Lily laid eyes on Charlotte.
She hadn't seen Charlotte for four entire years.
Lily had imagined that Charlotte had become a haggard woman.
She had to look old enough to be her mother!
After all, she had given birth to eight children.
Who would be able to bear it?
But Charlotte, in front of her, was young and beautiful, and not much different from four years ago.
Furthermore, she even possessed a bit of charm that she had not had four years ago!
What was this?
Lily was dumbfounded.
Upon seeing Lily, Charlotte also felt peculiar.
The two best friends, who had been so close back then, had drifted apart and gone without seeing each other for so many years.
"Lily." Charlotte took the initiative and greeted Lily.
Lily suppressed her emotions and nodded.
"Oh, I remember that Lily and Charlotte used to be very good friends," said a certain auntie, who had been complimenting Lily before.
Charlotte smiled. "Yes."
The auntie looked Charlotte up and down and clicked her tongue twice. "I once had a best friend too, but now, the gap between us is huge," she said. "Lily has found a rich boyfriend and has built such a beautiful house for her family. But Charlotte, you still don't have anything."
"Who said I don't have anything?" Charlotte's tone was a little proud. "I have eight children!"
Those eight children were her treasures, her greatest assets.
The auntie pouted.
This Charlotte was so thick-skinned!
Normally, if someone had no status, no name, and no husband, but they had given birth to eight children, they would have been so ashamed that they would want to dig themselves a hole in the ground!
Yet Charlotte was still so proud.
Ha!
Just as Charlotte spoke, Yolanda came over with the six children.
There was a playroom in Lily's villa, and Yolanda had just taken them there to play.
"Mom!" The six children rushed toward Charlotte.
The auntie who had scorned Charlotte just now was a little surprised.
It was the first time she had seen Charlotte's children, and she hadn't expected them to be so beautiful.
All of them were just like the celebrities on TV.
No, they were even more attractive than those celebrities!
The auntie suddenly understood why Charlotte had sounded so proud just now.
If she could give birth to such beautiful children, she would be proud too!
...
Lily stared at the six children, feeling substantial emotional turmoil.
After a while, she asked tremulously, "Charlotte, are these all your children?"
"Yes," Charlotte said. "There are two more at home. I didn't bring them here."
Lily felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
How was this possible?
These six children-why did they all look so attractive and perfect?
It made no sense!
To set up Charlotte, she had bribed a nurse.
She had asked the nurse to find children with physical disabilities whose parents had abandoned them and substitute them for Charlotte's children.
But these six children were so beautiful and lively, and there were no problems with them at all.
She had imagined that, in addition to taking care of eight children, Charlotte would suffer physically and mentally because of their disabilities, and she would become tortured and careworn.
But these six children didn't seem to have any disabilities.
No wonder Charlotte could still live so happily and blissfully!
Something must have gone wrong.
Lily didn't get to speak to Charlotte for too long. Too many other people came to compliment Lily, and they quickly squeezed Charlotte out.
Listening to so many compliments and seeing Charlotte lonely and ignored, Lily felt a little smug again.
So what if Charlotte hadn't become a haggard woman?
So what if the children were all so good-looking?
In the end, she was still a loser whom no one cared about and everyone looked down on.
And even if Henry discovered that she was a fake and found Charlotte, once he saw that Charlotte had eight children, there was no way he would be amazed by her fertility.
Henry would most likely think that Charlotte was a promiscuous woman.
He would think that she had messed around with various men. He would think that was why she had given birth to so many children.
It will be impossible for him to pick Charlotte up to bring her back to his home and let her enjoy the high life!
And even if Henry kicked Lily out, she had made a lot of money over the years. She could still maintain her standard of life as a wealthy woman.
She and Charlotte were worlds apart, like the heavens and the earth.
Thinking of this, Lily became triumphant again.
At that moment, two people came over.
...
The two of them were Charlotte's younger brother Walker and her younger sister-in-law, Nina Larson.
Walker and Nina acted like they didn't see Charlotte and Yolanda. They hurried to Lily and smiled. "Lily, long time no see," they said. "Happy birthday, Auntie."
Lily fluffed her hair and ignored them.
Walker was a little embarrassed, but Nina said to Lily's mother with great enthusiasm, "Auntie, happy birthday. Walker and I didn't know what you would like, so we brought you a gold necklace. Do you think it's suitable?"
Lily's mother, Fiona Lawrence, waved her hand in dismissal. "My daughter has bought me a lot already," she said, "and I'm covered in gold from head to toe, so I don't need more."
Fiona knew that these two people had come here to flatter her.
Her daughter had found a rich man and was now a rich woman.
Walker was a businessman, but his business wasn't doing well.
The two of them wanted to meet Lily's rich boyfriend to get more connections and expand the business again.
"Lily is Lily, and we are just us," Nina said obsequiously. "Auntie, this is our gesture of goodwill, so you must accept it."
"Yes, Auntie," Walker agreed. "Our families have been neighbors ever since I was a child. You are like a mother to me. You have to accept it!"
...
Aside, when Yolanda Jones heard this, the expression on her face was a little ugly.
Still, she didn't say anything.
She had become estranged from her son and daughter-in-law a long time ago.
In today's world, only money matters Whoever had money was the boss.
She understood.
Charlotte, meanwhile, couldn't stand it.
What were these people doing?
Walker's mother was here, and they hadn't even said hello. They had gone over to kiss up to someone else instead.
They had even given her a gold necklace.
They had never given Yolanda anything at all, let alone a gold necklace.
"Children should be respectful toward their parents. Parents don't need outsiders' courtesy!" Charlotte said coldly.
Walker called out, "Sister!"
He looked at Yolanda. "Mom."
Nina rolled her eyes. She didn't even bother pretending to care.
She wrapped Walker in her arms "Why are you so friendly?" she scolded. "Be careful not to let them cling to you without letting go."
She glanced at Charlotte and continued, "She gave birth to eight children. Eight children means eight mouths! As a single woman, can she support them all? When the time comes and she can't support them, she will drag us down!"
Charlotte sneered.
The feeling was mutual.
Since Nina didn't respect her, she would not show respect to Nina.
"I have eight children indeed," Charlotte said, "but have they eaten a bite of your food or used a penny of your money? If not, what right do you have to say such rude things?
"Also, since you are here to brownnose, aren't you worried that you won't be able to eat? You can't even manage your own affairs, yet you still have time for other people's?"
Nina stared at her.
She flushed with rage. "Excuse me? Who are you talking about?"
"I am talking about you!"
Nina could not defend herself, so she looked at Walker. "Husband!" she said. "She's bullying me!"
Walker was extremely protective of his wife.
He did whatever his wife said.
Upon hearing this, he looked at Charlotte with displeasure. "Sister," he said, "don't go too far."
"Who is going too far?" Charlotte's expression was cold. "It's fine if she doesn't respect me, but she doesn't even respect our mom! And you too! You have gone too far! Your biological mother is here, but you didn't even greet her. Is this how you act as her child?
"You forget who brought you up! Who bought you a house so you could marry a woman?"
Her words made Walker's face flush.
Nina was stunned, too. "I must say, older sister, don't blame me, and don't blame Walker either," she said. "If you want to blame someone, blame your mother! She doesn't have a rich daughter! If she did, would we have to act like this?"
After that, she looked at Lily's mother. "If my mother had given birth to a capable daughter like Auntie here did, we would be even closer to her than anyone else!"
When Fiona heard these words, a superior look crossed her face.
Ah.
She didn't have any abilities either, but she had done a better job of giving birth to a capable daughter.
She was just an ordinary person who had brought a great daughter into the world.
Charlotte hadn't expected Nina to say such shameless things in public. She was so angry that she was about to scold Nina, but she heard Yolanda say, "That's enough.
Shut up!"
"Mom, they..."
Before Charlotte could finish, Yolanda interrupted her. Her expression was ugly again. "Don't say anything else," she said. "They are right. Blame me. I didn't have the luck to give birth to a good daughter. I brought shame upon myself!"
Charlotte felt as if her mother had stabbed her in the heart.
She didn't care about other people's words.
However, her own mother's words hurt her a bit.
When the six children saw Charlotte's eyes redden, they were indignant.
Primo stood up first and waved his small fists. "You are not allowed to bully Mom!"
he said. "I will beat up whoever dares to bully Mom!"
Quinto pulled Primo down.
He said to Nina, "Aunt, because you gave a gold necklace to this grandma, you must respect her very much."
Nina laughed.
Although Charlotte was like a cracked bell that would never sound well, her son was very good at sweet-talking.
"Of course," she said. "This grandma is worthy of respect, and her daughter is the pride of our town."
Fiona and Lily felt extremely superior at this moment.
Charlotte's brother and sister-in-law were here to belittle Charlotte and Yolanda and suck up to Lily and Fiona. This feeling was simply too wonderful!
Next to them, Octavia stomped her foot in anger.
What was the matter with Quinto?
Why was he helping the person who had bullied their mother?
Octavia stretched out her chubby little hand, about to fight Quinto. Before she could, she heard Quinto say, "But since my aunt respects this grandma so much, why did she give her a fake necklace?"
...
When Quinto said this, everyone was shocked.
What?
Is the necklace Nina wanted to give Fiona was fake?
Everyone looked at Nina.
A guilty expression flashed across Nina's face, but she quickly straightened.
She stared fiercely at Quinto. "What nonsense are you spouting, kid?" she asked.
"What fake? How can this be a fake gold necklace?"
After that, she looked at Charlotte. "Why don't you discipline your child? How can you allow him to say such rubbish?"
"The receipt is in the bag," Quinto said.
As soon as he spoke, a pair of small hands snatched up the bag in Nina's hand.
They belonged to Octavia.
Octavia quickly opened the bag and took out a receipt, which had a few lines of text written on it.
"Artificial gold necklace. $108."
After she took out the receipt, everyone present understood that the necklace was fake.
How could it be possible that such a large gold necklace only cost $108?
Besides, the receipt clearly said "artificial gold"!
When Nina saw Octavia take the bag, she was livid.
She grabbed the bag and receipt from Octavia's hand. "What I offered you is the real thing!" she said. "Where did this receipt even come from? I don't know! Your kid probably wanted to frame me and planted it in my bag on purpose!"
Octavia raised her small, chubby face. "I would never deliberately frame someone," she said in a crisp voice. "Mom said that I should be a good, honest child!"
She stretched out two of her fingers and gestured towards her face. "Auntie, you are lying. Shame on you!"
Nina did not reply.
"Auntie, if the gold necklace in your hand is real, it has to cost thousands of dollars at least," Quinto said. "You can't afford to spend that amount of money.
"But you wanted to please this grandma, so you bought a fake necklace because you were certain she would not accept it."
Even if Quinto hadn't said the words, everyone would have understood the situation.
If Fiona hadn't accepted the necklace, Nina and her husband could still make a good impression on Fiona.
After all, they had been willing to give her such a big gold necklace, so they would appear generous and respectful to Fiona.
Everyone looked at Nina and Walker with a little more disgust and contempt.
Fiona was also unsettled. She had a stern expression on her old face.
Lily spoke even more harshly.
"Are you making fun of us?" she snapped. "My mother has a rich daughter like me, yet you still gave her a fake gold necklace! This is an insult to my mother!"
Nina and Walker apologized profusely. They repeatedly stated that they hadn't tried to give her a fake gold necklace and must have been framed instead.
"Then get it appraised," Quinto said, an innocent expression on his face, "to see whether or not it's a fake gold necklace."
Nina and Walker's facial expressions changed.
"No appraisal is needed. We still have business to attend to," the couple said and hurried away sheepishly.
Before leaving, Nina glared at Quinto hatefully.
The look in her eyes made it seem like she wanted to kill Quinto.
...
Because of the incident during Fiona's birthday party, there was much more to discuss.
In the end, the conversation turned to Yolanda.
Everyone said she was pitiful.
Yolanda had used to be considered beautiful in their hometown. She had been better-looking than Fiona and married better than Fiona.
But as she grew older, her life had become miserable.
First, her daughter had given birth to eight children and shocked everyone in her hometown. Now, she has a deceptive son and daughter-in-law.
In contrast, Fiona had such a promising daughter.
Her birthday party was lavish, and everyone wanted to curry favor with her.
"But although Charlotte has eight children, the children are so beautiful. I have never seen such lovely children!"
"It's also strange because considering Charlotte's physical appearance, theoretically,
She shouldn't be able to give birth to beautiful children!"
"It's probably a genetic mutation," someone else said thoughtfully.