"Do you understand?"Willow giggled happily. She then wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a big kiss on my cheek. "You're the best!"I hugged her tightly. "You're great too."Willow immediately wriggled out of my embrace. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me up the stairs. "Come on, Mom! I can't wait to take my bath!"…There was a bathtub in Willow's room. She wanted to soak in the tub today, so I kept an eye on the water temperature as I filled it.Meanwhile, Willow pulled out her bath companions—a little yellow rubber duck and some other plastic animals. She then tossed them all into the tub.After that, she picked out her pajamas.Once she was done with all of that, tiny beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. However, her eyes sparkled with excitement.The water was ready. Willow climbed into the bathtub and lay in the water obediently. She poked her head over the tub to look at me.It was odd. I hadn't put as much effort into her as I did in Zach, yet s
Shayne couldn't tell that Luna cared about Zach.Luna instantly became alert. Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Shayne. "Are you blaming me?"Shayne was unexpectedly patient. "No."She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he truly wasn't accusing her of anything. But Shayne continued, "However…"Luna instantly tensed up."You don't seem to care about Zach at all," he continued calmly.Luna quickly explained herself. "I don't know why, but my pregnancy symptoms are especially severe. As soon as you two left, I got so tired I was about to fall asleep."Shayne continued looking down at her. "But we're back now, and you still didn't even ask how he's doing."It was only then that Luna realized she had made a grave mistake. Although she had managed to force Aralyn away and successfully take her place, Zach was still very important to Shayne.She shouldn't have neglected Zach right from the start. She needed to treat Zach better, at least in front of Shayne.Sh
After we sat down, the waiter came over with a menu to take our order.Willow handed me the menu. I pointed to each item, explaining the different types of sausages available.She nodded in response and replied, "Delicious."Once I was done explaining, I asked, "What kind of sausages would you like to eat?"Willow blinked. "I want to try all of them."I handed the menu to Julian to let him decide.Julian, who doted on Willow, immediately told the waiter, "One of each, please."The waiter responded warmly, "Alright."Once the waiter left, Willow snuggled into my arms and started chatting away. "Mom, did you know that I heard my classmates say that Zach's been having a rough time over the past two days? His new Mom didn't even want to pick him up after school. She made him wait outside the school past nine…" Children were straightforward and said whatever they wanted. She continued muttering softly, "Say, why do you think he's so dumb? He had such a wonderful mother, yet h
Zach stood in place, stunned. However, he instinctively asked, "Why?"Luna used to take him everywhere with her. What changed?"Because you were bad." Luna sneered.She was an adult, so dealing with a child was a piece of cake.She looked down at him and said, "You got sick, and I wasn't feeling well enough to stay with you in the hospital. But you had a problem with that. You tattled to your Dad and made him hate me."Her tone then turned malicious. "So, I naturally will give you a bad time. Understand?"Zach nodded. "Then I'll change. No matter what happens, I won't tell Dad, okay?"He hoped she would treat him better."Too late." Luna finished packing her things and walked out the door with her son.Zach wanted to follow along, but Luna shoved him hard and he fell to the floor. The door was then shut.He was the only person left in the house.He looked at the door. He liked Luna so much that he even drove his previous mom out of the house for her. So, how could Luna tre
Although Julian wasn't my husband, and Willow wasn't my biological daughter, being with them helped me gradually understand what a healthy parent-child relationship looked like.…Today, Willow wanted to enjoy time together as a family of three. She specifically didn't let the driver follow us.Julian drove while I sat in the back with Willow. She leaned affectionately against me as her fingers constantly played with my clothes.On the other hand, I gently patted her shoulder while I quietly thought about how I could request for her to speak with people other than Julian and me.After hesitating for a long time, I cautiously asked, "Willow, can I ask you to help me with something?"When Willow heard this, she sat up immediately. Her eyes shone brightly as she looked at me and asked, "What is it?"She seemed very eager to help me.I slowed my speech. "It's just… Could you try talking to other people?"Willow straightened her posture. Her little face was serious.I didn't inter
Zach couldn't figure it out.He only vaguely felt that everything seemed to have changed ever since his parents divorced.Zach returned to his room, sad. He took out his tablet and opened Facebook. The moment he logged in, he saw that Luna had just posted something.Curious, he clicked on it.It was a photo of Luna holding Mason. They were both smiling brightly, clearly having a great time at the amusement park.Zach was so sad that he started to cry. He was about to screenshot the post and send it to his dad, but the photo suddenly disappeared the next moment.…There were a lot of children at the amusement park. In the past, Julian was busy with work, so he rarely had the time to take Willow out to play. As such, the moment Willow saw all the attractions at the park, her eyes lit up. She held my hand and pranced around to take everything in.Eventually, she chose a small play area. She turned to Julian and said, "Daddy, I want to play here!"As Julian paid at the back, I a
"I didn't like listening to him."As I listened to Willow speak, I looked up and saw Luna's son, Mason, standing on the slide. He was looking at me.His gaze didn't look innocent and friendly. Instead, it held an unnatural maturity for his age. At that moment, it was filled with contempt toward me.I had originally wanted to keep my distance from them. Aside from gathering evidence to expose Luna's true nature, I never intended to come into contact with her again. However, they approached me on their own.Perhaps it was because whenever they provoked or bullied me in the past, I always endured it. They seemed to think I was easy to bully. They even bullied Willow.If I didn't retaliate, they might take it even further. I wiped the cold expression off my face and spoke gently to Willow. "But if you run away because people try to bully you, they'll bully you even harder. Understand?"Willow clearly didn't understand. She looked at Julian. "Daddy, is that right?"Julian nodded. "
"You're well aware of it, Luna," I emphasized each word.Luna left Rowan when the latter went bankrupt. She'd rather become a mistress just to be with Shayne, proving she couldn't live without money.If Shayne were to leave her, not only would she struggle with her son, but she would also become a mistress to other men and depend on them. However, they might not cherish and care for her like Shayne did. Hence, Luna would do anything to stay with Shayne."Aralyn!" Luna looked displeased, as she didn't expect I'd threaten her."I don't have time to waste," I calmly urged.Just as I turned to leave, Luna shouted through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry!"I turned back toward her. "Whoever did wrong should be the one to apologize, don't you think?"Luna glared at me, but for the sake of her and her son's future, she had no other choice.Luna pushed her son to the front and said, "Apologize to her."But her son refused. When I was about to leave with Willow, Luna slapped him twice acros
Mark continued, "The solution her family came up with was to marry her off. They would then ask for money from her husband to treat her mother. She does want her mother to get better, but she doesn't want to sell herself. "She heard that our company was recruiting employees for overseas training and there would be a high allowance. As such, she volunteered."Mark didn't have the chance to share this earlier. Besides, when Serena was present, he felt it was inappropriate to discuss it in front of her. He thus waited until now to fill us in.He continued, "As for the allowance, the company has already disbursed it to her. She used it to pay the hospital fees for her mother and then lied to her family, saying it was money from her fiance. However, said fiance wanted her to move in with him immediately."She wanted to test her family's reaction. In the end, they told her to go and not upset him. When she saw that her family didn't care about her situation and showed no concern for her
Mark continued, "Ever since I found out how much money foreign markets make from merchandise every year, I started researching the types of merchandise they offer and how they operate and generate profits. "In the end, I discovered that their product range is more extensive than ours. Unlike us… We mostly produce flashy but impractical knickknacks, but they even have everyday items. So, since they have such advanced experience, there's no need for us to reinvent the wheel."My plan is to send someone from our company abroad to learn. That way, when they return, we can expand our merchandise to include more everyday items. That way, we can have higher sales and make more money. What do you think?"Julian didn't expect Mark to be working so hard in private. He looked at Mark and said sincerely, "That's a good idea, but I'm not the person concerned."He then looked at me and asked, "What do you think?""You're both doing this to help me earn more money," I said. Since working with J
Mark answered methodically, "Didn't we completely retract our collaboration with the Wilson family a few days ago?"Julian nodded. "That's right."Mark handed a folder to Julian. "I reached out to a new company to collaborate with. I had just contacted them, and they pulled me into their factory to show me their latest products. They also mentioned that they've just made a breakthrough in their technology. "However, the companies they're currently working with can't handle such large orders. They were still worrying about finding a market for their products during their meeting a few days ago. In the end, we extended an olive branch to cooperate." Julian accepted the folder and opened it. "Have you tested their new products? How do they compare to the Wilson family's products?"Mark was full of praise. "So much better, Mr. Hughes..."He then praised their product immensely.Julian skimmed through the product brochure. Mark continued, "These past few days, I've been thankfu
Pamela heard Willow's voice. She turned around and immediately ran to her upon seeing her.They held hands, happily chatting for a while before heading into school fully satisfied.…I sat in the car and watched the two of them. I couldn't help but feel happy.Pamela was Willow's only friend. If it was possible, I hoped their friendship could last a long time.The two girls walked into their classroom.I looked away and happened to catch sight of Shayne who was nearby. This caused my expression to darken uncontrollably.Julian was seated beside me. He noticed the change in my expression and asked, "Did you see him?""Yeah," I replied calmly. "Didn't he already abandon Zach? Why is he here at the kindergarten?"Julian speculated casually, "Maybe he wants to mend his relationship with Zach?"I shook my head. "He and his mother prioritize Luna, and not long ago, they were obviously preparing to give up on Zach. I had assumed he would treat the child Luna is carrying as his futur
"If others don't bother us, we certainly shouldn't go looking for trouble or bullying anyone else. However, if someone bullies us, we must find a way to fight back. Understand?"My expression was unusually serious.Willow replied earnestly, "Got it, Mommy. Ever since Mason left our class, all the other kids in my class have been genuinely nice to me."I smiled. "I know. I decided to remind you since we just so happen to be on this topic. I hope you can be happy every day and not be affected by others' moods."Willow answered seriously, "I'll remember that."She then added, "Don't worry, Mommy. I won't let anyone bully me!"I continued to remind her, "If you ever encounter a problem you can't solve on your own, don't force yourself to handle it. Always let your parents know. We'll help you solve these problems, okay?"Willow looked at me. The love in her gaze grew gradually. "Okay."As I looked at her, I suddenly recalled the times before I gave up on Zach. Whenever he faced any
Maisy's cooking was almost the same as Aralyn's. It was delicious. Zach smiled faintly.Although he had made mistakes in the past, at least he still had family by his side even though his parents no longer wanted him.…Shayne woke up. He glanced at the time and reached out to the side of the bed, only to find that it was already cold.Had Aralyn gotten up already?He got up and walked to the kitchen, asking impatiently, "Aralyn, is breakfast ready?"The kitchen was empty.Only then did Shayne remember that they were divorced.He dejectedly returned to the dining table and sat down. He buried his hands in his hair, overwhelmed with regret.Why couldn't he remember they were divorced? Perhaps it was because his recent dreams were about his time together with Aralyn. This caused him to be confused about his dreams and reality.When Shayne regained clarity, he turned to look in the direction of the kitchen. It was still empty.He couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse. Had
Unfortunately, I gave birth to a son. This meant that the skills I had learned couldn't be used.Now, I had a daughter. I could tie her hair beautifully every day.I braided Willow's hair into a bun. She then looked in the mirror and saw her hair all tied up, revealing her cute and round face. She blinked and exclaimed, "Who's kid is this? She's too cute!" My mood couldn't help but become better upon seeing her compliment herself. I played along and said, "Probably our family's, right?"Willow turned to look at me. "You must be really lucky then."I had no idea where she picked it up, but her tone was like that of an adult. Even so, it had that childishness unique to children. It was especially cute.I couldn't resist and pinched her little cheeks. "That's right. People are definitely envious of me for having such a wonderful daughter."Willow nodded. "And all the other kids must be jealous of me too, for having such an amazing mom like you."She then added, "I love you, Mommy
Luna's eyes were filled with longing. If she managed to win Julian's heart, would he treat her that well? Would he protect her unconditionally? Would he...Luna bit her lip shyly.Would he spend all his money on her?...Once I returned to my bedroom, I turned on the desk lamp and sat at my desk. I drew for some time and only stopped once I was a little tired.I reached up to pull back the curtain. It was pitch black outside the window. The sound of insects came and went. The silence was comforting.I stood up and leaned against the window, taking in the view outside.I had been constantly harassed lately, and I couldn't help but feel irritable. However, when I forced myself to face these things, I suddenly realized something. The more annoyed I was, the more it proved that they had succeeded, right? As such, what I needed to do now was find a way to free myself from their influence. I started relaxing gradually.I now had a child who loved me and a husband who was willing
Logically, Luna should be asleep by now. Yet, she was still chatting energetically with Julian. However, Rowan was the one using Julian's account.Luna had been sowing discord between Julian and Aralyn right under his nose the whole time. Through the difference between Luna's attitudes toward him and Julian, he easily saw her true nature.Rowan turned off the screen. Even so, he had to admit that Luna was brilliant and knew how to play the long game. Although he had no money left, she was still willing to take the time and effort to deal with him.He had once naively believed that the reason Luna was willing to stay in touch with him was because she loved him and couldn't let go of him. That was why she kept reaching out to him on and off. Perhaps he was more important than money in her heart.Rowan chuckled. Pain welled up within him, making it hard to breathe. However, the truth was that Luna was only willing to spend time interacting with him because she wanted to secure the m