Chapter 2

Seeing this, Monica hurried to crouch beside Angela and soothe her.

“Don’t cry, Angela. We can always make another figurine. And look, your picture is torn. Let me glue it back together for you, okay?”

As she spoke, she reached out and took the two halves of the picture from Angela’s arms.

Angela lunged forward to snatch it back.

Suddenly, Monica knocked over the glass of water on the table, and the picture was soaked.

By the time I fished it out, the three figures on the paper had blurred into an indistinguishable mess.

Angela stared at the ruined picture before finally bursting into tears.

“Mommy, the family I drew is gone.”

Monica hurriedly pulled out some tissues and offered them to her.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to. Angela, why don’t you draw another one?”

I knocked her hand away.

“Get out.”

Edward handed Andrew over to her and said quietly, “Take him to the guest room first. I need to talk to Catherine.”

Only after the bedroom door closed did he grab my wrist.

“That’s enough, isn’t it? Monica has already apologized.”

I wrenched my hand free.

“Can’t you see Angela is crying?”

“What’s the big deal if a child cries for a little while?”

He lowered his voice.

“Monica hasn’t been emotionally stable since her husband died. What if you upset her by kicking her out in front of Andrew?”

I stared at him and suddenly asked, “What about Angela?”

“She has both her parents. She’s never gone without anything since she was born.”

Edward paused, then added, “Stop spoiling her so much. She makes a fuss over every little thing, whether it’s a picture or a little figurine. How is she ever going to get along with other people if she keeps acting like this?”

Angela’s crying suddenly stopped in the bedroom.

I turned and saw her standing behind the door.

With her head lowered, she folded the ruined picture and slipped it into her pocket.

“Daddy, I won’t make a fuss anymore.”

Edward looked uncomfortable and reached out to hug her.

Angela took a step back and closed the door.

The next day, her teacher called to tell me that Angela had been crying in the school toilet for a long time and refused to come out.

I didn’t have time to ask for more details. I rushed straight to the school.

As I approached the office, I overheard two teachers talking.

“I saw the interview, too. Andrew’s mom and the Alpha really did look like a family.”

“But isn’t the Alpha Angela’s father?”

“Andrew has been going around telling everyone that the Alpha is his father, too. Some of the children even laughed at Angela and said her dad likes Andrew more than her.”

When I pushed open the door, Angela was already in the office.

The moment she saw me, she ran over and clutched my hand tightly.

The teachers immediately stopped talking.

“Angela’s mom, I’m so sorry. The children didn’t know any better. We’ve already spoken to them about their behavior.”

I crouched down and asked Angela, “Did someone bully you?”

She shook her head.

But the teacher hesitated before taking out a sheet of paper.

It showed a man dressed in blue, holding Andrew’s hand while pushing Angela away with his other hand.

“One of the children in the class drew this. When Angela saw it, she locked herself in the toilet and refused to come out.”

It felt as though something had lodged in my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Before I could say anything, Edward walked in with Monica.

Monica’s eyes were red and swollen.

“Teacher, the interview was really just a misunderstanding. Andrew has grown up without a father’s love, so he got used to calling Edward Dad without thinking.”

Edward picked up where she left off.

“This is just a little disagreement between children. There’s no need to blow it out of proportion.”

I handed him the drawing.

“Your daughter is being laughed at by her entire class for not having a father, and you still call this a little disagreement?”

He glanced at the picture, his brows drawing together slightly.

“I’ll explain things to Angela.”

Andrew ran out from behind Monica and grabbed Edward’s hand.

“Daddy Edward, the teacher said I’m not allowed to call you Daddy anymore.”

Edward crouched down to his level.

“That’s not what the teacher meant.”

“Then can I still call you Daddy?”

Andrew looked up at him hopefully.

Monica gently tried to persuade him otherwise.

“Forget it. We shouldn’t upset Angela. Andrew, you need to call him Alpha from now on.”

Andrew immediately burst into tears.

“I don’t want to call him Alpha! I want Daddy Edward!”

The parents standing nearby all turned to look.

Embarrassed, Edward turned to Angela.

“Andrew only calls me that in private. He’s not going to take your daddy away from you. You’re a little older than him, so you’re the big sister. You should yield to him.”

Angela stared at him blankly.

“But I’m only three months older than him.”

Edward’s expression darkened.

“Even one day older makes you the older one. Stop being so childish.”

Just then, his phone rang.

A notice appeared in the class group chat from the teacher.

[To avoid any misunderstandings regarding family relationships, could the Alpha please confirm whose parent he will be at tomorrow’s parent-child hunting class?]

Andrew snatched the phone and pressed the voice message button.

“Daddy Edward is obviously coming to spend the day with me!”

The moment the voice message was sent, Edward made no attempt to delete it.