Astrid was aware that her daughter, Coco, loved her father. The problem was that the father, Isaiah, did not love her, nor did he love Coco; he only ever allowed Coco to address him as uncle.

After Isaiah dismissed the three chances Coco gave him, she decided she was going to leave him for good. It was only then that Isaiah changed his mind and started pleading desperately, “My dear, I want nothing more than to hear you call me your father.”

“Mom, can we not go?” Coco asked as she wrapped her arms around Astrid Payne's neck.

There were tears in her eyes.

“Daddy gave me a music box decorated with rainbow patterns today, and he wasn’t angry when I called him Daddy. I think he’s starting to like me.

“I love daddy. I don’t want to leave him.”

Astrid looked at the longing in her daughter Coco's eyes and could not bear to tell her the truth.

Isaiah Lear did not love either Coco or Astrid. He had no love to speak for his family.

At the time, Isaiah was engaged to his first love and girlfriend, Juno Calzier.

Then, she ended up cheating on him.

Juno dumped him at their wedding venue and left with another man.

No matter how much Isaiah pleaded, she refused to go back to him.

Isaiah was so upset that he chose a new bride for himself straight from the crowd.

That bride just so happened to be Astrid.

Even though they have been married for five years, they have been sleeping in separate rooms the entire time.

One time when Isaiah got drunk, he ended up sleeping with Astrid in a night filled with passion.

And that was how Astrid unexpectedly found herself pregnant.

After that, Isaiah’s mother pleaded with Astrid to cancel the abortion she had scheduled to keep the baby.

Isaiah ended up fostering resentment toward Astrid because of what happened. He extended the same resentment towards Coco.

After Astrid gave birth, she spent half a month in the ICU. Isaiah never bothered to visit her, and Coco once.

He never hugged Coco and would much rather watch her choke on milk and vomit than step in to help.

Though he was the father, he regarded her with less affection than a stranger would.

Then one night, Juno returned to the country following a divorce.

Isaiah, who had always ignored Coco, suddenly had a change of tone.

He coddled Coco in his arms, kissed her, and even gifted her a music box.

“Listen to the song on this music box, Mommy! It’s ‘My Dear Baby’!” cried Coco as she danced enthusiastically to the music.

“Do you think Daddy picked this song for me because he loves me?”

Before Astrid could even form a reply, Coco grabbed a picture frame with a family picture inside and went on again.

“Look! This is Daddy holding me! He loves me, doesn’t he?

“Look how happy he looks smiling in this picture!”

At Astrid's silence, the light in her eyes dimmed, and tears began to fall from her cheeks.

“Mommy, Daddy must be tired from having to perform so many surgeries every day, that’s why he never smiles at me or hugs me. He doesn’t hate me, does he?

“Please, can we stay here? I want to see Daddy, I can’t sleep if I cannot see Daddy.”

Astrid’s lips trembled for a moment, and when she tried to speak, nothing came out.

How was she supposed to tell Coco that the reason Isaiah gifted her a music box was because he was celebrating Juno’s divorce and her return to the country?

How was she to tell Coco that the picture she was holding was photoshopped by Astrid?

Should she bluntly tell Coco that this was a mirage she had created to give Coco an impression of a harmonious family?

Or how did Isaiah react when Coco was ill?

He tried to sign a document to stop treatment.

She could not bear to reveal such cruel truths to Coco.

All she could do was endure the pain.

“Coco, the only reason we’re leaving Uncle Isaiah is because Mommy is going to take you to a better place.

“I don’t want to call him Uncle Isaiah.”

Coco wiped her tears and spoke in a choked-up voice, “I am the only one in my class who calls my father Uncle.”

Astrid paused.

After five years of marriage, her commitment to him never touched Isaiah.

He had demanded to marry her secretly.

Then he forbade Coco from addressing him as her father.

He wanted to be addressed as an uncle as if he were an outsider to the family.

When Coco turned two, Astrid took her to the hospital for a routine examination. When they were in the elevator, Coco happened to bump into Isaiah, who was at work with his fellow doctors.

She blurted out, “Daddy!”

That night, Isaiah locked her in a small, dark room, completely ignoring the fact that she was afraid of the dark.

Coco ended up developing a fever and fainted for three days before coming to!

On Coco’s third birthday, Astrid had to beg Isaiah to attend the birthday party.

Just like the last time, Isaiah took offense to Coco addressing him as her father. He ditched her in the park and left by himself.

When Astrid finally managed to find Coco, human traffickers who were close to snatching her away had shaved her head.

They even had her change into flimsy outerwear despite the cold.

If Astrid had only been five minutes late, Coco would have been kidnapped!

When they got home, Coco threw herself into Isaiah’s arms and bawled her eyes out while holding onto his clothes, “I’m sorry, Uncle Isaiah, I was wrong!”

Since then, she learned to address him as Uncle Isaiah and never laughed in his presence.

The mere thought of it made Astrid experience the searing pain again.

She took Coco into her arms.

“Coco, Uncle Isaiah doesn’t like to have us around. Be a good girl, alright?”

Coco burst into tears.

She held the music box firmly.

“If Uncle Isaiah doesn’t like me, why would he bother giving me a gift?” she asked in confusion.

“Coco, be good. You know there’s going to be another woman moving into the house soon.”

Coco wrapped her arms around Astrid’s neck and started to bawl again.

“But I just want Daddy to love me,” she said, her voice caught in her throat.

“Let me give him three more chances. If he still hates me, I'll give him up.

“Alright,” Astrid relented.

“Isaiah, we will give you three more chances. If you let us down again, we are going to leave you for good. It would be like we never existed,” Astrid said inwardly.

The next day was Astrid's wedding anniversary with Isaiah.

She finalized the divorce agreement and booked a flight to get out of Lovatia the day after tomorrow.

In the afternoon, she went to the kindergarten to take Coco home.

When they passed through the central square, they bumped into Isaiah, who was down on one knee, proposing to Juno.

Many onlookers were mumbling among themselves.

“Mr. Lear must truly love Juno to splurge two million dollars on an engagement ring!”

“In the past, Mr. Lear intentionally registered for the same university as Juno, despite his great talent.”

“Even when she cheated on him and married someone else, he patiently waited for her to come back to him. He loved her with complete devotion!”

“Both were gifted and very attractive. The children that were to come from their union would be gorgeous as well!”

Astrid looked at the wedding ring on her finger and smiled bitterly.

It was a ring meant for Juno originally.

It was slightly too big for Astrid, but Isaiah had never said anything about getting a new one for her.

Yet, here he was spending two million dollars on a ring for Juno.

Astrid told herself she was too presumptuous.

She had foolishly assumed that as long as she took care of his parents and dedicated herself to making tasty food for him, it would be enough to win his affection.

As long as Coco was an obedient and thoughtful daughter, Isaiah would be compelled to dedicate himself to his family.

Reality had utterly crushed all the expectations she had.

Isaiah treated their home as nothing more than temporary lodging.

There were countless times he threw away the food she prepared for him.

Time and time again, he would ignore Coco’s request for a hug.

He was blind to her longings, cold-shouldered her every time, and even refused to approach her.

He never loved Astrid or Coco.

Astrid was the one who foolishly clung to her teenage obsession with Isaiah and refused to snap out of her delusion.

How stupid and naive she had been.

“Mommy, that person proposing looks like Daddy!”

Coco's shrill voice snapped Astrid back to reality.

Just as she prepared to carry Coco away from the scene, Juno suddenly stopped in front of her to cut off her path.

Juno eyed Astrid and Coco for a moment before remarking hesitantly, “Isaiah, didn’t you tell me you didn’t marry anyone and only pretended to just to get on my nerves? Why are this girl’s eyebrows shaped like yours?

“She’s… ”

When Isaiah looked at the shock and hurt in Coco’s eyes, he felt a faint throb in his heart.

Though it only lasted an instant.

Then, he walked past Astrid with Juno still wrapped around his arms.

“I have no idea who that is. A nasty coincidence.”

On the way home, Coco buried her head in Astrid's arms and cried for a long time.

“Is that lady the girl Uncle Isaiah likes? Is she going to move in?” she asked when she finally looked up.

Astrid nodded weakly.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a white car drive by.

She spotted Isaiah inside the car, putting on a necklace for Juno with a doting look in his eyes.

That was her husband showing affection to another woman.

There was nothing she could do to stop him or change things.

“Don't be sad, Mommy. You have me,” Coco declared firmly despite the lump in her throat.

“I will always love you.”

Astrid felt herself tearing up, too.

She embraced Coco tightly, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

When they got home, Coco locked herself in the room and would not let anyone enter.

Astrid felt her heart break when she heard Coco’s sobs filtering through the door.

It took a long time before she convinced Coco to open the door for her.

Coco was coughing violently when she handed Astrid a framed picture.

“Mommy, I’d like to take this with me when we go.”

It was a picture of Astrid with Coco.

Astrid felt a mix of feelings when she looked at it.

She knelt before Coco and gently wiped the tears from her face.

“Mommy will take more photos with you, okay? You won’t ever have to cry again.”

Coco felt weak and leaned against Astrid’s shoulders.

“Mommy, my chest hurts. Is something wrong with my heart?” she asked, her voice filled with grief.

Astrid had to calm her breath at the question.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. Mommy will fix it for you.”

Isaiah, there goes your first chance.

Only two left to go!

Isaiah didn’t come back home that night.

Just like their last few wedding anniversaries, Astrid was left all by herself watching over the table full of dishes she had prepared.

She waited until night turned into day again.

In the past, she would have called him relentlessly and almost begged him to come home to celebrate with her.

But now, she was no longer willing to humiliate herself.

Besides, Isaiah never cared about their marriage anyway.

Nor did he ever care about her and Coco.

She picked up the fork and went for a particularly large piece of marinated pork rib.

The rib was very difficult to swallow and somehow tasted bitter in her mouth.

It was a perfect analogy for their marriage for the last five years. There was never even a hint of sweetness, only sadness and bitterness.

She poured all of the leftover dishes into the bin and proceeded to pack up her luggage.

Then she deleted all photos of Isaiah from her phone.

She even tore their wedding pictures.

She went another step further and even uprooted all the sunflowers she used to plant for him in the garden.

After everything was done, she dragged her exhausted body upstairs to coax Coco to bed.

To her horror, she found Coco in bed with her cheeks flushed red and a speck of blood on the corner of her lips!

She almost shrieked in horror and immediately rushed Coco to the hospital.

Doctor Daniel Niell was assigned to attend to Coco.

He put a stethoscope over Coco’s chest and began his examination.

That was when they heard a familiar voice from outside the ward, “Which ward is Doctor Niell assigned to?”

“Mommy, I think that’s Uncle Isaiah!”

Coco's eyes lit up as she spoke, “Does he know I’m sick? Is that why he came to see me? Good thing I’m still in my school uniform!

“He once told me I looked very cute wearing it!”

Astrid told herself it was impossible.

Despite that, she could not deny that she felt a tinge of eagerness as well.

Perhaps Isaiah did come to visit Coco out of the goodness of his heart.

Coco had been coughing and getting sick frequently lately.

Isaiah’s mother had been calling Astrid recently to check on Coco’s condition as well. She would also instruct Isaiah to pay attention to Coco.

When Astrid turned, she almost lost her balance.

Isaiah was holding a little girl while Juno was trailing behind them with a gentle look in her eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with Emmie, it’s just a light cough. Don’t be so dramatic about it!

“Doctor Niell is very busy, let him attend to his patient first!”

"Juno, it’s not just a cough!” Isaiah looked like a nervous wreck.

“What if it develops into something more serious, like a lung infection? That’s very dangerous!”

The light in Coco's eyes instantly went out, and she suddenly hunched over and started coughing violently.

The sight of it made Astrid’s heart twist into a knot. She patted Coco on the back and turned to Doctor Niell.

"Doctor, Coco’s fever won’t go away, and she’s even coughing up blood. Please tell me if there’s anything wrong with her! It's not pneumonia, is it?”

Doctor Niell did not respond, he looked like he was put in a difficult spot.

Astrid turned to Isaiah and pleaded, “Doctor Lear, could you help me? My daughter’s condition is very serious and she needs to be looked at…”

Isaiah frowned when he noticed the speck of blood on the corner of Coco’s lips.

Again, his sympathy lasted only for an instant.

Then, he suddenly declared firmly, “Doctor, please attend to Emmie!”

Astrid looked at Isaiah in disbelief.

She felt chills all over her body.

Isaiah was not even trying to hide his favoritism for Emmie. He completely ignored Coco’s grief and tears in her eyes.

Coco did not mean anything to him!

Astrid walked away with Coco and took a taxi to another hospital.

When the doctor gave Coco an injection, the girl who had always been afraid of needles held back her tears and told Astrid, “Mommy, look, I’m not crying. Do you think Uncle Isaiah will like me just a little more if he knows? Would he come to visit me?”

Astrid looked at the longing in her eyes and felt like crying again.

“Coco, you are a strong and sensible girl. You deserve the affection of someone better.”

“But I want Uncle Isaiah to like me,” Coco sobbed.

“Even now, I don’t know what it’s like to have him hug me.”

Astrid felt like she’d been stabbed and subconsciously clenched her fists.

There goes your second chance, Isaiah!

You only have one last chance!