When she was at home, Teresa wanted to put Michael first. At least, that's what she thought. But after only two days of Isabel staying over, both Isabel and Teresa couldn't stand it any longer. Isabel was a pampered crybaby, utterly spoiled by Evelyn and supremely self-centered. Every day, she demanded Teresa cook her favorite dishes, and if she didn’t get her way, she’d refuse to eat and even throw the tableware around. Teresa wasn’t about to indulge her. “If you don’t want to eat, then don’t,” she said. She thought, ‘No way I’m letting you get away with that.’ Even though Isabel was still young, Teresa never made her special meals. Whatever she and Michael ate, Isabel ate too.

That night, Evelyn called. The first thing she asked about was Isabel. Teresa handed the phone to Isabel. “Mommy… I want you…” Isabel called out. On the other end of the video call, seeing Isabel’s little face and hearing her heartbroken cries, Evelyn felt heartbroken. “Sweetie, what’s wrong? Teresa isn’t bullying you, is she?”

Isabel glanced at Teresa, wanting to complain but too scared to say anything. Teresa snatched the phone back. “What do you mean? I’m bullying her? If you’re so worried, why don’t you come get her and take care of her yourself?”

“She’s your sister. Can’t you be a bit nicer? And I gave you so much money,” said Evelyn.

“Heh, I don’t want your money anymore, and I don’t want to look after Isabel either. She’s way more of a handful than Michael ever was,” said Teresa.

“What kid isn’t a handful at two or three? Did you think Isabel was still a baby?” said Evelyn.

Teresa suddenly went quiet. She wanted to say something but held back. Maybe Evelyn had already forgotten what Teresa was like at that age.

“I have to go on a business trip out of town, so I can’t watch her every day. I’ll get in touch with Jennifer and send Isabel over to her. She’s Isabel’s sister,” said Teresa.

“Jennifer is busy with her wedding. She doesn’t have time. Besides, she doesn’t even like Isabel,” said Evelyn.

Teresa retorted, “And you never cared whether I liked it or had the time, either. Ms. Davis, when are you ever actually going to think about how I feel?”

Before she could finish, the video call glitched out, and Evelyn had already hung up. Teresa took a deep breath. Isabel tugged at her hand. “Teresa… I want Mommy.”

Teresa said angrily, “There’s no Mommy here, only Sissy.”

Isabel cried, “Then I want Daddy. Daddy doesn’t want me anymore…” Isabel was rubbing her eyes, crying her heart out. Seeing her like that, Teresa couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. She was just a two-year-old, after all.

She soothed Isabel for a while until Isabel finally slept. Teresa really had to take that business trip to Strice. There was no way she could bring Isabel with her. And with no time to look after Michael either, she’d already asked Miriam for help. But there was no way Miriam could handle two kids at once.

Just as Teresa was stressing over whether to hire a nanny, Sanford reached out and invited her to dinner.

“Sure,” Teresa agreed, more straightforward than usual. “I’ll be bringing my kid; hope you don’t mind.”

Sanford still sounded a bit nervous. “For real? You’re finally willing to introduce your kid to a potential stepdad?”

“Stepdad or not, that depends on whether my kid likes you. If you don’t mind, I’ll be bringing her along, and let you see for yourself,” Teresa replied.

“Alright, I’ll send you the address,” Sanford said and then hung up.

They met for lunch at The Palm in Marrigh. Sanford arrived early and glanced around. Thinking the kid might be hungry, he ordered a couple of dishes ahead of time. Before long, Teresa’s footsteps approached, and Sanford waved her over. Teresa was holding a little girl’s hand.

Sanford looked the child over. She had dark skin and a wrinkled little face. She was not exactly cute, and she looked nothing like Teresa. Sanford stood up. “Didn’t you say you had a son? How come it’s a girl?”

“Jennifer was messing with you. I don’t have a son,” Teresa replied.

“Seriously?” Sanford was half-skeptical. “Don’t mess with an honest guy like me.”

Teresa didn’t say anything. She just had Isabel greet Sanford and help her sit down.

“I’ve sent thirty thousand dollars to your account,” Teresa said. “And I’ll add five percent interest. Otherwise, I’d feel bad about it.” Honestly, Teresa could have just used the 1.5 million dollars Evelyn gave her to pay back the 500 thousand dollars she owed Sanford, but thinking about how hard Evelyn worked to save that money, she just couldn’t bring herself to use it.

“Wait a second,” Sanford said, rubbing his chin and eyeing Teresa. “Something’s off. You’re actually giving me extra?”

Teresa finally got to the point. “I need a favor from you.” She said she was going on a business trip and hoped Sanford could help babysit Isabel.

When Teresa saw Sanford frown, she shot back, “Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t mind me having a kid? That you’d treat my child like your own? Is this what you call sincerity?”

Sanford still looked skeptical, glancing over at Isabel. “She’s really your daughter?”

“Seriously. If she’s not mine, then whose daughter is she? She can’t be Jennifer’s, right?” said Teresa.

“Mom,” Isabel called out to Teresa. On the way over, Teresa had already prepped Isabel, but she didn’t expect Isabel to actually listen and obediently call her Mom.

“Who’s he?” Isabel asked Teresa.

“I’m your future dad,” Sanford replied.

Suddenly, Isabel blurted out a few words in broken Valish, and Sanford realized she was saying he wasn’t handsome. No one had ever called him ugly before; if he really was, he wouldn’t have had the guts to woo Jennifer back in college.

When Teresa came back from the restroom, she overheard Sanford on the phone with Jennifer.

“Teresa is having dinner with me, and she brought the kid. I thought it’d be a boy, but it’s a girl,” said Sanford.

“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked on the other end. “Is the kid with you? Send me a picture.”

Sanford snapped a photo of Isabel while still on the call and sent it to Jennifer. Jennifer frowned as soon as she saw Isabel’s picture. Teresa had already come back and deliberately raised her voice. “Jennifer was afraid that you wouldn’t want a daughter, so I told you.”

Jennifer, who was just about to speak, paused for a few seconds after hearing Teresa. She didn’t really get what Teresa was up to, but she played along. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Sanford’s doubts eased a little. “Right, but honestly, the kid doesn’t look like either of you. Who did she take after? Her dad?” He’d met the kid’s dad before, and she didn’t look like him either.

Teresa replied coolly, “She takes after her grandma.”

Sanford thought, ‘So it turns out Jonathan’s mom isn’t exactly a beauty. Then why did Yorick pick her over my mom back then?’ He scoffed under his breath, “My mom was a rich heiress, and he still didn’t want her. Who knows what was going on in Yorick’s head?”