I stood there, holding that cake, from three-thirty in the afternoon until eight at night.
When I finally returned home, Daniel and Emma were happily chatting about their dinner.
Daniel told me he had taken her out to celebrate, and I said nothing more.
But now I realized… it had been with Chloe.
The three of them looked every bit the perfect little family.
People say children speak without filter, but every word Emma said was the truth in her heart.
She truly didn’t want me as her mother.
Daniel and Chloe exchanged a look, their eyes filled with a silent understanding.
The sight of it sickened me.
Chloe took Emma’s little hand and crouched down to coax her.
“Emma, you mustn’t say that about your mother. Even though she hasn’t been around much, she still loves you very much.
Don’t you remember? The cross necklace on your wrist—your mother went to the church to pray for you and brought it back.”
Emma glanced at the necklace tied around her wrist and let out a cold snort.
She tore it off, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it twice.
“She only gives me worthless things like this. Don’t think I don’t know—she went to that church to pray for a baby boy. She doesn’t love me, she only wants a son!”
Emma had once been gravely ill, and that necklace was something I had prayed for, climbing step by step up to a chapel on the hill, bowing my head with every step.
By the time I returned, Emma had recovered.
I had rushed to embrace her with joy, only to be met with her cold little face.
Later, I learned it was my in-laws who told her that I hadn’t prayed for her recovery but for another child.
Although Emma was upset, she eventually accepted the necklace after my explanation.
I thought she had believed me.
Now I realized, I had been terribly wrong.
That necklace, cast to the ground and trampled beneath her feet, felt like my own heart discarded and crushed.
My eyes stung with unshed tears.
Daniel shot me a glance, then turned to Chloe.
“Chloe, tell her to apologize to her mother.”
Chloe froze for a moment, then forced a smile.
“Emma, didn’t Aunt Chloe tell you not to treat Mommy that way?
Yes, Mommy might have wanted a boy, she might favor sons over daughters, but she still loves you, and it’s still for your own good.
Do it for me—just apologize to Mommy. Daddy still has work, and tomorrow Aunt Chloe will take you out to play.”