumphant expression.
Before I could explain, Gavin's indifferent voice came through.
"Mia, I'm warning you, stop playing games."
"I didn't..."
He interrupted me. "Even if you go to great lengths to keep Peggy by your side, I won't spare you a second glance because of her."
His words pierced my heart like a blade.
"Give up this unrealistic idea quickly."
With that, he hung up.
From beginning to end, he never gave me a chance to explain.
I could only watch helplessly as Eva snatched Peggy from my arms.
Peggy cried heartbreakingly, calling "Mommy" over and over, while I was powerless to help.