"I bet you planted tracking software on Vincent’s phone. How else do you find him everywhere you go!"

"To use such a disgusting tactic... Have you no dignity?"

"So infuriating!"

Justin Hughes looked at Sophia Shaw as if she were a disgusting fly.

As he scowled, his high cheekbones jutted out, his face a mask of cruelty.

"This restaurant is mine! Get the hell out, now!"

His tone was vicious, as if he were shooing away a stray.

Sophia Shaw wasn’t a fortune-teller; of course she didn’t know Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman would be eating here.

If she had known, she would have stayed a thousand miles away.

The moment she recognized Justin Hughes, Sophia turned her head. "This place isn’t up to snuff. Let’s find another one."

"What did you say? My restaurant isn’t up to snuff? The nerve!"

Justin Hughes had always considered himself a cut above Sophia Shaw. To be disparaged by someone he looked down upon made him see red.

But Sophia didn’t spare him a second glance. Treating his shouts like a dog’s barking, she walked straight into the restaurant across the street.

"Who the hell does she think she is!"

Justin Hughes’s pride was deeply wounded. Unwilling to let it go, he grew even more determined to needle her.

"If it wasn’t for Vincent being kind enough to support you, someone with your ’skills’ wouldn’t even qualify to be a beggar! And you have the nerve to enter a high-end restaurant!"

Sophia had already entered the restaurant across the street, but hearing Justin’s vicious insults, she turned and came back out.

Her gaze fell on him, cold as ice. "No matter how useless I am, I’m nothing like you. You’re clearly in love with Joanna Sherman but don’t have the guts to admit it. You only dare to take your frustrations out on me!"

"Vincent Grant is the one who’s with Joanna Sherman. If you had an ounce of courage, you’d go after him instead of picking on a soft target like me!"

Caught completely off guard by the revelation, Justin Hughes felt as if he’d been slapped, his face burning hot with humiliation.

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Sophia shot him a look of utter disdain.

She didn’t say a word, but the look was enough to make him understand: in her eyes, Justin Hughes was nothing but a cowardly, incompetent, spoiled hypocrite.

Stung to the quick, Justin Hughes slammed his fist into the wall.

"You’re amazing!"

Ms. Archer couldn’t stand that look on Justin Hughes’s face either, so she praised Sophia under the guise of talking to Bun.

"People like him are bullies—they pick on the weak and fear the strong. The more you try to keep the peace and let things slide, the more they’ll take advantage!"

Sophia sat at a window seat, and when she glanced up, she saw the second floor of the restaurant across the street.

Beneath the off-white, European-style drapes, a stunning couple immediately caught the eye.

Joanna Sherman leaned on an elbow, her long, wavy hair draped down her back, her expression languid as she watched Vincent Grant’s hands.

Knife and fork in hand, Vincent Grant was meticulously cutting a steak into small, uniform pieces.

The designer watch on his wrist gleamed brightly.

After cutting the steak, he pushed the plate over to Joanna Sherman.

Joanna Sherman looked toward the inside of their booth, and Cedric Grant stood up, a child in his arms.

He passed the child to Vincent Grant and sat down next to Joanna Sherman himself.

"Auntie Joanna, please eat more." Cedric Grant shared the plate of steak with Joanna Sherman, selecting the choicest cuts of meat for her and pushing the less desirable edge pieces into a small bowl for himself.

Vincent Grant naturally began bottle-feeding the baby, his handsome and distinguished face full of the warmth of a family man.

The plate of steak in front of him remained untouched.

He was so focused on taking care of Joanna Sherman and her daughter that he hadn’t had a moment for himself.

"Look at how attentive that husband and son are. Not like you two, just focused on stuffing your own faces, completely ignoring the two of us."

The woman at the table next to Sophia’s had also seen this and was now lecturing her own husband and son.

’That husband and son...’

’So I’m not the only one who thinks they look like a family.’

Across the way, Cedric Grant grew anxious when he saw Joanna Sherman was eating so little. "Auntie Joanna, if it’s not convenient for you, I can feed you."

With that, he speared a piece with his fork and offered it to Joanna Sherman’s lips.

Joanna Sherman had been looking down at her phone, apparently very busy, but she still opened her mouth and ate the piece when Cedric offered it.

Cedric Grant withdrew the fork, his eyes sparkling as though he had received some grand prize.

Sophia thought back to the few times she, Vincent, and Cedric had eaten together.

Vincent had never cut her steak, and Cedric had never offered to feed her when she was busy. Instead, he would always remind her, "Mom, eat less. Don’t get so fat!"

She only learned later that Cedric wasn’t worried about her health; he was worried that if she got fat, she would embarrass him in front of his friends.

In Cedric Grant’s eyes, his mother was simply never presentable.

’Well, now he finally had the mother he’d always wanted.’

Cedric Grant saw Sophia too. His handsome face immediately flushed with embarrassment, and he sheepishly withdrew the hand holding the fork.

Sophia pretended not to see him and moved to take the baby from Ms. Archer.

Ms. Archer pulled back slightly. "Let me hold her. You might look like you have some meat on your bones, but you’re not as sturdy as I am. You’ve been so busy lately, you need to rest and build up your strength."

"Didn’t the doctor say your heart isn’t too strong and you can’t be trying to lose weight? Don’t you dare ruin your health just to be thin."

Sophia smiled gratefully, and the teardrop mole beneath her eye seemed to flush a deeper red.

Ms. Archer had only heard the doctor say it once when they were leaving the hospital, but she had remembered it all so clearly.

Ever since Cedric was old enough to understand, she had told him time and again that she couldn’t lose weight.

He never once asked why. He just assumed she lacked the willpower and didn’t have the guts to diet. Even when she told him bluntly about her heart condition, he just thought she was making excuses.

’Those who care about you only care about what might harm you.’

’Those who don’t care are only concerned with whether your flaws will embarrass them.’

Even though she had more or less come to terms with things, Sophia had no desire to spoil her appetite by looking at that "family of four," so she deliberately ate quickly.

Once she was finished, she took the child, left the table, and went to the restaurant’s entrance.

She had only been standing there for a moment before she saw Cedric Grant walking over from across the street.

"Mom."

Cedric Grant looked like a little schoolboy caught misbehaving, unable to meet Sophia’s eyes.

Sophia gave a faint smile. "You were eating. Are you full?"

"I’m full."

When Bun saw her big brother, she opened her little mouth, cooing and gurgling as she smiled at him ceaselessly.

She even reached out with her little hands, wanting to leave Sophia’s embrace.

She wanted Cedric Grant to hold her.

They were siblings, after all. Sophia didn’t restrain Bun, instead moving her a little closer to Cedric Grant.

Cedric Grant, however, took a sharp step back, the aversion in his eyes unmistakable.

But he said, "Mom, I came to tell you that next time you need something, just find Dad. Don’t use Grandpa’s connections."

Sophia froze.

Obvious dissatisfaction and impatience hung on Cedric Grant’s pouting lips. "Grandpa and Great-Grandpa have important positions. Dad is a businessman. If our family is in too-close contact with them, people will get suspicious. They’ll think Dad is getting special privileges from them."

’His own mother didn’t even understand something so basic. He had to be the one to remind her.’

Cedric Grant sighed, looking at Sophia with an air of complete exasperation. "Mom, you should really try to educate yourself more. That one creator I told you about, the one who talks about rocketry, is brilliant. She’s recommended a lot of books. You should go check them out."

Cedric Grant had always been convinced that creator was Joanna Sherman. He treated the books she recommended as gospel, and he had hunted down and read every single one.

Sophia watched her son in silence. The slanting evening sun at her back was so warm, yet she felt a bone-deep chill.

In that moment, she didn’t know whether to praise his studiousness or curse his blindness.

After a long moment, Sophia took a deep breath. "Cedric Grant, listen to me. I have never used any special privileges from your grandfather’s side."

"And one more thing. That creator you were talking about? That’s me."