Chapter 750 The Hidden Daughter
Even more outrageous was the sight beside Wyatt: their five-year-old daughter Mindy, mimicking him by sticking her little bottom out while perched on a smaller bed of nails–hers thoughtfully topped with a soft pillow.
The moment she saw Yunice return, the little drama queen instantly switched on her act. Rubbing eyes that held no real tears, she let out a wobbly, babyish wail.
“Mommy—you finally came back… boohoo… please forgive Daddy! Daddy knows he was wrong; he already punished that bad lady real hard! Daddy’s knees hurt so bad, and my knees hurt too, we’ll never dare again…”
Yunice nearly burst out laughing. Even knowing perfectly well they were putting on a show to tease her, she still scooped Mindy into her arms with tender affection.
But she only held Mindy. Turning deliberately with a stern face, she said, “Didn’t I tell you, when I’m at work, you’re supposed to go to Grandpa’s house?”
As she spoke, her eyes flicked toward Wyatt, full of simmering displeasure.
Wyatt caught her look, gave a discreet cough, and tried to maintain the image of a steady, composed man. His voice was low, serious. “Yunice, everything has been taken care of. There won’t be any problems.”
But paired with his current posture, the words carried little weight.
Seeing her mother unmoved, Mindy immediately switched tactics. She stuck out her little leg and gave her father a secret kick, furiously signaling with her eyes, her lips silently mouthing, “Get up, quick!”
Wyatt glanced at Yunice, then hurried to follow his daughter’s lead. “Yunice, you’ve been working all day, your shoulders must be sore. How about Mindy and I give you a massage?”
He was just about to get off the bed of nails when Yunice’s light words pinned him in place. “Stay there.”
Mindy instantly scrambled up, ran over to hug her mother’s leg, and cooed sweetly. “Mommy—staying there you can still massage! Daddy, hurry over! Mommy worked so hard today, we have to be thoughtful good babies!”
In the end, Yunice was coaxed onto the sofa by her daughter’s persistence. Wyatt was finally granted permission to rise. He and his daughter took their places, one on each side—her little fists thumping earnestly, his large hands kneading with practiced skill.
Yunice closed her eyes, her body gradually relaxing as the tension melted away.
She and Wyatt hadn’t remarried.
For the past five years, her busy schedule left her little time with her daughter. Fortunately, everyone around her was eager to help with childcare.
That should have been a blessing, but Wyatt had a habit of sneaking the child away. It happened so often that no one could stop him, and soon enough, Mindy was spending nine out of every ten days by Wyatt’s side.
Yunice never allowed Wyatt to publicly acknowledge Mindy as his daughter, so in front of others Mindy always called him “sir.”
But in private, Wyatt secretly taught Mindy to call him Daddy.
At first, Yunice resisted. But Wyatt was relentless—thick-skinned, endlessly coaxing. After five years of this, she simply stopped fighting it.
Before long, the small figure beside her had gone quiet. Yunice opened her eyes to find Mindy slumped against a sofa cushion, fast asleep.
Her little mouth was parted, her breathing steady, and in her hand she still unconsciously clutched a strand of her mother’s hair.
Wyatt fetched a small blanket and carefully covered his daughter, his movements astonishingly gentle.
Sitting beside Yunice, he gazed at the child’s sweet, peaceful face and whispered, “Today, when she stood tall in front of that woman and said ‘My daddy would never stop loving me,’ I wanted so badly to tell the whole world she’s my daughter.”
He shook his head with a rueful smile as old memories surfaced. “When you were pregnant, you told me it was a boy. When the nurse carried out Mindy and said she was a girl, I nearly fainted on the spot. I grabbed someone’s arm, demanding to know if they’d switched my child. Where was my son? I thought someone with bad intentions was trying to swap my baby. I almost locked down the entire hospital.”
His voice dropped, tinged with helpless amusement. “Your ability to deceive is something else—you even tricked me. I’d already accepted having a son, and then you hit me with this surprise.”
Yunice gave him a sidelong glance, her eyes sharp and clear, leaving no room for doubt. “Cooper Corp is too big a target. With a so-called ‘son’ out in front, our true weakness stays safer. Think about it. Everyone believes Wyatt has a beloved son raised abroad. Who would ever think of targeting Mindy?”
Her hand gently smoothed her daughter’s fine hair. “I don’t want her growing up under constant watch, with people scheming against her. To grow up safe and ordinary—that’s not a bad thing.”
Wyatt fell silent for a moment, then drew Yunice into his arms, resting his chin on her hair. His voice carried a faint trace of bitterness. “I understand. I do. It’s just that sometimes… I wish she could call me Daddy out in the open, instead of having to carefully say ‘Mr. Wyatt.’”
His plaintive note hadn’t even faded when Yunice batted away his rigid arm.
“Don’t start with me, Wyatt,” her eyes cut across to him, half amused, half warning. “Give you a stick and you’ll climb right up, huh? ‘Only calls you sir…’ Hasn’t Mindy been calling you Daddy in private plenty? Who was it last night, clinging to your neck shouting ‘the best daddy in the whole world,’ and you got so smug you posted it on your feed at midnight before deleting it two seconds later?”