Two minutes later, he leaned against the sliding door, watching Luna come back toward him, glancing over her shoulder every few steps.
“Go on back out,” she murmured, pressing her lips together.
Victor arched a brow and closed the distance step by step, his voice low. “Are you really that afraid of letting the little one see me?
“Luna, how do you know she doesn’t miss her daddy?”
Cornered by the question, Luna had no answer. Her fingers clenched—and in a flash she saw the past three years, raising Charlotte all on her own.
Of course she knew. It was just—
“Forget it. I’ll go over first. Call me if you need anything.”
Victor asked nothing more. He left it at that and walked out of the living room.
The door clicked shut behind him. Luna sank back onto the sofa, staring sightlessly at the sky beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Meanwhile, with everything put away, Mike poured a glass of water in the kitchen and set it on the coffee table before Victor, who sat staring coolly at his laptop, fingers tapping the keys at intervals.
“Sir, will you be attending next week’s product launch at headquarters?” Mike asked.
Victor’s fingers stilled. “No. I have other matters,” he answered quietly.
Mike nodded. A long silence passed—then Victor suddenly looked over at him. “Was there something else?”
Mike’s lips curved into a faint smile. He cleared his throat and glanced toward the entryway. “Sir, I ran into the lady from 2808 yesterday. And her daughter.”
“She’s an adorable little thing. She looks so much like—”
“You saw them?” Victor cut in, brow arching.
Mike straightened and gave a suddenly solemn nod. “Yes.”
Victor set the laptop on the table and leaned back against the sofa, pressing his fingers to his temples. He said nothing. A full minute passed before he rose, paced to the kitchen, then turned his head toward Mike and said in a low voice:
“Her name is Luna. See to her needs from now on.
“Consider it part of your duties.”
Mike nodded—then remembered the photograph he’d once glimpsed on the desk in the study. He hesitated two seconds before he couldn’t help asking, “Sir… Miss Luna. Is she the girl in that photo in your study?”
Victor didn’t hesitate. “Mm.”
Mike pressed his lips together, looking thoroughly enlightened, then put his serious face back on. “Rest assured, sir. I’ll see it done.”
Victor gave him a blank look and waved him toward the door. “That’s all. Go on back.”
Once Mike was gone, Victor stood at the floor-to-ceiling window for a long while, thoughts turning over and over in his head. Then he turned with quiet resolve and headed for the entryway.
Outside his own apartment, he stopped in front of the door across the hall, hands in his pockets, brow faintly knotted. He was just about to step forward when the door opposite was suddenly pulled open from within…
“Mommy’s taking you to—”
Luna never finished the sentence. She looked up—and there stood Victor. Her eyes went wide, and she instinctively backed inside, still holding Charlotte.
“Uncle!” Charlotte had already spotted him. She called out in a bright, ringing voice, a sweet smile blooming across her face.
Victor glanced at Luna first—she stood just inside the door, unmoving, her expression not unwelcoming—then his gaze shifted to Charlotte in her arms.
He stepped up to the doorway and asked softly, “Going out to play?”
Luna pressed her lips together. Before she could decide, Charlotte had already answered, nodding earnestly. “Uncle, Mommy’s taking me to the zoo today!”
Victor looked at Luna. She met his gaze and nodded once.
The next second, a gleam flickered through Victor’s eyes. He cleared his throat and arranged his face into something faintly pitiful, gazing down at Charlotte. “Uncle’s all alone at home. No one to play with…”
At that, Charlotte tilted her little head, brow furrowed in grave thought. A few seconds later, she pronounced: “Uncle, you’re so pitiful.”
The words came out in that babyish voice—blunt, utterly sincere. Luna, still holding her, fought to keep a straight face and very nearly lost.
Victor’s gaze slid sideways, catching the shift in her expression. The corner of his mouth curved, just slightly.
“Then ask your Mommy—may I come to the zoo with you?”
He tossed the question over, guiding Charlotte along one step at a time—and put the final say in Luna’s hands.
Charlotte’s head whipped toward Luna at once. She pouted. “Mommy, can Uncle come to the zoo with us? He’s all alone, and he’s a little bit pitiful…”
Luna said nothing at first. She shot Victor a sidelong look—he was still playing “pitiful” to perfection—then let out a slow sigh and tapped Charlotte’s forehead with one fingertip.
“Well, if our little Princess Charlotte has spoken, what’s left for Mommy to refuse?”
It took Charlotte two seconds to process. Then she broke into a delighted, toothy grin, threw both hands up and clapped. “Uncle’s coming to the zoo with us!”
A smile played at the corners of Luna’s mouth. By chance, her eyes met Victor’s. He had been watching her all along, and when she smiled, his lips lifted in a light laugh of their own.
They left the apartment—Victor at the wheel, Luna and Charlotte in the back seat—and set off for the zoo.
——
They entered through the south gate. The zoo was the largest urban zoo in the world—two hundred and sixty-five acres of it—and covering the whole thing in a single day was nearly impossible.
Luna had done her homework in advance and picked a balanced route from the south gate—roughly four hours, give or take.
Inside, Luna walked ahead with Charlotte’s hand in hers. The sun was strong, so she settled a yellow bucket hat printed with sunflowers onto the little girl’s head.
Victor followed a steady two meters behind. Once her hat was on, Charlotte turned to look back at him. “Uncle, you have to keep up with me and Mommy, okay?”
The words were barely out before she darted over, seized his hand, and tugged him up to walk beside Luna.
Luna was wearing a hat of her own. She glanced at Victor now planted at her side, her gaze drifting up to the top of his head—and remembered that he’d only decided to tag along at the last minute. He hadn’t brought anything for the sun…
It was just past ten in the morning, the sunlight so fierce it made your eyes water.
All he had was a pair of sunglasses hooked at his collar. Luna frowned slightly and dug into her little backpack.
Victor caught the motion, brow lifting. “What is it?”
Right then she fished out a baseball cap and handed it over without ceremony. “Lucky you. I packed a spare.”
The cap was shoved into his hand. Before he could react, Charlotte tugged at his fingers, and he looked down at her.
“Uncle, crouch down a little,” the little one murmured.
Victor crouched to her eye level.
The next second, Charlotte plucked the cap out of his hand and plopped it on his head, fitting it on him with the utmost seriousness, then reached up one little paw and patted the crown of his head.
When she was done, she stepped back, splitting into a wide, adorable grin. “OK! Now me, Mommy, and Uncle—everyone’s got a hat!”
Nothing delighted a child quite like “I have one, you have one, everybody matches.”
Victor could only stare as this tiny grown-up fitted a hat on him before his eyes, warmth welling up in his chest. The next instant, he scooped her into his arms, rose to his feet, and lifted her high overhead.
Charlotte’s eyes curved into two little crescents, her laughter ringing out crisp as silver bells; passersby couldn’t help turning to look.
Luna stood to one side, watching the two of them… father and daughter, one big and one small. Somewhere deep in her chest, a glacier—rigid and stubborn for three years—melted by slow degrees, and a soft smile spread across her lips.
By the planned route, the sea lion pool came first.
Victor carried Charlotte, Luna walked at his side, and the two adults and one small child made their way along the path.
Behind them, a dark figure that had been hiding there no one knew how long stepped out from behind a flowering hedge.
He raised his camera, framed the three retreating figures, and pressed the shutter…
——