Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up to a loud commotion.

The living room was filled with people who had come to celebrate my birthday.

I was taken aback.

Ever since my mother passed away, I had not celebrated my birthday. It had been ten years.

I looked around. My mother’s portraits had all been replaced by Jelena’s.

The butler said, “Mr. Scott asked for it. He wants Miss Katie to feel happy when she sees them.”

The guests talked among themselves.

“Did you hear that the shops Claire’s mother left behind have all been transferred under Jelena’s name?”

“Tsk… tsk. The real mate worked hard her entire life, only for it all to go to the mistress.”

“Hush! Pipe down. She’s now Gerald’s mate.”

Jelena wore my mother’s jewelry as she smiled brightly. I could not hold back my anger and slapped her.

She fell limply against my father and wiped away her tears as she said, “I know that you don’t like me, Claire, but this is a happy occasion. I just have one small wish. Please, let me be with your father for the rest of our lives. I’ll take care of you in your mother’s place.”

She did not say that today was also my mother’s death anniversary.

My eyes turned red as power roared within me, but my father squashed it down. “Jelena will be your mother from now on. She put a lot of effort into throwing you a birthday party. Be a little forgiving.”

Just then, Katie walked in while holding Scott’s arm.

“Happy birthday, my princess!” Scott said lovingly and handed me a black-and-gold box.

“My God! That’s the limited-edition gift box Almera Auction sells every year!” a guest cried out.

“A mysterious buyer bought it at a high price last month. I wasn’t expecting it to be Scott!”

“What a loving man! Claire is so lucky!”

But I did not care for it.

A limited-edition gift box? A loving man?

I did not care about any of it.

All I cared about was the gown Katie was wearing.

My mother sewed that gown for me while she was on her deathbed.

“Take it off.” I glared at her as my voice trembled.

Katie’s eyes welled up with tears, and she hid behind Scott.

I reached out to grab her.

The guests were not expecting me to show such blatant disrespect toward Scott, and they sucked in deep breaths.

Scott said gently but firmly, “Stop making a fuss, Claire. If you like this, I’ll bring a designer back home and make another one for you, okay?”

But nothing was registering in my head at this point. All I wanted was to retrieve the gown my mother had made for me.

Scott grabbed my shoulders. “Claire, calm down! You’re pregnant!”

“I’m sorry!”

Suddenly, Katie knelt and screamed as she tore at the gown’s collar.

“I know that you look down on me. You always mistreated me! I’ll take it off and return it to you!”

When we were still studying in school, she would hurt herself and blame me for it.

Just like in the past, everyone thought I was a spoiled, arrogant brat who loved mistreating others.

The guests whispered and looked down on me.

“To think that she’s so spoiled…”

“Even if she’s illegitimate, she’s still her sister. Why is she so mean to her?”

Scott took off his jacket and draped it across Katie’s shoulder. Then, for the first time, he shot me a cold look.

“Claire, apologize.”

But I did not react.

All I could see was Katie tearing apart what my mother had left for me.

My vision blurred as I cried.

Scott looked at me in shock and wanted to reach out to me. “Claire…”

But before he could touch me, Katie pretended to reach me first, only to shove me away when she got closer.

My back slammed against the metal handrail of the stairs, and pain spread through my entire body.

As for Katie, she crashed into the cake. Icing was smeared all over her face. She looked pathetic.

“Why did you push me, Claire?!”