Chapter 8

By the time she was done, Zach’s birthday arrived.

Raine woke up early that day, put on makeup, put Zach in new clothes, and went to the kitchen to cook him his favorite foods.

He finished everything happily and held Raine’s hand. “Mom, after we leave today, we don’t have to come back anymore, right?”

Raine held his hand and walked out of the villa. When she spoke, there was no hint of lingering affection for the place.

“Yes. We’ll have a new house, and I’ll stay with you for the rest of my life.”

…

Zach’s birthday was to be held on a cruise ship.

Raine boarded the ship with Zach. The ocean breeze blew directly at their faces and ruffled their hair.

As she stared at the boundless ocean, she remembered that Zach loved playing by the beach while he could still see.

He had been envious of other kids his age, because they had their fathers with them to pick up shells, play with them in the sand, and swim with them.

But Zach had always been sensible and never kicked up a fuss. Instead, he would comfort Raine as her heart ached for him.

“They have their dads with them, but I have the best mom with me. I’m much happier than they are!”

When she remembered all the things that happened in the past, a flicker of emotion appeared in Raine’s eyes, and she went into the banquet hall.

Since Luke was the one who had invited the guests, all those who received the invitations showed up.

The guests were gathered together and toasted each other. When they saw Raine and Zach, they only gave them polite nods and never said anything else.

It was an open secret among their circle that Luke did not like Raine and Zach.

She also knew that they were not really here to celebrate his father. Instead, they were here for Luke’s sake and wanted to form closer ties with him.

That was why she remained calm in the face of them ignoring her and giving her the cold shoulder.

The sky slowly turned dark, but Luke never showed up, and the guests’ frustration grew so thick that it filled the entire hall.

Many people lost their patience and went up to her to ask when he was going to arrive.

“He should be busy and will be here later.”

But even after waiting until it was 8 p.m. and the party was about to end, Luke still had not arrived.

The guests seethed and did not want to stay any longer. They started leaving while discussing among themselves.

“I just knew that we’d end up wasting our time coming here. Mr. Jefferson doesn’t care about this son at all. Why would he show up? I wasted my entire night here!”

“Didn’t you hear? Mr. Jefferson has been spending all his time with Miss Lane lately. How could he remember his blind son? His mood would be ruined just looking at the woman and the boy. Why would he celebrate his birthday?”

“That’s right. One’s poor, and the other is blind. Those two are going to end up getting chased out at some point. Miss Lane will end up marrying Mr. Jefferson in the end!”

Raine was already used to all those mocking words after years of being married to Luke.

She did not pay it any mind and simply covered Zach’s ears.

Once all the guests left, she brought Zach to the cake and sang Happy Birthday to him.

While smiling, Zach blew the candles out. Just as he was about to make his wish, they heard a familiar voice at the door.

“Sorry, John had a parent-teacher meeting today, and Luke went with me to the kindergarten. That’s why we’re late. We didn’t delay Zach’s birthday, did we?”

Raine turned and saw Luke walking in while holding John’s hand.

The sight of Helen’s smug face made Raine lower her gaze, and she answered calmly, “You’re not. I’m glad you’re here.”

When he saw that she was not complaining today, Luke handed over Zach’s birthday present, and his voice was much gentler than usual, “Happy Birthday, Zach.”

It was his first birthday present to Zach.

But neither Raine nor Zach took it. Luke was slightly stunned, and his gaze changed.

He kept his hand hanging for a good long while. When his patience almost ran out, John ran over and knocked the present down.

With a loud crash, the stone carving in the box fell on the floor and shattered to pieces.

Luke’s gaze froze for a moment, and Helen quickly voiced a completely insincere apology.

“Oh my, why are you so careless, John? You ruined Zach’s present again!

“Sorry, Zach, I’ll get a new present for you tomorrow. Don’t be sad, okay?”