Chapter 14: The Call Between Worlds
Buzz. Buzz.
Lucas’s phone started vibrating on the table.
An unfamiliar number popped up on the screen. He glanced at it and hung up without answering.
A few seconds later, the same number called again.
Lucas frowned and picked up this time.
"Hello—"
Evelyn’s voice came through the line.
"Lucas, it’s me. How’s Cici? Is she doing all right with you?"
Lucas looked at Cici, who was drawing beside him.
"She’s doing fine."
He pulled the phone a little away from his ear.
"I’ll let Cici talk to you."
But he couldn’t help grumbling inwardly.
Yesterday, Evelyn had said not to call unless it was important. Now look at her, calling first.
So she missed Cici after all.
"Cici, pause your drawing for a minute. Mommy’s calling."
Lucas switched to speaker and handed the phone over.
Cici cupped the phone in both little hands, her eyes lighting up at once.
"Mommy, where are you? Cici misses you so much."
The other end went quiet for half a beat.
Evelyn’s voice softened.
"Mommy misses Cici too."
She paused, then asked, "Is Cici doing okay at Daddy’s?"
"Yes!"
Cici smiled happily.
"Daddy’s food is yummy. Daddy is super, super amazing."
She thought for a second, then added with total seriousness.
"Even more amazing than Daddy Liam."
Lucas stood beside her and almost burst out laughing.
That’s my girl.
Keep going.
Hugging the phone, Cici went on in her soft, milky little voice, "Mommy, come quick. We can sleep-sleep together. Then when Cici wakes up, I can see Daddy and Mommy at the same time."
On the other end, Evelyn’s face warmed.
She remembered that night when she went to find Lucas.
Rain had struck the hallway windows. The lights were dim. When Lucas opened the door, he froze there for a moment. She remembered grabbing his clothes and telling him not to push her away.
But after she entered his apartment, everything after that went blank.
Only a few broken images remained.
Clothes.
Breathing.
Lucas’s hands.
After that, the drug muddled everything into chaos.
Cici’s existence proved something really had happened that night. But even now, Evelyn still couldn’t make sense of the details.
On his end, Lucas was already silently giving Cici a thumbs-up.
As expected of his precious baby girl.
"Lucas, you’re beside her, aren’t you?" Evelyn suddenly said.
Lucas answered, "Yeah."
"Can you step away a little? I want to talk to Cici."
Cici blinked and jumped in before Lucas could speak. "Mommy, other mommies call people honey. You have to say honey too."
Lucas reacted fast.
"I’m going to the bathroom. You two talk."
With that, he walked away.
Holding the phone, Evelyn lowered her voice. "Cici, things between Mommy and Daddy are a little special right now. You can’t say things like that again, okay?"
After saying it, even Evelyn found it a little funny.
Cici was barely over two years old.
Getting her to remember something like this was probably harder than getting her to write out Cecilia.
"Cici, are you happy with Daddy?" Evelyn asked. "If you’re not happy, Mommy will ask Aunt Claire to pick you up."
Cici panicked at once.
"Mommy, I don’t want to go."
She hugged the phone even tighter.
"I like Daddy. Daddy is the best daddy in the whole world."
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
Blood ties really didn’t play fair sometimes.
It had only been such a short time, and Cici was already so attached to Lucas.
"Then you need to listen to Daddy," Evelyn said. "Mommy is a little busy and might not come back until later. Make sure you eat well, okay?"
"Don’t worry, Mommy. I’m a good baby."
"Mm. Cici is the best."
Mother and daughter chatted a little longer before Evelyn hung up.
She actually wanted to keep listening to Cici’s voice. But right now, she couldn’t settle her heart enough for it. The operating room light was still on. Her mother had just been wheeled inside.
The corridor was very quiet.
The sharp, cold smell of disinfectant hung in the air.
"Evelyn, is Cici all right?"
Richard Sterling stood beside her and asked.
He missed Cici too.
He just couldn’t speak to her. If the little girl heard Grandpa’s voice, she would definitely ask where Grandma was, and she would definitely want to talk to Grandma.
Now wasn’t the time.
"Cici’s fine."
Evelyn put her phone away.
"Lucas is Cici’s father, after all. Cici is very close to him."
Richard nodded slowly.
"Lucas is Cici’s father, and you are her mother," he said. "No one can change that. But Evelyn, you still need to keep clear boundaries with him."
Evelyn looked down at her phone screen and said nothing.
Richard’s tone eased a little.
"I’m not saying this because I look down on him. I’m sure he has his good points. But the life you live and the life he lives are not the same. The pressure around you, the attention, the expectations—he may not be able to carry any of that."
He looked toward the operating room.
"And I don’t want to see my daughter make herself smaller just to fit into someone else’s world."
Evelyn nodded lightly.
"One day," Richard said, "you’ll meet someone who can stand beside you without making you give up who you are."
Evelyn didn’t answer.
What happened back then had left a deep shadow over her.
Marriage, men, a new family.
None of those words held any appeal for her.
"Dad."
She changed the subject.
"If Mom’s surgery succeeds this time, can you take control of the company again?"
Richard glanced at her and shook his head.
"Even if your mother’s surgery succeeds, she’ll still need several months to recover. It’s not going to happen that fast."
He said it like it was perfectly reasonable.
"You just keep managing the company. This is fine. Besides, the family company was going to be handed to you sooner or later anyway."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Dad, that’s not what you said in the beginning."
Richard gave a light cough.
Evelyn continued, "At first, you said I’d manage it for three to five months. Now it’s been more than a year. You’re not even fifty yet. Are you already trying to retire?"
Richard rubbed his nose.
"I don’t have a choice. Your mother’s condition is serious. I have to stay with her."
He paused, then added, "And as it turns out, you’ve done very well."
Evelyn frowned.
"But I’m too busy. Managing the company takes up too much time. I barely have time to spend with Cici."
Richard’s expression softened.
"Keep managing it for another half year. In another six months, your mother should be mostly recovered."
"Six months..."
Evelyn was silent for a while.
"Fine."
She leaned against the corridor wall, her voice lower.
"I only planned to let Lucas take care of Cici for half a year at most, too. Once Cici starts kindergarten, I need to spend more time with her."
Richard nodded.
"Mm."
...
"Daddy, are you and Mommy divorced?"
Holding her drawing pen, Cici suddenly asked.
Lucas’s hand stopped.
"Huh?"
He looked at Cici.
"Cici, do you know what divorce means?"
Cici nodded.
"I do. Emma’s mommy and daddy are divorced."
She lowered her head and poked at the paper.
"She said her daddy doesn’t want her anymore."
Lucas set the drawing pen down and reached out, pulling Cici into his arms.
"Cici, Daddy and Mommy will never not want you."
Cici lifted her head and looked at him.
Lucas kissed her little cheek.
"Daddy and Mommy aren’t divorced. Don’t let your imagination run wild, okay?"
If they wanted to get divorced, he and Evelyn would have to get married first.
Of course, he couldn’t say that to Cici.
Lucas glanced at the paper and pen on the table and quickly changed the subject.
"Cici, can you write your own name?"
Cici shook her head.
"Want Daddy to teach you?"
Her attention was drawn away at once.
"Yes, yes."
Lucas prepared the paper and pen, then sat down beside her.
First, he slowly wrote Cici’s full name on the paper.
Cecilia.
The letters stretched out across the page. For a little girl barely over two, it really was a bit long.
Lucas held Cici’s small hand and started teaching her to trace from the first C.
Five minutes later, the system’s voice sounded in his mind.
[Host, your penmanship has begun to improve. After ten hours of practice, it will reach Master level. After twenty hours, it will reach Grandmaster level.]
The tip of Lucas’s pen paused.
As expected.
Teaching Cici to write her name could improve his penmanship too.
His handwriting had always been ordinary. Legible, but that was about it. If he kept practicing, then at the very least, whether he wrote notes, birthday cards, invitations, or even his signature, he wouldn’t embarrass himself.
Lucas lowered his head and kept teaching.
Cici took it very seriously, but her little hand didn’t quite listen to her. The letters came out crooked, some fat, some skinny, and one i looked like a little worm.
Half an hour later, Cici slumped against the edge of the table, her little face full of misery.
"Daddy..."
She looked at the row of letters on the paper.
"Cecilia is too hard to write."
Lucas looked down.
C-E-C-I-L-I-A.
For a two-year-old, it really wasn’t easy work.
Cici lifted her head and asked very seriously, "Can I just be Cici forever?"
Lucas couldn’t hold back his laugh. He lowered his head and kissed her little cheek.
"Cici, that won’t work."
Her little face grew even more miserable.
Lucas pinched her small hand.
"We can’t give up over one tiny little difficulty, can we? Our Cici is the best."
Cici blinked.
"Don’t rush," Lucas said. "Daddy will teach you. I promise."
Cici nodded.
Lucas practiced with her for another half hour.
For a child that small, making it a whole hour was already impressive.
"Cici, what do you want to do next?"
Cici immediately perked up.
"Daddy, I want to go to the amusement park."
She hugged Lucas’s arm.
"Mommy took me to the amusement park before. The amusement park is so much fun."
"Then the amusement park it is," Lucas said.
He gently pinched her little cheek.
"But we have a deal, okay? Fun days are special days. We can’t go every day, and we still have to practice your letters."
Cici nodded obediently.
"Mm-hmm."
An hour later, Lucas brought Cici to the amusement park.
From a distance, they could already hear children laughing. The air smelled sweet with popcorn and savory with grilled hot dogs. Colorful flags hung above the entrance, swaying lightly in the wind.
Lucas held Cici in his arms, and her eyes could barely keep up.
Whatever she saw, she wanted another look.
Suddenly, she raised her hand and pointed not far away.
"Daddy, I want to ride that."
Lucas followed her finger.
A carousel was turning slowly, rings of bulbs glowing as the wooden horses rose and fell with the music.
Cici kicked her little legs happily.
"Mommy took me on that too, hehe."
