Anna, how did your baby come out so fast? Do you have sorne kind of secret?”
My mother’s five–minute delivery broke the hospital record, making her an overnight celebrity. Expectant mothers flocked to see
her, hoping to catch some of her “good labor luck.”
Holding me, my mother beamed with pride. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t even have a chance to push, and she just came out.”
“You mean the baby delivered herself? That’s one smart kid!”
“Well, a baby who can untangle her own umbilical cord has to be smart, right?”
And so, following in my mother’s footsteps, I became a little celebrity myself. Every day, pregnant women would come to visit, brin- ging toys and holding me up to their bellies so I could impart some wisdom to their unborn children.
Wisdom, I had none to give. But I smiled at every single person who came to see me. In the womb, there were limited ways to compete. But out here? The possibilities were endless. Looks, personality, public appeal–it all started from infancy.
“She has such a wonderful temperament! She smiles at everyone, like a little angel!”
“Totally. This one is definitely here to repay her parents. You’re so lucky, Anna. Not like the woman in the next bed…”
I was just drifting off to sleep, but my ears perked up at that. The woman in the next bed? That would be Celeste’s mother.
It was strange. She had gone into the delivery room at the same time as my mother, It had been two days. I could already open my eyes and smile at people, and they still weren’t back. Even a difficult birth shouldn’t take that long, right?
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My mother knew about my eavesdropping habit from the womb. The second I stirred, she knew what I wanted to know.
“Are you talking about Mrs. Thorne? What happened to her? Did she have a difficult delivery?”
16.00 0
“You have no idea. Just like you, the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, and it was in the wrong position. I heard she lost a lot of blood during labor. She was in there for a
day and
night, and she’s still in the ICU.”
“That’s awful! Why didn’t she just have a C–section?”
a
She refused. Insisted that a natural birth produces a smarter child. She wouldn’t even take an epidural. Just endured it all.”
My mother’s face paled. She hugged me tighter, her heart pounding with fear. “Oh, my sweet girl. I’m so glad you didn’t make me suffer like that.”
Three days after I was born, my mother, carrying a suitcase in one hand and me in the other, moved into the hospital’s postpartum
sound
of
classical
care center.
There, my self–discipline reached a whole new level. 7 AM: milk, exercise, vocal practice. 10 AM: milk, nap piano. 12 PM: milk, nap to the sound of the news…
mother bec-
Appearance and physique were strictly managed. Intellect, morals, physical fitness, and artistic ability–nothing was neglected.
Another half–month passed. I thought I wouldn’t see Celeste again until we were three or four, but to my surprise, ame my mother’s roommate once again.
And this time, she wasn’t just accompanied by her own family. The Torrence family matriarch was with her.
I saw that familiar, kind face, and even though I knew it was too early to speak, I couldn’t stop the first sound of my life from escap- ing my lips.
“Nana!”
My single word silenced the crowded, noisy room. Every head turned to look at me.
“Did that sound just come from… the baby?”
“No way. She’s only been born for half a month. A baby can’t talk at two weeks old.”
表
“But there are only two babies in this room, and that was clearly a baby’s voice. If it wasn’t her, could it have been the other one? I heard that one is so weak she can’t even suckle properly. There’s no way she could make a sound that loud.”
Celeste’s mother stared at me, a mixture of shock, disbelief, and jealousy in her eyes. I glanced at the sickly–looking Celeste in her arms, then turned my attention back to Mrs. Torrence, a chubby–cheeked smile spreading across my face.
“Nana!”
If the first “Nana” was an accident, the second one sent a tremor through the old woman’s heart.
“Is… is she calling me Nana?”
“Oh, you sweet child… let Nana have a look at you… tsk tsk, those chubby little hands, those big eyes… you’re as beautiful as I was as a little girl!”
With two simple words, I had charmed the grandmother who had yet to hold her own granddaughter, turning her into a doting fool. She immediately slipped a jade bracelet off her wrist and gave it to me. My mother, though just an influencer, knew quality when she saw it. The sight of that bracelet almost made her drop to her knees.
“Take it. I feel a connection with this child.”
Mrs. Torrence held me, unwilling to let go, her eyes glued to my face. She had completely forgotten that she was here to visit the
Chapter 1
wife and child of her husband’s subordinate.
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Celeste’s grandfather had been a Torrence family loyalist since his own father’s generation. Her grandfather, an aide to Mr. Torren- ce Sr., had died taking a bullet for him. As a result, Mr. Torrence had raised Celeste’s father like a son. When he grew up, Celeste’s father became the secretary to the eldest Torrence son, Alistair–my as–yet–unmet biological father.
Because of her family’s connection to the Torrences, Celeste was a frequent visitor to their home, practically a young lady of the house herself. When she was four, her mother passed away, and the Torrences officially took her in, making her the true young lady of the Torrence family.
This meant that if I wanted to steal Celeste’s place in their hearts, I had to be acknowledged by the family before I turned four.
Time was of the essence.
I looked at the smiling, kind–faced Mrs. Torrence, squeezed her hand, and snuggled my face, which was starting to ache from smil- ing, into her embrace.
Mrs. Torrence’s heart melted.
“Oh, my sweet girl, you like Nana so much? Can you say it one more time for me?”
“Nana!”
“Oh, my little darling. Nana will come see you
every day, okay?”
