"Aunt Grace, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time. Please give me one more chance."
Lambert stood right there beside them like a bystander, impatience written all over his face.
I couldn't hold back. I rushed over and pulled my daughter free, gently patting her back to soothe her.
"Don't be scared. It's okay. Mommy's here."
The small body beneath my hands went stiff, and my tears fell before I could stop them.
"Lambert, are you even human? How can you betray your own daughter's trust like this?"
"No matter what, Mia is your flesh and blood. You just stood there and watched someone else bully and hit her."
Lambert glanced at me sideways, a careless smirk on his lips.
"Mia doesn't know how to behave. Grace is willing to discipline her as her future mother-in-law. That's Mia's good fortune."
"The one who has no business meddling here is you. What's the matter? Left home and realized you can't even feed yourself? Regretting it already?"
I had no desire to argue with him. I tightened my arms around my daughter.
"If she's so keen on discipline, she should start with her own kid. Mia is still little. She's not obligated to wait on your precious prince."
"Come on, sweetheart. Mommy found a job. Let's go."
I thought these past few days would have been enough for Mia to see that staying with Lambert was a mistake. But those small hands shoved me away without mercy, and she ran to Grace, tilting her face up with a desperate, pleasing smile.
"Aunt Grace, I'll take better care of Rory from now on. Please don't send me away."
Grace arched an eyebrow, triumph dripping from every pore.
"You heard her. Your own daughter can't stand you. Honestly, I almost feel sorry for you."
"Take the hint and stay away. Stop showing up and making everyone sick."
Lambert's eyes stayed locked on Grace the entire time, his expression one of doting adoration, as if every word from her mouth were gospel.
People streamed past in every direction. I stood there, mortified, my face burning like a boiled shrimp.
Grace wasn't done with me. She pulled out an invitation card, a smile playing on her lips.
"To show how much we value Mia, I've arranged a grand engagement banquet."
"As Mia's birth mother, I do hope you'll attend on time."
I wanted nothing more than to photograph that smug face and show it to Mrs. Weiss Sr.
Her husband was lying in a hospital bed, hanging between life and death, and she had the leisure to throw a party.
Bound by my agreement not to reveal Rod's condition, I swallowed the words before they left my mouth.
Lambert caught the look on my face and took it for petulance.
"If it were up to me, you wouldn't be invited at all. Save Mia the embarrassment."
"Grace is too generous with you. That's the only reason you think she's someone you can push around. With her status, she doesn't need to lower herself like this."
"Marrying into the Weiss family is the greatest stroke of luck Mia will ever have. If you dare ruin this for me, you'll never see her again."
That bone-deep favoritism, that shameless devotion to Grace, reignited the fury inside me.
A cold laugh escaped my throat. Word by word, I peeled back Grace's mask for all to hear.
"Lambert, you're worse than an animal. You'd sell your own daughter just to claw your way into the Weiss family."
"Too bad your precious first love has been lying through her teeth, fooling everyone. Rory isn't Rod Weiss's biological son."
The words landed like a bomb. Gasps rippled through the crowd, drawing even more onlookers who stopped mid-stride, eyes darting between Grace and the boy at her side.
Rory kept his head bowed throughout, silent, as if he existed somewhere beyond the reach of this world.
Grace had managed to string the wealthiest family in Pinecrest along without anyone catching on. She was no amateur.
In the blink of an eye, fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and her trembling, pitiful voice tugged effortlessly at every stranger's heartstrings.
