Ten years ago, I had almost had a home.

And Chen Ze was the person who destroyed it.

Back then, we were twenty-three.

He had just been selected for special forces training.

I had just received my admission letter to medical school.

We had planned everything.

After graduation, I would work at a civilian hospital.

He would stay in the military.

We would save for a small apartment near my father’s house.

Chen Ze even drew the floor plan himself.

One bedroom.

A tiny study.

A balcony where he said I could grow the herbs I always killed within two weeks.

Then my father died during a rescue mission.

Everything changed.

I became the daughter of a fallen soldier.

And suddenly the military uniform I once admired became something I couldn’t look at without remembering the folded flag placed in my hands.

I begged Chen Ze to leave.

Not immediately.

Just after his service commitment ended.

“I can’t lose another person to that uniform,” I told him.

He remained silent for a long time.

Then he said:

“A Man, I can’t promise that.”

I asked him one final question.

“Then if I ask you to choose between me and the military?”

Chen Ze closed his eyes.

I already knew the answer.

We broke up that night.

Three months later, I heard that he had entered special forces.

Six months later, I left the city.

For ten years, neither of us contacted the other.

And now he had a wife.

A daughter.

A family.

Exactly the kind of home we once imagined.

Only without me.

I thought that was the end of our reunion.

I was wrong.

Two days later, the little girl returned.

This time, she came alone.

I was reviewing patient files when someone timidly knocked on my office door.

I looked up.

She stood there carrying a pink backpack.

“Doctor Xie…”

I immediately stood.

“Where’s your father?”

She lowered her head.

“He doesn’t know I’m here.”

My expression changed.

“How did you get here?”

“The art building is next door. Mom is teaching.”

She climbed onto the chair without being asked.

Then she rolled up her sleeve.

There was another small bruise near her elbow.

I frowned.

“What happened?”

“I fell.”

“Again?”

She nodded.

But she wouldn’t look at me.

I remembered Nurse Zhao’s words.

Every few days.

Scrapes.

Bruises.

Always accidents.

I crouched in front of her.

“What’s your name?”

“Chen Nian.”

“Nian Nian, are you afraid of someone?”

Her eyes immediately widened.

Then she shook her head too quickly.

“No!”

I didn’t pressure her.

Instead, I examined the injury.

Nothing serious.

But while cleaning it, I noticed an old mark near her wrist.

Then another.

Different stages of healing.

My expression slowly became serious.

“Nian Nian.”

“Hmm?”

“Does your father know you’re here?”

She bit her lip.

Then whispered:

“Don’t tell Daddy.”

“Why?”

“He’ll fight with Mom again.”

My hand stopped.

“Why would they fight?”

She suddenly looked frightened.

“I shouldn’t say.”

Before I could ask anything else, hurried footsteps sounded outside.

The door opened.

Chen Ze appeared.

He was breathing hard.

The moment he saw the girl, relief crossed his face.

“Nian Nian!”

He walked over and crouched beside her.

“I told you not to run away.”

The girl immediately hugged him.

“Daddy, I’m sorry.”

Chen Ze checked her from head to toe.

Then noticed my expression.

“What happened?”

I stood.

“Captain Chen, I’d like to speak with you privately.”

His face changed.

He asked the nurse to watch Nian Nian.

Then followed me into the consultation room.

I closed the door.

“Those injuries aren’t all from today.”

Chen Ze went silent.

“You knew?”

His jaw tightened.

“A Man…”

“I’m asking as her doctor.”

He looked away.

“Yes.”

The answer surprised me.

“So why hasn’t anyone investigated?”

“Because she refuses to tell me what happened.”

“And her mother?”

Something strange appeared in his eyes.

“Li Yun’en isn’t her biological mother.”

I froze.

“But the medical record—”

“She’s listed as her mother because of the guardianship arrangement.”

I stared at him.

Then another realization struck.

“And you?”

Chen Ze slowly shook his head.

“I’m not her biological father either.”

For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.

The little girl outside had called him Daddy with complete trust.

Nurse Zhao had called Li Yun’en his wife.

“What exactly is going on?”

Chen Ze sat down heavily.

“Nian Nian is the daughter of one of my former teammates.”

His voice dropped.

“Both her parents died five years ago.”

I felt my chest tighten.

“I became her guardian.”

“And Li Yun’en?”

His expression became complicated.

“She was her mother’s younger sister.”

“So you two married to raise her?”

Chen Ze looked at me.

“We never married.”

I stared at him.

“But everyone here says—”

“I never corrected them.”

“Why?”

Before he answered, someone knocked urgently.

Nurse Zhao opened the door.

“Doctor Xie, Captain Chen…”

Her face was pale.

“The child is gone.”

Chen Ze shot to his feet.

“What?”

“She was sitting outside one moment. Then I turned around to answer the phone and…”

We rushed into the hallway.

Her pink backpack was still on the chair.

But Nian Nian had disappeared.

Then I noticed something underneath it.

A folded piece of paper.

I opened it.

The handwriting was childish.

“Daddy, don’t look for me. If I go home, Aunt Yun’en won’t be angry anymore.”

Chen Ze’s face went white.

He grabbed his phone.

I turned the paper over.

There was another sentence.

Smaller.

Almost hidden near the bottom.

“Doctor Xie, please don’t tell Daddy what Aunt Yun’en said about you.”

My heartbeat stopped.

I looked at Chen Ze.

“What did she say about me?”

He didn’t answer.

But the shock on his face told me he already suspected.

Then his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered immediately.

No one spoke.

We heard only a little girl’s frightened breathing.

“Nian Nian?”

Chen Ze’s voice changed completely.

“Where are you?”

A whisper came through.

“Daddy…”

Then another voice appeared in the background.

A woman’s voice.

Calm.

Familiar to him.

“If you want the child back, bring Doctor Xie.”

Chen Ze went rigid.

I looked at him.

“Who is that?”

He slowly lowered the phone.

And for the first time since our reunion, the decorated special forces captain looked genuinely afraid.

“Li Yun’en.”

I felt cold.

“Why does she want me?”

Chen Ze stared at me for several seconds.

Then he said:

“Because ten years ago, our breakup wasn’t an accident.”

I stopped breathing.

He continued quietly:

“And your father’s death may not have been one either.”