Chapter 3

I looked at Lola grimly, "I'm here today not because you called me and begged me to, but because I really need to register for my own child. My wife left the place in a rush, so she didn't bring any products. I bought some when I came over from the airport."

"Kevin, you liar! You're just trying to gain my attention! Only you would come up with such dirty tricks." Lola rolled her eyes at me.

Since she refused to believe me, I had no choice but to take my child's birth certificate out.

One of Lola's friends snatched it away from me and read the details out loud, "Father: Kevin Sheraton. Mother: Stephanie Smith…"

When they heard the mother's name, Lola furrowed her brows. Then, she looked at me with condescension and mockery.

"Kevin, you really should put more effort into faking this. Do you think you could end up with the heiress of the Smith family, Stephanie Smith? And you're out here saying you got a child with her? Do you think I'm an idiot like you?"

She stuffed the birth certificate back into my hand.

Timothy gave me a mischievous, mocking look. "Kevin, as a man, I can understand your pain of not getting who you love. Lola is a little capricious sometimes, but you really didn't have to go through all these lies just to get back at her. I know you two share ten years of history–"

"What ten years? I don't feel anything for him, Timothy! Don't take it the wrong way!" Lola rushed to sever any connections we had before Timothy could finish his sentence.

She added, "I've had Mishu and Tony for ten years, too! But that doesn't mean anything!"

Mishu was the cat I gave her when she turned 18, while Tony was the dog she adopted because she was worried Mishu would be lonely.

Lola was so desperate to explain that her voice trembled on the edge of tears. I, on the other hand, felt my heart grow colder with every word she said.

Her other friends were throwing insults at me, calling me shameless, saying I was taking advantage of the Smith family.

With Lola taking the lead, they hurled further insults as if I had committed a huge crime.

I sighed and kept my child's birth certificate. Reason told me that I should not waste my breath on people like them, but the more condescending their gazes were, the more I wanted to prove myself.

I took my phone out and showed them my wedding and family portrait. "This is my family. You can have a look if you don't believe me."

I raised my phone and showed it to them. When my phone was in front of Lola, all she took was one glance, and her smile vanished. She stared at my phone in a daze for a long time.

One of her friends noticed her odd reaction and immediately snatched my phone, scrolling past all the photos while mocking me, "Tsk! I'm going to see to what extent you can continue this lie!"

Lola pretended not to care, but she kept looking at my phone intently.

The friend scrolling past my phone's photo album grew quieter as doubt slowly crept into her.

Lola could not take it any longer. She immediately snatched the phone over. When she saw my family portrait of three, her phone trembled a little.

Then, she glared at me with reddened eyes, but her tone was no longer as sure as before. "Kevin! Don't think that just because you've edited a few photos, I'll cave in and marry you! Let's see how many photos you've Photoshopped just so you can be with me!"

Timothy immediately went up to her and consoled her, "Lola, why don't we go to Bailey Island for our wedding photoshoot?"

Lola did not respond to him sweetly as usual. She was obsessively scrolling on my phone, and her face paled with every passing photo.