Chapter 180: The Weight of a Father’s Love

The cold wind greeted Lena the moment she stepped out of the taxi.

She pulled her coat tighter around herself and stood quietly before the modest two-storey house.

Snow drifted down from the gray morning sky, settling over the roof, the driveway, and the bare branches lining the fence.

A cloud of white mist escaped her lips as she let out a slow breath. For a long moment, she simply stood there.

Then she walked to the front door and entered the passcode.

The lock clicked. She pushed the door open.

“Dad… I’m home.” Her voice echoed through the quiet house.

No answer came.

She slipped off her boots, brushed the snow from her coat, and hung it neatly on the rack before walking farther inside.

The television was still on. Morning news played quietly across the empty living room.

“Dad?”

Still nothing. A faint crease formed between her brows.

She made her way down the hallway and stopped outside William’s bedroom.

‘Maybe he had gone back to sleep.’

She knocked before pushing the door open.

“Dad…”

The rest of her words caught in her throat. William wasn’t sleeping.

He sat on the floor with his head lowered, his back resting against the side of the bed.

One hand held an old photograph so tightly that the edges had become bent from years of being handled.

Lena’s heart clenched. She recognized that photograph immediately.

Without saying a word, she walked over and crouched beside him. Her fingers gently slipped the photograph from his hand.

“Dad.” She called softly. “You promised me you wouldn’t live in the past anymore.”

She looked at him, her eyes already beginning to sting.

“Do you know how hard I fought to get you another heart? You can’t keep overwhelming yourself like this.”

William lifted his head and wiped his red eyes with the back of his hand before forcing out a scoff.

“You little brat. So you finally remembered you have a father?”

Lena lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry…”

William shook his head. “No. I should be the one asking.”

His voice trembled. “Am I such a terrible father… that my own daughter couldn’t tell me she was suffering?”

Lena bit her lower lip. “Dad, I just didn’t want you to—”

“Worry.” William finished the sentence for her. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bed.

“I know. I know you didn’t want me to worry.”

A tired smile appeared on his face. “And I can’t even blame you.”

After a long silence, he looked at her again.

“Lena… you’ve never asked me for anything.”

His eyes slowly reddened once more.

“You always pretend you’re afraid I’ll cut off your allowance. But I know you. You only go along with my stubbornness because you don’t want me worrying.”

He let out a weak laugh.

“You’ve been protecting me all this time, when it should’ve been the other way around.”

Lena felt tears gathering in her eyes.

William stared at the photograph resting in her hands. “Look at it.”

Lena lowered her gaze.

The photograph had long since faded with age. A young woman stood beneath the summer sun, smiling brighter than the sky itself, with a pink cotton candy in her hands.

Her laughter seemed frozen forever inside the worn picture.

“Your mother.”

William smiled.

“You’ve asked me countless times why I still keep this old photograph. You always said I had newer ones. Better and more beautiful ones.” His fingers brushed the edge of the picture. “But this one… I took it.”

His eyes drifted somewhere far away. “That was the happiest I’d ever seen your mother.”

The smile on his face slowly disappeared. “And not long after that… I watched that smile disappear.”

Silence filled the room.

William stared at the photograph for another long moment before finally turning toward Lena. “You look so much like your mother. So much… I never wanted you to live the life she did and marry a man who couldn’t protect you.”

He clenched his trembling hands.

“I wasn’t strong enough. My family kept pressuring her. They drove her into despair while I stood there… too powerless to stop them.”

“Dad…” Lena reached for him. William shook his head, forcing a smile. “Please let me finish. I’ve kept this inside for too many years.”

William let out a deep sigh.

“I watched the woman I loved disappear a little more every day. And I couldn’t save her.”

A tear rolled down his cheek.

“So when I saw the Adler family. When I saw how powerful they were. And when I saw Rhys—a responsible young man. I thought… if my daughter married into that family, no one would ever hurt her.”

He laughed bitterly. “I even risked my law firm for it. I kept telling myself that love wasn’t enough. Love didn’t save your mother. It became the reason she stayed long after she should have left.”

“I wasn’t looking for someone you’d love. I was looking for someone I believed could succeed where I had failed.”

His shoulders shook.

“But I never imagined I’d be placing my daughter in a gilded cage.”

The last sentence broke him completely. William lowered his head and cried without restraint.

Lena felt her own tears spill over. “Dad…” She wrapped both arms around him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

William shook his head. “It was. I couldn’t protect your mother… and in trying to protect you, I only hurt you too.”

“No.” Lena hugged him tighter. “You didn’t. Everything was fine in the beginning. I just… I never thought things would end up like this.”

She couldn’t finish her words. William patted her hair.

After a while, he spoke again. “Lena, I don’t want you blaming your mother anymore.”

“I know she wasn’t there for you and you felt abandoned. But none of it was because she didn’t love you. She was drowning.”

He closed his eyes. “I was the one who failed both of you.”

Lena clutched the photograph against her chest. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks.

After a long silence, William looked at her.

“You were always more expressive than your mother. So tell me honestly… why didn’t you divorce him sooner?”

“Why didn’t you come back and tell me how much you were suffering?”

His eyes searched hers. “Was it because Rhys helped me get my heart transplant? Did you feel indebted to him?”

Lena immediately shook her head.

William reached over and held her hand.

“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked again. “I don’t want you carrying that burden anymore. He can have the law firm if that’s what it takes. I don’t care, I want my daughter back.”

“I want you to choose your happiness this time.” His grip tightened around her hand. “Go and file for the divorce.”

Lena’s eyes widened. She pulled away from the embrace.

“Dad… Rhys did try to help with your transplant, but he wasn’t the one who made it possible.”

William frowned. “If not him, then who?”