Chapter 2

Blake left, dragging his feet, clearly furious but with no choice.

That evening at dinner, Lily kept sighing dramatically.

"Mom, why weren't you more careful when you picked my dad?" she grumbled.

"Were you just blinded by his looks?"

"I was too young back then."

I seriously reflected on my past choices.

"Will he keep bothering me?"

"Hard to say," I thought for a moment. "He definitely didn't want kids back then, but what if he's changed his mind now that he's older? But how did you even run into Blake?"

"I saw him talking to our principal after school today."

Lily didn't even look up.

"I guess they know each other?"

The next day, after dropping Lily off at school, I drove to my shop.

A few years ago, when Lily was little, I ran a custom baking business from home to make it easier to care for her.

Once she got a little older, and I happened to win a decent international baking award, I decided to open this dessert shop.

Business has been pretty good these past two years, and I have a stable customer base. I've been thinking about opening a second branch.

Soon after I arrived at the shop, a middle-aged woman walked in, saying she wanted to order a five-tier birthday cake.

"Of course," I said with a smile, sitting down with her to discuss the details.

She wore an elegant green dress and had a very kind smile.

Suddenly, the woman asked me, "Are you married?"

I smiled and said, "No."

She then asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

I shook my head again.

Then the middle-aged woman beamed.

"I'm Mrs. Davies, Blake's mom! Blake's single now, too! Would you consider him again?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she eagerly pulled out a bracelet and tried to put it on my wrist.

Mrs. Davies was incredibly sweet the whole time.

She probably worried I'd misunderstand her intentions, so she proactively explained that she just wanted to get close to Lily.

"It must be hard for you, raising a child alone. I just want to help."

I wasn't naive enough to believe Mrs. Davies was as good as she appeared. She was a powerful businesswoman, a force to be reckoned with.

The Davies family must have already done a private DNA test and confirmed Lily was Blake's biological daughter.

They had also consulted lawyers, and the chances of winning a custody battle were very low.

So they had to settle for a compromise: they wanted joint custody.

"Mrs. Davies, I respect my daughter's feelings," I said with a smile. "As long as Lily is willing to get close to you all, I won't object."

Mrs. Davies excitedly said, "Then I'll arrange a dinner party right away!"

I told her I needed to talk to Lily first, respect her feelings.

After exchanging contact info, Mrs. Davies smiled brightly and made a call.

"Come in. Apologize to Ms. Skylar properly, and thank her too."

Then I saw Blake walk in, looking awkward. He must have been waiting in the car, ready on standby.

When he saw me, a flash of smugness crossed his face.