Chapter 231

• “No matter how many times I told him I didn’t do it, he just… didn’t believe me. After that, we grew even more distant. It was like he stopped seeing me as his daughter. I thought he didn’t love me anymore.”
• I paused, taking a shaky breath. “But then my birthday came… and I got a gift from him. He never missed my birthday, no matter how angry he was. There was always a gift. Always.”
• A fresh wave of tears blurred my vision. “I cried when I saw it. There was a little note attached to the box. It wasn’t much, just a simple message—but it meant the world to me. It meant he still remembered. I clutched that note to my chest and told myself that when he came home, I’d hug him. I’d thank him. I’d cry and tell him how much I missed him.”