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It seems that the act of pushing her away and calling her uncle a little while ago was just an act of trying to get her mother to react. When Grace let out her anger at me and stopped saying anything to her father, the child began to reveal her true feelings.

Mom, I like that guy. Tell him he's my dad.

Ellie was saying it with her eyes.

Why do you like that guy in particular?

If he wants a father, I want to tell him that I will make him a better father, but when I look at the child's eyes, it is already too late. The child, who has never liked adult men, easily accepted that man. They say blood is thicker than water, so I wonder if I am unconsciously drawn to blood relatives who resemble me, or maybe I am just fooled by my good looks.

I felt dizzy at the thought that he had no eye for people. In a way, he was similar to me, so I had nothing to say.

"Ellie... ."

Now Grace felt like she wanted to hug Ellie, saying she was in pain. But she was an adult, not a child. She couldn't let a child who had been innocently swayed from the beginning by an adult's childish fight be swayed again.

Grace looked at the man with the same sore eyes as she did. As she saw his slumped shoulders, she remembered the image of him burying his face in Ellie's bonnet the night before, his shoulders shaking.

If he had tried to take her by force, as the man said, he would have done it already. If he wanted the word father and love from Ellie, he would have forced it already. Perhaps, that arrogant man would have said that he didn't need affection like yours and left even after this level of humiliation.

But the man, not content with staying here and waiting for the child and her sentence, has now knelt down.

"Grace, please...."

Still, I can't understand, trust, or forgive that man. I still want that man to suffer. Despite such cries of reason, Grace looked confusedly back and forth between the face of the kneeling man and the face of her daughter sucking her thumb and urging her, and she said without realizing it.

"That's Ellie's dad."

At that moment, the same smile was engraved on the two faces that were surprisingly similar. Grace swallowed a sigh and put the child on the floor. She gently pushed the child's back, who was watching her with sparkling eyes, and the child hesitantly approached her father, who was still kneeling.

"dad...."

The man, who had been watching with moved eyes as the child opened his arms and approached him, hugged the child as if he couldn't stand it anymore the moment he heard those words. Soon, the man's smile distorted.

"Our daughter."

Grace closed her eyes as the suppressed voice sounded wet.

º º º

For a moment, I forgot that guy was cunning.

"Wow!"

As soon as the door to the suite's living room opened, the child ran in and asked around the giant dollhouse.

"Is this Ellie's now?"

The man who followed her in leisurely nodded. The man who was patting the head of the child who was jumping around excitedly smiled, but Grace, who was still standing at the door, could not do so.

As expected, while she was away, the man had done some serious work on the child, so that she would be pushed by the child and would have no choice but to step into his territory.

I wondered if all that kneeling and emptying was an act. Now I felt like an idiot.

"Mom, Mom! This is it!"

When the child called her repeatedly and she finally stepped into the living room, the attendant who had been waiting behind her took her bag and headed to the bedroom inside the living room. The bag was only packed for a few days. She had no intention of doing whatever the man wanted.

"Mom, this is Ellie's."

"Ellie's dollhouse is better than Ellie's house...."

I didn't know it when it was on display in the department store. The dollhouse was foldable, so it was even bigger when unfolded. It was hard to tell the number of rooms at a glance. In addition, the inside was decorated with gold leaf, porcelain, and silk, as befitting a toy chosen by the royal family.

"Wow! The fireplace is on! The door is open too!"

The man, who had been looking at the child who was excitedly shouting as he looked into each room, nodded to the attendant standing behind the dollhouse. As soon as the attendant took a long cord from somewhere in the house and plugged it into the outlet, the child's eyes widened.

"The lights are on!"

The dollhouse was lit up by a small crystal chandelier and lanterns. When I saw it in the department store, I wondered why a wooden box cost half a year's salary, but upon closer inspection, I thought it made sense.

"Here's the doll, miss."

The attendant, who had said something to the employees, called Ellie, "Miss," and opened a large box and held it out. Ellie's eyes widened once again.

"What is Mom going to do?"

The child couldn't take her eyes off the elaborately painted wooden dolls in each of the many compartments, and the man lowered himself down to hug the child, who was intent on playing, and asked.

"Daughter, what will Daddy buy you tomorrow?"

"tomorrow?"

The child's attention, which had been drawn to the toy, was soon drawn to him, and Grace's unkind gaze was also drawn to the man.

"I'll open Mom's gift on Christmas, and open Dad's gift every day until then. What do you think?"

"really?"

The man nodded, looking into the child's eyes that sparkled with greed.

"So think about what you want tomorrow. Remember, Daddy can give Ellie anything she wants."

The man kissed the child's cheek and made eye contact with Grace. She glared into his smiling eyes.

The child was dozing off, but not only did she not want to let go of the doll, she even said something ridiculous like she wanted to sleep in front of the dollhouse. Eventually, she couldn't overcome her drowsiness and fell asleep in bed, mumbling about plans for tomorrow, like having a ball in the biggest room.

Grace was happy because Ellie had a happy day. But on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel lonely.

Grace sat alone at the bar somewhere in the spacious suite, nibbling the top of a cocktail cherry. The hand-tall glass containing a cocktail of gin, lemon juice, and soda water was already more than half empty. She was soothing her confused head with the drink and thinking the same thing the whole time.

Everything is unexpected.

From imagination to dreams, none of the things Grace had pictured countless times that would happen if she were caught have ever matched reality.

Although he used the drug to bring Ellie to the hotel using the innocent Ellie, he didn't immediately drag her to Winsford. Even though Winsford is far, the bed is close. I thought he would drag Ellie to the bed right away when she fell asleep, but the man said he had to work and headed to a conference room somewhere in the suite.

I was so shocked that I felt like this reality was a dream.

Grace, sitting on the high bar stool with her legs crossed, realized that another thing was out of the ordinary.

Why didn't you take away the weapon?

The holster around his leg still contained a loaded pistol. Perhaps he had forgotten it while he was busy with his child. But it was ridiculous that such a dog-like man would forget something so crucial.

Did they change their strategy to bind the mind rather than the body?

Grace, who had been lost in thought, suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. There was one good thing about being caught. At least tonight, I wouldn't have nightmares about being caught.

As she chuckled and threw the top into the ashtray, she was pulling another cocktail cherry out of the bottle. The door behind her opened and then closed. Grasping the cherry dripping red juice with her fingertips, Grace listened to the familiar sound of footsteps.

Soon jazz began to flow from the gramophone. Grace turned her head as the sound of approaching footsteps was heard between the piano and trumpet melodies. As expected, the man's lips curved softly as soon as his eyes met hers. Grace smiled, not with her lips, but with the corners of her eyes.

"Great song. It reminds me of the torture chamber. When I was first arrested, you used to come to me with jazz music on and your footsteps clanking whenever you started your interrogation. Those were good times."

The smile disappeared from the man's face. As he reached for the gramophone, Grace snapped back coldly.

"Don't turn it off."

It seems that the act of pushing her away and calling her uncle a little while ago was just an act of trying to get her mother to react. When Grace let out her anger at me and stopped saying anything to her father, the child began to reveal her true feelings.

Mom, I like that guy. Tell him he's my dad.

Ellie was saying it with her eyes.

Why do you like that guy in particular?

If he wants a father, I want to tell him that I will make him a better father, but when I look at the child's eyes, it is already too late. The child, who has never liked adult men, easily accepted that man. They say blood is thicker than water, so I wonder if I am unconsciously drawn to blood relatives who resemble me, or maybe I am just fooled by my good looks.

I felt dizzy at the thought that he had no eye for people. In a way, he was similar to me, so I had nothing to say.

"Ellie... ."

Now Grace felt like she wanted to hug Ellie, saying she was in pain. But she was an adult, not a child. She couldn't let a child who had been innocently swayed from the beginning by an adult's childish fight be swayed again.

Grace looked at the man with the same sore eyes as she did. As she saw his slumped shoulders, she remembered the image of him burying his face in Ellie's bonnet the night before, his shoulders shaking.

If he had tried to take her by force, as the man said, he would have done it already. If he wanted the word father and love from Ellie, he would have forced it already. Perhaps, that arrogant man would have said that he didn't need affection like yours and left even after this level of humiliation.

But the man, not content with staying here and waiting for the child and her sentence, has now knelt down.

"Grace, please...."

Still, I can't understand, trust, or forgive that man. I still want that man to suffer. Despite such cries of reason, Grace looked confusedly back and forth between the face of the kneeling man and the face of her daughter sucking her thumb and urging her, and she said without realizing it.

"That's Ellie's dad."

At that moment, the same smile was engraved on the two faces that were surprisingly similar. Grace swallowed a sigh and put the child on the floor. She gently pushed the child's back, who was watching her with sparkling eyes, and the child hesitantly approached her father, who was still kneeling.

"dad...."

The man, who had been watching with moved eyes as the child opened his arms and approached him, hugged the child as if he couldn't stand it anymore the moment he heard those words. Soon, the man's smile distorted.

"Our daughter."

Grace closed her eyes as the suppressed voice sounded wet.

º º º

For a moment, I forgot that guy was cunning.

"Wow!"

As soon as the door to the suite's living room opened, the child ran in and asked around the giant dollhouse.

"Is this Ellie's now?"

The man who followed her in leisurely nodded. The man who was patting the head of the child who was jumping around excitedly smiled, but Grace, who was still standing at the door, could not do so.

As expected, while she was away, the man had done some serious work on the child, so that she would be pushed by the child and would have no choice but to step into his territory.

I wondered if all that kneeling and emptying was an act. Now I felt like an idiot.

"Mom, Mom! This is it!"

When the child called her repeatedly and she finally stepped into the living room, the attendant who had been waiting behind her took her bag and headed to the bedroom inside the living room. The bag was only packed for a few days. She had no intention of doing whatever the man wanted.

"Mom, this is Ellie's."

"Ellie's dollhouse is better than Ellie's house...."

I didn't know it when it was on display in the department store. The dollhouse was foldable, so it was even bigger when unfolded. It was hard to tell the number of rooms at a glance. In addition, the inside was decorated with gold leaf, porcelain, and silk, as befitting a toy chosen by the royal family.

"Wow! The fireplace is on! The door is open too!"

The man, who had been looking at the child who was excitedly shouting as he looked into each room, nodded to the attendant standing behind the dollhouse. As soon as the attendant took a long cord from somewhere in the house and plugged it into the outlet, the child's eyes widened.

"The lights are on!"

The dollhouse was lit up by a small crystal chandelier and lanterns. When I saw it in the department store, I wondered why a wooden box cost half a year's salary, but upon closer inspection, I thought it made sense.

"Here's the doll, miss."

The attendant, who had said something to the employees, called Ellie, "Miss," and opened a large box and held it out. Ellie's eyes widened once again.

"What is Mom going to do?"

The child couldn't take her eyes off the elaborately painted wooden dolls in each of the many compartments, and the man lowered himself down to hug the child, who was intent on playing, and asked.

"Daughter, what will Daddy buy you tomorrow?"

"tomorrow?"

The child's attention, which had been drawn to the toy, was soon drawn to him, and Grace's unkind gaze was also drawn to the man.

"I'll open Mom's gift on Christmas, and open Dad's gift every day until then. What do you think?"

"really?"

The man nodded, looking into the child's eyes that sparkled with greed.

"So think about what you want tomorrow. Remember, Daddy can give Ellie anything she wants."

The man kissed the child's cheek and made eye contact with Grace. She glared into his smiling eyes.

The child was dozing off, but not only did she not want to let go of the doll, she even said something ridiculous like she wanted to sleep in front of the dollhouse. Eventually, she couldn't overcome her drowsiness and fell asleep in bed, mumbling about plans for tomorrow, like having a ball in the biggest room.

Grace was happy because Ellie had a happy day. But on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel lonely.

Grace sat alone at the bar somewhere in the spacious suite, nibbling the top of a cocktail cherry. The hand-tall glass containing a cocktail of gin, lemon juice, and soda water was already more than half empty. She was soothing her confused head with the drink and thinking the same thing the whole time.

Everything is unexpected.

From imagination to dreams, none of the things Grace had pictured countless times that would happen if she were caught have ever matched reality.

Although he used the drug to bring Ellie to the hotel using the innocent Ellie, he didn't immediately drag her to Winsford. Even though Winsford is far, the bed is close. I thought he would drag Ellie to the bed right away when she fell asleep, but the man said he had to work and headed to a conference room somewhere in the suite.

I was so shocked that I felt like this reality was a dream.

Grace, sitting on the high bar stool with her legs crossed, realized that another thing was out of the ordinary.

Why didn't you take away the weapon?

The holster around his leg still contained a loaded pistol. Perhaps he had forgotten it while he was busy with his child. But it was ridiculous that such a dog-like man would forget something so crucial.

Did they change their strategy to bind the mind rather than the body?

Grace, who had been lost in thought, suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. There was one good thing about being caught. At least tonight, I wouldn't have nightmares about being caught.

As she chuckled and threw the top into the ashtray, she was pulling another cocktail cherry out of the bottle. The door behind her opened and then closed. Grasping the cherry dripping red juice with her fingertips, Grace listened to the familiar sound of footsteps.

Soon jazz began to flow from the gramophone. Grace turned her head as the sound of approaching footsteps was heard between the piano and trumpet melodies. As expected, the man's lips curved softly as soon as his eyes met hers. Grace smiled, not with her lips, but with the corners of her eyes.

"Great song. It reminds me of the torture chamber. When I was first arrested, you used to come to me with jazz music on and your footsteps clanking whenever you started your interrogation. Those were good times."

The smile disappeared from the man's face. As he reached for the gramophone, Grace snapped back coldly.

"Don't turn it off."