370: 7.60 Daddy's Little Girl

7.60 Daddy's Little Girl

Cheryl blinked, then blinked again, lips parting when her gaze landed on the screen. All of a sudden, tears flooded her silver eyes. Her bottom lip quivered. Before Lu Yizhou could react, she had thrown herself into him and cried out. "Daddy!"  0

Lu Yizhou's breath stuttered, both from the impact of Cheryl's weight and the shock, his arms subconsciously reaching out to steady the little girl on his lap. He had his own doubt but… confirming the truth was another matter altogether. He abruptly snapped to his senses when he remembered that the room was currently under supervision! Not to mention that he hadn't told Moshe how they had had a daughter in another world, what if the person behind the camera wasn't Moshe himself? Lu Yizhou couldn't take the risk.

"What are you saying, Cheryl?" Lu Yizhou peeled the little girl off him and gave her a sharp look. His other hand was rapidly typing on his phone but damn it! Aiden's phone was ancient enough that one had to put in some strength to type one character. Some of the buttons weren't even working! Lu Yizhou only hoped that Cheryl could catch his meaning.

However, before he even finished typing, Cheryl's eyes widened in realization and she once again hurled herself into Lu Yizhou's arms, sobbing dramatically. "I–I had a nightmare about Daddy last night! I woke up to find you but you're not even there! So I… So I…" Cheryl began to wail, letting her (fake) tears fill the blanks of her answer.

At the same time, she lifted her head and offered him a gummy smile. Precisely like how Bianca did everytime she had made a mistake and wanted to wheedle herself out with merely selling cuteness.

Lu Yizhou raised a brow, unmoved but amused nonetheless. So she also noticed the hidden cameras? Questions swirled in his mind and he wondered how he could talk to Cheryl without inciting any suspicion. 

For starters, Lu Yizhou had never expected that he and his lover's child wasn't ordinary at all. 

Watching her grow up, Lu Yizhou assumed he would pick up on something if Bianca showed any signs of being out of the norm. She had been intelligent, creative and very sensible even as an infant. But Lu Yizhou didn't have any notes to compare. He simply thought it was normal, considering the little girl was born out of his lover's body. 

From a mischievous child, she had grown into a bold, confident young lady. Right after Oliver fell sick and Lu Yizhou put down his mantle as the Emperor, she had been a commanding and domineering Alpha who could make anyone fall on their knees just with one word. The last time they saw each other… had been a few days before his and Oliver's departure from the world. Bianca always made sure to visit their little cottage at least once a week, bringing interesting news and little trinkets she thought would cheer Oliver up. 

They had bid their farewell as always and no matter how hard Lu Yizhou pondered on it, he couldn't recall anything strange.

[666: Host, this is your child, Bianca from the third simulation…? *sigh* We have come a long way and 666 can't even bring itself to be shocked by this unexpected development anymore. 666 feels old already…]

Of course Lu Yizhou ignored 666's unimportant opinion to focus on the girl in front of him. 

"You had a nightmare about…" he paused,"...Dad?"

"En…" Cheryl nodded with twinkles in her eyes, even though her tone sounded so mournful. It was amazing. Where did she learn this acting skill from? "Brother, do you remember the large antique mirror Mommy used to have before? And also… the toy sword that Daddy bought for me? In the end, they were all lost when we moved here. I was just sad thinking about that…"

Large antique mirror. Toy sword. Lu Yizhou's eyes widened in realization.

His daughter was the Kunlun Mirror his lover told him about and… she was also Jillian's sword — the sword that had suddenly gained sentience after Jillian's ascension as a God. 

"I…" He cleared his throat. Goodness… their daughter had always been by their side and Lu Yizhou was fucking unaware of everything. If only… If only he could share this news with his lover right now… he would definitely be so elated. "Of course I remember. How can I ever forget?" Unable to resist, he gathered Cheryl into his embrace and let out a disbelieving laugh. 

Everything slowly clicked into place.

He always had a hunch that someone was helping him and Z behind the scenes. At first he thought it was Cyrus— no, he had been sure that it was Cyrus because he couldn't come up with any other guesses. The possibility that it could be Bianca hadn't even crossed his mind before. No wonder that he had become fond of Cheryl less than ten minutes after their first encounter. No wonder that their interaction had always been natural and smooth. No wonder…

Now that he knew it was Bianca all along, all of his unanswered questions from before suddenly gained light. The one who had brought Lan'er out of the simulator as well as freeing Cyrus and Luan from the simulator's restriction… all of them had been Bianca.

Lu Yizhou's chest rumbled with laughter. His heart ached, yet somehow it was also warm and sweet. "You're so brave to have endured the nightmare alone. I'm sorry… I was not there for you when you needed me." He dropped a kiss on her temple. 

Cheryl's breath hitched on her throat. This time, when dampness seeped into his shirt, he knew it was genuine. "It's okay…" she whispered. "I know Brother has always been trying his best."

He held this girl, the life he had created with his lover, tighter in his arms and tried to keep himself from bursting at his seams. Before Z entered his life, he thought that love was an impossible concept to be fathomed, especially to someone like him. He didn't even know he had love in himself to give to others. 

But here he was, overwhelmed with the affection for two people who were more important to him than life itself. Two impossibly beautiful miracles that had stumbled into his life and taught him how to love. 

"I am so, so proud of you," he murmured gently and caressed Cheryl's hair. "You're such a brave and amazing girl. But from now on, you don't need to bear everything alone, okay? You can tell me everything."

Cheryl trembled minutely. She grasped onto Lu Yizhou's sleeves tightly, buried her face into the crook of his neck, and finally… finally let herself go and cried softly, venting months of loneliness spending time with the most important people in her life who sadly didn't recognize her in return. No one knew how hard it was for her to yell out 'Brother' and 'Brother Moshe' even though all she wanted was to call them Mommy and Daddy.

She cried a long time in Lu Yizhou's arms. 

Afterall, she had always been a daddy's little girl.

.

.

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Mini theater

Kaede, who had finally returned from his mission, knocked on Moshe's study. "Boss, I am here with the things you asked for." After receiving an answer from inside, he entered, bowed politely and placed a flash drive on top of the table. "Here's the recording of the resting lounge. I also have a message from—" 

Kaede lifted his eyes and promptly choked on his saliva when he saw Moshe's face. "B–Boss? Are… Are you crying?"

Moshe put on a scowl as he swiftly exited the surveillance footage of Cheryl's room. "Who's crying?"

"Your eyes are very, very red." Kaede enunciated slowly. 

Kaede was staring at him with a gaze so scrutinizing that Moshe couldn't help but look away. The back of his eyes was still burning and a heavy lump was lodged on his throat. His chest throbbed with the kind of pain he had never known existed before. He had no idea why he reacted like that when he saw Lu Yizhou and his little sister together. Hearing the words Lu Yizhou whispered oh so gently at her, tears suddenly fell from Moshe's eyes without him realizing. 

He cleared his throat and swiveled his chair to the side so he could look out of the window. "Say… is it possible to have your heart ache for two people?"

"T—Two?" Kaede's voice was almost hysterical. One Aiden wasn't enough and all of a sudden, there was a second person?! The ground shook under Kaede's feet and he felt as if he was one second from fainting. He could see it coming… his future that was on its way to become more bleak than the black coffee Moshe usually drank.

Good Lord, please have mercy on me…

"No, don't bother." Moshe waved him off. "You wouldn't even understand anyway, you heartless prick."

Kaede: "…" Really wanted to hit his own boss just once.

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