"Where should I go?"
"I'll leave a note for your mom."
Then he grabs a pen and a piece of paper to scribble words. "Your kid is at my place. Room 903."
Then he plasters the note onto the door. "Come to my room to wait for your mom, okay?"
"Okay."
Esme goes to the 9th floor with Troy. After stepping into his room, she asks, "Did you rent the room,
either?"
"No. I bought it."
"It must have cost you lots of money."
"Not much. Don't you also live here?"
"But we rented it…"
Troy frowns and sighs, "You must have suffered a lot with your mom."
"Not really, but my mom has suffered a lot. She works hard to make me live a happy life like my
classmates."
"Do you know William?"
"Of course."
"Doesn't he help you and your mom?"
"He has helped us. He's nice to me, but my mom doesn't like him…"
Esme starts to get sleepy, and Troy tucks her in and pats her back gently.
"You're like my dad…"
He's dumbfounded and asks, "Why?"
"Because my dad used to tuck me in like this in my dreams…"
Troy's heart tightens again.
It's twelve o'clock at night, but Karin and William fail to find Esme. William suddenly says, "Is she at
Troy's?" Karin shakes her head as she doesn't think Troy will steal her child. "He's not a bad guy."
"I don't think so. What if he's curious about Esme."
"You mean he'll bring her to take a DNA test?"
"Yep."
"Drive me home."
She has tried to persuade herself that Troy has nothing to do with Esme's missing. But she can't find
her daughter anywhere. Maybe Troy has taken her away.
William drives Karin to her home and wants to keep her company, but Karin refuses. "Thank you for
looking for Esme with me. It's too late, and you should go home to have a rest." William knows what
she means and says, "Okay. Remember to call me if you find Esme."
"Okay."
Then she hastily rushes to her home as she thinks she'll find Esme waiting at the door, but she finds no
Esme but a note. After reading it, her face darkens…
Her tears streaming down her face as she's afraid Troy would bring Esme to take a DNA test. If he
knows Esme is his daughter, he'll grab her away.
She quickly runs into the lift and rushes to the 9th floor. Taking a deep breath, she knocks hard on the
door of Room 903. She's too nervous to notice the doorbell.
As soon as the door is opened, she takes in her daughter's sleeping face. Before Troy could explain
anything, he is slapped in his face.
Then Karin rushes into the living room and holds Esme tight in her arms, leaving Troy's room.
Suddenly, Troy grabs her by the arm, but she shoots him a glare and walks away, not giving him a
chance to say anything.
After returning her home, she wakes up Esme and questions angrily, "Why were you at his place?"
Esme is scared by her mother's anger and weeps, "I was afraid to go home…"
"How dared you go to his place? What has he done to you?"
"He took me to KFC…"
"And?"
"And he took me to his home."
She tries hard to calm herself down. "Did he bring you to hospital to draw your blood?"
"No."
Karin's still in panic. "Why were you with him?"
"I had a fight with my classmates. I was afraid that you'd be angry with me, so I secretly slipped
away…"
Then Esme elaborates what happened between her and Troy, which leaves Karin in deep terror. She
feels sorry that she has wrongly blamed Troy for stealing Esme away; she also feels upset as Esme
has told Troy that she doesn't know who's her father…
Troy's so clever that he can figure out he might be Esme's father. She wishes she could go back and
change everything, but she can't.
She feels desperately helpless. She can neither lose Esme nor gets back with the man together…
"Give me your hands."
"Mom, I'm sorry. I'll never slip away…"
"Give me your hands!"
Karin orders angrily.
Esme slowly reaches out her hands and grunts, "Without my dad's protection. How poor I am…"
But for this time, her mantra fails to save her. Karin beats her hands even harder than ever.
It hurts, but Esme just frowns without crying.
It's the first time her mother has beaten her. Karin used to joke with her. But now she's really angry.
Finally, Esme can't stand it anymore. She apologizes in tears, "Sorry, mom. I'll never break the rules.
Sorry, mom…"
Karin quickly hides herself in the bathroom and covers her mouth with her towel to smother her cry.
As long as she thinks of the possibility that she may lose her daughter because of Troy's dirty tricks,
she's almost driven crazy. It's Esme who makes her want to be a survivor of life…
During the past five years, no matter how tough the life has been, she can survive as long as she
thinks of Esme's face, which looks like Troy, the man she loves.
A knock is sounded from outside as Esme asks, "Mom, are you still angry with me?"
Esme still thinks that Karin is exasperated by her slipping away.
She opens the door and gently rubs Esme's hands. "Esme, don't ever talk to that guy, okay?"
"Okay."
She nods, not understanding the reasons.
"You can't go with him anymore."
"Okay."
"Don't answer his questions."
"Okay."
No matter what Karin says, Esme will nod. Young as she is, she's aware that mom is the only one she
can depend on.
After three days, Karin runs into Troy again in the evening, not knowing whether it's a coincidence or
not.
Karin walks over to him calmly, but she feels that Troy won't let go of her easily.
Troy proposes, "Let's have a talk."
"We have nothing to talk about."
Karin wants to press the button of the lift, but he stops her. "Just a small talk."
"Step aside."
She glares at him but quickly shifts her eyes away. Does she have an illusion? She just notices
gentleness in his eyes.
"Who's your daughter's father?"
"I don't want to repeat my answer."
"William? But why doesn't your daughter know about it?"
Karin answers calmly, "My daughter is too young to know the truth. After all, I don't love William. There'
no need to let her know that William is her father."
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