?Chapter 435:


    Seeing the simple joy in Averi’s eyes—a joy rooted in the yful allure of toys—tangled her emotions into a painful knot.


    From the moment he was born, Averi had never had the chance to spend time with his biological father.


    Now that he finally could, she couldn’t bring herself to take it away from him.


    Even if Averi didn’t yet know that Noah was that man.


    Sadie clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palms until they nearly broke the skin.


    She was determined not to let Laura stay in Noah’s house any longer, fearing that more harm mighte to her.


    To Sadie, Noah’s home was a beautiful prison—opulent and inviting, yet ultimately restrictive and suffocating.


    Noah, observing her inner turmoil, furrowed his brows.


    “Sadie, please, let’s talk about this.”


    “Talk? What’s there to talk about?” Sadie’s voice cracked, tears threatening to spill.


    “Do you think you can make mepromise with toys? Do you think I can just overlook everything that’s happened?”


    “No, let me exin,” Noah said quickly, his tone earnest. “You misunderstood me three years ago. I never meant to hurt you.”


    “I misunderstood you?” Sadie’s tears spilled freely down her cheeks.


    “What about what happened to my grandmother recently? Was that also a ‘misunderstanding’?”


    Her voice trembled with emotion, barely holding back her sobs.


    “Noah, you owe me. You owe my grandmother. How do you n to make amends?”


    The sight of her tears pained him.


    He reached out instinctively tofort her, but Sadie swatted his hand away.


    “Don’t touch me!” she snapped, stepping back with a fierce re.


    Then, resolutely, she turned to her son.


    “Averi, we’re leaving.”


    Averi hesitated, his eyes lingering on the pile of toys.


    “But Mom, the toys…”


    Sadie crouched down to look Averi in the eyes. She was holding back her tears as she said,


    “These toys are great, sweetheart, but we can’t give up our principles for toys. We need our own home. We can’t keep relying on other people.”


    “But I like it here…” Averi whined, his lips pursed into a pout.


    Sadie’s heart ached seeing him like this, but she refused to be swayed.


    “I promise you, okay? I’ll buy you lots and lots of toys in the future, even better ones than these.”


    With that, she picked up Averi and carried him to the door.


    “Wait, Sadie!” Noah called out frantically after them.


    But Sadie ignored him and kept walking forward.


    The office door closed with a loud bang behind her, making Samuel flinch.


    Standing just beside the door, he nced over the scattered toys.


    Noah had each toy specifically airlifted from overseas, and every single one was as expensive as the transportation costs.


    Averi had been ying so happily just moments ago, and now…


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