Chapter 392: Exposed!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Just as Mia was about to say something, Hillary’s voice rang out through the phone. “Do you miss Mommy, Mia?”
The little Mia trembled a little when she heard Hillary’s voice. In the end, she nodded and replied weakly, “Yes.”
“Did you hear that, Joel?”
Hillary tried her best to convince him, “Mia wants to see me!”
Joel heaved a huge sigh.
He didn’t want to let Mia and Hillary come into contact anymore, but if Mia wanted to see her mother, he couldn’t stop her.
Therefore, Hillary immediately knew that Joel must have relented when she heard him sigh. She asked tentatively, “Can I go back to the Smiths’ tonight? I heard that you’ve just found your younger sister, so I can also take the chance to pay her a visit.”
Joel had a very cold look in his eyes. “You’re never returning to the Smiths. If you want to meet Mia, then I will bring her to you.”
Hillary was a little taken aback. “Alright, then.”
After hanging up, Joel took Mia to the residential complex where Hillary lived. However, he stayed at the door and refrained from entering.
After informing Hillary that he had arrived, she came out and invited Joel and Mia into the villa. She said, “Grandma misses you, Mia. Let’s go in?”
Mia didn’t like that grandmother of hers, either.
She always pointed at her and scolded her for being a girl, and kept saying that if she were a boy, her parents would already have gotten together long ago.
She grabbed Joel’s sleeve.
Joel said, “Let’s just stay here.”
Seeing that he wasn’t giving in, Hillary could only sigh and say, “Okay. Mia, this is Mommy’s birthday gift for you. Do you like it?”
Hillary had prepared a toy car for Mia.
Mia looked at the toy car and took it.
Joel wanted to take her away, but Hillary suddenly said, “Let’s take a family picture, Joel! It’s been really long since we were last together.”
Joel sneered, “We’re not a family. You’re just Mia’s mother.”
Hillary bit her lip. “Alright, I won’t make things difficult for you, even if you won’t acknowledge me. But I’m ultimately still Mia’s mother, so can I take a picture with her?”
Joel was about to refuse when Hillary said, “I’ve already put up with how you refuse to let me see my daughter. Are you going to deny me this, too? All I can do now is spend my days looking at photos of my daughter.”
Joel fell silent but didn’t reject her request anymore.
Hillary squatted down and hugged Mia. She picked up her phone and said, “Mia, look at the camera~”
Then, she snapped a photo.
After the photo was taken, Mia returned to Joel. Joel took his daughter and left straightaway.
After leaving Hillary, the little Mia subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.
The two went to a restaurant and had dinner.
Neither of them noticed that Hillary had been following them since they left the residential complex. When they entered the restaurant, she finally took a photo.
—
Tanya sat in the living room after seeing the two of them off.
She felt terribly troubled.
Mia really was very lovable. She liked her very much. Not only had she inherited her talent in dancing, but the two had even hit it off the moment they met. She had liked Mia from the bottom of her heart from the moment she met her.
Where had they gone to celebrate Mia’s birthday after they left?
She was wondering about that when her cell phone suddenly beeped, indicating that she had received a message.
It was a photo of two hands, one big and one small, clasped together.
It was from Joel.
Tanya was taken aback. After thinking for a while, she replied with a question mark: ‘?’
Joel then sent a text message: “I’m celebrating Mia’s birthday with her. The cake is too big for the two of us, so we can’t finish it. Would you like to come and have some?”
The two of them were celebrating Mia’s birthday?
Tanya knew that Mia’s mother, Hillary, had been driven out of the Smiths. But had they not gone to Hillary even on a day like this?
For some reason, Tanya actually found herself overjoyed.
But right after that, she couldn’t help but be disgusted with herself.
What was the matter with her?
Was she really thinking of going back to him?
There was no longer anything between her and Joel!!
With that in mind, she replied: ‘No.’
The man then sent her an audio message, which surprised Tanya. She was actually very afraid of hearing Joel’s voice right now.
But when she played the message after long hesitation, it was instead Mia’s voice. She said, “The cake is really delicious, Ms. Turner. I’ll save a piece for you and put it in the fridge later. Shall I bring it to school tomorrow so that you can eat it?”
Mia’s voice was very soft and pleasant to the ear.
Tanya couldn’t bear to refuse, so she replied: “Okay.”
Even her mood couldn’t help but become better, as though her heart had been coated in honey before she even ate the cake.
Then, she couldn’t help but open her Facebook account.
But when she did, she saw that Hillary had posted something.
They were a couple of photos.
One was of her and Mia in a residential complex with a man standing behind them. Although only his trousers could be seen in the photo, it was obvious at a glance that he was Joel.
The other was taken in a restaurant. Joel and Mia were seated nearby while she took a selfie.
Tanya’s heart sank abruptly, and an acerbic feeling welled up inside her at once!
She clenched her fists and suddenly let out a cold laugh.
Indeed.
Here she was, treating Mia like her own daughter, but in truth, she had a mother!
Also, what exactly was Joel trying to do?
He was sending her vague and ambiguous messages while also showing off how happy and blissful a family of three he, Hillary, and Mia were? Was there any point in doing that?!
Tanya was so mad that she stopped looking at it altogether and threw the phone aside!
—
The next day.
As a dance teacher, Tanya would also pick up students at the entrance.
Mia and Pete got out of the car together and greeted the teachers. Joel was holding a food container with the cake from the night before. He handed it to Tanya and said, “Ms. Turner, this is from Mia.”
Tanya cast her eyes down and said coldly and distantly, “No, thanks, Mr. Smith. I’m not fond of sweets.”
Then, she led Mia and Pete straight into the school.
Joel: “?”
Things had clearly not been this awkward between them the previous evening. What was the matter with her today?
Tanya went back to the entrance after taking Mia and Pete to the classroom, planning to pick up the rest of the children. However, when she arrived at the door, she saw that Joel was still there.
She walked over with a cold look on her face.
Joel asked, “What’s the matter? Are you in a bad mood today? Is it the time of the month?”
1
The time of the month?
Tanya flushed with embarrassment. She immediately replied coldly, “I don’t think it’s suitable for us to talk about such an intimate topic, Mr. Smith!”
Joel was taken aback. “Okay, I take back my words. But can you tell me why you’re upset?”
Tanya had always been a straightforward person. She didn’t like keeping things to herself. Thus, she lifted her head and looked straight at Joel. She took out her cell phone, opened up Hillary’s Facebook post, and pushed the phone right into his face. She sneered, “Why I’m upset? What exactly are you trying to do, Mr. Smith? You were clearly enjoying your precious family time last night, yet you still sent me such ambiguous messages while you’re having fun with your family? Can you be a little more responsible toward Mia? Also, what are you trying to do by treating me like this? Are you planning to practice polygamy? Have your cake and eat it too? Even if that’s what you want, have you asked me if I agree to it?”
As Tanya’s words became more and more unpleasant, Joel’s expression also turned more and more awful.
He looked at Tanya’s phone.. When he saw the photos that Hillary had posted, he was stunned.