It finally felt like home after Lucas got back from the hospital.
I went home on time every day.
I could always hear my grandpa making Lucas laugh upon entering the house.

Lucas sat on the play mat. When he saw me, he stretched out his arms, asking for hugs, calling, “Dada…Dada.” When I heard that, all my exhaustion vanished.
I created a charity foundation under Lucas. Grandpa fully supported it. “Smith Corporation will have your back. Do it right! Make it big!”
My charity foundation would be situated near the mountains and rivers. I had set up an orphanage to help many poor children.
Six months later, Amy’s lawyer came knocking at the door. He handed me a letter of forgiveness. He said Amy was well-behaved in prison. If I signed the letter, her sentence could be reduced.
I handed the letter back. She also had the lawyer give me a letter she had written. “Eason, please take pity on me, given that I’ve taken care of you for twenty years…”
I threw the letter into the trash can before I could finish reading it.

I stood up, and said to the lawyer, “I will not sign the letter of forgiveness. She has to bear the consequences for what she has done.”
When Lucas was turning one, Susan suddenly appeared at the hotel for Lucas's birthday party. She wore old clothes and had messy hair. She glanced at Lucas from afar.
My heart sank. I held Lucas up, turned around, and walked away.
“Eason!” She chased after me, her voice trembling. “I just want to see Lucas…just for a short while…”

I halted, not looking back. “You have no relation to him anymore. There’s no need for you to see him.”
“I know I’m wrong!” She cried. “I regret it every single day. I have no other motives. I only want to see him…”
I turned around and looked into her eyes. “Susan, there’s no need for you in Lucas’s life. Don’t come here ever again. If not, I will call the police.”
She turned pale instantly, standing still.
My assistant told me later on about Susan’s living situation.
After her divorce with me, her life fell apart.
She could only find work at a foot spa.
While she was there, she met a wealthy old man. He could provide for her financially, so she agreed to become his mistress.
Good times did not last long. She got pregnant, and his wife eventually tracked her down. She was beaten; as a result, she lost the ability to have children.
Having lost all hope, Susan then turned her attention to Lucas. She sneakily went to Lucas’s kindergarten to look at him through the fence.
The security guard spotted her and immediately called me up.
I didn’t hesitate this time round. I called the police right away.
When the police came, I told them about Susan’s past, including how she abandoned Lucas, as well as her scheme with Amy.
Considering how she could be a threat to Lucas’s safety and her past behaviors, the police put a restraining order on her. She could not go near Lucas. What’s more, she could not go to the kindergarten or linger near my house.
After many years, I brought Lucas to the garden for a walk.
Lucas pointed at a woman picking up trash and asked curiously, “Dad, how come that lady looks familiar?”
I looked over where he was pointing and saw a woman dressed in worn-out clothes, hunching over. She was struggling to stuff plastic bottles into a woven sack. Looking from the side of her face, she looked like Susan.
She looked far older than her actual age. She looked nothing like how she used to be.
I said nothing. I took Lucas by the hand and walked to a brighter place.
He seemed to be able to sense my mood. Lucas wrapped his little arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.
Looking down at his pure, radiant smile had dissolved any complex feelings I had towards Susan.
Everyone had to pay the price for their choices.
As for me, I only needed to protect the warmth and happiness I had.
Lucas’s smile was the brightest light in my life, enough to chase away every shadow from the past.