Grace Morrison had been living apart from her husband and daughter, separated by two countries. But today was her birthday, and she flew overseas specifically to surprise them, hoping to spend her birthday with them.

After turning on her phone upon landing, she received numerous birthday wishes from friends and colleagues, but not a single one from Alexander Sterling or Sophia Sterling. The smile instantly vanished from Grace's face.

When she arrived at the villa, the nanny Nancy saw her and froze, then looked terrified: "Ma'am, why... why are you here?" she asked.

Grace found her reaction strange but didn't think too much of it, asking: "Where are Alex and Soph?"

Nancy stammered: "Mr. Sterling and Miss Sophia... they... they..."

Just then, Sophia's cheerful voice came from the living room.

"Auntie Claire, I love you so much!"

Grace's heart lurched upon hearing Sophia’s voice. She slowly walked across the hallway, and just as she reached the corner of the living room, she saw her daughter cuddling affectionately in a woman's arms, tilting her head up to kiss the woman's cheek.

Grace recognized the woman - as she had expected, it was Claire Wilson.

The woman who had been trying to destroy her family, and who was also her half-sister.

Alexander was watching the two interact with gentle eyes, then reached out toward Sophia: "Alright Soph, Auntie Claire must be tired. Come, let daddy hold you for a while."

"No!" Sophia refused, clinging to Claire: "I like Auntie Claire, I want Auntie Claire to hold me!"

Claire smiled indulgently and returned her kisses: "It's okay, Alex. I'm not tired. I love spending time with Soph too."

Watching this scene of what appeared to be a perfect family of three, Grace realized she was shaking.

Nancy watched everything awkwardly, and just as she was about to announce "Ma'am is here," Grace stopped her and sent her away.

Grace took out her phone, staring at them as she dialed Alexander's number. When the ringtone sounded, Alexander looked at his screen, frowned, and hung up.

Claire noticed and asked: "Why the long face? Who was it?"

Alexander shook his head: "Nothing important," he said.

Grace gave a bitter smile and tried calling Sophia.

Sophia's happy face immediately scrunched up, and she looked at Alexander: "Daddy, it's Mom calling." At these words, Claire's smile froze.

"Do you want to answer it?" Alexander asked.

Sophia shook her head. "No!" she said, firmly. "Mom's calls are always so annoying."

Alexander smiled, he said: "Then don't answer it."

Getting his approval, Sophia happily hung up and fell back into Claire's arms: "Auntie Claire," she said, "Your birthday is in a week! What present would you like?"

Claire smiled again. "I'll love anything Soph gives me," she said.

Sophia said mysteriously: "Daddy and I are going to make you a birthday present ourselves. You can look forward to it, Auntie Claire!"

"Really?" Claire said. "Then Auntie Claire will eagerly await the present from Soph and daddy."

Only when her tears touched her cheeks did Grace realize she was crying. She never imagined that during her absence from her husband and daughter's lives, Claire would so brazenly insert herself into her family life. At that very moment, she desperately wanted to rush over and slap the woman, but she didn't have the courage. She also knew if she ever directly confronted Claire, Alexander would, without hesitation, take Claire's side. Because he loved Claire.

And for Grace, Alexander had nothing but endless coldness, aversion, and disgust. She turned around and walked outside the villa to wait for Claire to leave. It was a long wait.

Claire stayed until very late before leaving, and unsurprisingly, Alexander drove her home.

Grace watched the car disappear into the distance before going back inside with her luggage.

She wanted to hold her daughter and kiss her too. No matter how close Sophia was to Claire, she was still Grace's daughter by birth. After two months apart, she desperately missed her little girl.

Grace went upstairs, where Sophia was sitting intently at her small table, focused on something, too absorbed to notice her arrival.

"Soph?"

Sophia turned her head and saw her, calling out: "Mom!"

Then she immediately turned back to continue what she was doing.

Her mother went over and hugged Sophia, but as soon as she gave her a kiss, she was pushed away. "Mom, I'm busy right now," Sophia said.

Grace noticed what looked like a necklace. "Is Soph making a seashell necklace?" she asked.

"Yes!" At this, Sophia clearly became excited: "This is the birthday present Daddy and I are making for Auntie Claire! We polished all these shells with special tools. Aren't they pretty?"

Grace immediately realized this was the handmade birthday present Sophia had mentioned earlier for Claire.

Her heart aching unbearably, before she could speak, she heard her daughter happily continue while facing away: "Daddy also ordered other birthday presents for Auntie Claire, tomorrow—"

Grace couldn't hold back anymore, her voice choking: "Soph, you remember other people's birthdays, but do you remember that tomorrow is Mom's birthday?"

"Huh? What?" Sophia hadn't heard clearly, glancing up briefly before looking back down at her necklace project, complaining: "Mom, don't talk to me, you're making me lose track of the beads—"

Grace released her embrace and fell silent.

She stood there for a long time, but her daughter never looked up at her again. Finally, Grace quietly left the room.

Nancy still looked visibly uncomfortable but said, "Ma'am, I called Mr. Sterling earlier to tell him you're here. He said he has something to do tonight and told you to rest first."

"I understand," Grace said.

Although she knew Alexander's "something to do" meant being with Claire, she still couldn't help herself and called Alexander again.

After a while, he finally answered, his voice cold: "I'm busy, we'll talk tomorrow—"

"Alex, who is it this late?"