"Kayla..." I mumbled her name under my breath.

It was only when my gaze landed on Kayla that it finally occurred to me that I hadn’t seen her for quite some time now. Caught between work and everything else, I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw her standing right here in front of me.

Despite everything that had happened in between, and the fact that she had chosen Jessica over me, she was still my daughter whom I love endlessly. She was still my little girl.

Hot tears pricked at my eyes, and my hand reached out towards her naturally, wanting to pull her into an embrace.

"I miss—" The words barely left the tip of my tongue when I was interrupted by my daughter’s curt response.

"What are you doing here?" Kayla questioned with what seemed like disdain as she wrapped her arm around my stepsister’s arm protectively, levelling me with a glare.

My arm quickly fell back to my side at the sight of the frown etched between her brows. The smile on my face faltered as my brows knitted together. "What?"

"What did you say to Auntie Jessica? Did you make Auntie Jessica upset?" Her tone was accusatory, my own daughter siding with my stepsister instead of me. Not going to lie, it did sting a little, but maybe I did deserve it after leaving her.

My stepsister looked down at her, one hand smoothing down Kayla’s dark brown hair, a sad smile plastered across her face as she broke the news. "Your mum wants to take her house back. I’m sorry, darling, but...we need to pack up and move out."

My daughter whipped her head back around to meet my eyes, shock evident on her face as her little mind processed the words. "We are moving out?" She asked, confusion laced her soft voice. "Why? What happened?"

Jessica nodded with a solemn look on her face, her hand now resting on my daughter’s shoulder. "This is your mother’s house," she explained. "We need to leave, or else she will get people to chase us out."

Kayla turned to look at me. "Mummy, are you going to chase us out?"

"I..." The word caught in my throat as my mind ran wild with thoughts. Anger and disdain, I could deal with. But sadness and vulnerability? That I couldn’t.

My daughter’s wide brown eyes stared up at me expectantly.

Waiting.

Hoping.

And suddenly, standing in front of her felt far more difficult than facing Jessica ever had. Because Jessica’s disappointment didn’t matter, but Kayla’s did.

A lump formed in my throat. "Kayla, sweetheart—"

"Are you?" Her voice was small and fragile. It was the kind of voice that made my heart ache.

I looked at her, really looked at her. She seemed taller than the last time I saw her, even older somehow. When had that happened? When had my little girl started looking at me like I was a stranger?

"No," I said softly, the word eventually leaving my lips. "I’m not trying to chase you out. I won’t do that to you."

"What about Auntie Jessica and her little baby in her tummy?"

Silence settled between us for what seemed like an eternity as I pondered how to break the news to her. "She and daddy will have to leave," I finally said and watched the light in her eyes extinguish. "You can come stay with mummy."

Jessica seized the opportunity immediately. A sad expression appeared on her face, one that looked completely rehearsed. "See?" she murmured softly to Kayla. "I told you. I’ll have to leave."

"No! I don’t want to go with you!" Kayla cried out loud, turning away from me to cling to Jessica even tighter than before, refusing to let her go. "I want to be with Auntie Jessica. I don’t want her to leave." She buried her face in my stepsister’s embrace.

The sight broke my heart entirely.

"Oh, Kayla..." Jessica muttered under her breath as she patted Kayla on her back, letting my daughter sob into her arms. She held her little face in her hands, using her thumb to wipe the tears off Kayla’s rosy cheeks as the corners of her lips curled into a small smile. "You need to go with your mum. I’m not going anywhere, you can always come to find me when you are free."

Kayla shook her head, a small pout sitting on her lips and her eyes shining with tears. "No, I want to be with you. I don’t want to go with mummy."

The words hit me harder than any slap ever could. Hearing my own daughter reject me so openly felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart until it bled.

The corridor suddenly felt too small. Too suffocating. The murmurs continued to echo in my ears, driving me crazy with each passing second.

My gaze remained fixed on Kayla as she buried her face deeper into Jessica’s side, clinging to her as though she was afraid someone would take her away. As though I were someone to be afraid of.

My throat tightened painfully as I reached for her again, only for her to push me away. "Kayla..."

Her shoulders stiffened. She didn’t even look at me. "I’m not going with you. I want Auntie Jessica."

Jessica looked up at me then. For the briefest second, I caught the satisfaction in her bright eyes and the victorious smile that flashed across her face. It disappeared so quickly that anyone else would have missed it.

But I didn’t. A bitter taste filled my mouth.

Of course. This was exactly what she wanted. She wanted me to be the villain, the evil mother who abandoned her child, the selfish woman throwing a pregnant mistress and an innocent little girl out onto the streets. And judging by the way Kayla was looking at her, Jessica had done an excellent job painting that picture.

I let out a breath. "Mummy won’t force you if you don’t want to come with me. But there’s something I need to tell you."

Kayla lifted her head to meet my gaze this time. Her eyes were red and puffy, and my chest ached at the sight. I slowly crouched down until we were eye level. Even then, she remained pressed against Jessica’s side. The distance between us felt greater than the few feet separating us.

"Do you know why Mummy left?"

Kayla hesitated, then she slowly shook her head. "No."

I looked directly into her eyes. "Did Daddy ever tell you?"

Another shake of her head. Before I could continue, Jessica quickly cut in, panic evident in her voice. "Kayla doesn’t need to hear about adult matters."

I let her words fall on deaf ears, and I continued despite her protest.

"Sweetheart," I said gently, "sometimes grown-ups make choices that hurt other people," I explained, and Kayla listened quietly. "When someone keeps hurting you over and over again, you don’t have to stay and let them continue."

Confusion flickered across her face. "Did daddy hurt mummy?" I nodded quietly. "But Daddy said you left because you didn’t want us anymore."

My heart dropped straight to my stomach. What? Was that what he had been telling her this whole time? Feeding her lies about me and driving us apart intentionally? But I wasn’t surprised. After all, I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this.

"Daddy said you found someone new, and you chose him over us. He said you didn’t love us enough to stay."

The words sliced through me like sharp daggers. A shaky breath escaped my lips. "No..." My voice cracked. "Kayla... Mummy never stopped loving you."

"Then why are you chasing us out?" She questioned, looking up at me with the same innocence in her dark brown eyes. "Why won’t you let me stay with Auntie Jessica and daddy?"

A sigh rushed out of my lips. The whispers around us grew louder, everyone had something to say.

"How can she be so cruel?"

"How could she chase out her own daughter?"

"Even her daughter doesn’t want to go with her, I bet she’s a horrible mother."

I didn’t bother correcting them. After all, there was no point in trying to do so if that was what they wanted to believe. What these strangers think does not affect me, but Kayla? She’s the only person who matters right now.

I grabbed Kayla’s little hands, but she only yanked them out of my grip, almost as if she was disgusted by my touch, disgusted by me. "If you want to be with them, I won’t stop you."

I rose to my feet this time, looking down at Kayla, who was still pressed up against Jessica’s side. "You can let mummy know if you ever change your mind, okay?"

She shook her head. "I won’t change my mind."

A wry smile crossed my lips as I looked at her. "Sure."

My expression hardened as my eyes flickered over to Jessica this time. "But I am still taking back what belongs to me. You and Lucas can figure something out, right?"

A soft gasp left her parted lips. "What?"

But before I could say another word, a familiar voice rang through the corridor.

"What the hell is going on?"