Mr Lee, 46, a Singaporean who runs a talent management agency in Hong Kong, says in a phone interview: “I was overjoyed when Jessica told me that she was ready for marriage. I felt that my life was complete – a beautiful wife and a darling daughter.”
He admits, too, that had Ms Cheong kept mum about the truth, he’d not have suspected anything.
“J (we are not naming the girl) was my ‘baobei’ (precious one in Mandarin), we did everything together. I’d take her along with me to events and shows organised by my company and everyone loved her.”
But three years after Ms Cheong and Mr Lee got married, the situation began to unravel when J cut herself in a fall at school.
Details are vague. But Ms Cheong remembers finding out that her daughter’s blood type did not make it possible that Mr Cheong was her biological father.
“I was shocked. And then it occurred to me that Mr H’s blood type is the same as my girl’s. My mind started running around in circles,” she says.
After three months of struggling with the possibility that the first paternity test could be wrong, she “decided to seek the truth”.
“It was too disturbing to ignore it and carry on with life like nothing happened.
“But this time, it was also harder for me to get samples for the testing, because Mr H had sort of broken off ties after I chose to marry Alex.”
Mr H had also married another woman about a year earlier.
She says: “But I took Alex’s toothbrush and fingernail and sent both for another test.”
The result confirmed that he was not J’s father. Ms Cheong adds: “I was so frightened when I got the result. Somehow, I knew that also marked the end of our marriage.
“And I was right.”
She says she chose to tell the truth because she felt she owed it to all of them.
“It was a mistake, an honest one, which I felt should not be allowed to go on.”
Mr Lee says: “My world came crashing down. I found it hard to continue with the life that was no longer perfect. A life that was totally wrong.
“I also couldn’t face J. I couldn’t look at her without feeling cheated... each time she called me ‘daddy’, I felt irritated and angry. It’s just a man thing.”
He moved out of the family’s Hong Kong home about four months later.
Ms Cheong says: “J was devastated by the rejection. She was too young to understand what was going on.
“For her, she just knew that her daddy didn’t want her and suddenly no longer loved her.”
Ms Cheong decided to move back to Singapore.
About a year later, she called Mr H and asked to meet him. But what she didn’t expect, she says, was for him to reject their daughter too.
She says: “It hurt me so much then but there was nothing I could do.”
When J turned 15, she asked why Mr Lee had chosen to leave the family.
Feeling that the young girl was mature enough to handle the truth, Ms Cheong bared all.
She says: “It was one mistake after another. J asked for her biological father’s number and I gave it to her.
“But he didn’t want to have anything to do with her, especially since he has another two children from his own marriage.”
In response to our request for an interview, Mr H says: “I’ve moved on with my life. And I don’t need the baggage.
“It was not my fault.”
Ms Cheong adds: “J couldn’t accept the rejection. Her studies suffered and she failed her O-level exams.
“She also refused to retake her exams and hardly returns home, except when she needs money.”
Ms Cheong admits that she gives in to her daughter’s demands for money because of her own guilt.
“I can’t turn back the clock and undo the mistake, but I hope that one day, she would come to her senses and return home to her mother who loves her dearly.”
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Well, can't turn the clock backwards - a sad case for this man and the young girl.
Lots of sacrifices envisaged from all parties involved.
Yup could be, karma covers generations n even previous lives.:D
Buddy, yes, the father might owe the baby girl something or do something horrible...now the father is paying her every single cents.
If so ... good for U ... time for U to CHANGE ... :p :D
Btw ... this case the MAN is innocent victim .... in karma context, he probably paying back what he owes this baby girl in their last life ... ;)
Counselling is the best option for them to settle peacefully.