Emily Allen and Mia Stewart were both seething with anger.
However, Ethan Allen seemed pleased. Sophie Allen’s entrance was quite spectacular, saving his face.
After all, Sophie was also his daughter — even though he did not care for her much, if she disgraced herself in public, it would also bring a loss of face for him.
Under the scrutiny and murmur of the crowd, Sophie navigated her way through, arriving in front of the Allen family.
"Dad, Auntie Stewart." Sophie extended a soft smile, then turned toward Emily: "Happy birthday, sister."
"Sister, you are a year older than me. I rushed here so I didn’t know what gift to get for you."
This intimate address as ’sister’ pointed to all the past grievances.
Everyone knew that she was the legitimate daughter. Her mother, Sophia Thompson, was Ethan’s actual first wife.
The Allen family business was built from scratch with Sophia’s help.
By indirectly pointing this out, she exposed Emily’s identity as an illegitimate child.
Emily scoffed, but a glance from Ethan silenced her.
She was forced to put on a bright smile and turned to the detestable Sophie: "Thank you, little sister. I am just happy that you could attend. I don’t need any gifts from my younger sister."
"I do have a small gift for you."
Sophie still maintained her calm smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
She bypassed the Allen family, moving toward the stage, and quickly positioned herself in front of the microphone.
All eyes followed her, as if she was the central character of the evening.
"Because of a sudden family death, I attended my adoptive mother’s funeral today. So I arrived in haste and probably look quite terrible. I apologize for that."
The spotlight shone on Sophie, casting a warm glow that made her even more radiant. With a soft smile on her face, she looked like a fairy woman descending from heaven.
Upon hearing her words, the crowd started murmuring again:
"Adoptive mother? So Miss Allen really was sent away from a young age."
"Mrs. Allen is really ruthless. This is how she treats the biological daughter of the first wife!"
"Isn’t Mr. Allen even more to be blamed? He forgot his old love after finding a new one, even abandoned his own daughter."
"If you ask me, Mr. Allen and Mrs. Allen seem to be deeply in love. Otherwise, how could Emily be older than Sophie?"
Even though people sounded courteous, their words were all scoffing at Ethan and Mia.
Ethan, who had been in a good mood, turned pale.
He quickly rushed to the stage, glared at Sophie, signaling her to keep quiet.
Ethan, a man particularly sensitive to face, immediately explained to everyone, "My second daughter is a child with a very simple and kind heart. What she referred to as her ’adoptive mother’ is not her real adoptive mother. It’s actually the nanny who raised her. I hope no one misunderstands."
Sophie interrupted his explanation with another soft smile, reclaimed the microphone and said, "I didn’t have time to prepare much, so instead, I’ve created a fireworks display to wish my sister a happy birthday."
"Fireworks? How can fireworks be set off in this venue? Do we need to go outside to watch it?"
"No way, setting off fireworks outside is now prohibited, the city management will come."
"The hotel definitely wouldn’t allow it. Miss Allen, you should probably return the fireworks you bought."
"Yes, you two are sisters after all. There’s no need to fuss over gifts."
Everyone was urging Sophie to backtrack, but she gently laughed and raised both of her hands, clasping them together.
At that moment, Emily’s portrait on the large screen vanished, replaced by a black screen.
Suddenly, a ’bang’ sound was heard.
Just as everyone suspected something was amiss, they saw fireworks displayed on the screen.
Yes, it was just a video of a fireworks display.
The audience was taken aback. Despite the fireworks being beautiful, such a gift seemed childishly naive. Chapters first released on novel★fire.net
Especially for Emily, her face turned a ghastly pale. She gripped Mia’s arm tightly, gritting her teeth she muttered, "Mother, Sophie has ruined my reputation. She’s ruined my birthday party; I am going to kill her!"
Mia pulled Emily back and calmly said, "Don’t be mad, it’s nothing big. It’s just a video of fireworks. It doesn’t affect you. If anyone has lost face, it’s Sophie herself."
Emily glared at Sophie with gritted teeth. The crowd, slightly bored, could only watch the fireworks blooming on the screen.
Just then, the screen changed again—