Chapter 3 You Are My Dad

Five years later, at the airport in Ecraria, Claire was holding two flight tickets to her home country and staring blankly at them. Her thoughts drifted for a long time.

She had been living in Ecraria for five years straight, and not once had she contacted her family.

Liam treated her like she never existed, not caring whether she was dead or alive. If it weren't for Chantelle and Armand's engagement this time, he probably wouldn't have remembered Claire.

Claire didn't reminisce about the land she had been away from for so many years, and any last shred of feelings she held toward it was gone once and for all on the night she was exiled.

While she was unwilling to return and meet those who had hurt her, she couldn't win against her father's threatening phone call. If she were to disobey him, he would inflict harm on her grandmother.

Claire's grandmother was the closest family member she had in the world. At first, Claire wanted to bring her grandmother along to Ecraria so that they could live together for the rest of their lives, but she had failed to sway her grandmother's determination in accompanying her late husband and daughter. In the end, Claire had no choice but to let her be.

Her grandmother was the sole reason Claire would ever return home. She couldn't abandon her just like that.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Amidst her trance, Claire heard a soft voice next to her. She looked down and saw a four-year-old boy tugging at her sleeve lightly and reminding her with a solemn expression, "Stop daydreaming. The plane is about to take off."

Only then did Claire come to her senses, and the hatred in her eyes gradually faded into gentleness. With a smile, she scooped the child into her arms and said, "Okay. Let's go to the boarding gate."

At that moment, a tall man dressed in a suit and leather shoes strode along the VIP passage. His face was stone cold as he headed toward the boarding gate, followed by two burly bodyguards behind him.

Claire had bought first-class tickets. Over the years, she'd suffered greatly wandering in a foreign country alone, and she'd contracted numerous illnesses. Claire often experienced insomnia and migraines, and she was particularly afraid of loud noises.

As soon as she got on the plane, she covered herself with a blanket and closed her eyes to sleep. Though before that, she had reminded Ollie to behave and not simply run around.

Ollie was the little boy's nickname, and Claire regarded him as her most precious treasure. The kid was obedient. He quietly remained in his seat as he played with the toy his mother had bought him. When he glanced at Claire next to him, he was quick to notice that she didn't look too good.

"Mommy." Holding onto the armrest, Ollie looked at Claire with a worried frown and asked, "Are you not feeling well?"

Claire's throat itched, and she couldn't help coughing a couple of times. Her voice sounded strained as she replied, "I'm fine…"

After that, she realized that her words sounded unconvincing, so she looked at the boy with a small smile. "I'm a little thirsty."

Without waiting for her to say another word, Ollie had already gone to get her a glass of water. Sometimes, Claire wondered who the boy had taken after. Despite his young age, Ollie was almost as sensible as an adult and mature enough to care for his mother.

Before long, Ollie rushed over with a glass of water. However, before he could reach his destination, he collided with a man who was entering the plane. The glass in Ollie's hand tilted, and the water spilled onto the man's shoes and trousers.

Javier looked down at the water stains on his clothes, an unpleasant frown instantly forming on his face. "What are you doing? Don't you know to look where you’re going?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Ollie apologized repeatedly with the glass in his arms. When he looked up and saw the man's face, he froze on the spot. "I…"

The man was really tall with firm and broad shoulders. He looked exactly like what Ollie thought his father looked like.

Ollie's lips quivered slightly. The longer he stared at the man in front of him, the more emotional he became. After a few seconds, Ollie's eyes flickered and he lunged forward to hug Javier's calf while calling, "Dad!"

The two bodyguards behind Javier were stunned. Having worked for Javier for many years, this was the first time they saw anyone getting so intimate with him, not to mention that it was a bratty child.

On the other hand, Javier looked unhappy. He immediately removed the boy's small hands from his leg and warned coldly, "Don't go around calling strangers that. I'm not your father."

Javier had met his fair share of women claiming that they were pregnant with his child, but this kid was the first one clever enough to assert that Javier was his father.

Ollie stared at Javier's face intently, feeling utterly confident as he said, "You are my dad. Why did you leave me and Mommy?"

Slowly, Ollie sounded more and more aggrieved, his lips forming into a pitiful pout. Upon hearing his words, the passengers at the side looked over in their direction curiously.

The commotion eventually woke Claire from her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked to the source of the noise, then realized that her son was standing in the middle of a crowd, hugging a stranger's leg and unwilling to let go.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Hurriedly, she got up and rushed to the front, awkwardly pulling Ollie's hand. "He must've mistaken you for someone else. Ollie, let go right now."

Subconsciously, Claire felt that it was odd for the usually obedient Ollie to refuse to listen to her. He insisted on latching onto the man's leg while biting his lip tearfully, showing no sign of letting go.

Javier was cold-hearted in nature, but at the sight of the child's miserable expression, his heart inexplicably softened a little. With a frown, he scolded Claire, "Just how are you carrying out your duties as a mother? If you can't afford to raise him in a happy family, you shouldn’t have had him in the first place."