No Pain, No Gain

I followed Logan to the restaurant, then settled into a corner seat, angled just behind them and hidden by a large potted plant.

The waiter studied me curiously as he asked me multiple times what I'd like to order. His increasingly loud voice garnered Logan's attention, causing me to open the menu in a panic and hide behind it. In the end, I ordered a cup of coffee just to get the waiter to leave.

By then, the other woman who had also ended up on the trending searches today had already sat down beside Logan. It was his soon-to-be fiancée, Anna Malone.

The atmosphere around them was a little awkward. Anna was clearly frustrated about Logan's daughter who had randomly popped out of nowhere, and her gaze carried traces of contempt when she looked at Lumi.

However, I knew that wealthy heiresses like her prided themselves on keeping up appearances, so she wouldn't make things difficult for a child in public.

And as expected, Anna could only pretend to be gentle and gracious as she asked, "Are you Lumi? Shall I order you a slice of cake?"

Though Lumi was feeling a little afraid, she still answered Anna's questions politely.

"Thank you, ma'am. I've never had cake before."

"You've never had cake before? How did your mother even raise you?" asked Anna, a look of pity flashing across her face.

"I usually roast potatoes for myself. When Mommy goes out looking for men, she'd leave me some potatoes. She would go on dates with different men, and sometimes, she'd get a to-go bag and bring me their leftovers."

I had taught Lumi to say those words.

Logan's expression immediately darkened, and the way his hands clenched tightly around his cutlery showed how much he was trying to suppress his rage.

Anna chuckled. I knew she wasn't laughing at Lumi, but at me.

She was definitely worried that I'd use Lumi as a way to get back with Logan, but with how badly I had raised Lumi, he would unlikely forgive me even if I got down on my knees and begged him.

Anna moved to sit next to Lumi and cut up her steak for her. She even wiped Lumi's mouth with a napkin, presenting the image of a doting mother.

A smile crossed my face when I saw how satisfied Lumi looked as she ate.

Her reappearance had indeed been planned by me, but my goal was merely to have Logan and Anna accept her, even if it was just on the surface level.

As Anna fed Lumi, she studied Logan out of the corner of her eye. He had a wine glass in hand while staring at Lumi with a frown. Lumi's lack of table manners irked him greatly, but he naturally couldn't blame a six-year-old child. Instead, all the blame went to me.

Anna took the chance to ask the question on her mind.

"Eat slowly. There's more if you want. I'll buy you nice food every day from now on. Also, where's your mother now?"

Lumi stopped chewing. Sadness filled her eyes as she swallowed the bite of pudding in her mouth.

"Mommy died. She went to sleep, and I couldn't wake her up anymore," she said in a small voice.

She then retrieved the death certificate from her backpack and handed it to Logan. On it, my cause of death was listed as cancer, and the time of death was the day before Lumi had come looking for Logan.