A Gift for His Goddaughter (New Year's Eve Bonus!)

The next day.

Lake opened his eyes while lying in bed.

Brushing his teeth.

Washing his face.

Eating...

Lake blinked and stood in the living room, thinking for a while before heading outside.

Downstairs.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Coming."

With a creak, the front door opened.

A pretty, fifteen-year-old blonde girl opened the door.

Alexis.

She was the daughter of the downstairs neighbor, the famous crime novelist Cassel, born to his first wife.

"Uncle Lake!"

"Good morning."

Lake greeted Alexis and walked inside. Then he caught the distinct aroma of breakfast. "That smells great. Let me guess—you made it?"

Alexis said, "Want to join me, Uncle Lake?"

Lake shrugged. "Of course. I'm always happy when a beautiful girl invites me."

The single father Cassel, sitting at the dining table, rolled his eyes when he heard that. "Back on the market?"

Lake looked at Cassel.

Alexis, who had gone to pour Lake some coffee, looked up at those words. "No way, Uncle Lake. Why?"

Lake shrugged. "We weren't compatible."

Even without what had happened last night, Lake had thought it over after returning. He and Maureen were bound to split up sooner or later. Ultimately, their ideas about life were different. They could still accommodate each other for now, but the further they went, the more pronounced the conflict would become.

Simply put.

Lake was a carnivore, while Maureen was a herbivore.

Could a wolf fall in love with a sheep?

Even if it did, it would have fallen in love with the sheep in order to kill it.

So...

Lake sat down, picked up a pancake, and took a bite. He hummed and gave Alexis a thumbs-up. "Just how many of your pancakes have I missed over the past six months?"

Cassel, a daughter-obsessed father, said expressionlessly, "Thank God. Our household expenses have been much lower these past six months."

Lake looked at Cassel and smiled without saying anything.

Alexis acted coquettishly toward Cassel. "Dad, Uncle Lake isn't an outsider."

Cassel looked at Lake, who had come over again after six months to steal his daughter's homemade breakfast made with love. He angrily took a bite of his pancake. "I wish he were. Then I could condemn him like the people protesting outside."

Lake burst out laughing.

Alexis rolled her eyes at her father, then sat down beside him and sipped her hot cocoa as she looked at Lake. "Don't listen to my dad, Uncle Lake. Dad and I both believe you. Those two must have provoked you first."

Lake took a sip of coffee.

The next second.

Lake's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh, right."

Lake pretended to reach into his pocket and took out the Angel Diamond he had drawn in the previous four-pull draw. He held it in his hand and said to Alexis, "Open your hand. I have a present for you."

Lake had originally planned to find a chance to give it to Maureen.

There was no way he could sell the thing for money. Even if he could, the money still couldn't be used for more lottery draws.

But judging by the situation, he could no longer give it to Maureen.

Giving it to Alexis wasn't bad either.

At the very least, whenever Lake imagined what his daughter might be like if he had one, he used Alexis as the model.

Alexis blinked and reached out toward Lake. "What is it? Another gift card?"

In Alexis's eyes, Lake's way of giving presents had always been simple and crude. Last year, on her birthday, he had given her a thousand-dollar gift card. For Christmas, it had been another gift card worth a thousand dollars.

Alexis assumed this time would be the same.

Lake said nothing. He simply shook his head and opened his right hand over Alexis's palm.

In an instant.

Freed from its seal, the Angel Diamond radiated dazzling light as it fell from the air into Alexis's palm.

As the Angel Diamond descended, Alexis's eyes followed it, her mouth gradually falling open and her eyes widening. When the rather weighty diamond landed in her hand, her expression became exceptionally entertaining.

Cassel, who had also assumed it was another gift card, began coughing repeatedly when he saw the gift's true form. He covered his mouth and wiped away the coffee that had spilled out.

"My God."

"Is this for real?"

Cassel found a towel to wipe his hands, then leaned over beside Alexis and examined the Angel Diamond in his daughter's hand.

Lake rolled his eyes. "Do you think I'd give my goddaughter a fake?"

Cassel looked up. "You moved in five years ago, when my daughter was already ten. Her baptism was ten years ago. Godfather? You appointed yourself, didn't you?"

Lake shrugged. "It's enough that Alexis acknowledges me."

"I don't acknowledge you."

"Why the hell should I care whether you acknowledge me?"

"..."

Alexis looked at the Angel Diamond sparkling brilliantly in her palm. She glanced at her father, then held the diamond out toward Lake. "Uncle Lake, this is too valuable."

Lake waved his hand and didn't take it back. "It's valuable to you. To me, it's worthless."

Alexis: "..."

Lake sighed inwardly. He absolutely wasn't putting on an act. To him, only money that could be used for recharges was real money. Any other money that couldn't be recharged was no better than a sheet of scrap paper.

The diamond he had drawn was the same.

He could sell it, but the money he got from selling it couldn't be used for recharges. What use was it? It would only add to his sadness.

Alexis looked at her father, Cassel.

Cassel raised his eyebrows at Lake, seemingly having thought of something. He said to Alexis, "Since it's your gift, just accept it. Do you need to put it in my safe?"

Alexis's eyes narrowed, and she stuffed the Angel Diamond into her bosom. "No. I have my own safe."

Indeed.

With a famous crime novelist for a father, not to mention being the daughter of a wealthy man who doted on his child, it was perfectly normal for Alexis to have her own safe. Her mother also often gave her jewelry, so Alexis herself was already a little heiress.

Alexis stood up, thanked Lake, and then scampered toward the stairs. She wanted to take a good look at it while putting it in her safe.

Soon.

Alexis disappeared at the stairwell.

Cassel sat back down and looked at Lake, who was drinking coffee and eating pancakes. "Was this meant for Maureen?"

Lake glanced at Cassel without saying anything.

Cassel smiled and looked toward the stairs. Judging by things, his daughter probably wouldn't be coming down anytime soon. He then turned to Lake and said, "It's good that you split up. I've been meaning to tell you this. I heard from a friend..."

Lake cast him a sidelong glance and interrupted him directly. "A friend? An ex-girlfriend? Or the muse of one of your books?"

Literary men were all scumbags.

They used the pretext of "You're my muse" to hit on one pretty young woman after another.

Cassel rolled his eyes. "Do you want to hear this or not? I heard from a friend that Maureen's identity might not be simple."

Lake: "..."

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!