On Katie's birthday, she was eagerly waiting for her dad to come home and celebrate, but he never showed up.

Holding her smartwatch, she curiously asked me, "Mom, is this boy also Daddy's child?"

In the photo, my husband, Daniel Peterson, was smiling ear to ear, holding a little boy. His comment was: [Look at my handsome boy!]

That's when I realized that Daniel, who had used a meeting as an excuse to skip Katie's birthday, was actually having a great time at the amusement park with his lover's son.

He even went so far as to block me on social media.

I grabbed Katie's smartwatch and left a comment on Daniel's post: [You're just her cash machine, you pathetic cheater!]

Then, I turned to look at Katie who sat sadly in my arms. This time, I finally gave up.

From now on, Daniel would not be allowed to enter this house!

——

It didn't even take three seconds before Daniel's call came through.

As soon as I answered, he started yelling at me.

"Lisa, have you lost all manners? What are you doing leaving ridiculous comments with Katie's smartwatch? Delete it now!"

I didn't answer him and instead asked, "Do you even remember it's Katie's birthday today?"

Since Katie was born, Daniel has always had an excuse to miss her birthdays.

Every time I saw Katie's disappointed face, it broke my heart.

So this time, before I left in the morning, I reminded Daniel.

His tone was full of impatience. "Lisa, you've told me this a thousand times already! I'm not senile. Can you stop repeating yourself?"

I could only smile helplessly. For the sake of Katie's birthday wish, I didn't want to argue with him.

I even called Daniel again that afternoon to remind him, but he snapped back at me.

"Lisa, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me when I'm at work!

"You're affecting my job. I'm working so hard to put bread on the table. Can't you be more considerate?

"Who's going to pay the bills if I lose my job?"

Even though he yelled at me, I figured it was worth it for Katie.

I thought this time, there's no way Daniel would forget Katie's birthday.

But once again, Daniel didn't show up.

Not only did he completely forget Katie's birthday, but he was happily playing at the amusement park with Jessica's son.

Daniel's voice on the phone was still filled with anger.

"What's the big deal about a kid's birthday? You're spoiling her at such a young age—what's she going to be like when she grows up?

"A girl should be grateful just to have food and clothes. Always wanting to be treated like a princess—it's your fault she's becoming so spoiled and wasteful. I wonder who will even marry her!"

I bit my lip, looking at Katie, who was slumped over the table, feeling down because her dad didn't show up.

For the first time, I confronted Daniel head-on.

"So, you're rushing to play dad for Jessica Bennett's son, but Katie only deserves scraps?

"I wonder if Jessica's husband would crawl out of his grave to thank you for your dedication."

That comment completely enraged Daniel.

"Lisa, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?

"Jessica's a single mom raising her kid alone—it's not easy. Don't you have any compassion?

"Tommy grew up without a father. As Jessica's friend, is it so wrong for me to care for him a little more?"

"I just played the role of Tommy's father for a bit. What's the big deal?"

I clenched my fists, a cold glint flashed in my eyes, and my face turned into a mask of contempt and sarcasm.

I thought to myself, "You remember to give fatherly love to Tommy, but have you ever thought about your own daughter, Katie?

"Since the day Katie was born, you have been emotionally absent from every important moment in her life."

A wave of anger shot up from my feet to the top of my head.

Just as I was about to confront Daniel, a young boy's voice came from the other end. "Dad, I want to ride the roller coaster."

In an instant, Daniel's voice softened and he agreed.

It was amazing how he could change tone so fast.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" That's what he said before he hung up.

I stared at the phone with wide, angry eyes after the call ended.

Ashamed?

Yes, I really should be ashamed.

What was I thinking when I fell for someone like him?

Just then, a pair of warm little hands held mine.

"Mom, it's okay if Dad doesn't come back! I have the best mom in the whole world, and that's enough!"

Tears started flowing uncontrollably down my face.

Katie was right. Lots of children do just fine with a single parent.

Sometimes, just having a mom is enough.

Katie wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and said, "Mommy, don't cry! Katie loves you the most!"

Her little grown-up tone made me burst into laughter.

Looking at Katie's innocent face, I fell into a deep memory.

When Katie was first born, Daniel disliked her.

He was upset that Katie was a girl. He always wanted a son.

Even my mother-in-law never gave Katie a second look, always glaring at her, blaming her for being a girl.

And to top it off, she often tried to stop me from buying my daughter gifts.

In her words, "It's not worth it to spend money on a girl."

I used to think that, over time, they would become less misogynistic.

I worked hard to raise Katie.

I wanted to prove that if Katie was raised well, she could be just as good as any boy.

But I was constantly stopped by Daniel and my mother-in-law.

I wanted to sign Katie up for piano lessons, but Daniel complained. "What's the point of learning that? It's not like it'll put food on the table."

I wanted to sign her up for dance classes, but Daniel snapped. "You're spending all this money on her, and one day she'll just be someone else's wife!"

Yet Daniel was more than willing to spend all his savings on Jessica's son.

Soccer club, violin lessons, chess lessons...

Whatever Tommy wanted to learn, Daniel happily agreed.

Once, I accidentally found these receipts and angrily confronted Daniel, but he felt completely justified.

"I earn the money, I'll spend it on whoever I want. I'm your husband, not your slave!"

For Katie's sake, for the sake of a complete family, I swallowed my pride and put up with it.

I just wanted him to give Katie a little bit of fatherly love.

Now I see how wrong I was.

I no longer expected him to change ever. Divorce immediately crossed my mind.

Lost in thought, I looked at Katie's puzzled little face and softly asked, "Katie, would you be sad if Mom and Dad separated?"

Katie blinked at me, looking confused. "Weren't you always living apart?"

Her words made everything suddenly clear to me.

I laughed at myself quietly.

Ever since Jessica returned to LA with her son, Daniel had been coming up with all sorts of excuses to sleep in separate rooms.

He slept in the master bedroom, and Katie and I shared her room.

Hearing what Katie said, I suddenly felt at peace.

Katie needed a father, that is true.

But it's not like Daniel would ever be her father in this lifetime.

Daniel and I had long been strangers living under the same roof.

If Katie had thrived before without her father's presence, she could surely do just as well without him in the future.

I happily pulled Katie into my arms, snuggling into her fluffy hair, making her giggle.

I had been limiting myself before.

Now I understood—without a husband, my life would still be beautiful.

After her birthday party was over and Katie was settled in bed, Daniel finally came home, hours late.

He paused at the sight of the decorations, then started complaining.

"It's just a birthday, why make such a big fuss? What a waste of money. You should not spoil her! Do you even know how to be a good mother?"

Seeing that I wasn't responding to his ranting and just silently tidying up with my back to him, Daniel stopped talking, awkwardly handing me a stuffed toy.

"This is Katie's birthday gift. Don't go saying I don't think of her."

I glanced at it.

The toy wasn't even wrapped, and there was dust on it—it had clearly been left outside for a while.

I immediately remembered something.

There was a picture on Daniel's social media of him playing a shooting game with Tommy at the amusement park.

The stuffed toy was clearly a prize from that game.

Even her birthday present was so half-hearted.

I didn't need to guess—it was obviously something Tommy didn't want, so Daniel brought it back for Katie.

I used to think that, at the very least, Katie held some place in Daniel's heart as his biological daughter.

Now, I scoffed at that idea.

"This toy's filthy. I won't let Katie touch it. Let's just throw it away." I didn't hesitate to reject Daniel.

He suddenly blew up for no reason.

"You always say I never care about Katie. Now I bring her a gift and you're still finding faults! I seriously don't know what I have to do to please you."

I found his hysterical outburst rather amusing.

So I directly called him out.

"If you had actually bought this toy for Katie out of genuine care, I would have accepted it for her, no matter what it was."

Then I added. "But if it's just something leftover from someone else, I can buy her something better. She doesn't need your pity!"

Daniel shot up from the couch. "Lisa, what nonsense are you talking about now?

"All I did was go to the amusement park with Tommy today. Do you really need to keep harping on it all day long?"

"Why are you making such a big deal out of nothing? You are a mother too. So why can't you show more sympathy towards other mothers?"

I stared at Daniel coldly, saying nothing.

He could've just said Jessica's name out loud. It's not like I didn't know what was going on.

"Even if it's a prize Tommy won, how is it a problem for him to give it to his little sister?"