The Art of Unloving Him

"Gemma, we agreed on ten years. That time is up now. I'd like to leave with Kira."

"You know he never liked her," she added quietly.

In the quiet of the coffee house, Josie Carr spoke with a bitter expression.

She had lived with Graham Holloway for ten years—ten long years, and still, she hadn't managed to thaw his heart.

It wasn't love that brought them a child—it was a night of drunken confusion. He'd pushed her onto the bed, dazed and careless, and Kira came from that.

Afterward, he gave her a villa and agreed to let her keep the baby. His only condition was simple: the child must never call him father. Publicly, Graham remained a single man.

"I will never marry you. Don't hold out hope.

"I'll pay child support, but don't expect me to acknowledge her. That child doesn't exist to me."

"Gemma, we agreed on ten years. That time is up now. I'd like to leave with Kira."

"You know he never liked her," she added quietly.

In the quiet of the coffee house, Josie Carr spoke with a bitter expression.

She had lived with Graham Holloway for ten years—ten long years, and still, she hadn't managed to thaw his heart.

Ten years ago, Graham's first love had left him and gone abroad. After that, he fell apart, sinking into a haze of alcohol and despair. He barely stepped outside the house.

Unable to bear watching her son waste away, Gemma sought out Josie. She offered her a million dollars to stay by Graham's side for ten years.

Josie had already carried a quiet crush on him since her school days. When faced with that offer, she barely hesitated before saying yes.

From then on, she began to pursue him.

When he was unhappy, she'd try anything to make him smile.

When he was sick, she stayed up all night at his bedside, running back and forth through hospital corridors.

Knowing he had a weak stomach, she learned to cook just for him. She managed every detail of his daily life.

She pulled him from the pit of heartbreak, stayed loyally by his side—but to him, she was just a nameless simp.

Once, she overheard his friends ask what she meant to him.

He only smiled and said nothing.

Then came the night he got drunk.

In a daze of blurred desire, he pinned her to the bed, and afterward, there was a child.

He gave her a villa and agreed to let her keep the baby. But on one condition: the child must never call him father. To the outside world, Graham remained a single man.

"I will never marry you. Don't hold out hope.

"I'll pay child support, but don't expect me to acknowledge her. She doesn't exist to me."

Graham's heart was like iron. He never once allowed their daughter to call him 'dad.'

When Kira was three, she slipped and called him that once—just once. He locked her in a room