Alice brought Ingrid and me to a hotel ballroom. The ballroom was beautifully decorated with luxurious decor. Ingrid thought that the decorations were for her birthday party and was very delighted.

However, when we walked into the hall, we saw many of Oscar's family friends and Evie's family there. I had a gut feeling that something was not right.

A split second later, Evie came over to me with her hands around Oscar and announced smugly, "I'm pregnant. From today onward, Oscar will be the heir to the Griffin family, and I will be his rightful wife. We will be registering our marriage soon."

Everyone on the scene was happy for them, with the exception of me and Ingrid. Our faces dropped at that.

I looked at Oscar with a cold expression. However, he pretended not to notice me and kept averting his gaze from mine. He even chimed in with Evie's statement and said, "Yes. I'm going to have a son."

A son? Had he always wanted a son instead? Which era was he still living in? How could he still exhibit such sexist behavior?

I felt my heart tear into two.

Ingrid was very upset. She ran up to Oscar and tugged at his hand, asking sadly, "Daddy, don't you like me? I'm also your kid. Do you really want a son instead?"

Alice just cackled loudly and sneered at her. "You're an illegitimate child. Nobody likes you!"

When the other guests saw that Alice had started it, they chimed in and said, "She's right! The Griffin family can only be passed down to a male heir!"

"Yeah. It's going to be such an embarrassment if word got out that there was an illegitimate child in the family!"

"You're just a poor country kid. Did you really think that you'd end up being an heiress?"

"She doesn't deserve it at all! She doesn't even deserve to be my maid! Haha!"

Ingrid got increasingly upset with everyone's insults and began to wail. However, Oscar didn't even bother comforting her and even withdrew his hand from her hold.

When Alice saw that everyone else was insulting us in tandem, she looked at us in pure disgust and mockery.

"Aurora, if you want to continue living at our house, you may, but you will work as a maid. Your daughter can stay, too, but she will be known as an orphan."

Ingrid's tears continued to fall. She shot back, "I'm not an orphan! I have a mommy and a daddy!"

Oscar frowned. "Mom, don't go overboard."

However, I saw Evie pinching Oscar on the arm, and then Oscar just stopped talking and fell silent, even though he looked like he had more to say.

Evie grinned in satisfaction and agreed with Alice's proposition. "That's fine with me. I don't mind having another maid and an orphan girl at the house."

Ingrid was mad. She went up to Evie and kicked her, yelling angrily, "You bad woman! I hate you! You stole Daddy away from me and made Mommy sad!"

Evie's face immediately turned ugly. She raised her hand, about to slap Ingrid, and I quickly stepped forward to stop her. However, Oscar shoved Ingrid away first.

He shoved her so hard that she stumbled backward and crashed into the table holding glasses of drinks behind her. They fell down right on top of Ingrid, and she immediately cried out loudly in pain.

I ran over to pick Ingrid up from the floor and pulled her into my arms. I saw that Ingrid had a gash on her forehead and was bleeding, so I quickly applied pressure to her wound.

I couldn't hold my anger back anymore. I turned and glared at Oscar with red eyes, yelling at him for the first time. "Oscar, you useless scum of the earth! She is your daughter! Can't you even protect her?"

Oscar drew his lips in a thin line and said nothing. Evie, on the other hand, chuckled coldly and said, "Who told her to misbehave in the first place? Serves her right."

She then glared at me with a challenging stare and mocked, "If you want to continue staying by Oscar's side, then start acting like a maid. After all, I can still afford to take care of two mongrels at home."

I was so mad that I laughed aloud. Then, I grabbed the glasses on the ground and flung them in Evie's face.

She didn't manage to duck in time, and the glass struck her on the forehead. The glass overturned and spilled the drink all over her clothes as well.

Evie immediately screamed in pain and flailed her arms around. I felt better after seeing that her clothes were drenched and her forehead was bleeding as well.

Some people crowded around me and Ingrid and glared at us. I didn't care and glared back at them, unwilling to show them any weakness. I shot back, "So, are you all the mongrels she spoke of as well? Lapdogs, perhaps? Are you going to beat me and my daughter up just to make her happy?"

The guests stopped short and exchanged glances with each other when they heard me. Then, they took a few steps back and decided to just watch from the sidelines.

Oscar had grabbed a bunch of napkins, carefully helping Evie clean up. He reprimanded me and yelled, "That's too much, Aurora! How could you bully another person like that? I see that I've spoiled you way too much that you've forgotten where you stood!"

Then, he turned to the bodyguards next to him and said, "Take those two troublemakers home and lock them up for three days and nights without any food or water!"

The bodyguards nodded and came to grab us.

However, I screamed with a stern expression on my face, "Don't you dare touch us! We have legs and can walk on our own!"

I forced the tears back in and took a deep breath. I saw it clearly now. Oscar never loved me or Ingrid. He still chose Evie over us both when presented with the choice.

My heart was numb now. I had lost all hope in him. My feelings for him had all turned into ashes.

I picked Ingrid up and held her in my arms. Then, with my chest out, I addressed everyone and said, "My daughter is not an orphan. She is my precious daughter, whom I lovingly carried for nine months and gave birth to."

I then addressed Oscar directly and said, "Since you refuse to acknowledge that she is your daughter, then from today onward, she will no longer be yours. I hereby denounce your father-daughter relationship with her!"

Ingrid started sobbing harder when she heard me say that. I held back the tears in my eyes and ignored the tingling sensation in my nose, but a sob still escaped me.

"Baby… Don't cry anymore," I said, comforting Ingrid. "You can't call him 'Daddy' anymore."

Ingrid kept shaking her head, unable to accept it. She just continued to cry. Oscar, meanwhile, was stunned. He stared at me in great shock.

I knew that he had supposedly asked me for permission back then to be with Evie. I had only agreed because he said he was going to comfort her, before promising to give me and my daughter an official title afterward.

However, I no longer needed the official title.

His eyes locked onto mine, desperately searching my eyes to understand the thoughts in my head. I just said coldly to him, "Also, I will not have anything to do with you anymore."

Then, I turned to leave. My world no longer included Oscar.

Ingrid was still young, but she knew how to read the room. She sensed that the situation had gotten tense, so she didn't say anything else and just buried her face in my shoulder, crying silently.

When I reached the exit, Evie suddenly called out to me from behind.

"Aurora. Oscar gave you the Moon Diamond in the past, didn't he? That's a symbol of family status. Since I am now his wife, and my son will be the rightful heir, you should return it now."

I was taken aback. So, they had brought me here today not just to humiliate me but also to take the Moon Diamond back from me. The Moon Diamond was a family heirloom, and Oscar had given it to me as an engagement gift when he asked me for my hand in marriage.

He said that it was proof of his everlasting love for me. Since I was the new owner of the Moon Diamond, that also meant that I was the owner of his heart.

It was precisely because of his promises that I decided to abandon my family, conceal my true identity, and stay with him. Now that I thought about it, I found it hilariously ironic.

Oscar averted his eyes and hung his head, and he saw the pitiful and accusing look in my eyes.

So, Oscar was a person who avoided taking responsibility for his words and refused to be held accountable for anything.

I had been blind this whole time, falling in love with a person who didn't deserve to be loved.

Seeing that I still refused to budge, Evie grabbed Oscar's arm and glared at him to say something.

It was only then that Oscar spoke. "Aurora. Give up the Moon Diamond."

Since Oscar said it, too, I didn't hesitate any longer and took it off around my neck before handing it to Evie. She took it in great delight and put it on eagerly.

I complimented her and said, "It looks better on you. This, and the man, now both belong to you."

Then, I left without looking back again, sure in my steps.

…

Ingrid and I were locked in our room for three days and nights without any food or water. We weren't allowed out of the room at all.

I could still hold on, but Ingrid couldn't. She was so hungry that she cried from her stomach pains, and I was sent into great rage. I slammed my fists against the door and demanded attention.

Nancy only went to get Oscar when she realized that I wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

I glared at Oscar, looking as smug and unbothered as a mouse in a barn. However, I forced myself to hold my anger back and discuss it civilly with him.

"I was the one who threw the glass. You can punish me, but Ingrid is still a kid. She shouldn't be dragged into this. Give her some food."

Oscar just sighed and took out a bottle of milk before putting it on the table.

"Drink some milk to stave off the hunger. I was the one who doled out the punishment, so I must keep to my word. Otherwise, I will lose my authority in this house."

I looked at him in shock, feeling helpless and frustrated.

"Oscar Ramsay! She is just a child! Are you seriously telling her to survive off a bottle of milk for three days? Your conscience really allows that, huh?"

Oscar frowned and averted his eyes before answering, "But you didn't teach her to behave properly. This is a lesson for both of you."

I suddenly understood that there was no point arguing with him anymore because of how cold he was looking at me. I laughed. I laughed so hard until I cried, and then suddenly, I couldn't stop crying. My tears kept flowing down my cheeks like a burst dam.

When Oscar saw that I was crying, he actually came up to me and hugged me.

"Just be patient, Aurora. Wait for me. I will marry you after I've settled everything, but you need to put up with some hardships first."

I didn't believe him. I'd heard too many of such empty promises in the past, and I was already sick of hearing them.

He'd lied to me far too often. I wasn't going to believe him anymore.

He reached up to wipe my tears away. I tried to avoid him and struggled against his hold.

He then grabbed me to stop me from moving at all. Then, he sighed and said, "Be good and stop causing trouble. You are the only person I love.

"Give me some more time until after she's given birth to the baby and I've taken over the position of heir and inherited the company. Everything will be better."

I was numb all over and just let him hug me. Whatever. It was useless for me to continue wasting my breath on a man who was adamant about playing dumb.

When he saw that I had calmed down, he thought that he'd managed to comfort me and left afterward. I slid to the floor weakly, like a puppet who'd just had all her strings severed.

Ingrid walked toward me and carefully hugged my neck with her little hands. She buried her head in my chest and said softly in a nasal voice, "Mommy, I'm not hungry. I won't eat anything. Let's not want Daddy anymore. Okay?"

I quickly snapped back to my senses and hugged her back tightly. Ingrid continued sobbing quietly in my arms, sounding as if she'd made up her mind about something important.

"I only want you, Mommy. I want to leave this place with Mommy."

I nodded hard and quickly got rid of the sorrow in my heart. Then, I broke into a smile. Oscar can stay out of our lives. I had more than enough if I had Ingrid with me.

The day we were finally released from our prison was the day Oscar and Evie were getting married at a church. Their wedding was even livestreamed online.

Ingrid still looked upset when she saw Oscar kissing Evie on the screen. "Mommy, why is Daddy getting married to someone else? Aren't you Daddy's wife?"

I covered Ingrid's eyes and smiled bitterly.

"That's because Daddy doesn't love Mommy."

Oscar may not have known this, but I never cared whether outsiders knew about who I was. I didn't even care about his money or his wealth. I only cared about whether or not he loved me.

Now that he had obviously changed his mind, I decided not to love him anymore. I was going to bring Ingrid with me and leave him forever.

After leaving, I sent a final text message to Oscar to officially end our relationship. "Oscar, congratulations on your wedding. Let's never meet again ever."