Chapter 80 Whose Child Is It?
Grace felt pretty smug.
Back then, Emily had humiliated her so badly, and Alex had stopped paying attention to her too.
And now?
Emily must have failed abroad and had to come crawling back!
Not a single logo on her clothes — cheap garbage!
A nearby sales associate saw this and stepped forward, shooting Emily a contemptuous look. "Miss, everything here is high-end luxury custom. If you're not buying, please don't touch anything. You can't afford to pay for damages. Besides, Miss Miller's endorsements now cover every major category, and our brand is honored to have her here."
The words made Grace's smile grow even wider.
Emily just found it laughable.
She couldn't be bothered dealing with people like this, so she switched to a different sales associate — an intern. "Wrap up those two bags over there, and this cashmere scarf. Also, find me a men's tie."
The first associate let out a mocking laugh. "You sure you want to buy? That's going to run you several million."
Emily's lips curved slightly. What was there to be unsure about?
She'd worked hard at her job for exactly this reason — financial freedom.
The money her family had transferred to her account, she hadn't touched a single cent of it. That was her emergency reserve.
The money she earned herself was more than enough to support Eleanor and herself.
Emily's expression stayed cool. "Card. Put the commission under the intern."
Beep —
Transaction approved.
The associate who'd been so dismissive just moments ago froze on the spot.
Who — who was this woman?
She just dropped several million without blinking!
Grace's expression darkened too.
How could Emily possibly have that kind of money?
She'd divorced Alex, and even when she was with the Johnson family, they never let her spend like this, did they?
Just then, Matthew walked in carrying little Eleanor. "All done? I'll pay."
He reached for the receipt.
Emily shook her head with a small laugh. "No need. I'm buying things for my parents — why would you be the one paying for that?"
Grace watched this exchange, and something shifted in her mind entirely.
Her eyes landed on the child in Matthew's arms. After a brief flash of surprise, her gaze lit up.
A child?
Emily and Matthew's child?!
She stepped forward immediately, her voice dripping with mockery. "Quite something, Miss Johnson. You divorced Alex and jumped straight into things with Matthew — even had a kid together? Tsk. You got pregnant pretty fast after the divorce, didn't you? Pretty easy, aren't you."
In an instant, the air around Matthew went ice cold. Those usually warm eyes of his turned sharp and hard. "Grace. Watch your mouth."
Grace narrowed her eyes. "What, am I wrong? You dare say this child has nothing to do with you—"
Smack!
Emily didn't even let her finish. She raised her hand and slapped her clean across the face.
Hard enough to knock Grace's head sideways.
The entire room gasped. No one had expected something like this to happen in the store.
"You hit me?!" Grace turned back, her face twisted with fury, her perfectly made-up eyes blazing.
Emily gave a cold laugh. "I hit you, and you'll take it. Say one more filthy word and it won't stop at a slap. I hear Miss Miller does livestreaming now — you must care a lot about your image. What would your audience think if they found out you were chasing after a married man two years ago? And speaking of which, I still have that recording. I take it out every now and then just to enjoy it. What do you think, Miss Miller?"
Grace went white as a sheet, trembling with rage. "You—!"
Emily didn't spare her another glance. She picked up her things, took little Eleanor from Matthew's arms, and said, "Let's go."
She hadn't come back to deal with anyone in Alex's circle.
The three of them turned and walked out, leaving Grace standing there, frozen, utterly humiliated.
As she felt the sales associates' eyes on her, Grace dug her nails so hard into her palms they nearly broke the skin.
These past few years, Alex had completely ignored her.
Even when she'd posted those suggestive, ambiguous hints about the two of them online, the man had acted like he never saw a thing.
If she hadn't been resourceful enough to build herself up on her own, she'd never have made it to where she was now.
But now Emily was back — and she'd had a child with Matthew. Alex would finally give up for good.
All she'd need to do was say the right things at the right moment...
Grace's eyes burned with resentment. "Just you wait, Emily."
Outside the store.
Emily had already walked out with her daughter in her arms.
Matthew followed behind her and said gently, "I'll drive you back."
Emily was about to say yes, but her eyes drifted to the street.
A low-key black business car was parked under a plane tree, its window half-down, revealing a head of stylish salt-and-pepper curls.
Emily paused. "Is that...?"
Matthew followed her gaze. "Something wrong?"
Emily caught herself and let out a helpless laugh.
The old lady sure moved fast.
"Matthew, you head back first. Something came up — I'll bring Eleanor back a little later. Let my parents know for me."
She said a quick goodbye and carried Eleanor toward the corner.
Matthew watched them go, one eyebrow raised.
That car... he felt like he'd seen it somewhere before.
Five minutes later.
Emily carried her daughter and got into the car.
The moment the door shut, Margaret leaned right in, eyes practically sparkling as she stared at the little one in Emily's arms, her voice trembling with excitement. "Oh, Emmie — little Eleanor! You're finally back!"
Emily smiled, soft and calm. "Grandma. Eleanor, say hello to great-grandma."
Eleanor wasn't shy at all. She looked up with her big, round eyes and said sweetly, "Hi, great-grandma~"
Her little voice was so soft and pudgy that it melted Margaret on the spot.
The old woman burst into a huge grin and carefully took the little bundle into her arms. "Oh! My great-grandchild! So sweet — so much sweeter than that useless grandson of mine..."
"Uh." Emily pressed her lips together.
It was the first time in a long while that she'd heard anything about Alex.
But before she could even process that, the old woman had already started pulling off all her jewelry at lightning speed.
Jade bracelet, gemstone rings — she shoved them all into Eleanor's hands without a second thought, priceless as they were.
"Here, Eleanor, play with these! Great-grandma's giving you everything!"
Emily watched, both exasperated and amused. "Grandma, don't spoil her like this — these things are worth a fortune. What if she breaks something?"
"So what? As long as Eleanor's happy, she can smash every last thing in the Baker family — I don't care one bit!" Margaret waved her hand dismissively and kept kissing Eleanor's little cheeks, absolutely beside herself with joy. "I've been waiting two years to see you and Eleanor. All I had was video calls to get me through it. You have no idea how much I missed you both. Emmie, you've had it hard..."
The truth was, Emily had stayed in touch with Margaret throughout those two years.
The old woman had found out about the pregnancy not long after it happened.