He stiffened when he heard the confirmation. Why would Lucy call him? It was definitely not simple. "What do you want?"

"To have a word with you." She sounded like she wanted to hang up, as though she had been forced to give him a call.

He didn't want to speak to her either. "Is there a good reason why I should 'have a word' with my ex-wife who dumped my ass and didn't say a word to me for two decades?"

She went silent for a while and he was starting to think that she was going to hang up when she spoke again. "Don't be so full of yourself, okay? It's not like I'm trying to crawl back into your life."

She was mean, just like he would imagine. "It's not like I would let you crawl back into my life even if you wanted to." He returned the remark.

She was silent for a few seconds. "I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry."

The words caught him by surprise. Lucy wanted to apologize? Surely, it was an impostor who was using her phone, right? She had changed too much. She was full of pride now. How could she possibly say that she was sorry? Most importantly, Lucy… it's long overdue. He was about to voice the words out when she interrupted him by speaking.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into matters that should only be my business. You were targeted because of me."

"I see." He was a little disappointed. He had thought that she was apologizing for leaving. Not that it would have changed anything. He let out a breath. "If I was targeted for merely existing, then it's not your fault either. Even though I previously thought it was."

"Why would you think so?" She asked before it dawned on her. "Wait. You think I would stoop that low to pull Zaria away from you? I'm not that petty, Theodore."

"What else should I have thought?" He shrugged. Blame her for being so hateful.

"I know she means the world to you—but that's not the point here. The point is, she is my daughter but she is yours too. Our daughter." She emphasized on the last two words. "If I hurt you, she would be the most hurt. The last thing I want is for our daughter to be hurt."

He was certain that she didn't realize the impact of those two words "our daughter" coming from her mouth so casually.

"And Theodore…" She pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Anything else?" He played with the knife he was using to chop vegetables.

She hummed as though she had changed her mind about what she was going to say. "Uhm… I've pretty much said what I needed to so it's not necessary to have dinner. But if you want, we can dine at L'HLLR at 7pm tomorrow." She said in one breath. He knew that it was not what she wanted to say, she probably wanted to say it in person.

"L'Hôtel Luxe La Rive? Sure. Be there." He almost slapped himself after agreeing. Why was he meeting up with his ex wife? Was he insane?!

He wanted to call back and cancel the meeting but stopped before he could dial the number. What if it had something to do with Zaria?

Of course, the only thing they could discuss was their daughter. That must be it. He shoved his phone into the pocket of the half apron draped around his waist.

Zaria skipped back into the kitchen just as he kept his phone away with a frustrated expression.

"Business call?" She inched closer to tease.

"Yes."

She chuckled at the side. That was definitely not a business call. Her womanly instincts told her that the caller was a woman. She secretly smiled, once again excited at the thought that her father could be finding someone to spend the rest of his life with.

"I'll bake the pastries first." She skipped away to get the ingredients.

He chuckled as he watched her hum happily. He knew what he was thinking. If only she knew who he had just spoken to. Would she still think the same way?

Giving her a good look, he frowned. Was fate playing games with him? The casual dress she had changed into looked almost identical to the one Lucy was wearing when they first met!

___

At the time, he hated her guts. She was a mean young woman, in a bad mood and taking it out on a waitress who just happened to be the woman he cared the most about. Someone dared to bully his sister!

"Get out of my sight before I get you fired!" Lucy yelled at the waitress.

Unable to watch anymore, Theodore stepped forward with his arms crossed, while shielding his sister. One look at the exquisite dress and jewelry she was wearing and he could tell that she was one of those people he hated the most—pampered wealthy heiresses who thought the world belonged to them.

He was a young man back then and didn't care who he offended. He tapped her table to get her attention.

"Rich girl, huh." He laughed sarcastically when he had a clear view of the arrogant young miss. "Did your parents make you believe that you could trample all over everyone else because they are supposedly trash?"

She was riled up. "Excuse me? I didn't…"

"Yes you did." He didn't give her the chance to retaliate. "You yelled at an innocent waitress. Do you have any idea how hard she works to serve people like you?! Yet what does she get? All she gets is a serving of your insane arrogance!"

"Theo…" The young waitress held his arm to stop him.

"It's okay, sis." He whispered to her.

"You have no right to speak to me that way!" Lucy stood furiously, glaring at him. "I don't care which rat hole you came from, crawl right back before…"

A slap landed right on her cheek. It was nothing compared to how humiliated his sister was.

"How dare you!" She exploded.

"Fight back if you can." He challenged, ready to slap her again if she dared.

She took a breath and picked up her bag to leave instead, probably because she was afraid since the onlookers were on the waitress's side. "You will not see the sun tomorrow." She threatened.

He burst into laughter. "What, will you get your rich daddy to kill me?" He looked her up and down. "Even if he does, there is something you should know. The world doesn't revolve around you, princess."

_________

AN

Would you have an 'apology' dinner with your ex?