After leaving the department store, Moon and Yara, as usual, went ahead to drop Xavier off at home. Nathan had no choice but to carry his things and go with them.

By the time he got home, he was completely exhausted. He went straight to bed.

Late at night, Nathan was woken by loud, piercing cries. From the sound of it, it seemed that Mrs. Zane and Mr. Zane were arguing next door.

“You want to leave our daughter and me here alone and run off by yourself? No way! I absolutely won’t allow it!”

“I’m not planning that. I’m just worried that the conditions there are harsh, and you won’t be able to manage. You’ll be much more comfortable if you stay here. How can you twist my words like that?”

“I don’t care! I won’t let you go alone! If you’re going, I’m coming along with our daughter. Otherwise, you’re staying here too!”

…

Nathan heard rustling beside him. Moon was awake too.

The couple next door was still arguing. Moon let out a scoff.

“Married couples aren’t supposed to live apart. If they live apart, can you even call them husband and wife? Mr. Zane is wrong in this.”

Nathan felt a sharp pang in his chest.

So, Moon believed that married couples should stay together.

Yet, in his past life, she had taken Xavier with her and left him alone to take care of Yara in the compound.

Did that mean that, in her heart, Xavier was her true husband and Nathan was only someone who was there to care for Yara and serve her parents?

The thought made Nathan’s chest tighten. Tears welled up in his eyes. He asked in a hoarse voice, “What about you, Moon? Why’re you leaving me in the compound?

“We’re married too. Is what you’re doing any different from what Mr. Zane is suggesting? Or is it that, in your eyes, I was never your husband?”

These questions had weighed on Nathan for two lifetimes. He finally spoke them aloud.

Moon’s voice sounded icy.

“I said I’d come back for you! I thought you’d understand my choice. I didn’t expect you to be so petty!”

Nathan opened his mouth.

He wanted to say that in his past life, she had said the same thing and had never kept her own promise while spending most of her life with Xavier instead.

But who would believe him if he said that?

After everything in the past, he should have known the truth. Moon had never truly loved him.

Nathan closed his eyes and remained silent.

They spent the night in the same bed, but each had their own thoughts.

The next morning, Nathan woke up to find that Moon had already left for her unit.

After Yara finished her breakfast, Nathan picked up her bag to take her to school.

Just as they reached the door, Yara pulled a piece of paper from her bag and handed it to him.

Nathan took it and opened it. It was the divorce papers. At the bottom, Moon’s signature stood out in bold, confident letters.

Yara lifted her head proudly.

“I already got Mom to sign it. Now, you two can get a divorce!”

Nathan had been waiting forever since he had returned to the past for the divorce papers to be signed.

Even so, Moon had been the woman he had loved all his life. Seeing her signature on the paper felt like a knife in his chest.

He stared at it for a long moment and then put it away carefully.

He said tiredly, “I’ll find a time to file for divorce.”

Yara cheered and ran ahead.

When they got to the school area, she stopped.

“Dad, I can go in by myself. You can go back now.”

Nathan saw that the school was close enough, so he said nothing. He waited until she reached the gate before he turned and walked away.

Back at the compound, Nathan organized all the documents he would need for his move to Javerton.

Then, he went through the things in the house that he could not take with him and threw them away.

He figured that soon after he left, Xavier would probably move into the house. It was better for him to clear things out himself than to have someone else throw them out.

Nathan carried things back and forth three or four times.

When he finished with the last batch of junk, he dusted himself off and got ready to head home for a shower.

At that moment, Mr. Zane saw him in the yard and called out in surprise.

“Nathan, why are you still here? Today is the school’s open day for parents. All the other parents are already there. I stayed home because my daughter’s sick. Is Yara sick too?”

Nathan froze.

He had no idea. In his past life, he had never even heard of a school open day for parents.

He did not think much of it and assumed Yara, being young, had simply forgotten to tell him. After thanking Mr. Zane, he hurried to the school gate.

As soon as he arrived, a security guard stopped him.

“Which student’s parent are you?”

Nathan quickly scanned the crowd for Yara. When he finally saw her familiar figure, he discovered someone he knew was holding her hand.

It was Xavier.

The words he was about to shout died in his throat.

Why was Xavier here?

At that moment, Yara’s classmates were introducing their parents.

When it was Yara’s turn, she grabbed Xavier’s hand proudly.

“This is my dad! He’s a doctor! He’s amazing!”

For a moment, Nathan felt as if all the noise around him had disappeared. He could not hear anything at all.

Only one sentence echoed in his mind.

“He is my dad.”

From a distance, Nathan watched Yara pull Xavier’s hand and introduce him to her classmates one by one. She looked proud, like a child showing off something precious. Nathan felt a hole open in his chest. Cold air poured straight into it.

He and Moon were not even officially divorced yet. Yara had already started calling Xavier her father.

Soon, another familiar figure appeared.

It was Moon. She had claimed she had work to do that morning.

Moon stood on one side of Yara, and Xavier on the other. Each of them held one of Yara’s hands. The three of them wore the same happy smile.

It was no wonder Nathan had not known about the school’s open day, neither in his past life nor in this one. Moon had never mentioned it to him.

She had known about it all along. She had even discussed it privately with Yara and decided that Xavier would attend as her father.

They had joined forces so early just to deceive him, who was Yara’s biological father and Moon’s lawful husband.

Nathan remembered lying on his deathbed in his past life.

Yara watched the couple on the television with full attention and ignored Nathan, who was barely alive.

It all made sense. During the years Moon was on the island, she must have kept in touch with Yara. Perhaps Yara had already accepted Xavier as her father long ago. They only waited for Nathan’s death so Xavier could take his place openly.

Nathan could not watch any longer. He turned and walked away. The cold wind hit his face and dried the tears in his eyes.

He went straight to the city hall and took out the divorce papers. He signed his name carefully on the blank line and handed it to the clerk.

“Excuse me, everything is signed. Please, process the divorce.”

After checking the paperwork, the clerk completed the procedure without delay.

Only when Nathan held the divorce certificate in his hands did he truly understand that he had no connection left with Moon or Yara.

Over the next few days, Nathan resumed physical training ahead of schedule.

He had trained from a young age, but after Yara was born, most of his time and energy had gone into caring for her. The rate at which he trained had dropped a lot. Before leaving for Javerton, he wanted his body to be in peak condition.

Moon was busy as well. She was handling work arrangements ahead of her assignment to the South Sea the following month.

During weekends, no one was home to look after Yara. Nathan had no choice but to take her with him to the training grounds. He took water and snacks. He told her to sit nearby and play on her own for a while.

One day, not long after she sat down, Yara noticed Xavier passing by.

She rushed over excitedly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and refused to let go.

“Dr. Quinn, will you play with me? Dad always makes me sit here alone. I’m so bored.”

Nathan clenched his fists.

He had not seen that look of affection on Yara’s face in a long time.

Xavier smiled and patted her head gently. He glanced at Nathan, and a flicker of smugness showed in his eyes.

“You need to ask your dad if that’s okay.”

Before Yara could speak, Nathan drew a slow breath in and said calmly, “You can go play with Dr. Quinn. Don’t go too far, though. Be careful.”

Seeing Yara around would make him feel even more annoyed.

Besides, once he left, she would be with Xavier anyway. There was no reason to stop them from hanging out.

A flicker passed through Xavier’s eyes. The corners of his lips lifted slightly. He took Yara’s hand and led her away in another direction.

Yara did not hesitate. She walked beside him happily.

Nathan opened his mouth. He wanted to call out to them, but in the end, he looked away and focused on his training instead.

Nathan had just finished warming up and was about to start his training when he heard Yara crying nearby.

His face changed immediately. He ran toward the sound.

When he saw the familiar figures, his gaze caught on a line of blood on Yara’s forehead.

Xavier stood beside her. He looked panicked. He pulled gauze from his white coat and tried to stop the bleeding, but the blood soaked through it.

Nathan had no time to think. He picked Yara up and ran to the hospital.

The doctor worked for over an hour before finally being able to stop the bleeding with some stitches.

Only then did Nathan feel his heart ease. He turned to Xavier and asked, “How did Yara get hurt?

“You’re a doctor. That was a serious wound. Why didn’t you take her to the hospital right away? If I hadn’t been close by, she could’ve lost so much blood!”

Xavier looked shaken and tried to defend himself.

“I didn’t know she would be that energetic. I looked away for a moment, and she jumped off the steps and fell.

“Besides, I’m not a surgeon! It’s not that strange that I couldn’t respond immediately.”

Nathan’s anger rose.

Xavier was clearly making excuses.

Moon arrived at the hospital as soon as she heard the news.

She rushed into the ward. When she saw Yara lying on the bed with her head wrapped tightly in gauze, anger burned in her eyes.

“How did Yara get hurt?”

Xavier avoided her gaze.

Nathan held back his own anger. He was about to explain what happened when Yara spoke weakly from the bed.

“Mom, I got hurt because Dad took me to…”

Nathan was frozen in disbelief.

It was Xavier who had taken her somewhere else, and that was how she got hurt. Yet she blamed everything on him.

His voice shook as he asked, “Yara, say that again. Who got you hurt?”

Yara pouted as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“It was you! It’s your fault! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have fallen.

“And after I fell, you didn’t even take me to the clinic. Dr. Quinn was the one who carried me here.”

Hearing her twist the truth like that, Nathan felt numb.

Every breath caused a sharp sting in his chest.

The daughter he had raised for six years was accusing him without a second thought.

Even though he had decided to cut ties with Moon and Yara, she was still his own flesh and blood. How could he hold back when he saw her hurt?

Yet, she kept hurting him. Each blow cut deeper into his already wounded heart.

Moon gripped Nathan’s hand and pulled him out of the ward. She only let go when they reached a quiet corner.

Her head was pounding, and her voice was filled with rage.

“Nathan, is this how you look after Yara? You don’t even have a job! All you have to do is take care of her, yet you let her get hurt this badly! You didn’t even bring her to the clinic right away.

“I really have to wonder if you’re even her real father! Otherwise, how could you be so cruel?”

The veins on the back of Nathan’s hand stood out as he clenched his hands into fists. After everything he had lived through in both this life and the last, the final thread of attachment he had with Moon and Yara disappeared in that moment.

He only felt deeply disappointed.

Nathan gave a small, bitter smile and said softly, “Fine! If that’s how you see it, then I won’t be her father anymore. Let Dr. Quinn take that place.”

He was ready to let Xavier take the place of her husband as well.

Moon noticed that Nathan was calm and frowned.

But when she thought of the wound on Yara’s forehead, her emotions hardened again.

She was sure Nathan was only speaking out of anger after being yelled at. He loved Yara too much to truly give up on her.

Still, this time he had gone too far. She believed he needed to be taught a lesson.

“Why are you bringing Xavier into this? He was kind enough to take Yara to the clinic, and now, you are accusing him? That’s so ungrateful!”

Nathan chuckled, but his eyes shone with bitterness.

“Don’t you want him to be Yara’s father? Then, the two of you can be together publicly.”

Moon’s anger immediately flared. She slammed her fist into the wall beside his face, and her face darkened.

“I have never had any improper thoughts about Xavier! Stop making things up! There’s nothing between us!”

Nathan found that ridiculous.

If there was really nothing between them, why had Moon kept Xavier by her side and left him behind in the compound for twenty years?

If there was nothing between them, why had she thanked only Xavier when she received the Medal of Honor and mentioned no one else?

If there was nothing between them, why did Yara keep urging him to leave and make room for Xavier when he was on his deathbed?

Nathan no longer wanted to argue with her.

He would be leaving in six days. He could endure this for a while longer.