Landing Before Dawn

Just after proposing to Michelle, Parker Browning hurried to the hotel. It was because his little mistress outside had sent him a message about booking a room.

The next second, Michelle received a short room video from the mistress. Her heart turned to ashes, but she neither cried nor made a fuss.

She simply buried the engagement ring Parker gave her and shredded all their photos together.

Then she dialed her biological mother's number, "Mom, I'm willing to leave here and return home to acknowledge my roots."

***

"Sweetheart, are you really not planning to return and acknowledge your roots? No matter how good your adoptive parents are, it's not the same as your own family!" Amid the bustling street noises, Michelle listened to her biological mother's pleading on the phone, her gaze unconsciously darkening.

Just when Anya Diesel thought she would refuse her request again, Michelle suddenly sighed, "Mom, I'm willing to go home and acknowledge my roots."

After a brief silence, Anya was ecstatic, "Sweetheart, have you finally come around?"

"Hm." Michelle's tone was calm. "It's not good for me to keep staying at my adoptive parents' home. Give me a month. I'll handle things here and then go home."

Anya wiped away tears of joy. Michelle consoled her a bit before hanging up.

The clock struck twelve and fireworks burst into the sky, quickly spelling out: [Happy Birthday, Michelle.]

The screen on the department store instantly switched to Parker's personal interview, "Mr. Browning, you're so young and accomplished. Why have you chosen to marry now, during your career peak?"

Hearing the host's question, Parker's eyes were filled with smiles, "Because my girlfriend is wonderful and I can't wait to marry her."

The host, stuffed with public displays of affection, couldn't help but smile shyly as the audience burst into exclamations of awe, "It seems Mr. Browning has it all, success in both work and love! If you could say something to your girlfriend now, what would it be?"

At those words, Parker's gaze, filled with a smile, pierced through the screen, looking directly at her, "Michelle, happy birthday! Marry me!"

At the same time, a line of Bentleys stopped in front of Michelle. Parker stepped out of one, approached her and knelt on one knee.

Parker, usually composed, had reddened eyes and his hand holding the ring trembled slightly. His expression was solemn and devout, "Michelle, marry me!"

People around stopped to watch, their voices full of envy, "What a perfect man! Knowing the real daughter of the Smith Family was just found, he went right away to cancel the engagement with Janet. And now he's proposing to Michelle in public!"

"This is too much love! I declare Parker as the most reliable man of the year!"

"Parker Browning, a dream man!"

"Marry him!"

...

The deafening 'Marry him' chants echoed around. Michelle caught the scent of a woman's perfume on him, a fragrance that wasn't hers. Her eyes moistened as a trace of ridicule flickered beneath.

She couldn't comprehend how this man, who showered her with endless love, could have secretly climbed into bed with her so-called sister.

She had loved Parker for ten years, ever since coming to the Smith Family. Parker remembered every one of her birthdays, preparing gifts a month in advance.

He remembered every one of her menstrual cycles, offering her a cup of warm brown sugar ginger tea when she was in pain, tenderly holding her to massage her lower abdomen.

Even after the real daughter of the Smith Family, Janet, returned, he fearlessly canceled the engagement between the Browning and Smith families and firmly chose her, the adoptive daughter.