Chapter 297

Serena looked down at Aria and patted her head helplessly.

"You're already seven years old, and you still want to be carried? Walk by yourself."

Aria's mouth immediately drooped, her eyes rimmed with red, looking utterly wronged.

Without any hesitation, Silas crouched down and scooped Aria up in one motion.

"It's okay."

The moment Aria's small body wrapped around his neck, Silas froze for a second.

So light.

Too light.

The tiny bundle nestled in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder, her little arms circling his neck.

Silas felt a lump in his throat.

He held her tighter, but his feet wouldn't move forward.

He didn't know how he'd managed it before.

Ignoring such a small child, paying her no attention, for a whole five years.

Five years.

She'd grown from a baby in swaddling clothes to walking, talking, carrying her own backpack to school.

He'd missed every single step along the way.

Aria shifted in his arms and turned her head to look at him.

"Why aren't you walking?"

Silas snapped back to reality, his voice a bit hoarse. "Let's go."

Serena walked beside them, catching a glimpse of Silas holding Aria, but said nothing.

The three of them headed toward the restaurant.

On the second-floor corridor, Clayton leaned against the railing, hands in his coat pockets, looking down.

He saw them.

Silas carrying Aria, Serena walking alongside them, their three silhouettes stretching long under the lobby lights.

They looked just like a family of three.

Clayton's hands clenched into fists in his pockets.

He stood there for a long time, until the three figures completely disappeared into the restaurant entrance. Only then did he slowly unclench his hands and turn to leave.

No one noticed he'd been there.

In the restaurant, Aria sat next to Silas, her legs dangling, unable to reach the floor, swinging back and forth.

Silas handed the menu to Serena, who casually flipped through a couple pages and ordered a few dishes. Silas then looked down and asked Aria what she wanted to eat. Aria leaned on the table edge and pointed at a picture in the menu.

"This one! Strawberry cake!"

Serena glanced at it. "Eat your meal first, then we'll see."

"Can I have it after I finish eating?" Aria turned to look at Silas with hopeful eyes.

Without thinking, Silas said, "Yes."

Serena shot him a look.

Catching that glance, Silas paused and changed his answer. "Listen to your mom."

Aria pouted and pushed the menu back.

After the food arrived, Silas served Aria some dishes. She picked at them, ate a couple bites, then pushed her bowl toward him.

"Peel the shrimp for me."

Without a word, Silas picked up a shrimp and started peeling it.

Serena held her bowl and watched for a while, suddenly feeling like this wasn't quite real.

When was the last time the three of them sat down for a meal together? She couldn't remember.

It seemed like after Aria turned two or three, it never happened again.

Silas put the peeled shrimp in Aria's bowl, then peeled one and put it in Serena's bowl.

Halfway through the meal, Aria suddenly put down her utensils and looked at Silas.

"Why didn't you eat with us before?"

The question came out of nowhere.

Silas's utensils froze in mid-air.

"Every time Mom and I ate at home, it was just the two of us. When I asked Mom where Dad was, she'd say you were very busy."

Aria tilted her head, her tone more curious than resentful.

"What were you so busy with anyway?"

Silas lowered his hand.

His lips moved, but he couldn't get a single word out.

Serena glanced at Aria. "Just eat your food."

Aria said "oh" and went back to pushing food around in her bowl.

Silas sat there, not touching his utensils for a long time.

Serena didn't look at him, but she knew what he was feeling.

For the rest of the meal, neither adult said much, but Aria chattered away on her own.

Silas listened to every word, responding now and then, very seriously.

As Aria got more excited, she suddenly asked, "Can you come watch me run next time?"

Silas nodded, his voice hoarse. "Yes."

"Don't lie to me."

"I won't lie to you."

Aria held up her pinky. "Pinky promise."

Silas extended his hand and hooked his pinky with hers.

Aria shook it hard twice, very satisfied, then pulled her hand back.

Silas looked at Serena with some gratitude. Maybe the fact that Aria didn't resent him even now was thanks to Serena.

After dinner, Silas asked Aria if she wanted to go walk on the beach outside.

Aria's eyes lit up, and she jumped down from her chair. "Yes!"

Serena followed behind as the three of them walked out of the hotel one after another.

The wind was strong by the sea, blowing Aria's hair into a mess.

She rushed onto the beach and started running wild, kicking off her shoes and running barefoot through the sand.

"Mom, look! A crab!"

Serena called back from a distance.

Silas stood not far behind Aria, watching her crouch there poking at the sand with a small stick, a slight smile on his lips.

Aria turned back and waved at him. "Come help me dig!"

Silas walked over and crouched down.

Over seven hundred days of absence, all those days and nights he'd missed—he didn't know if he could ever make them up.

But at least now, he could crouch here and help her dig for crabs.

Serena sat on the steps at the edge of the beach, watching the two of them crouched together.

No one noticed that not far away, Clara stood in the shadows.

Her eyes were swollen beyond recognition, her hair disheveled, looking completely wretched.

Her gaze was fixed on the three people on the beach.

Aria sat on Silas's shoulders, her hands grabbing his hair as she giggled.

Serena stood nearby, the hint of a smile on her lips.

Clara's nails dug into her palms.

That position should have been hers.

That child should have been born to her.

She stood there in the wind, staring at Silas and Serena, her eyes churning with crazy jealousy.

Until the sky darkened, until the three figures walked away toward the hotel.

Only then did she look away, the madness in her eyes clearly visible.

Why should they get to be so happy while she'd fallen into such a situation?

Why?

At the same time.

A black van turned off the coastal highway and slowly stopped in a parking lot two hundred meters from the hotel.

The back door opened, and a woman got out.

She'd lost a lot of weight, her cheekbones jutting out, her cheeks sunken in—completely different from the delicate, pretty appearance she'd had two years ago.

It was Luna.

She stood by the car, pulling her coat tighter, and looked up at the brightly lit hotel in the distance.

Two years.

Thanks to her sister Clara, she'd spent these two years running like a stray dog, fleeing from one city to another. That psycho Derek never gave up looking for her. She didn't dare use her ID, didn't dare stay in hotels, didn't dare stay in one place for more than two weeks.

Several times, she'd almost been caught and dragged back.

Luna touched the scars on her wrist and gave a cold laugh.

She'd come to find Clara.

It was time to settle this debt.