Chapter 15 Heartchill
Vincent couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something suggestive hidden beneath that seemingly casual remark.
He picked up some food with his chopsticks and said coolly, "That's her career." He looked at Daisy with a half-smile. "What do you think?"
Daisy felt her cheeks burn.
She still remembered how her uncle had tried to get Vincent to invest only to be rejected without hesitation.
And now, her uncle had returned successful and influential, yet he was turning around to support Mrs. Black.
An indescribable sense of shame spread from the bottom of her heart, but thinking about the divorce coming soon, she took a breath and forced a smile. "Thank you, Uncle. With you joining my project, it'll definitely be one step closer to success."
As she spoke, she stood up and poured wine for her uncle and several young people interested in the project, one by one.
Vincent said nothing, but his grip on his chopsticks tightened.
The meal continued, the atmosphere seemingly returning to its lively state.
Luna, still just a child, had little patience for adult conversation. Feeling ignored and terribly wronged, she barely ate a few bites before pushing her bowl away. "I'm full!"
"You're just a child, how can you eat so little? Have some more vegetables." Grandma said, reaching to serve Luna some food.
Luna pouted and turned her head away. "No! None of this tastes good! I want the panna cotta that Auntie Vanessa makes for me!"
Grandma's hand froze in mid-air, her smile stiffening.
The expressions of everyone else at the table became awkward too.
Daisy's expression stiffened as she patiently coaxed, "Luna, Great-Grandma specially made this mantis shrimp steamed egg for you. Isn't this your favorite?"
Luna glanced at her, then at the golden steamed egg in the bowl, pursed her lips, and huffed, "I don't want it! I want panna cotta!"
"Luna!" Vincent spoke sternly, with a warning tone.
That only made things worse. Luna immediately looked at her father with grievance, her eyes reddening. "Daddy! Auntie Vanessa promised to take me out to play today and make me panna cotta, but it's all Mommy's fault!"
Vincent frowned but said nothing more, only turning to Daisy. "If she wants it, go make it. She rarely asks for anything. Do you want to disappoint her?"
Daisy's fingers tightened slightly around her utensils.
Here we go again.
He always did this, casually pushing everything onto her, as if she were the unreasonable one.
She put down her chopsticks and stood up. "Fine, I'll make it."
"No, no need!" Grandma quickly stopped her. "The child's just throwing a tantrum. We can't really let her eat that much sweet stuff. Daisy, sit down and eat."
Simon also spoke gently, "Luna, eat your dinner properly first. After dinner, Great-Unclewill take you to buy an even better cake, okay?"
Luna didn't really want the panna cotta anyway—she was just bored. Now she was even more bored, and with everyone trying to persuade her, she reluctantly picked up her spoon and began eating the steamed egg in small bites, still pouting.
Really, if Auntie Vanessa were here, it wouldn't be like this.
After Luna's outburst, the dinner table fell into an even more awkward silence.
Daisy ate without tasting, Vincent kept a stern face and said little, and only Simon and a few young people were still trying to find topics to maintain a surface level of liveliness.
Finally, the meal ended and the adults moved to the living room for tea and a chat.
Luna, free at last, immediately flew like a little bird back to her small bag, pulled out the princess dress, and her eyes darted around, clearly plotting something.
Daisy was helping Grandma clear the table when she caught sight of her daughter's sneaky behavior. She wiped her hands, walked over, and asked softly, "Luna, what are you looking at?"
Luna jumped, instinctively wanting to hide the princess dress, but seeing her mother's calm gaze, she felt there was nothing to hide after all.
After a moment, she looked up, her expression both cautious and eager to please. "Mommy, the princess dress Great-Grandma gave me is so pretty! It must be worth a lot of money!"
"Yes, Great-Grandma loves you very much." Daisy went along with her.
"So... Mommy," Luna moved closer, lowering her voice and watching Daisy's expression as she tested the waters, "I want to sell it and use the money to buy a gift for Auntie Vanessa!"
"She's sick and lying in the hospital, so pitiful. I want to buy her a big stuffed toy."
Daisy froze.
She looked at her daughter's slightly ingratiating smile and those bright, shining eyes—Daisy knew Luna, knew she was trying to please her.
Trying to please her own biological mother, but for the purpose of buying a gift for another woman.
The injury on her hand was right there in front of her, yet Luna hadn't even asked about it once, her mind full of thoughts about Vanessa.
At this moment, it would be a lie to say her heart didn't feel cold, but her heart had been hurt countless times already—what was one more time?
Luna watched her mother's changing expression, bit her lip, and said defiantly, "Mommy? What's wrong? Are you... are you going to scold me again? Say I'm being inconsiderate, say I shouldn't buy things for Auntie Vanessa?"
As she spoke, her eyes reddened and her voice became tearful. "But Auntie Vanessa is really good to me! She plays with me, tells me stories, and never yells at me! Not like you, always making me eat, sleep, and do homework, and you're never home..."
Daisy sighed softly and stroked her hair.
"You're my daughter. No matter what you say or do, you're my daughter. I think... I really have neglected you too much lately. If Vanessa is good to you, I should actually thank her."
Now it was Luna's turn to be stunned. She called out somewhat bewildered, "...Mommy."
She hadn't expected her mother to react this way.
"What kind of stuffed toy do you want to buy for her? Is it this kind?" Daisy took out her phone, opened a shopping app, and Luna picked for a while before choosing the one she wanted.
Luna had always had high standards and had been pampered by the whole family growing up—she wouldn't even look at cheap things. She picked a limited edition large doll that cost almost half of Daisy's monthly salary.
Daisy glanced at it, then calmly told her daughter, "This doll might cost more than Great-Grandma's princess dress. Mommy will make up the difference for you."
With that, she entered her password, clicked pay, her movements smooth and flowing.
"Done, ordered. It'll arrive in a few days." She showed her daughter the phone screen. "When it arrives, you can take it to Auntie Vanessa yourself."
Luna was completely dumbfounded.
She looked at her mother's calm, emotionless face, at the "Payment Successful" message on the phone screen, and instead of feeling the joy she'd expected, a strange sense of loss welled up inside her.
Why wasn't Mommy scolding her? Why wasn't she stopping her? Why didn’t she explain, like before? Mommy seemed completely different from before.
She didn't know what this meant. Children's emotions come and go quickly, and besides, she wasn't a particularly sensitive child. That fleeting emotion soon disappeared.
All she could think about was how happy Auntie Vanessa would be when she received her gift!