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?"

"Can you stop being so petty?"

You can never wake someone who pretends to be asleep, just like a pig can't stop eating filth.

Fed up with talking to Daniel, I pulled the divorce agreement I had prepared out of the drawer.

I threw it at Daniel's face.

He fumbled to catch the document and, upon seeing it, instantly lost his composure. "Lisa, what do you mean by this?"

"Just because I took Tommy to the amusement park, you want to divorce me?

"You're being ridiculous over such a minor issue."

Daniel tried to vent his anger but was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

As soon as he saw the caller ID, he picked it up anxiously.

I could vaguely hear Jessica crying on the other end.

Ignoring me, Daniel reassured her. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon to take you to the hospital."

After hanging up, he shot me a glare.

"Lisa, don't keep threatening me with divorce for no reason. I'm not falling for it."

With that, he left without looking back.

Watching Daniel hurry away, I recalled the time Katie had a high fever when she was three, and I was panicking.

The only thing I could think of was to call Daniel.

But he scolded me. "I'm not a doctor and can't treat illnesses. What do you want me for? Just take her to the hospital."

After saying that, he hung up on me without hesitation.

That night, I stayed by Katie's bedside, unable to sleep.

Meanwhile, Daniel slept soundly at home until morning.

Now that Jessica's son was sick, he ran to her like a loyal dog.

At that moment, I felt utterly disappointed in Daniel.

Anyone who doesn't know would think Tommy's last name was Peterson instead of Bennett.

A strange thought suddenly struck me.

What if Tommy really was Daniel's son?

Since that night of our argument, I hadn't seen Daniel again.

But I knew exactly what he was up to from his social media posts.

Just a minute ago, Daniel had posted an update.

The picture showed a cross with a sincere caption: [Pray for my child's recovery.]

I never knew he was religious before. I sneered.

Thankfully, Katie and I no longer needed him.

Because of Daniel's post, several of our mutual friends messaged me.

[What's wrong with Katie? Is it serious?]

[Lisa, which hospital are you at? I want to see Katie.]

Even my parents called in a panic. "Lisa, what happened to Katie?"

I spent a lot of effort calming my worried parents down.

I stared coldly at Daniel's social media.

Feeling disheartened, I closed my phone.

I used to share many photos of Katie with him.

But he never showcased them on his social media and wouldn't even mention Katie.

I even had to coax him for a long time, only to get excuses.

"My social media is filled with clients. Sharing private stuff would affect my work."

Now, for the sake of Jessica's son, he was posting pictures and prayers without a care, abandoning those ridiculous principles.

Talk about double standards.

Fortunately, Daniel's absence gave me the chance to pack things up.

I worked tirelessly to gather my and Katie's belongings.

"Since you're eager to be someone else's dad, I'll just let you have it."

In less than two days, everything was pretty much packed up.

The moving company came quickly and took all our stuff in one go.

Daniel had been taking care of Tommy for several days without a break, and he was completely worn out.

As soon as he opened the front door at home, he shouted into the dark house.

"Lisa, run a bath for me! I'm exhausted after these days and need a good soak."

Saying that, he kicked off his shoes and slumped lazily onto the sofa.

One minute passed, then two.

Three minutes later, the house was still completely quiet.

Daniel suddenly jumped up from the sofa and called out for me a few times.

The only response was silence.

He quickly turned on the lights and frantically searched the house for me and Katie.

But he only found an empty house with no one else around.

Katie and I had vanished without a trace.

Daniel was stunned and started frantically dialing my number.

Just as I had gotten Katie to sleep, I heard the urgent ringtone from my phone.

Without a doubt, it was Daniel.

I answered the call slowly, without even saying a word.

Daniel's anger came through the phone.

"Lisa, how old are you? Are you really being this childish and running away from home? Bring Katie back right now, or I make you pay!"

I listened to Daniel's shouting with a calm demeanor and curiously asked, "How are you going to make me pay?"

Daniel was taken aback, suddenly at a loss for words.

He never thought I would actually leave him.

Because the moment Daniel showed any sign of anger, I would immediately back down.

It had worked every time.

So Daniel was used to it. He knew exactly how to handle me.

Unfortunately for him, he miscalculated this time.

Without Katie around, I was no longer the soft target he could manipulate.

Taking advantage of Daniel's moment of confusion, I said, "All that's left between us is divorce," and hung up and blocked him all at once.

With no more noise from Daniel, the world finally became quiet.

I glanced at Katie's peaceful sleeping face.

It was quite nice this way.

Life without Daniel didn't change much for me and Katie. We continued with our routine.

She went to school, and I went to work.

After all, Daniel had always been a barely-there presence as a father.

He was absent from every important moment in Katie's life.

We both agreed never to mention him again.

I used to worry that Katie was too young, so I tentatively asked her, "Do you want to see Daddy?"

But Katie firmly replied, "Katie doesn't have a daddy. Katie only has Mommy!" She was so sweet.

At that moment, I hugged Katie tightly.

Now, I am even more convinced that all of this was worth it.

Rather than let Katie yearn for a father's love she couldn't have, it's better to teach her to love herself.

In the days that followed, I stopped paying attention to any news about Daniel.

I thought he was happy confiding in Jessica, but then I saw him in the neighborhood.

I turned to leave, but Daniel was quick to block my path.

"Lisa, are you still not done with all this drama after so many days?"