The Day I Stopped Being Mr Nice Guy

CHAPTER 3

The first rays of dawn was seeping through the blinds, bathing the hospital room in warmth, when Daisy’s eyes opened slowly. Dante, who had spent the night in the chair by her bed, stood up instantly.

“Good morning, sunshine,” he whispered croakingly due to lack of sleep but still warm with love.

Daisy looked around with sleepy eyes and her gaze landed on the nightstand. She widened her eyes in surprise when she saw the small velvet box. “Daddy? What is that?” She asked slowly.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” he said softly.

She reached for it eagerly with small, careful hands and opened the lip. The delicate gold necklace with its silver ring glinted in the morning light. Her face lit up with joy that made Dante’s heart ache. “Is this…from Mommy? Did she come?”

Dante placed a fake smile smile on his face. He would not poison his daughter’s love with the bitter truth. “She did. She stayed with you for a long, long time. She was only called away to the company just before the sun came up, minutes before you opened your eyes.”

Daisy’s face fell with disappointment and she cried. “I slept for too long. If I had woken up earlier, I would have seen her.”

He leaned forward and gently brushed her hair back. “She will come again. I promise. And she will put that necklace on you herself. But you have to be strong. You have to listen to Doctor Alice and take all your medicine. Can you do that for me? For Mommy?”

She nodded and clutched the box tightly to her chest. “I will, Daddy. I will be so good. I promise.”

Just then, Nurse Amy entered with a bright smile on her face. “And how is our birthday girl this morning? The sun is beautiful outside. How about a little walk in the garden? Doctor’s orders.”

Daisy looked at Dante for permission and he nodded. “Go on. I will be right here.” And kissed her forehead.

As Nurse Amy carefully helped Daisy into a wheelchair, Dante stepped out to the corridor to call his friend, Caleb, for he really needed to hear a friendly voice. He was just ending the call when he heard a smooth, familiar voice that made his spine stiffen.

“Dante? Dante Vance? What a coincidence.”

He took a deep breath and turned around slowly.

Mason Lockwood stood at a far corner down the hall, waving at him, all dressed up in expensive casual wear with a look of fake concern etched on his handsome face.

Dante sighed and slowly placed his phone in his pocket with a neutral expression on his face. “Mason.”

“I was just thinking about you and your little girl some minutes ago.” Mason said as he stopped at a few feet away and shook his head in mock sympathy. “Clara told me about the….situation. Truly heartbreaking. If there is anything you need, anything at all, you must let me know, instead of bothering your poor wife. Clara is so occupied with the company, you know how it is. Or do you? Given that you are just a house husband who is jobless. Just so you know, it would not be good for her, or her image, if you, as her husband kept bothering her with every little crisis.”

The provocation was as silent as air and Dante, fully aware of what is happening, tightened his jaw slightly, not in the mood for a stand-off with this oaf. “We are managing just fine. We don’t need your help or sympathy.”

“Are you sure?” Mason pressed, his tone dripping with false concern. “I know how expensive these long-term illnesses can be, especially as you are not working or bringing in any money. And Clara, bless her heart, she has been so worried about my health lately. She has been buying me these incredibly expensive imported health supplements. The kind you can’t even get in this country.” He sighed dramatically. “So you will have to understand that she is very busy and has important issues that needs her money. But look, if money is tight, I could always spare some for you. No one has to know.” He nodded at him with a mock expression on his face.

He was painting a picture of Clara taking care of him, spending her time and money in his well being. While Dante struggled alone.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dante said coldly and made to leave, but Mason continued casually, like he had been rehearsing for this moment.

“Well, the offer still stands.. Actually, the reason I am here is because of Clara. She insisted I come. Said I have been looking pale, not sleeping well, and she was worried sick. She practically took time out of her busy schedule to accompany me for a check up. She is taking care of the bills now, even though I told her not to worry, she insisted. She is just….wonderful.”

He let the words hang in the air, ensuring Dante understood clearly…’Clara brought me here. She is with me, right now, in this building.’

“You really married quite a woman,” Mason continued with a glint of pure malice in his eyes. “So successful. So unbelievable caring towards everyone in her life. I have to admit, I am jealous. I truly am. If she had been like this when we were dating earlier, I wouldn’t have left her.”

Dante forced an empty smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It was like a smile of a CEO facing a hostile takeover from his position, not of a husband facing his wife’s lover. “Yes. She is something.” He raised up his head to Mason’s. “If I may ask, what happened to your wife again? I am guessing you left her too, why? No more money? Yes, I may be a house husband, but you are nothing but an ugly leech.”

“You—”

“I think I have more important issues to take care of.” Dante cuts in coldly. “As for Clara, tell her she doesn’t have to see her daughter, she can just take care of her ex lover’s bills and go.”

The two men stood with silent hostility as the air between them crackled with unspoken threats and venom. But before Dante could take a step, the doors to the stairs burst wide open.

Nurse Amy stood there with her face flushed and her uniform disheveled. She was breathing heavily with her eyes wide with panic as they quickly scanned the corridor before landing on Dante.

“Mr Vance! Oh, thank God!” She gasped and rushed towards him. “It is Daisy! You have to come, now!”

Every thought of Mason evaporated instantly and Dante’s entire world shattered. “What? What happened? Is she hurt?”

“She is downstairs…in the garden…” the nurse panted as she tried to catch her breath. “She is in a fight! A serious one with some other children and we can’t pull her away!”

A fight? Daisy? His gentle, fragile Daisy who wouldn’t hurt a fly?

The image was so impossible, so unbelievable to the core of everything he knew about his daughter, that for a second, Dante could only stare.

Then, without a single glance back at Mason, he was moving, running down the corridor after the nurse, with his heart hammering against his ribs like a wild, terrified animal. The triumphant grin on Mason Lockwood’s face was the last thing on his mind.