At the sea lion pool, Charlotte pressed against the glass, watching the sea lions tumble through the water, Luna and Victor standing on either side of her.
When a sea lion sent up a spray, Luna instinctively pulled Charlotte back—and Victor swung around in the same instant, shielding them both behind him. Some of the spray caught his back.
He looked down at the little girl tucked safely between him and Luna. She was looking up at him too. The two of them shared a smile.
“Uncle, isn’t it nice and cool?”
She tilted her little head, guileless.
Luna lost it. A laugh burst out of her; she covered her mouth with one hand, eyes on Victor across from her.
The corner of Victor’s mouth curved at the sight. He drew his arms back, then swept Charlotte up in one motion and announced, “It is, very cool. So—does our Charlotte want to go in and swim with the little sea lions?”
It was said in jest. He swung her out horizontal and made as if to toss her straight into the pool. Charlotte grabbed his sleeve in a panic, shaking her head, laughing hard. “I don’t want to swim!”
Luna stood to one side with her arms crossed, watching the two of them carry on, her whole face easy, lips curved with a smile.
“No swimming, then. On to our next stop.”
She picked up the thread for them. Charlotte nodded at once, then reached her arms toward Luna, blinking those big eyes, asking to be carried—but Victor hoisted her up first. “Uncle’s the strong one. I’ll carry you.”
Luna laughed softly and left the two of them to their nonsense, turning instead to admire the scenery around her as she set off along the path she’d picked.
“Uncle, Mommy’s getting away! Go chase her!”
Charlotte turned, spotted Luna already several meters ahead, and pointed with all her might, shouting in that babyish voice.
Victor followed her finger, settled the hat back on the little girl’s head, and charged. A few strides put him in front of Luna; then he pivoted and walked backward, grinning at her the whole way.
Luna threw both hands in the air, cheering. “You caught Mommy!”
……
They made their way north, riding the zoo’s tram past Tiger Mountain, the Congo Gorilla Forest, Jungle World, and the African savanna.
By the sixth stop on the route, evening had come and the sky was hung with sunset clouds.
The three of them boarded the monorail, gliding across forty acres of Asian grassland where tigers, elephants, and other animals roamed in relatively open space.
The monorail car was a shared, semi-enclosed space. The three sat in one row, Charlotte in the middle.
The train rocked gently as it started up. Charlotte’s eyes shone with excitement, her energy still boundless—while Luna, for her part, was already feeling the day’s fatigue.
Halfway through the twenty-minute ride, she picked up her phone and snapped a profile shot of Charlotte.
Only when she pulled the phone back and zoomed in did she spot it: besides Charlotte’s face, there was Victor’s “paw”—extended into frame at who knows when—photobombing with a peace sign…
She pressed her lips together and shot him a look from beneath raised brows. Victor, seated on her other side, caught her looking and tilted his head over, lips curving in a faint smile.
Then Charlotte, seated between them, swung her head left and right, blinking, thinking hard for a good while—before tugging at the hem of Luna’s clothes and saying in a small voice:
“Mommy, can we take a picture with Uncle? All of us together?”
Luna went still, her fingers tightening around the phone without her meaning them to. Then she nodded and looked toward Victor.
His arm was already extended, his body leaning in from his side, half-wrapping the two of them within the span of his embrace.
Luna raised her phone and flipped to the front camera. She was just reaching to pick Charlotte up when Victor swept the little girl into his arms a beat faster—and then leaned in beside her, easy and natural.
Shoulder to shoulder, fabric brushing fabric, the photo froze the three of them in that exact moment.
——
By the time they got back to Dihuan Residences from the zoo, Charlotte was drowsy with sleep, held in Luna’s arms. Victor stood by the door, watching mother and daughter go inside.
He lingered where he was for a good while before turning to unlock his own door. The instant his hand closed on the handle, the phone in his pocket suddenly buzzed.
He pulled it out. His mother—Madam Mida.
He frowned, swiped to answer. “Hello.”
“Victor. Tomorrow’s meeting. You will be there on time.”
Mida’s tone was grave, her words a flat order.
Victor let two seconds pass, then answered with a thin, scornful laugh. “You needn’t have bothered with this call.”
With that, he hung up without ceremony and pushed open the door into the living room.
Across town, Mida listened to the busy tone, gritted her teeth, hurled her phone onto the sofa, and paced her living room with hands on hips.
That was when Pierce came down from the second floor. Taking in her mood, he chuckled:
“Mother dear. Has big brother upset you again?”
Mida turned to him, her expression softening not one degree. She sat down on the sofa, folded her arms, and fixed Pierce with a stare from across the couch.
“Pierce. You’d best behave yourself too. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours.”
Her face was stern, her voice an undisguised warning.
Pierce froze for a heartbeat—then the smiling mask slid back into place. “Mother. What could I possibly do?” he murmured.
Mother and son stared each other down. The moment Mida looked away, Pierce’s eyes narrowed, something shrewd glinting in them. No one saw what he was planning.
……
Mid-morning, Daisy called to remind Luna she had a midday shift.
Luna had slept straight through till morning, her legs still heavy with fatigue from yesterday’s long trek. Once Lynne arrived to watch Charlotte, she headed out.
She had just pulled up at Qiaoling International’s airport when a call came through, the ringing relentless. She parked, picked up—and only then noticed there was no contact name. An unknown number.
She frowned, hesitated two seconds, then tapped the screen and put it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Luna—it’s Keane. There’s something I have to tell you!”
Luna frowned, pulled the phone from her ear to check the number, then listened again. It was Keane.
His voice was ragged and breathless, as if something truly urgent had happened. Luna replied, “Okay.”
He sounded like he was running, the line a jumble of crowds and wind. “Victor—he’s been in a car accident on the road. They’re rushing him to the hospital right now!”
He finished in a rush—then his voice swung away from the phone, shouting to the doctors on the other end: “Hurry! He’s losing so much blood!”
The words reached Luna’s ears magnified tenfold. Her hands clamped down on the steering wheel, her eyes went wide, her voice trembling. “A c-car accident?”
“It might have been deliberate! The bastard who hit him—the police are after him full force. He won’t get away!”
“Come quick! I’m afraid… I’m afraid it’s really bad…”
Keane’s voice trembled too, but his tone was dead earnest. And Luna understood exactly what he meant…
If something really happened to Victor, then he and her daughter might go through this whole life… without a father.
Her thoughts tangled into a knot. At some point Keane had hung up. Luna came back to herself and hurriedly dialed Daisy.
It rang once before connecting. Before Luna could speak, Daisy was already talking:
“Luna, we just got word from above—our crew’s flight today is canceled. Did something happen?”
Luna’s voice came out hoarse. “Something’s happened to Victor. I’ll explain later.”
A shocked beat. Then Daisy managed an “okay.”
Luna hung up, tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, and spun the wheel hard, the car swinging back toward the garage exit.