Ch. 1426..1430
Chapter 1426
Caprice grimaced, then she walked away.
Sherry felt as if a weight was dropped on her heart.
Why did Caprice not want to talk to her? Did she not believe her?
While she was still puzzled over this, Caprice who was already several steps away from her turned around and looked at her bizarrely. “Why aren’t you coming?”
Sherry was relieved to hear this. She quickly rose on her feet and followed Caprice, hunched over so nobody would see them. They trailed along the wall and went to a remote corner behind the bar.
While this was happening, Julie was somewhere nearby chatting with the attending guests.
She spotted a bright glimpse of red from the corner of her eye and turned to get a better look.
She noticed the tiny figure of Caprice as well as that of a suspicious woman who was hunched over and following her..
The longer she looked at the woman, the more she felt a strange degree of familiarity.
Shortly after that, Sherry found herself hiding behind a bar with Caprice.
It was rather cramped and quite dark.
She doubted that anyone would come by this area.
She had to suppress the urge to immediately wrap Caprice into her tight embrace. With her hands clasped tightly, she squatted in front of Caprice and said with a smile. “Caprice, I’m not a liar.”
Caprice stared at her, her eyes expanding into two giant circles. “Then who are you? Why do you keep following me and Daddy?”
“| wasn’t stalking your father, | just wanted to see you.”
“Why do you want to see me?”
Sherry took a deep breath and revealed the secret she kept inside all this time. “Because I’m your mother.”
Caprice blinked sporadically and looked at Sherry without the slightest change of expression, as calm as always. Sherry was stunted by her lack of reaction. “It’s true, I’m not lying to you, I’m your mother.”
“| know.”
“Huh?” Sherry was taken aback by this response. “How did you know? Did your father tell you?”
Caprice spoke softly, “When you were caught by Daddy the last time, | heard you when you said you were my mother.” Sherry stiffened for a moment, then she came to and immediately pulled Caprice into her arms.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Caprice’s soft skin and exclaimed excitedly, “That’s my baby daughter, you’re so smart!” It had been so long, but she still remembered! She was so proud of her daughter's intellect!
Caprice was squeezed tightly in Sherry’s arm and frowned inexplicably.
Do all mothers tend to hug their children like this?
The first thing she noticed was that the fragrance on her mother’s body was rather different from that of her grandmother's and aunt's.
She stayed silent inside Sherry’s embrace.
After a while, Sherry managed to calm herself down at
last. That was when she quickly noticed how quiet the girl had become.
She quickly let go of Caprice and asked with concern, Caprice, are you alright? Did | hug you too hard back there?” Caprice shook her head.
((
Sherry was completely enamored by how adorable
Caprice looked when she shook her head with her cheeks puffed up. Without any warning, she smooched Caprice’s cheeks. Caprice frowned deeply and did not know what to say.
Nobody had ever kissed her, save for her father.
She decided she would let this slide considering Sherry was her mother.
Her brows slowly released their original tension.
Sherry was not expecting Caprice’s lack of aversion. It seemed to her that Caprice had already accepted and acknowledged their relationship.
She wrapped her arms around Caprice again and asked, ” Caprice, do you have anything you want to ask your mommy?” Caprice stared at her silently for several seconds, then she asked, “What took you so long to come back?”
Sherry expressed with a remorseful sigh, “In the last two years since mommy left you, there was not a single day where | didn’t miss you. The problem was that | had a lot of things | needed to deal with so | had no choice...”
Next to the bar counter.
Julie heard some murmuring coming from behind the bar. A hostile look shone in her eyes as she tightened her grip around the glass of wine in her hand.
Suddenly, she spotted a familiar figure in her peripheral vision.
She was taken with shock and hurriedly dove behind another section of the bar counter.
Immediately after that, John stepped into the bar section.
Chapter 1427
He had planted a tracking device on Caprice. An application on his phone was used to pinpoint the exact location of where she was.
The application led him here. What was the little brat doing here in the first place? He wondered as he sped up his pace, his concern for Caprice’s safety was slowly mounting.
Immediately after that, she heard a familiar voice coming from behind the bar counter. It sounded like the voice of a woman holding herself back from bursting into tears. “... Caprice, mommy had no choice but to leave you, | promise you | didn’t intentionally abandon you...”
He immediately halted.
What followed after that was Caprice’s voice. “Il understand.”
Smooch!
Sherry planted yet another kiss on Caprice’s cheek. “My darling, you're so sweet.” John grimaced.
That was when Caprice asked, “Are you going to leave again?”
John winced.
Sherry answered, “Mommy won't leave you. Even if I’m leaving, I'll take you with me.” Caprice asked, “What about Daddy?”
Sherry reflected the same question. “What about Daddy?”
Caprice asked innocently, “Aren’t you taking Daddy with us?”
John found himself holding his breath as he waited for the answer.
Sherry seemed to have difficulty answering this. She coughed dryly before stating, “Caprice, | know that he’s your daddy but unfortunately | no longer have anything to do with him. I’m afraid we can’t get him to come with us.”
Behind the bar counter.
Upon hearing this, Caprice frowned tightly and decided. ” Then you can go by yourself, | want to be with Daddy.” Sherry was struck speechless.
“Heh.” A chuckle came out of nowhere.
Sherry turned pale and immediately turned toward the direction of the voice.
Caprice turned around as well.
In came the figure of a tall man dragging a long shadow behind him.
“Daddy!” Caprice’s eyes brightened as she pried herself out of Sherry’s arms and ran toward John. John picked her up effortlessly and carried her into his arms, then he looked at Sherry.
There was a heavy gloom swirling in his eyes.
Sherry rose and took a step back.
“Heh...” She scoffed dryly. “Master Stockton, what a coincidence.”
John scowled. “Sherry, | suppose | have been far too
liberal with you. How dare you have the guts to show up here?”
Sherry smiled and said, “I’m here to see our darling daughter, of course.”
Our?
John seemed offended by this remark. “Our? Who is this‘ our'?”
“You and me, of course. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have a daughter as adorable as Caprice, am | right?”
John chuckled softly. “That’s right.”
Sherry wore a feigned smile the entire time.
“But I’m sure you heard Caprice just now, she says she doesn’t want to go with you,” he said as he glared sharply at Sherry. Sherry stiffened and darted a glance at Caprice.
Caprice was looking back and forth between her and John, her eyes agape.
It was easy to see that she felt more affection for John.
Sherry took a deep breath and said, “I heard her, and | respect her choice as well.”
She could not just take her by force. She had not even considered that as a worthwhile option.
Right now, she figured that the best course of action was to take time to build a closer bond with Caprice. Once she developed a certain degree of trust with her, she could take her away.
John glared at her, observing her strained and wholly unconvincing smile, then he asked, “So what’s next?” Sherry seemed to be at a loss. “What’s next?”
John’s eyes gleamed with ice, then continued with a condescending smile. “What's your plan? Are you going to squat here forever?”
Apart of him thought that perhaps Sherry could take this chance to admit her faults and apologize to him. That just might soften him enough to want to allow her to see Caprice in the future.
Chapter 1428
His smile seemed more menacing than usual underneath the shade of the light.
Sherry sensed that she was no longer welcome here and excused herself courteously. “Excuse me, I'll be leaving now.” With that, she walked away.
As she passed by John, she could not resist the urge to cast one last look at Caprice.
Caprice was staring at her too with tears pooling in her eyes, on the verge of trickling down her cheeks. Sherry felt a wrench in her heart and promised her. ” Caprice, mommy will come back for you again.” Caprice nodded at her.
What followed afterward was a sinister gaze cast at Sherry.
She turned to John and saw him staring at her, as hostile as ever.
She decided she had nothing else to say and quickly slipped out before it was too late.
John scowled.
Very well then.
She would not even exchange a single sentence with him.
She expected to see Caprice again with such an attitude? In her dreams!
The giant ballroom was brightly illuminated and filled with people mingling in every corner.
Sherry stepped out from behind the bar counter and edged along the wall.
The exit was just around the corner, no more than thirty meters away.
She could not risk anyone noticing her strange behavior, so she took out her phone and pretended to be texting someone as she nonchalantly walked by the crowd.
Meanwhile, somewhere inside the crowd.
Madam Stockton was just chatting with a couple of old friends of hers. She was planning to show them her granddaughter Caprice when she realized that Caprice was nowhere to be seen at all.
“Mom, who are you looking for?” Suddenly, Julie popped out of nowhere to attend to her.
Madam Stockton turned to her frantically. “Julie, do you have any idea where Caprice went?”
Julie pointed in a certain direction and informed, “I think | saw John heading toward the exit with Caprice.” Madam Stockton immediately marched toward the exit.
She walked very quickly.
Just as she was about to reach the exit, she accidentally bumped into a person who was walking in the same direction as her. She stumbled and nearly fell.
Fortunately, Julie stepped to the rescue and saved her from the fall.
“I'm sorry, are you okay?” Sherry apologized frantically.
That was when they made eye contact.
As soon as their eyes fell upon each other, it was as if the surrounding air had turned stagnant and stale. Sherry widened her eyes.
Madam Stockton immediately erupted with Sherry? Why are you here?!”
anger.
Sherry hurriedly explained, “Madam Stockton, | just happened to be here is all.”
She immediately headed toward the exit after she said that, not intending to wait for a response at all.
Madam Stockton was immediately alarmed by this and shouted at the top of her voice, “Look here, there’s a thief, get her!” The two security guards posted at the exit instantly rushed forward and cut off Sherry’s path of retreat.
Many guests had heard Madam Stockton’s cry and quickly gathered around to see what the commotion was about.
They all turned their attention to Sherry who seemed to be the person at the heart of the commotion.
“Who is she? Does anyone know who she is?”
“| don't think I've ever seen her.”
“| thought only friends and relatives of the Stocktons
were invited, how did she get in here?”
Sherry found herself surrounded.
The color was drained from her face as she turned to Madam Stockton and did what she could to muster a polite smile. “Madam Stockton, | was just passing by.”
Madam Stockton glared at her pointedly. What sort of excuse was that? Even an idiot could tell that she must have come here to snatch Caprice away! She could not let anyone find out that this was Caprice’s biological mother.
Faced with the circumstances, she quickly conjured a new plan and scowled at Sherry. “How did you sneak in here? Do | know you?”
Chapter 1429
Sherry was utterly perplexed by this.
Were her ears playing tricks on her? Was it not Madam Stockton who called her by name just now?
Before she could utter a word, Julie stepped forward and said, “Mom, she must've snuck in here somehow.” Madam Stockton shouted with an urgency in her voice at the security guards, “Take her to the police station! Two security guards immediately approached Sherry.
Sherry drew several steps back and looked at both Madam Stockton and Julie, her eyes colored with disbelief.
Were they pretending to not know who she was because they were afraid of people discovering her identity as Caprice’s mother?
The look in her eyes shifted. She suddenly smiled and announced, “Madam Stockton, | didn’t sneak in. I’m an honored guest invited here just like everybody else.”
Madam Stockton seemed appalled by this and turned to Julie.
Julie confronted Sherry with hostility. “I don’t know you, | never sent you an invitation.” The people surrounding them began to murmur. “We've
never seen her before, | don’t think she’s a relative or
friend of the Stocktons. There’s no way she has an invitation card.”
“Yeah, she must've snuck in here.”
“Show us your invitation card if you claim to have it.”
Julie identified the glaring weakness of Sherry’s excuse and pounced on the opening. “Miss, if you claim to have been invited, please do show us the invitation card.”
This was what Sherry was waiting for.
As soon as Julie finished speaking, Sherry opened her bag and revealed an invitation card inside a purple envelope. The sight of it made Julie and Madam Stockton grimace in unison.
The onlookers were just as similarly stunned by the piece of evidence the unknown woman presented.
John, who had just arrived at the scene with Caprice, was alarmed by this as well.
He stared at the invitation card Sherry revealed and frowned deeply.
When Caprice saw Sherry, she gestured at her and cried out to John, “Daddy, it's Mo-”
“| know.” John quickly interrupted her.
“Brother, what are you looking at here?” Queenie ran toward the scene from the other side of the venue and stopped next to John. She had to stand on her tiptoes to get a closer look at the center of the crowd.
The moment she recognized Sherry, her eyes widened, ” Sher-”
Before she could get another word out, John shoved Caprice into her arms.
She frantically held Caprice in her arms, afraid of dropping her, then she turned to John with a bewildered expression. “Huh?” John said sternly, “Take Caprice somewhere else, get away from here.”
There was a separate room with plenty of delicious food inside.
It was far away enough from Sherry so that Caprice would not see or hear whatever was going on.
Queenie protested. “I want to see what's going to happen next.”
Although she had always wanted to spend some private time with Caprice, she was more eager to stick around and see what was about to go down next.
John glared at her, the look in his eyes sharpened immediately. Queenie was quickly intimidated and took the hint. ” Alright, I’m taking her away.”
With that, she hurriedly turned around and took Caprice to the private room.
John frowned again, then he quickly regained his usual calm composure as he trotted toward the center of the crowd.
While this was happening, Sherry was brandishing the invitation card in front of her like a shield proving her innocence. “Madam Stockton, second madam, take a close look at this invitation card and tell me it’s not forged.”
The invitation cards issued by the Stockton were marked with a unique stamp to prove that they belonged to none other than the Stocktons. It was an iconic and intricate design that was impossible for any outsiders to simply forge.
Madam Stockton frowned tightly and threw a look at Julie.
Julie accused Sherry, “This invitation card does come from us, but we never sent it to you. Where in the world did you get this invitation from?”
Someone in the crowd spoke up, “Did she steal it?”
“That’s right, you didn’t send this invitation card to me, merely borrowed it from someone else.” Sherry confessed. Madam Stockton hissed sharply. “Who did you take it from?”
Sherry opened the invitation card.
Madam Stockton and Julie stared at it curiously.
Everyone else squinted their eyes to get a closer look as well.
The name of the person invited was written in the center of the card.
Madam Stockton and Julie’s eyes widened with recognition the moment they scanned the words written on the card. Madam Stockton jabbed a finger at Sherry and cried out,
So this was why Young Master Carl didn’t show up. You stole his invitation card!”
Chapter 1430
Chapter 1430 “Young Master Carl? Which Carl?” “| don’t think | know anyone who goes by that name in Glanchester.”
Someone who would receive a direct invitation from the Stocktons and seemed to be so heavily favored by Madam Stockton herself must certainly be an important individual.
This immediately spurred another wave of discussion.
That was when John stepped through the crowd and declared his presence.
Everyone immediately zipped their lips and refrained from further gossiping.
Julie and Madam Stockton turned pale as if they had seen a ghost when they saw John appearing.
Sherry followed their line of sight and quickly identified John as well. The moment she saw him, a strange smile took shape on her lips. She greeted him with an unnatural amount of warmth as if she had been expecting him for a while.
Julie went up to John and explained, “John, it looks like she took the invitation card we sent to Young Master Carl.” John eyed Sherry with glaring indifference. “Contact the police.”
Julie lit up and seemed to agree with this solution.
The flattering smile on Sherry’s face was wiped immediately, what was the meaning of this?
She immediately spoke up, “Master Stockton, | merely borrowed this invitation card, | didn’t steal it.“ John glared at her suspiciously. “Who did you borrow it from?”
Sherry answered, “From Young Master Carl himself, of course.”
“Do you know him?”
“Well, we're acquainted, more or less.”
John looked at her with a face full of scorn and asked,
What's his full name?”
He glared at her sharply.
Sherry frowned.
Even if she did not know Car!’s full name, it was written right there on the invitation card, did this man take her for a complete idiot?
She said without the slightest change of expression, “Carl Sager, the third richest man in the country, the young master of the Sager family in Coastroack City.”
As soon as she said that, the people around her were taken with stark astonishment.
The Sagers of Coastrock? They were one of the most powerful families in the country, the legacy of their family ran for more than two centuries.
How was it that this seemingly unimportant woman was acquainted with Young Master Carl Sager of all people?
John smiled. “You're a walking encyclopedia, aren’t you?”
Sherry shot up an eyebrow and taunted him, “The point is that I’m not lying, | borrowed the invitation card from him.”
John crossed his arms at his chest and looked at Sherry condescendingly. “And how did you manage to borrow it from him?” “Lasked him for it.”
Something shone inside John’s eyes for a brief instant. ” You mean to say you asked him personally?”
Now it was Sherry who seemed challenged. “No, | have a friend who was close with him. He managed to get the invitation card for him.”
“What's your friend’s name? What's he about?” “You wouldn't know him.” “If you don’t tell me, am | supposed to just take your word for it?”
“Everything | told you is the truth,” Sherry continued, Besides, even though losing the invitation card wouldn't be a big deal, Young Master Carl would definitely inform you himself if it was indeed stolen from him.”
John seemed to consider this prospect.
This seemed to enlighten the spectators as well. Sherry made a good point. If the invitation card was certainly stolen, surely Young Master Carl would have notified the Stocktons.
Julie and Madam Stockton exchanged looks with each other.
Did Sherry truly have friends who were acquainted with Carl Sager?
An oppressing silence took over.
Just when it seemed like everyone would buy Sherry’s explanation, John spoke up in a commanding voice, “In that case, why don’t you give him a call? If Carl himself says that he agreed to lend you the invitation card, then I'll let you off the hook.”
Sherry stiffened for a moment before asking for further clarification, “Call who? The friend | was talking about?” John grinned mischievously and announced, “Carl.”
Sherry grimaced.
Everyone else seemed to agree. “Yeah, if Young Master Carl himself says that he lent you the invitation card, then your innocence will be proven. If not, we have to believe that you stole it!”
“That’s right!”
Sherry frowned.
Julie and Madam Stockton snickered when they saw how Sherry had run out of excuses.
She must have stolen it, there was no other way about it!
Julie smiled and mocked her. “Miss, if you claim that this friend of yours helped you borrow it from Young Master Carl, then surely the friend must know how to get in touch with him. If you don’t know how to contact Young Master Carl directly, why don’t you ask your friend to deliver the message for you and have Young Master Carl explain everything to us?”
The crowd urged Sherry on. “That's right, hurry up and call your friend!”