You are all bad women! Don't come over!

"I can stay away, but if she does anything to you, I can't stop her. So, please forgive me." Catherine slightly raised her wine glass in a gesture, then took a sip on her own.

Shen Mochen bowed his head slightly; in fact, he knew that Catherine had always been like this.

Always seeming indifferent, she appeared just when he needed help.

"Sorry, sorry for making you wait," Angelina came over, her face still lit with a pleasant warmth, picking up the phone she had left on the table and setting it aside again.

This meal was the finest Shen Mochen had ever eaten and yet the most tasteless one for him.

Throughout the meal, Angelina didn't trouble him or say anything like "I'll give you a billion, leave my daughter." She just chatted about ordinary things as if she were a friendly neighbor, her eyes brimming with a gentle smile.

But Shen Mochen still felt uneasy. Being clever, he could roughly guess her intention and thus avoided looking at Ikatrina throughout the meal.

Dinner went smoothly, and then Angelina asked Fuzi to take Shen Mochen home first. It seemed she truly had no other purpose than to have a simple meal with Shen Mochen.

Soon, they arrived at the old residential building. Shen Mochen quietly said goodbye to the few people, slipped out of the car dejectedly, and prepared to go home.

"Yupi boy, wait a minute." Angelina suddenly called out to Shen Mochen.

He had just taken a few steps and now had to turn back.

"Do you need anything else?"

"In a few days, it's Kajiena's coming-of-age ceremony. If it's convenient, come join us."

Angelina fished out a gold-embossed invitation from her bag and handed it to Shen Mochen.

Shen Mochen hesitated, not taking it at first. He looked at Angelina on the outer side, still wearing that smiling face.

Then he tried to look at Catherine, but she was sitting on the inside, and he couldn't see her expression.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Shen Mochen freeze, Angelina cocked her head.

Shen Mochen placed his hand on the invitation, smiling apologetically and stammering out, "Because I'm a Buque... I mean, I might be quite busy..."

"If you're free, come; if not, it's okay!"

Angelina smiled and pushed the invitation to him and then closed the car door, a subtle change in her expression visible.

"So this is the child who even Mr. Peter is afraid of? Apart from his looks, he really seems plain," Angelina still wore a smile, but now there was a hint of contempt, "I heard he's a beast that can tear men apart, yet now he seems like a tamed dog."

"He just wants to be a dog that fits into society for now; it doesn't mean he can't turn back into a wolf," Catherine was silent for a moment, then softly countered.

"I thought he would be some kind of dangerous element, so I made special preparations today. To my disappointment, it turned out to be quite anticlimactic."

"Is that so? When you were seducing him, you didn't seem disappointed at all."

Angelina didn't mind Catherine's personal attack and simply smiled lightly. "What is a mere superpower user, after all? Nowadays, even restaurant waiters have superpowers. I just want him to face reality."

Catherine continued sharply, "Oh, sweet words with ulterior motives, that's not a good quality."

"Don't talk about me like that. I don't see myself that way." Angelina cocked her head and blinked without a care, "I am simply a mother wanting to understand what kind of person my daughter liked first."

"Trying to show maternal warmth at this juncture, isn't that utterly nauseating?"

"Kajiena, I know you resent me. I indeed haven't given you enough attention. But I am your mom. What mother doesn't want her daughter to have a good life?"

"Your idea of a good life is marrying and having children with someone I don't love?"

"Kajiena, I know your grievances. But please believe me, twenty years ago, I felt the same as you. Who hasn't been a young girl before?"

Catherine fell silent. In her heart, Angelina had always been the image of a mother who became cold toward her due to a difficult childbirth, nearly forgetting that the other person also once possessed the attributes of a young girl and had experienced adolescence.

How did her parents get married? Their current state didn't look like they had ever shared a deep affection.

She faintly guessed the answer.

"Like you, I fantasized about a romantic love as a child, escaping the responsibilities and constraints of my family, wandering the world with my beloved. Which girl doesn't dream of marrying her beloved? But reality made me realize that fantasies are beautiful because they are just that—fantasies. I, too, had a beloved, but in the end, under his gaze, I married your father and then gave birth to you. Kajiena, you are even more rebellious than I was, but since you bear the name Alexander, you cannot disgrace your family. You and that Yupi boy are doomed to be impossible. Perhaps he is not weak-willed, but he is too insignificant. I bet he wouldn't even dare to witness your engagement ceremony."

Angelina rarely showed a mother's tenderness in front of Catherine. Her daughter had never been much more than a pure political tool to her, a scourge that caused her difficult labor. But now, she truly cared for Catherine.

Perhaps she saw her own past self in the other person.

Her eyes filled with the memories of her youth, it was no wonder people always say that children are the extension of one's own life.

"He is not my beloved. I don't like him that much. He's just a little ruffian; how could I like him?" Catherine said after a long silence.

"I know you secretly wore sneakers under your dress last time; did you think he would come to whisk you away in a bridal theft, then flee far away with you? Quite a romantic thought, just like mine." Angelina shook her head and chuckled, "But this time, be sure to wear proper shoes. It's summer now, and it really isn't suitable to wear a trailing long dress anymore."

Catherine didn't speak, just leaned against the car window, watching the endless flow of traffic on the streets.

After a pause, Angelina said, "Actually, if you really liked him, you two could have a chance to be together. Look at me and your father, we live separate lives. As long as you can play the role of a couple in front of others, everyone will be happy."

"After bearing children?" Catherine asked with an ironic smile on her lips.

"That's right, after having children with your husband," Angelina said earnestly.