The door cracked open and little Aera ran to Hyesun's bed; "Mommy," the little girl called excitedly, causing Hyesun, who was talking to herself and embarrassed from earlier, to jump off the bed in shock as the little girl called her mommy.
"Hey baby, don't trip. Come here," Hyesun said softly and helped the little girl onto the bed gently.
"Why do you look so happy, baby?" Hyesun asked softly with a smile on her face while the little girl grinned.
"I'm happy I can call you Mommy. I love you, Mommy," the little girl happily said innocently and hugged Hyesun, who froze for a moment.
"I didn't know the word 'Mommy' felt great. She called me Mommy and I feel like I'm her real mom and want to love and care for her more," I thought and pecked the little girl's forehead.
"I love you too, baby. Now come on, let's go have dinner, and you can go to bed early," Hyesun said, stood up from the bed, and pulled little Aera as they both walked out of the room and strode downstairs to the dining area.
While eating, Lee Ho Joon joined them as he sat across from little Aera, who was sitting beside Hyesun as she was fed with love, tenderness, and care that a mother gives to her children.
As Lee Ho sat down, the little girl giggled.
"Daddy, can I sleep with Mommy in her room today? I want to sleep by her side, right Mommy?" the little girl said, causing Hyesun to choke on nothing as she coughed and took the cup of water.
"Are you okay?" Lee Ho asked as Hyesun gulped some water and nodded her head.
"Yes, I'm okay," Hyesun said and gave a tight-lipped smile.
The little girl turned to her father again; "Daddy, I'm going to sleep with Mommy. I want to hug her when I sleep," the little girl said, pouting her lips cutely.
"You can't sleep in her room; you should sleep in your room and not disturb her, okay?" Lee Ho-joon said to little Aera, who curved her lips like she was going to cry as she turned sadly to Hyesun.
"Mommy, is it true that I will disturb you? I just want to hug you," little Aera said sadly.
Hyesun glanced at Lee Ho-joon and drifted her eyes back to the little girl, smiled, and patted the little girl's hair softly.
"It's okay, baby. You can sleep and hug me, so don't cry," Hyesun said while the little girl's eyes lit up with excitement, and she quickly pecked Hyesun's cheek.
Lee Ho-joon watched them and smiled secretly at the sight of his daughter. He felt good seeing her look so happy and free since she had been close to Hyesun.
After dinner, Hyesun took Aera to her room, brushed her teeth, bathed her, laid her down in her bed, slept next to her, and sang a lullaby until the little girl fell asleep hugging Hyesun.
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Lee Ho-joon entered Hyesun's room to check on them since his daughter was sleeping with her. He walked closer to the bed and saw how they hugged each other, sleeping peacefully.
After watching them for a few minutes, he turned back and left the room quietly.
————
A day came when Hyesun was flying to New York. Lee Ho-joon was incredibly helpful in assisting her during the process until her paperwork was complete. Without Lee Ho's help, it would have been very hard for her because her passport and everything were back where she used to live her life before, as a filial and obedient girl to everyone in her family.
Hyesun walked towards Lee Ho, who was standing and tugging his hands in his pockets.
"Are you ready?" Lee Ho-joon asked while Hyesun nodded her head.
"Yes," she said softly while Lee Ho-joon and Hyesun walked out of the house and towards the car.
Hyesun stood next to the door that was opened for her while she turned to Lee Ho, who stood as he spoke to his chauffeur.
"Drive her to the airport and make sure she is settled in the plane before you leave her, okay?" Lee Ho-joon said while the driver bowed.
"Yes, boss," the driver said and waited for Hyesun as he excused himself to the car, leaving Hyesun and Lee Ho-joon standing.
Hyesun bowed to Lee Ho-joon.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Lee Ho. I don't know how to thank you, but I will always remember how you have helped me so much until now. I hope I can repay your kindness in the future if I have the opportunity to," Hyesun said as she bowed deeply, thanking Lee Ho for everything he had done for her.
He saved her life, let her live comfortably in his house, and provided her with a lot that she needed, even without her asking for it. He had done so much beyond what anyone could do, and she could only be grateful and hope to repay his kindness one day.
"You should go now before the nanny and my daughter return home," Lee Ho-joon said while Hyesun nodded and bowed before hopping into the car.
The car drove out of the villa as the drive was peaceful and quiet.
Hyesun couldn't help but think about little Aera. She was going to miss her a lot, and she felt bad she didn't wait to hug her before leaving.
The car arrived at the airport, and the chauffeur ensured Hyesun was settled down in the plane before he drove back to Mr. Lee Ho's villa.
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Lee Ho was in the sitting room when his little daughter walked in with the nanny who had taken her out to eat ice cream.
"Daddy, see, I got Mommy ice cream too," the little girl excitedly said to her father as she ran to meet him in the living room.
Lee Ho-joon chuckled slightly and pulled his daughter to him.
"Mommy left, so she won't be able to eat the ice cream you bought for her," Lee Ho-joon said softly and patted her hair.
"No, Daddy. I left Mommy in the room, and she said she would eat ice cream with me," the little girl argued innocently as she pouted her lips together, looking so adorable but pitiable.
Lee Ho watched his daughter and felt bad for her, but what could he do? The girl loved Hyesun during her months here and had already taken her as her mother. She was still little and innocent to understand that.
Lee Ho sighed and tried to make her understand. "She is not here anymore. Mommy has gone back to her place; she won't be here anymore," he said softly, and the girl's face turned ugly as she burst into tears.
"Mommy left me? She doesn't love me anymore? She doesn't want to be with me again? Daddy, I want Mommy, please take me to her," the girl said crying while Lee Ho pulled her close to hug him as he tried his best to stop her from crying, but he couldn't.
"She will come back to take you, okay? She said that before she left," Lee Ho couldn't help but lie to her to make her stop crying, and the girl stopped as she raised her teary, innocent, adorable face to look at her father.
"Really, Daddy? Mommy will come back to take me? When, Daddy? I can't wait to see her again," the little girl asked innocently with tears still in her eyes.
"Maybe tomorrow, okay? So stop crying, or you will look ugly, and Mommy won't be happy to see you looking like that," Lee Ho said and wiped the girl's tears.
"Okay, Daddy, I will stop crying. I'm going to keep this ice cream for Mommy, right, Daddy?" the girl said as she grinned cutely.
"No, eat that, okay? It's going to melt if you don't eat it now, and you can buy another one for Mommy when she comes back to you," Lee Ho said while the little girl nodded her head innocently.
"Okay, Daddy," the little girl said while Lee Ho-joon let out a sigh of relief as he couldn't believe he stopped his daughter from crying, even though he lied to her about Hyesun coming back to take her.
He thought the little girl would get over it and forget about Hyesun after a while, but the girl always come to ask him every day about Hyesun and cried until he started to call Hyesun every night to talk to little Aera to make her stop crying.
Five months later…
"You can't stop me from seeing my daughter, Ho-joon. I want to see my daughter. You took her away from me all these years, and I should see my daughter too," Park Seo-yeon said angrily as she stood up from where she was sitting.
Park Seo-yeon is Lee Ho-joon's ex-girlfriend and also little Aera's biological mother. She had come to Lee Ho-joon's office to talk to him about her daughter.
One of the maids in Lee Ho's villa had been calling her and telling her how and what was happening in Lee Ho-joon's villa and found out from the maid that her daughter Aera had been crying over a woman Lee Ho had brought into his villa, and Aera had started calling her Mommy and loved her so much.
"How could that be? I should be my daughter's mom, not another woman becoming her mother," Park Seo-yeon had told herself that and came to Lee Ho-joon's office to talk about what she heard.
"Will you stop ignoring me and pretending not to hear me right now? If you won't allow me to see my daughter from now on, then I'm taking back my daughter from you, or I will sue you," Park Seo-yeon said angrily, causing Lee Ho-joon to raise his head to look at her as he stopped what he was doing.
"Why suddenly do you want that now? Remember I told you I was going to take my daughter after she turned two years old and raise her on my own, and we both agreed. So why now?" Lee Ho-joon said coldly with an expression that was not friendly at all.
"Well, I changed my mind. Now I want to see my daughter more often. I don't know how you want us to do that, but that's what I want, and you have no choice, or do you want us to go to court to sort it out?" Park Seo-yeon said angrily.
"None of that is going to happen. You gave birth to her, but she is my daughter, and I won't let you see her or take her. You should be ashamed of yourself for saying that, and don't you dare threaten me with court," Lee Ho-joon said angrily as he stood up, walking towards her with a cold, unfriendly aura that made Park Seo-yeon chill down her spine.