Chapter 2: A Life Unpacked
Lucas went still.
His eyes moved from the little girl to Evelyn, then back to the little girl.
The girl looked up at him without blinking. Her eyes, her brows, even the way the corners of her eyes curved when she was nervous—there was too much of him in her face.
Too much to deny.
But this had happened too fast.
It was insane.
Lucas stared at Evelyn. His throat felt blocked, and it took him a while before he managed to speak.
"Evelyn... what is this?"
Evelyn’s expression barely changed.
She looked calm. Not relaxed. Calm in the way someone looked after preparing herself for the worst.
"That night, I got pregnant with Cici," she said. "The doctor told me my body wasn’t in good shape. He said I might only be able to carry one pregnancy in my life. So I had her."
She glanced down at Cici, and her voice lowered a little.
"I was going to raise her myself. I wasn’t planning to bother you. But other kids have dads, and Cici wants hers."
After a short pause, she added, "And I’ve been busy lately."
Lucas opened his mouth.
No words came out.
Evelyn looked at him. "Can you take care of Cici for a while?"
Right then, a voice sounded in Lucas’s head.
[Super Dad System activated.]
Lucas’s pupils shrank.
The voice did not come from the hallway. It did not come from inside the apartment either.
It was in his head.
[Host, do not hesitate. The little girl in front of you is your biological daughter.]
[Main Mission: Become the father she deserves.]
Lucas almost stopped breathing.
A woman he had not seen in three years had shown up at his door with a little girl calling him Daddy.
Now there was a Super Dad System talking in his head.
No normal person would be fine after that.
And Lucas was not fine.
But then Cici lifted her face and looked at him again.
"Daddy?"
Her voice was small.
That one word hit harder than anything else.
Lucas stood there for a second, then stepped aside.
"Come in first," he said. "Both of you."
Evelyn shook her head.
"I’m not going in."
Her tone stayed even.
"Cici is your daughter. From now on, at least when it comes to her, we need to act like parents."
She knelt in front of Cici and straightened her collar.
"Cici. This is Daddy."
Cici looked at Lucas again.
Her eyes lit up at once.
Evelyn’s voice softened. "You kept saying you wanted to find your dad, didn’t you? Other children have fathers. Cici has one too."
She kissed Cici on the cheek.
"Daddy," Cici called again.
Lucas felt something in his chest loosen.
"Yeah."
The answer came out too quickly.
He crouched in front of her. He wanted to touch her head, but his hand stopped halfway. He was afraid of scaring her.
After a second, he gently patted her hair.
"Hi, Cici. You’re a good girl."
His own voice sounded strange to him.
Too gentle.
Evelyn handed him a large envelope.
"Birth certificate, medical records, health insurance card, temporary guardianship papers, and preschool information," she said. "Call me if it’s important. If it isn’t, don’t."
Lucas took the envelope.
It was heavier than he expected.
Everything inside had been sorted and labeled. Evelyn had not come here on impulse. She had prepared all of this in advance.
Then she pointed at the suitcase beside her.
"Her clothes are in there. She’s picky with food, so don’t force her. Wait until she’s hungry." Evelyn paused. "Just take care of her until preschool starts."
Then she crouched in front of Cici again.
"Cici, listen to Daddy, okay?"
"Mommy has things to do. I’ll come see you soon."
Cici nodded.
She was small, but she tried hard to look brave.
"Mommy, when are you coming back? I’ll be good. Daddy is lonely. Can I live at Daddy’s house?"
Evelyn looked at her for a long time.
"Mm," she said softly.
Then she stood up.
She did not say anything else.
But Lucas could tell she was not as cold as she looked. When she turned and walked away, her steps were slower than before.
Still, she did not look back.
A few seconds later, she disappeared down the hallway.
The doorway went quiet.
Lucas lowered his eyes to the little girl in front of him.
For a moment, he still felt like none of this was real.
Then he bent down and picked Cici up.
She was lighter than he expected. As soon as he lifted her, she wrapped both arms around his neck.
Up close, she looked even more like him.
Lucas had no idea what to say.
The system had already said she was his daughter.
But even without the system, looking at her face, he could not really deny it.
This little girl was his daughter.
"Daddy, I’m so happy," Cici said, leaning against his chest.
"Other kids have dads. I have one too."
Lucas tightened his arm around her.
"Yeah," he said. "You have one too."
He held Cici with one arm and dragged the suitcase into the apartment with the other.
The suitcase was heavy. The hard shell looked expensive, especially in his cheap little apartment.
Lucas carried Cici into the living room.
She looked around.
"Daddy, your home is so small."
Lucas looked at her, then at the room.
It was a one-bedroom apartment with a tiny living room.
When he lived alone, it had been enough. A couch, an old coffee table, a few storage boxes against the wall. Messy, but manageable.
Now that Cici was here, the place suddenly looked different.
There was no space for a child to play.
No extra bed.
No child-safe anything.
Before today, Lucas only had to worry about where he slept and what he ate.
Now he had a daughter in his arms.
Everything had changed.
"Your old home was big, right?" Lucas asked.
Cici nodded seriously.
"Mm-hm. Mommy’s house is huge. Like a castle. But sometimes Mommy isn’t home, and I stay with two aunties. I don’t like it."
She hugged his neck tighter.
"I like Daddy and Mommy."
Lucas lowered his head and kissed her cheek.
"Daddy likes Cici too."
The words felt strange.
But they were not hard to say.
A few hours ago, he had been single, unemployed, and living in a cheap apartment.
Now he was holding a little girl and calling himself Daddy.
Lucas looked around the living room again.
Then he made up his mind.
"Daddy will find us a bigger place in the next couple of days."
His company had not been doing well, and Lucas had been laid off last month.
Luckily, he had always been careful with money. The severance pay was decent too. He still had a little over twenty thousand dollars in the bank.
Before, that money was supposed to keep him alive until he found another job.
Now it had another use.
Cici tilted her head.
"Daddy, why don’t you live with Mommy?"
She asked it like the answer should be simple.
Children did not understand what three years of silence meant.
To Cici, if there was a Daddy and a Mommy, then Daddy and Mommy should live together.
Lucas gently rubbed her hair.
"Cici, Daddy wants to ask you something."
He kept his tone casual.
"Has Mommy ever had anyone else around? Someone she asked you to call Dad?"
