I snorted with laughter. “You really take after your mother.”

Hearing the commotion outside, I quickened my steps.

Rachel trailed behind with her head lowered, who knows what she was thinking.

Inside the banquet hall, Emily, eyes red, announced that she was breaking off the engagement with Daniel.

Daniel tried to grab her hand. “Baby, what are you doing? Don’t make a scene. Everyone’s watching.”

Emily shook him off, her chin trembling.

“A scene? Do you dare say what you and your so-called female buddy were doing in the bathroom?!”

The whole table went silent, every pair of eyes turning toward Daniel.

His face went from pale to red to pale again, his tone softening immediately.

“Baby, you got it wrong. It was all a misunderstanding… I’ll explain when we get home.”

My ex-husband Robert Parker tried to smooth things over. “Emily, since Daniel says it’s a misunderstanding, don’t get upset. You’re both adults now. Don’t talk about breaking up over every little thing—it makes us look bad.”

Beside him sat his new wife of just over a year, Susan Lee, her heavy makeup making her resemble Rachel a little.

“Exactly. Rachel and Daniel grew up together. If there were really something between them, it would’ve happened long ago. He’s marrying you now, isn’t he?”

Relatives and friends chimed in one after another:

“Every couple has fights. Today’s your engagement. Don’t make a scene.”

“Marriage is about daily life—bills, groceries. Learn to compromise, and things will be fine.”

Emily inherited my stubborn streak but not my sharp tongue.

Her tears fell uncontrollably, leaving her sobbing too hard to make sense.

I shoved through the crowd and stood before Daniel.

Smack!

The banquet hall fell dead silent.

Daniel clutched his face, eyes wide.

I swept a cold gaze around before fixing it back on him. “If you’re all so open-minded, then let your own sons-in-law fool around with their female buddies. Don’t you dare stop them.”

The sound of people gasping filled the room.

Daniel’s face burned under the weight of their stares.

Rachel suddenly rushed in.

Under everyone’s shocked eyes, she slapped Daniel hard.

“It’s all your fault. I told you not to joke around, but you never listen. Now both Ma’am and Emily think the worst.”

“We’re done. From now on, we’re strangers.”

Daniel looked wronged. “Rachel, do you really have to go this far?”

Rachel glanced at Emily. “What else can I do? Everyone already thinks I’m some homewrecker.”

Susan grabbed Rachel’s hand. “My daughter was too mischievous. From now on, I won’t let them meet alone.”

The mother and daughter left quickly.

Daniel wanted to chase after them but stopped short when he remembered Emily and I were still there.

With everyone staring, he stammered, “I’ll… I’ll go get you a car.”

“Wait,” Emily called after him. “It’s over. The engagement is off. Don’t ever show up again.”

She yanked off her engagement ring and hurled it at Daniel’s face.

“Wait—”

Daniel looked panicked but, gritting his teeth, turned and ran after Susan and Rachel instead.

The engagement party ended in chaos.

Looking at my daughter’s cold, expressionless face, I regretted ever agreeing to her marriage with Daniel.

I’d known him since the day Emily first brought him home.

Back then, Robert cheated on me with Susan.

I didn’t cry or scream. I simply handed him the divorce agreement.

Emily stayed with me, while he paid child support.

But the payments got smaller and later until they barely came at all.

I finally lost patience and went to confront him.

They weren’t home. Only Rachel and a boy were in the room.

That boy was Daniel.

The eighteen-year-old’s face was flushed, collar marked.

Through the door crack, I saw Rachel in skimpy shorts.

It wasn’t hard to guess what had just happened.

After New Year’s, Emily brought home Daniel—looking mature and steady—with love shining in her eyes.

That was when I knew I couldn’t stop it anymore.

In the car, the city’s noise flowed outside while silence sat between me and my daughter.

I sighed, about to speak, when Emily whispered:

“Mom, am I stupid? I knew Daniel and Rachel were too close, but I still wanted to marry him.”

“He even wore those pants and handed the key to Rachel…”

Her fists clenched on her lap.

I patted her hand. “Better to see the truth now than later. You’re not married yet. It’s not too late to walk away.”

“What about Dad?”

I snapped, “He hasn’t cared about you for years. He has no right to interfere.”

Her phone buzzed nonstop, messages piling up.

She glanced at the screen, silenced it, and after several more attempts, turned it off completely.

At home, I warmed her a glass of milk.

Before bed, she poured her heart out—about meeting Daniel, dating him, and how things changed.

“I don’t get it. He said he loved me. Why is he tangled up with another woman?”

She gripped my hand. “And Mom, I’m sorry. I know how much you hate Susan’s family, yet I still ended up tied to them.”

I ruffled her hair. “Nonsense. Your father’s with Susan now. We were bound to run into them eventually.”

Emily had clarity in her mind, but her heart still clung to Daniel.

I worried that if he came groveling with sweet words, she’d forgive him again.

But before Daniel showed up, Susan came to see me first.

She asked me to meet at a coffee shop and brought Rachel along.

The moment the waiter set down our coffee, Rachel dropped to her knees.

“Ma’am, Daniel and I have been roughhousing since we were kids. We even bathed together and shared underwear once. I never saw him as a man. I was just joking around, and he went along to humor me. There’s nothing inappropriate between us.”

I stirred my coffee and chuckled. “You’re right—nothing inappropriate, since your whole relationship is out in the open.”

Rachel’s face froze. She stood up stiffly. “If not for wanting to protect his happiness, I wouldn’t even be here.”

She huffed and stormed off toward the bathroom.

Susan shot me an awkward glance before following her.

Inside the bathroom, Susan jabbed her finger at Rachel’s forehead.

“Can’t you just keep quiet for once?”

Rachel snapped back, “Mom, that old hag acts so superior. She’s just a discarded wife nobody wants!”

“Didn’t you snatch Uncle Mark from her years ago? And now you’re suddenly acting spineless?!”