However, the child’s heart, which Winston had thought would soften in just half a day, remained unmoved even after a full week. Taking her to a store filled with her favorite brand of toys resulted in nothing more than her picking out a single teddy bear. Even when he gifted her an outfit of a popular animated character that was all the rage among girls her age, she simply declined, saying it was fine. Growing anxious, Winston eventually had an assortment of desserts made—ones that children her age would surely love—laying them out before her in an attempt to win Angela over.
“I’ll give you a one-percent share of Campbell Investment Company. You won’t find a more extravagant offer than this.”
Anyone else would have worshipped Winston like a god for such a declaration. But his opponent was Angela, Yu-jin’s child.
Despite his words, Angela merely glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to the various treats before her, showing no particular interest. She meticulously sampled each one, tasting them evenly, before finally selecting a lemon cream tart that suited her liking. Placing it on a plate, she took a small bite, then elegantly sipped her herbal tea. Watching her in silence, Winston finally lost patience and blurted out,
“What exactly is it that you want?”
Even in his frustration, Winston couldn’t afford to lose any more favor with Angela, so he did his best to suppress his emotions. However, even when he asked in the calmest tone possible, Angela remained indifferent, continuing to bring desserts to her lips. There was nothing Winston could do but watch. Only when she was completely full and could eat no more did she finally speak.
“Why are you asking me that?”
It was an incredibly quick-witted question. Perhaps Angela had been harboring that very thought all along, despite all the kindness Winston had shown her. Winston responded with a smile.
“Because I want to get closer to you, of course.”
Angela blinked at him with round eyes, then brought the teacup to her lips once more, taking another sip of herbal tea. Exhaling softly, she turned her gaze back to Winston. Finally, she spoke, her voice firm and unwavering.
“Mr. Campbell, that would be very difficult.”
“What?”
Winston instinctively furrowed his brows. At that, the child flinched slightly but did not lose her courage, continuing to articulate her thoughts clearly.
“If you want to be my friend, I’m sorry, but I have no intention of doing so. More importantly, trying to buy someone’s friendship with money isn’t right. If you want to make a friend, you should try to win their heart sincerely.”
For a moment, Winston simply stared at the child, as if trying to process what he had just heard. At first, he couldn’t quite grasp it. Then, belatedly, his expression twisted in disbelief as he gave her a skeptical look.
“Are you seriously only three years old?”
When he asked, filled with doubt at her unbelievable eloquence, Angela raised an eyebrow and scolded him in a stern tone.
“Judging someone by their age is very rude, Mr. Campbell.”
Angela deliberately folded the napkin she had spread over her lap and placed it on the table, lifting her chin with a defiant air. That stubborn expression, so reminiscent of Yu-jin, left Winston both exasperated and oddly disarmed. And then, he found himself even more dumbfounded. The idea that he was still hopelessly infatuated with Yu-jin was absurd. It wasn’t that. He simply couldn’t tolerate the thought of Yu-jin being happy somewhere without him—after all, Yu-jin had plunged him into utter misery.
“So, Angie, what do I have to do to get close to you?” Winston pushed aside the troubling thoughts rising in his mind and asked.
Angela straightened her shoulders, sitting up primly as she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“If you want to be friends with me, you should start by keeping your promises.”
“Promises?”
Winston frowned at the unexpected response, but Angela had clearly been waiting for this moment. She immediately called him out.
“You promised that if I behaved well, you’d let me see Daddy once a week. I’ve done everything you asked. I didn’t cause trouble, and I followed all the rules. So now, let me meet Daddy!”
Her demand was crystal clear. Of course, Winston had never intended to keep them apart forever. He had only wanted to build some kind of bond with Angela first.
But if he delayed any longer, their relationship would become irreparable. It was only just now that Angela had stopped bursting into tears at the mere sight of him.
That was all he had managed to accomplish so far.
Suppressing his frustration, Winston nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise.”
“When?”
The child didn’t hesitate to ask, pressing him for a definite answer. Winston had no intention of avoiding it, so he replied without delay.
“This weekend.”
For a brief moment, Angela nearly let out a cheer. No matter how mature she tried to act, she was still a child, and Winston caught the flicker of excitement immediately. However, Angela quickly composed herself, putting on a haughty air as she responded.
“Then I’ll be waiting. I hope you won’t break your promise, Your Majesty.”
Winston raised an eyebrow at the unexpected address, but Angela nonchalantly slid off her chair and gracefully exited the room.
Once the door closed and he was left alone in the snack room, Winston let out an incredulous sigh.
“Your Majesty? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He ran a hand roughly over his face, but it did nothing to relieve the frustration twisting inside him.
And so, time passed, and the weekend arrived.
***
“Daddy!”
“Angie!”
The moment they saw each other, the two ran forward, clinging to one another in a desperate embrace.
Winston stood a few steps away, watching them with a deep scowl. Yet Yu-jin and Angela paid no attention to him, lost in their own world. They clung to each other with such raw emotion, as if they were a father and daughter reuniting after ten long years apart.
It hadn’t even been a full week.
Winston was thoroughly displeased with the situation. He had kept his promise and brought Angela to the island on the agreed date, but absolutely nothing had gone his way. If anything, all this had done was reinforce just how unbreakable the bond between Yu-jin and Angela truly was.
They showered each other with kisses, hugged tightly over and over, and only after several rounds of this did Angela finally pull back and ask,
“Daddy, how’s your health? Is the baby okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Of course. We’re fine. What about you, Angie?”
Yu-jin hastily redirected the question, and Angela beamed as she answered.
“I’m okay too! I behaved well and stayed quiet. Even when I really, really missed you, I held it in.”
“That’s my good girl.”
Yu-jin smiled back at her, but his heart ached unbearably. Because of his foolish lie, Angela had suffered.
Should he confess the truth right now?
What was the point of keeping up this charade when he was already imprisoned here? Wouldn’t it be better to just come clean and beg to be sent back to the mansion…?
“Daddy, I got you a present.”
“Huh?”
Yu-jin, lost in thought, snapped back to reality at the sound of Angela’s voice. Blinking in confusion, he saw her holding out a stuffed toy. Dazed, he accepted it, and as he did, Angela’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.
“It’s a baby doll for my little sibling. I picked it out myself.”
Yu-jin’s eyes widened as he looked down at the stuffed toy in his hands. It was a teddy bear with a pacifier in its mouth, about the same size as a newborn baby—perfect for an infant to cuddle with. That is… if the baby actually existed.
“You… picked this out…?”
His voice trembled as he barely managed to get the words out. And that was when Winston, who had been silently observing their exchange until now, finally spoke for the first time.
“It’s true. I took Angela to a specialty toy store and told her she could pick anything she wanted, as much as she wanted…”
His words trailed off in a vague, slow drawl, his gaze shifting toward the stuffed bear.
“But this was the only thing she walked out with. She said one was enough.”
And even that one was meant to be a gift for her baby sibling.
Yu-jin felt a crushing weight of guilt press down on him.
What should he do?
Even if he admitted the truth to Winston, how would he explain it to Angela? Could he really tell her that the baby she believed in never existed in the first place? Even if she was still just a child, Angela was far more mature and intelligent than most kids her age.
His hands flew to his mouth, trying to stifle the words threatening to spill out. Unable to bear it any longer, Yu-jin suddenly pulled Angela into a tight embrace.
Winston, watching the two of them cling to each other as if the world might end, furrowed his brows in deep thought.
There’s no place for me between them.
Their bond was beyond anything he had ever imagined. If Angela even slightly accepted him, Yu-jin’s resolve might waver as well—but the child was like an impenetrable fortress.
What should he do?
What the hell was he supposed to do?
With Angela between them, both men were lost in completely different thoughts, each tormented in their own way.
As the stifling silence stretched on, neither of them could find the right words to say. Eventually, it was Winston who came up with a solution first.
While Angela had dozed off after eating a snack, Winston took the opportunity to pull Yu-jin aside. Without any preamble, he asked bluntly,
“When is Angela’s birthday?”
