Chapter 2

James glared at me coldly and then went back to his room with Brenda in his arms.

I then carried Laura to the table in my arms and was going to celebrate her birthday.

"Mom, does Dad not like me?" Laura asked all of a sudden.

I didn't want Laura to be filled with hatred, so I lied to her. "Laura's a good girl, why would Dad not like you?"

"Then why doesn't he carry me in his arms?" Laura lowered her head and began crying.

I kissed her pink cheeks, but didn't know how to comfort her.

'Silly child. Your dad wants you dead, so there's no way that he would want to carry you in his arms,' I thought.

I couldn't help but start crying again.

My tears landed on the back of Laura's head. She reached out and tried to wipe away my tears.

"Don't cry, Mom. I don't want Dad to carry me anymore. It's all my fault that you're crying again."

James walked out of the bedroom and frowned when he saw Laura and me crying.

"Catherine, we need to talk."

I wiped away the tears on my face. "What do you want to talk about? Your illegitimate daughter or a divorce?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Brenda isn't my child. She belongs to Nova and her ex-husband. She has appendicitis and will be having an operation, so she asked me to take care of Brenda for a couple of days."

I didn't feel any better after hearing James's explanation.

'Nova... It sounds like they're still close,' I thought. 'No wonder he's so nice to a little girl. She's the daughter of his true love.'

Seeing that I remained silent, James continued, "Brenda's father abandoned her when she was born. That's why she feels insecure all the time and has some mental problems as well. Nova's afraid that she would become autistic, so she asked me to pretend to be Brenda's father. Therefore, I hope that you won't try to upset her..."

I interrupted him and asked, "James, do you know what day it is today?"

"Laura's birthday today." James looked at the cake on the table. His voice was indifferent.

I laughed angrily. "Do you know who Laura is?"

"I do." James nodded.

Laura sat on my lap with pursed lips and looked like she was going to cry.

My heart ached, so I shouted, "Since you know, then did you buy her a present? Did you even look at her after you walked into the house? All you've been talking about since you came back is Brenda, have you thought about Laura's feelings?"

I had never lost my temper towards James for the past seven years that we were married.

I just pretended I was fine no matter how he treated me.

But I felt that James had gone too far that night, so I couldn't control my temper anymore.

James didn't expect that I would lose my temper either. He then turned to look at Laura. "I'm sorry. I was too caught up today, so I forgot to get you a present."

"It's alright." Laura was sobbing, but she acted very maturely. "I don't need a present. I just don't want Mom and Dad to argue anymore."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"We're not in an argument, Laura. Now that Dad is back, let's celebrate your birthday."

James didn't say no, so I took it as a yes.

As soon as we put the birthday hat on Laura's head, Brenda walked out of the room.

"Dad, my tummy hurts."

James stood up and rushed to the bedroom door. "I'll take you to the hospital."

With that, James picked Brenda up and headed towards the door.

Seeing Brenda giving me a provocative look whilst being carried by James, I immediately understood what she was doing.

I couldn't help but curve my lips. 'Like mother, like daughter.'

It seemed that Brenda had inherited her mother's personality.

This caused me to want to win over Brenda. I wasn't a match for Nova, but it wasn't hard to win over a child.

With that thought in mind, I shouted, "James, celebrate Laura's birthday with her before you leave."

James stopped, turned around, and glared at me.

"Catherine, can't you see that Brenda has a stomach ache?"

I covered my chest as my heart ached and smiled self-mockingly. 'Looks like I can't even win over a little girl. How useless of me!'

I know that I couldn't prevent James from leaving, so I didn't say anything else. I just lit the candles on the cake and continued to celebrate Laura's birthday.