I was so angry at myself, I didn't know what came up to me that I shouted at Daniel but the thing is, my anger was not letting me think straight.

I drove the car in the street for half an hour until I reached my destination. I stopped my car in front of the plant shop/nursery. A smile tugged my lips as I looked at the green heaven in front of me.

After taking a few deep breaths to wave away my anger and frustration from the events that happened in the morning, I entered the shop and inhaled to feel the freshness of plants and flowers decorated in the shop to attract customers. The fragrance, colors of a variety of flowers growing in the small pots brightened up my mood.

I looked for the owner of the shop but he was nowhere to be seen so taking that as an advantage I tiptoed towards the counter. I pulled out the envelope from my handbag and placed it in the drawer of the counter.

"Eloise Nicole Norman, put that envelope back in your bag this instant."

I bit my tongue and closed my eyes tightly for being caught red-handed. I looked up at the middle-aged man who was holding the cuttings of flowers in his one hand and a scissor in another.

"Umm...The money in this envelope is for the maintenance of plants, not for you. I swear." I replied hastily.

"My babies don't need that money, I provide them with enough." He said while resting his hands on both sides of his waist. I huffed and placed the envelope back in my bag.

"Hey, you are getting smart and handsome with the age." I grinned as I walked towards him.

"Okay! That's enough!" He raised his hands in surrender. "Don't do buttering, I won't scold you for not visiting me for the last four months."

"Really? Then I must tell you the truth. You're getting fluffy day by day." I laughed at him and hugged him tightly.

"I miss you a lot, dad."

"I miss you too, my daughter." He patted my back.

My birth name is Eloise Nicole Norman, given by my dad, Ross Norman. My mother didn't let me use my full name for work purposes. Dad is a simple man and I try my best to keep him away from the prying eyes of media.

"My daughter is getting beautiful day by day." He announced proudly.

"I have your blood flowing in me," I commented. He laughed and ruffled my hair.

"So, have you eaten anything since morning?" He asked. I pouted.

"No! You already know that I have to cross many obstacles just to meet you and eating is the last thing I care about," I mumbled.

"Then come on, let's have breakfast together." He announced and went upstairs where he lives. The shop is in the house itself and there is also a backyard where he grows all the plants.

I quietly placed the envelope back in the drawer and went upstairs. Reaching up, my eyes fell on the bookshelf which was filled with magazines and cutouts of the newspaper.

"Are you planning to have the biggest collection of my photos, dad?" I asked teasingly.

"I'm a proud father of my only daughter." He shrugged casually, I smiled silently.

After having our breakfast we were conversing about my work when suddenly I asked something.

"Won't you ask about mom?"

"Nope, 'cause I know she's doing well." He replied with a smile.

"Dad, why don't you move on?" I asked exasperatedly. I was fed up by his nature of holding onto her. He deserves happiness.

"You're not happy," I added.

"Who said I'm not happy? And why should I move on? I still love your mother and are you forgetting that we aren't divorced yet?" His tone was so calm.

"I know! But she isn't respecting the relationship. She left you thirteen years ago, remember? She also took me with her." I reminded him and I also raised my voice a bit.

"Learn to control your anger." He rebuked. "And she didn't leave me, she's just living separately and we keep meeting from time to time. She too loves me."

"Ha! Love!" I chuckled bitterly. "You gave her everything, dad. You set her free to let her chase after her dream of becoming a model in which she never succeeded, you never stopped her from doing anything but still, she left you. Is this what you call love?" I asked in disbelief.

He sighed. "Eloise, why don't you see positive in any situation? Why you always race after negative things?" He asked me and when I didn't reply he continued. "Yes, she didn't succeed in becoming a model but she's living her dream through you. She made you what she wanted to be herself. She made you capable. And instead of thinking why she left me...why don't you focus on the fact that she's keeping me away from the media? It was the thing I asked from her and she gave it to me by living separately" He explained.

I remained silent and kept looking at him.

"She's respecting my privacy, my decision, and she never said no to meet me or to spend time with me. If this is not love then you tell me what is?" He looked at me for an answer but I didn't have it.

"This is what you feel. You always find something positive in negative situations. But I'm sure mom doesn't feel so. If she loves you, she should have tried to be with you, she shouldn't have left you alone." I mumbled averting my eyes. He laughed softly and stood up from his seat.

"This is not your fault, my stubborn daughter. Somewhere, it's the fault of the industry you work in. It isn't letting you trust people not even your own mother." He smiled sadly. "Come I'll show you something." He tugged my wrist and led me to the backyard where he spends most of his time taking care of his babies.

"You see these plants? See, how happy they are. The greener they are the happier they seem." He gazed at the plants with adoration and I gazed at him questioningly. I wasn't getting what he wanted to say. Nonetheless, he continued,

"To keep them happy, sometimes you have to keep them away from sunlight because some plants need less sunlight. And sometimes you have to water them less to let them strengthen their roots because if you'll water them much they'll lose their strength to dig deep and will remain on the surface which is not good for them as even a little gust of wind will detach then from the surface."

"I'm not getting you, dad,"

He smiled at me and patted my head. "Eloise, this is what love is. Sometimes you have to take the tough path to strengthen your love and believe me, letting your mother free is my love for her. And she shows her love by keeping her promise. I know she's strict with you but it doesn't mean she doesn't love you and she does. And she does the same to me."

I looked at him again in disbelief. "How do you do that? How do you take it so casually? You never blame mom for anything."

"You'll know when you'll love someone. And that will only happen when you'll open up. The day you'll decide to see the positive in everything and the day you find a man in whom you'll find the positiveness, that day you'll know how to love. He'll show you what love exactly is." He chuckled.

I chuckled sadly. "I don't know if that will happen anytime soon. I don't know if I'll be able to trust someone the way you trust mom."

"You will, soon. Maybe that particular man is already near you but you aren't able to see him?" He wiggled his eyebrows which made me laugh.

"Dad, If you are secretly asking if I have a man in my life then for your information... I don't."

"Oh, what a waste of life, Eloise. Find a man soon. You know I'm a modern dad, I'll accept anyone you'll show me. I won't question." He raised his hands in surrender.

"Really?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Okay, maybe I'll ask him thousands of questions and will threaten him a little... But keeping in mind that he is your choice, I'll accept him. It's the duty of a father."

I laughed and shook my head. That's why I come to him when I feel sad. He always lightens up my mood.

"Let's do some gardening." He handed me gloves and a gardening fork.

We spent our time doing gardening and talking. While we were doing so I felt someone's eyes on me. I looked around to find a lady looking at us from her house which was separated by a boundary. When I looked at her intently, I found her staring at my dad. I smirked silently.

"Dad, I guess you have got a secret admirer." He looked at me questioningly. I secretly pointed at that woman watching us.

"Oh, she is Neena Won, divorced and my new neighbor." He replied casually.

"I didn't ask if she's divorced or not. And by the way, how do you know that she is divorced?" I crossed my arms across my chest.

"She told me. We are friends, she even sometimes cooks for me."

"Oh! Friendsssss." I dragged the particular words. "She even cooks for you." I raised my eyebrows.

"What are you getting at?" He eyed me suspiciously.

"Nothing, it's just that... an hour ago you were saying that you love mom but..." I smirked evilly. "It seems like you're cheating on mom."

I almost laughed at his horrified expressions.

"This is not true, Neena is just my friend, and don't you dare tell this to your mother." He said in horror.

"What if I do so?" I said while looking at my nails trying to show a bit of attitude.

"No, you won't. She'll kill me with her bare hands. You don't believe that we're friends then let's go, I'll introduce you to her." He literally dragged me to the boundary of the backyard.

"Hello, Neena." He greeted her to which she smiled broadly. "You wanted to meet my daughter, here she is. Eloise, meet Miss Neena Won, my friend."

"Hello, Miss Won." I smiled.

"Oh, come on, please call me Neena as your father does." She waved her hand. I gave a teasing side look to my father. He cleared his throat.

"You are so beautiful, magazines don't do justice to your beauty." She praised me.

"Thank you, Miss... Neena." I hesitated to pronounce her name.

"So..umm... It seems that you have a good friendship with my dad." I asked her. My dad lightly pinched my upper arm but I didn't look at him.

She glanced at my dad and smiled shyly which made me raise my eyebrows. "Yes, we are friends. We both live alone, so we pass our time talking with each other." She said.

I nodded my head teasingly that only my father could understand.

"Umm... Eloise, I think the introduction is done, you should concentrate on gardening." My father nudged me.

"Later dad, right now I want to have a chat with your new friend." I gave him an innocent look.

"Eloise..." Dad wanted to say something but my phone went off which stopped him in the middle.

"You guys talk. I'll take the call, Excuse me." Saying that I distanced myself from them.

It was the call from Evan, he called to check on me. When I cut the call a notification flashed on the screen indicating news about XDS and the new deal they signed with a new car company.

I don't know when I was lost in reading the article and I don't know when and why I clicked on the link which had information about Daniel Adams.

I started reading it too. I read the articles showing his lifestyle. I wanted to know about his family but I couldn't find anything. So, I dug more into the internet to search about that but all went in vain.

"Why there is nothing about his family? Is he keeping his family away from media like I'm doing?" I mumbled.

Still, I searched more and suddenly I found a very old article in which an article about Adam's family was written.

"Maybe it's Daniel's family." I thought and clicked the article.

I gasped and my hands trembled when I read the article. The article stated the news of the plane crash. I lost my breath the moment I read the result of the plane crash.

My heart became heavy with guilt. The regret I didn't feel while shouting at him, that regret suddenly hit me like a tsunami.

"What have I done?"

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