Chapter 4

Joy immediately filled my heart. I showed Theo the text message on my phone and exclaimed, "Look, Teddy! Your dad remembered!"

Theo, who'd been hanging his head earlier, snapped his head up as a huge, happy smile graced his lips.

"Daddy must have prepared a lot of presents for me, Mommy! Let's go! Hurry!"

Theo was so excited with Nathan's response that he wouldn't stop chattering all the way there, wondering out loud what presents Nathan had probably prepared for him.

However, as we reached Galloway Manor, the yard full of roses had my heart squeezing all of a sudden.

This was not the typical birthday decoration for a kid's birthday party.

However, Theo didn't seem to have noticed and excitedly tugged me into the venue. I had no choice but to follow him with a heavy heart, getting more and more anxious by the second.

Nathan had better not have done anything that would completely destroy our relationship and render it unsalvageable.

Theo caught sight of Nathan standing next to the cake in the main hall, and his eyes brightened up at once. He ran right into his arms, squealing in delight.

"Daddy!"

Nathan looked at the boy in his arms, his eyes suddenly narrowing at him. His voice went hoarse as he asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

Nathan's tone of voice confirmed the unsettling hunch I'd had. At once, I felt that something terrible was going to happen.

The guests around us, all from the upper echelons of society in Ravelton, began whispering to themselves.

"Isn't it Nathan Galloway's and Catherine Wilkins' engagement party today? What's a random kid doing, calling him 'Daddy' like that?"

"Didn't I hear that the Galloways' second son wasn't married yet?"

"Wait, don't tell me that he's got a lovechild with someone else…"

Nathan's face turned ashen. He immediately shoved Theo off and barked, "What did you just call me?"

Theo stumbled backward and fell to the ground on his butt at once. He stared at Nathan in disbelief, the tears pooling in his eyes as he fought not to cry. Eventually, he cautiously said, "Uncle Nate."

A while later, he looked at the cake in the center of the hall and smiled again. He asked, "Uncle Nate, are you celebrating my birthday with me? I want to cut the cake with you!"

Theo had been looking forward to his birthday for days now, and he didn't seem to mind how Nathan made him address him as long as he could spend time together with him.

However, long, slender arms gently held Nathan's hands, still holding the cake knife.

"Of course you can't. This is not a place for beneficiaries of the Galloways' charities like yourself. Am I wrong, Nate?"

I felt the fire burning in my chest.

With Catherine putting it so plainly like that, I'd have to be dumb not to understand the meaning behind her words.

That text message had been from her. Her only objective had been to publicly announce me as nothing more than just a beneficiary on the receiving end of their so-called charities.

"Is that the case, Nathan Galloway?" I asked, shielding Theo behind me.

Nathan went blank for a second. Then, he looked at me with guilt in his eyes.

With everyone's eyes on him, he stated, "Yes. Just a beneficiary."

A smug, satisfied smile appeared on Catherine's lips as she stood behind him. She looked like a proud peahen who'd just won a battle.

The other guests around us immediately remarked, "How shameless can they be, throwing such a public fuss on such an important day for the Galloways?"

"Exactly! They probably don't know how to behave themselves since they're from such lowly families."

Theo's face went as white as a sheet with everyone talking shit about him. His eyes turned bloodshot.

I couldn't suppress the fire in my chest anymore. It had finally reached its peak.

I marched up to the towering cake and shoved it, toppling the whole thing to the floor.

"It's such an important day, isn't it? Then let's make sure everyone has their fun!"