The Day I Kissed An Older Man by Cher the Cherished

The thought of that possibility left Henry feeling as if his heart had been stabbed. Claudia continued to cry in his arms in silence. Eventually, all he could do was pat her on the back and give her the chance to cry her heart out.

He felt that he might have neglected her recently. She had good grades and never did anything to make him feel worried, which was why he inadvertently paid too much attention to his younger daughter, Thalia. In his eyes, Thalia was slightly inferior and needed more attention.

He had never considered the possibility that Claudia might have been under a tremendous amount of pressure. Succeeding in a school filled with talented students was never going to be easy, yet Claudia had always managed to perform well.

Claudia felt much better after crying in her father's arms. She came out of his embrace, wiped her tears, and forced a weak smile. "It's okay, Dad. I was just feeling a little down for a while. I'm much better now after crying. Everything will be better tomorrow once I get a good night's sleep."

Her effort to reassure him despite her dejection made Henry feel even more heartbroken. "You need to tell me if you're stressed. I've always seen things through a narrow lens. I wanted both of you to excel so that your future paths would be smoother, but I didn't consider that the pressure on you might be too much. You need to take time off for yourself too, okay?"

Claudia nodded and decided to let go of what had happened. "You should have some rest, Dad. I'll do the same."

touched Claudia's

own door. She paused for a moment, then went back to her

of guilt but rather out of dissatisfaction. She wondered why her father himself apologized when Claudia made

her so many

yet he

to her!

were both his daughters, so there was no reason for them to treat them that

everything, and Thalia

day, a rather odd scene appeared at the dinner table. Henry thought long and hard to himself the previous night and decided that he would strive to be a

do wonders for

Claudia did not know anything about his decision, and they did not even look at each other at the table.