Chapter 98: Chapter 98

“I'm… I'm sorry” She stammered, and sprang up immediately.

Ethan smirked mischievously. “Are you missing me so badly, Valerie? So, bad that you couldn't wait until tomorrow morning, huh? Tell me, what are you doing here?”

“I… Actually, I just wanted to ask for your permission. It's my father's birthday this weekend, and Pere… I thought maybe you could let me go with Audrey. I mean, it's okay if you don't want her to go with me. Furthermore, I just…” Valerie continued stuttering.

Ethan snapped. “Okay! Permission granted!”

Gasping hard, Valerie blinked hard to make sure she wasn't dreaming. “Really? Are you really going to let Audrey attend my father's birthday?”

“Yes! Isn't that what you want? And you don't need to tell me that this is precisely what Audrey wants.” Ethan sat on the couch.

Valerie smiled broadly. “Oh, thank you so much. I promise, I'll make sure she's safe.”

“You should, of course. She's your daughter, after all.” Ethan replied with a snort.

Upon hearing that, Valerie continued grinning from ear to ear. “Thank goodness! I never thought you'd agree to this. Trust me, Audrey will be pleased to hear this.”

“Aren't you done? Or do you intend to sleep here with me?” Ethan smiled rather mischievously.

“No! No!! I'll leave right now.” She snapped as she rushed out of the door.

Shutting the door behind her, she heaved a sigh of relief. Excitement filled her heart, she would take her daughter to see her father at last.

…

Patricia walked into the room where Justin was seated on the bed. Without sparing a glance, he grabbed his pillow.

“Where are you going?”

“To the guest room.”

Sniffing hard, Patricia continued. “When is this going to end, Justin? We are f****** married.”

“And that's going to end soon, Patricia. We might be married, but that will last for a short time.” Justin replied.

Patricia burst into tears. “Why is that? Is this because I am not Valerie? What does she f****** her that I don't? I'm the mother of your baby, Justin.”

“That is the reason we are still married. Once the process is over, we'll get divorced. I'll go to bed now, I have to wake up early tomorrow.” Justin said coldly.

With a smirk, Patricia glared hard at him. Nothing would stop her from having Valerie silenced. “I'm sure you must be looking for her everywhere. Don't worry, she's definitely going to show up at my father's birthday. You'll have the reunion that you're looking for.”

“She'll be attending?” Justin felt so excited.

“Really, Justin? You were talking to me a while ago, and you looked so mean. Now, just because we are talking about your precious Valerie, you're suddenly smiling.” Patricia scoffed.

Justin exhaled deeply. “Good night, Patricia.”

The D-Day finally came, Valerie was dressed in the expensive dress that President Ethan had bought for her.

Stepping out of the mansion, Valerie held her daughter's pinky finger as they walked into the already parked Rolls-Royce Boat Tail.

“Bye, daddy. I'll definitely get some tasty cake for you, okay?” Audrey giggled.

With a calm smile, President Ethan nodded his head. “Sure. Go, have fun, baby.”

The driver speeded up immediately. Staring at her beautiful daughter, Valerie found herself smiling happily. Who would have thought she'd still see and be with her child?

“Mommy, thank you for being my mother.” Audrey's words brought cold shivers down Valerie's spine.

“No, Audrey. I should thank you for choosing me as your mother. Today, I'm officially going out with you as your mother, not your nanny. I'm sure your grandfather is going to love you so much.” Valerie patted her hair.

Audrey slipped her tiny hand into her palms. “After today, I'll convince daddy to take us on a family vacation. It feels so good to have a complete family.”

“Good girl! Keep being good, okay?”

“Okay, mommy.”

A few minutes later, the car drove into Watson's residence. The garden was decorated with flowers and dimmed lights.

“Wow. Your family house is also big, mommy.” Audrey smiled.

With that, Valerie chuckled. “Really? You and I know that your father's house is much bigger.”

“I don't care. All I want is to be with you, mommy. I don't even want to know whether it's a big house or not.” Audrey smiled.

“One more thing, Audrey, you must never follow a stranger. Don't ever leave my side, okay?” Valerie zipped her dress properly.

After a few seconds of silence, Audrey gulped. “Mommy, you've only been talking about your daddy. Don't you have a mother?”

Tears circulated in Valerie's eyes, but she managed to blink it right back. At least, she shouldn't shed tears in the presence of her child. “Uhm… Unlike you, I don't have a mother. She has already gone to heaven, but I have a stepmother and stepsister who are not really so nice. You must never eat anything they give you.”

“They must have treated you badly, right, mommy?” Audrey's countenance changed.

Valerie forced a smile. “That doesn't matter. What matters is that you're here with me. Let's go, Audrey.”

With that, they walked towards the garden. Mr. Watson sighted them and rushed to welcome them.

“Valerie, dear.” He called as she hugged him tight in excitement.

“Happy birthday, Dad.” Valerie said.

Then, Mr. Watson noticed the little figure holding his daughter's hand. He disengaged the hug and stared at Audrey. “Valerie, who is she?”

“Happy birthday, grandpa. Mommy and I prepared a gift for you, I hope you like it.” Audrey handed a box of presents to him.

Mr. Watson couldn't help but smile broadly as he took the box from her. “Thank you, little one. Mommy? Valerie, is she…?”

“Dad, this is Audrey. She's my daughter. The one I had during the surrogacy process.” Valerie explained.

“Oh, child. Who would have thought that I would finally see you someday? This is the best birthday present ever.” Mr. Watson bent over and held her hand.

Audrey smiled and hugged him tightly. The hug was disengaged when Claudia walked forward with Patricia.

“Valerie, is she…?”

“She's my daughter.” Valerie snapped.

Pretentiously, Claudia gasped. “Oh, my goodness. Baby girl, I'm your grandma. You can call me grandma.”

Audrey scoffed. “Grandma? My mommy told me that she doesn't have a mother. So, you're not my grandmother. Stop pretending, lady.”