As Ren was looking through the information given by Jada, the sound of a key opening the door suddenly reached his ears. Along with it came a sweet voice, "Mom, I'm back~~"
"Quick, get ready, our daughter is back." Upon hearing this, Jada quickly said, "My daughter is quite mischievous, be careful with her unusual questions."
"Okay, okay!" Ren nodded repeatedly at the warning about the mischievousness, although he didn't take it to heart.
In his view, a mischievous child equaled a naughty child, nothing major. Besides, whatever questions she asked would probably be within a child's range.
At that moment, he felt excited yet nervous because this was his daughter, his only child in two lifetimes!
Although he could tell from the photos provided by Jada that his daughter was quite lovely, Ren still felt some apprehension about meeting her.
At that moment, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange towards Jada. She should have let him know when the child was born!
Soon, a little girl ran in wearing bunny slippers.
This little girl had a face like a fairy-tale princess – a delicate nose, big eyes clearly inherited from Jada, but her facial features resembled Ren's.
She was beautifully dressed in a white dress, paired with bunny slippers, looking elegant and adorable.
"Is this my daughter, Yuta?" Looking at the little girl, Ren's heart couldn't help but race, feeling an impulse to hug her tightly.
However, Ren refrained from doing so. When the little girl saw him, she visibly flinched, then ran to Jada and grabbed her clothes.
"Mom, who is he?" Yuta looked up at Jada and asked.
"Yuta, didn't you always ask for a dad?" Jada patted the little girl's head. "This is your dad."
"Dad?" Yuta blinked in confusion, then stared at Ren's face. Ren waved back at the little girl, but soon his extending hand froze in mid-air, his mouth twitching.
"Stepdad?" The little girl tilted her head curiously.
"Biological dad," Jada said sternly.
Jada signaled to Ren, prompting him to understand hastily, grabbing something from beside the sofa. "Yuta, Mom said you like Lolita clothes. Dad brought this back from overseas; it's a mister's handcrafted piece!"
Of course, the package wasn't prepared by Ren himself, as he didn't have that much money. It was Jada's arrangement.
However, the little girl didn't take it. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sobbed, "Why did you only come now? Waaah..."
With his own child crying, Ren felt his heart ache as if it were being pricked with needles. He quickly knelt and hugged her, patting her back, "It's dad's fault, it's dad's fault..."
The little girl cried miserably, tears and mucus streaming down her face.
Watching this scene, Jada couldn't help but feel torn.
She had been busy working, thinking she could raise the child with money. However, from her daughter's look, she understood that her child had longed for her father's arrival.
After some time, the little girl finally released her long-pent-up sadness.
She tearfully looked at Ren and asked, "Why did you take so long to come back? Do you not want Mom and me anymore?"
"How could I not want Yuta?" Ren comforted the little girl by patting her head.
"Sniff." The little girl wiped her nose and retorted, "That means you don't want Mom!"
Before Ren could respond, the spirited little girl shook her head, "Also, Dad, what you did was wrong! Even if you're afraid Mom will leave, you should take Yuta with you! Yuta is so cute, won't your conscience hurt!"
Following this, the little girl looked at Jada, "Mom, apologize to Dad! You scared Dad away, you can't be so fierce! Sometimes even Yuta can't stand you~"
And with that, the little girl also displayed a helpless expression, spreading her hands in surrender.
Seeing this, Jada's chest heaved noticeably.
Why should she apologize? Was it easy to raise a child on her own while this person roamed freely outside? She had to endure the pains of pregnancy for ten months!
"Huff..." She took a deep breath, reminding herself that this was for the child.
Then, with gritted teeth, Jada reluctantly said, "I was wrong."
"It's... it's fine," Ren said, feeling a bit intimidated by the other person's seemingly devouring look. He waved his hand and also apologized, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have... um... left home. You've worked hard all these years."
The last sentence about "worked hard" was spoken sincerely.
Even though Ren had never raised a child, he had some understanding of the difficulties. The fact that the other person was able to raise the child alone while working was not a simple matter.
Jada, hearing this, felt uneasy and her previously stern face became somewhat uncomfortable. Then she nodded slightly.
"Alright!" The girl's mood changed as quickly as the weather in June, still suitable even for a five-year-old.
Seeing both of them apologizing, Yuta happily smiled, and thinking of how nursery teachers handled quarreling children, she raised her little hand, grabbed Ren and Jada's hands, and put them together. "Since it's like this, you can't quarrel in the future. ヾ(≧O≦)〃Aoh~"
At that moment, Yuta's heart was cheering with joy.
She couldn't wait for her dad to take her to school tomorrow!