Chapter 4

Excitement surged through me as I held out the latest message for Sadie to see.

"Sadie, look! Mommy remembered."

Her head snapped up, her face instantly breaking into the brightest smile I'd seen in days.

"Mommy must've gotten me lots of presents! Daddy, let's go!"

With Vanessa's message as proof, Sadie spent the entire drive chattering excitedly beside me, guessing what gifts her mother might have prepared.

However, the moment we arrived at the McBride estate, my heart sank. The gardens were overflowing with roses. This wasn't what a little girl's birthday party was supposed to look like.

Oblivious, Sadie grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the entrance.

I followed behind her, unease settling heavily in my chest.

'Vanessa, please don't do something we can't come back from.'

Inside the ballroom, Sadie's eyes lit up the moment she spotted Vanessa standing beside the cake.

"Mommy!" She ran straight into her arms.

Vanessa stiffened. Her eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing here?"

The surprise in her voice confirmed the fear already growing inside me.

Behind us, whispers rippled through the crowd.

"Isn't today Vanessa McBride and Derek Holloway's engagement party?"

"Then why is that child calling her Mom?"

"I thought Miss McBride wasn't married."

"Could this be some old scandal coming back to haunt her?"

Vanessa's face turned pale. She pushed Sadie away.

"What did you call me?"

The force sent Sadie stumbling backward before she fell hard onto the floor. She sat there frozen for several seconds, tears pooling in her eyes but refusing to fall.

Finally, in a tiny trembling voice, she corrected herself, "Aunt Vanessa."

After a moment, she looked toward the enormous cake at the center of the ballroom and smiled again. "Aunt Vanessa, are you here to celebrate my birthday?"

Hope sparkled in her eyes.

"I can cut the cake with you."

She had been looking forward to this birthday for weeks. In her mind, as long as she could spend it with Vanessa, even calling her Aunt Vanessa was okay.

A long hand wrapped around the knife Vanessa was holding as Derek smiled down at Sadie. "I'm afraid not. This kind of event isn't for extended family members. Right, Vanessa?"

Anger exploded inside my chest. By now, there was nothing left to misunderstand.

The message hadn't come from Vanessa at all. Derek had sent it. His goal had been simple: to establish, in front of everyone present, that Sadie was nothing more than a distant relative of the McBride family.

"Vanessa, is that true?" I stepped in front of my daughter.

For a long moment, she said nothing. Then she met my eyes, guilt flashing across her face.

Under the gaze of the entire room, she finally spoke, "She's a child from one of the McBrides' distant relatives."

Behind her, Derek smiled with the smug satisfaction of someone who had finally won.

The whispers around us grew louder.

"How shameless."

"Causing a scene on such an important day."

"What do you expect? Those distant relatives never know their place."

Sadie's face was drained of color. Her eyes reddened as she stood there listening to the voices closing in around her.

Something inside me snapped, and I strode forward. Then, with one violent shove, I sent the towering cake crashing to the floor.

"So it's a celebration, is it? Then let's make sure everyone enjoys themselves."