Cedric stared at the room in shock. "Mom... when did you move your things out?"
"Three months ago."
Cedric’s face flushed crimson.
He had co ho many tis over the past three months.
Every ti, he’d been so eager to video chat with Auntie Joanna and his little sister that he never noticed if anything was missing from the house.
It also dawned on Cedric that his mother hadn’t been ho every ti he returned.
But his mind had been so preoccupied with Joanna Sherman and Stella Grant that he hadn’t spared a thought for her, simply assuming she had gone to her room to sleep.
Sophia Shaw closed her eyes.
’Just how much must Cedric have ignored her to be completely oblivious that she had moved out three months ago?’
’Fortunately, she had accepted this reality long ago, so it didn’t hurt anymore.’
She didn’t want to make any pointless corrections, so she just said calmly, "It’s getting late. You should get so sleep."
After three bustling days of preparation, the day of Bun and Chloe’s Hundred Day Banquet finally arrived at the Shaw residence.
"Faye, are you really not going to tell Vincent Grant?"
June Evans’s heart ached as she looked at Bun in Sophia’s arms.
This was Bun’s first important day, after all.
She couldn’t bear the thought of Sophia standing alone with her child in front of all the guests.
"We hired a photographer for today. When Bun is older and sees photos with only her mother in them, won’t she be sad?"
Sophia also looked down at Bun.
The little one had endured so much since birth, and Sophia always felt she had wronged her deeply.
She wished she could lay the best things in the world at her daughter’s feet.
Even the hardest heart lts when it cos to one’s own child.
She would rather tell Bun that she lost her father because she and Vincent had divorced, rather than let her know she had been abandoned by her own father from the mont she was born.
With these thoughts, no matter how cold her heart had grown toward Vincent, Sophia sent him a text: Bun’s Hundred Day Banquet is today, along with Chloe’s. Can you co?
Seeing her finally send the ssage, June Evans patted her shoulder. "Don’t worry. Your uncle’s heart aches for you and Bun, so he sent an invitation to Vincent a long ti ago."
"I only ntioned it because I wanted to see where you stood on the matter."
"We can’t have Vincent show up and the two of you be all awkward with each other."
"Thank you, Auntie... and Uncle."
A lump ford in Sophia’s throat.
Her uncle and aunt had always put her first.
After her mother passed away, she’d had nowhere to go and was forced to stay with the Jennings family, where each day felt like a year.
They were the ones who took her in, supported her education without complaint, and insisted on giving her the very best.
Now, for Bun’s sake, even though her uncle resented Vincent to his core, he was still willing to be magnanimous and allow him to attend the banquet.
"I’ll go get Cedric," Leah Evans offered.
"The older brother can’t be missing from his sister’s Hundred Day Banquet. We’re supposed to take a family photo later."
"Okay."
Cedric always said Bun was adopted, and Sophia wanted to take this chance to have a proper talk with him about it.
Whatever the future held, they were still brother and sister.
After feeding Bun, Sophia changed her into a little pink dress she’d brought along, then put on a matching one herself.
She had also prepared outfits for Vincent and Cedric: light blue suits.
She had bought these clothes just before Bun was born, hoping they could all wear them at the Hundred Day Banquet to look like a family of four.
Even if it was just a lie, she wanted it to be a perfect one.
Yancy Shaw hadn’t invited many people, just a few very close friends.
The guests began to arrive.
Yancy Shaw and June Evans were busy greeting them.
Once the clothes were ready, Sophia joined her grandmother in looking after Chloe and Bun.
Her grandmother patted one baby and then the other, her face blooming into a wide smile.
"Both these children have been through so much. Things will definitely be better for them from now on."
"Yes, they will. Everything will be better from now on."
Sophia leaned against her grandmother like a little girl.
"Our whole family is going to be fine."
When it was ti for the group photo, there was still no sign of Vincent or Cedric.
Two empty spaces yawned awkwardly beside Sophia.
"I’ll go see what’s happening," Sophia said, walking out with Bun in her arms.
She waited at the door for a mont before spotting Vincent’s Maybach parked by the curb. He was just getting out.
"Vincent."
Sophia called out and started walking toward him.
But another figure was faster. A woman erged from the restaurant across the street and reached Vincent in just a few steps.
Joanna Sherman nonchalantly handed Stella Grant to Vincent. "Didn’t you say you were busy? Our event doesn’t start for another half hour."
Sophia stared blankly as the baby was placed in Vincent’s arms. As the couple turned and walked toward the restaurant, she finally realized: the Sherman family was hosting a banquet there.
And it was a Hundred Day Banquet, too!
Vincent cooed at Stella as he walked, completely oblivious to Sophia’s presence.
Joanna stuck close to his side until they reached the entrance, then she glanced back over her shoulder at Sophia, her eyes filled with blatant provocation.
’She’s doing this on purpose!’
’She deliberately scheduled the banquet on the sa day as Bun’s, deliberately set it half an hour later, all to show that her daughter is more precious, that her daughter holds Vincent’s heart, not Bun!’
In this battle, Joanna had never lost.
The Shermans had invited a huge number of guests. People were streaming in and out. Thanks to Vincent’s presence, it seed as if the entire city’s elite had shown up.
People were staring at her and the child in her arms with strange looks.
Sophia didn’t care what people thought of her, but she couldn’t let them look at Bun that way.
She hurried after them, determined to call Vincent back.
Jack Holloway blocked her path. "Ma’am, these are the gifts from President Grant."
There were so many gifts from Vincent—an entire carload. It took several people to carry everything inside.
The sheer volu of the gifts was precisely what made the scene so conspicuous.
Many people recognized Jack Holloway and were asking about Sophia’s identity.
Brian Sherman ca out of the restaurant, his expression a mixture of sarcasm and arrogance. "Who else could it be? The woman who stole my niece’s husband, right?"
"Used so pretty dirty tricks, I hear!"
"Now she’s using a baby to host a banquet, thinking President Grant would actually show his face. He’s sick of her. He specifically ordered us to bring more gifts, just to pay off a couple of beggars!"
Countless eyes turned toward her, toward the baby in her arms.
Their gazes were filled with disgust and mockery.
Jack Holloway acted as if he were deaf, continuing to direct his n to carry the gifts inside without offering a single word of explanation.
Sophia clutched her baby tightly, her heart feeling as if a chunk had been gouged out, leaving a raw, bleeding wound.
She had thought Vincent ignoring Bun was the worst he could do. It had never occurred to her that he would humiliate her so personally.
"Jack Holloway, take these gifts back!"
Sophia’s voice was cold and hard.
Jack Holloway turned around impatiently. "These are President Grant’s orders. If you want to take them back, you’ll have to get him to call himself."
’So they’re determined to humiliate to the very end!’
Her uncle, aunt, and grandmother were inside. Sophia couldn’t bear to cause a scene and draw them out to suffer the scornful glares and ridicule of the crowd.
All she could do was take one deep breath after another.
Each breath felt like inhaling shards of glass, scraping her lungs with excruciating pain.
It took Sophia a long ti to compose herself before she could slowly walk back inside.
Everyone was still waiting for the family photo. When they saw the gifts being brought in, they assud Vincent would be arriving any mont.
"It’s all right. We can wait a little longer for the photo," Yancy Shaw comforted her.
Sophia forced a smile, the bitterness in her heart so sharp it felt like bile rising in her throat.
Just then, Leah Evans stord in, fuming.
"Where’s Cedric?" June Evans asked, looking past her.
"Don’t ask!" Leah Evans clutched at her chest, looking utterly incensed.
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