Once Upon Online

chapter 42

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday Happy birthday Happy birthday to you" my family and friends sing while my mom brings the cake over to Eva.

I can't believe my daughter is now two years old. I look at my phone to see if Dana would even bother to greet Eva a happy birthday but nothing. I've been waiting since morning.

"You okay?" Ryujin ask me.

"Yea. I just thought maybe Dana would wish his own daughter a birthday wish" I sigh.

"Hey, it's okay. It's his loss" Ryujin tries to comfort me.

I let go of the thought of Dana and just make myself focus on Eva. Today is her day and Ryujin is here to celebrate it but then knowing she's leaving tomorrow also makes me sad.

I look around and I feel happy seeing everyone having fun. Eva is playing with the other kids and Ryujin is playing with Travis. He always tries to hang out with her as much as he can.

"How does it feel to have a two year old daughter?" My sister walks up from behind me.

"I already feel like she's growing up too fast. I still remember the day she was born. It was the happiest day of my life" I smile thinking back.

"Yeji" a familiar voice says behind me. I turn around to see Dana and his mom standing there.

"Mrs. Harris, I wasn't expecting you here" I say completely shock.

"Dana told us you aren't coming back so I'm here to fix things between you two. He told me everything and my granddaughter will not be raised by two women. That's wrong in every way" she says, glaring at me.

"Or you could just spend time with your granddaughter on her birthday. There's nothing to fix between Dana and I" I roll my eyes.

"You're leaving my son for some bimbo?!" She raises her voices catching some of my family's attention. I look to see where Ryujin is and I see her just carefully watching.

"Excuse me? I believe the one you should be calling a bimbo is the girl your son was sleeping with."

"Well maybe if you knew how to satisfy your man, then he wouldn't have the need to seek other women" she says to me.

"Are you serious? You're making excuses for your son? That's why he's the way he is, an asshole" my sister steps in.

"How dare you speak to me like that!?" She tries to slap my sister by mom magically shows up next to us and stops her.

"How dare you show up here and cause a scene! And how dare you try to lay a hand on my daughter!" My mom yells.

"You should have raised your daughter better. It looks bad on you that your daughter is into girls now" Dana's mom chuckles.

"The girl my daughter is into is amazing. She takes care of Yeji unlike your son. Even if she wasn't into someone else, I wouldn't let my daughter date your son again. A literal piece of shit would still be better" my mom scoffs.

"Mom. I can handle this" I go in between my mom and Dana's mom.

"You should leave. You're making our guests uncomfortable" I say to Mrs. Harris.

"Yeji, honey, don't you want Eva to have a complete family? Why are you doing this? Why are you acting out?" She ask, pretending to be concern.

I ignore her and look at Dana, "Please take your mom and leave."

Dana suddenly gets on his knees, "Yeji. I'm so sorry for cheating. I won't do it again. Just give me another chance."

"Why are you doing this Dana? I know you don't love me anymore and I don't love you so why bother coming back?" I lower myself to look at him in the eyes.

"Is it because of your mom? You think I'm disgusting yet you're here on your knees in front of me? Why can't you just tell your mom that we don't want to be with each other?" I say, still looking at him.

He looks up at his mother and she's red in anger. I stand back up to look at her, "Is this because of your image? It won't look good for your family if your friends find out that Dana has a child with a woman he's not married to? Or if they find out that Dana's ex is now with a woman? Which one is it?"

She looks away laughing then glares at me again, "Fine, but we will take Eva. You don't have the money to support a child. She can have a better life with us."

"You're not taking my daughter! I will never give her up to you!" I lose my temper.

She raises her hand to slap me so I close my eyes. I hear the slap and the people around us gasp but I didn't feel anything hit me. I open my eyes and Ryujin is in front of me with her head still facing to the side. I can tell she's trying to control her emotions.

"Who are you? Why are you getting yourself involved in other people's business?" Mrs. Harris grits her teeth.

"Ma'am, I think it's best if you leave. Today is supposed to be a happy occasion to celebrate a child's birthday" Ryujin calmly says now facing Mrs. Harris.

"Why should I listen to you?" She scoffs crossing her arms.

"I guess you don't have to but you can't just come in here and ruin your granddaughter's birthday celebration. You could have easily pulled Yeji aside and talked to her privately but you chose to make a big scene. Aren't you embarrassed of yourself? You act like a self dignified woman but is this how one would act?" Ryujin says.

"Why! You!" She slaps Ryujin again.

"Ryujin!" I yell her name worriedly but she just laughs confusing me.

"Why are you laughing?" Dana's mom ask, confuse.

"You just hit me twice now when I've done nothing to you. Should I call the cops? I believe that's assault" Ryujin says making me widen my eyes. I look to my sister and mom to see they have the same reaction.

"Mom, let's go. This is not worth it. We will just go through to court and I'll take Eva that day then Yeji will have no choice but to come back to me" Dana says while dragging his mom.

Once they were gone, I check Ryujin's face to see if she's okay. "Why would you do that? Why would you take the slap for me?" I ask.

"You're pregnant and I didn't want her to touch your beautiful face" she flirts.

How can she flirt with me in a situation like this. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?" I touch her cheek that was slapped.

She shakes her head smiling, "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Just surprise that they showed up but I'm okay compare to you" I say.

"You may be okay physically but are you okay emotionally and mentally?" She ask, placing her hand on mine that's still on her cheek.

"Yes I'm okay. I have you by my side" I smile at her.

"We should probably continue on with the birthday party" my mom suggests.

I remove my hand from Ryujin's cheek and nod at my mom.

I look back at Ryujin, "Thank you for always protecting me."

"You don't need to thank me. Its an honor to protect someone as beautiful as you" She smiles showing her whisker dimples.

I don't how I got lucky to find Ryujin but I will make sure to never lose her.