?Chapter 1685:


    Sandra wished she could disappear now. What her mother was doing was humiliating. People from wealthy families never fussed over leftovers. They would have walked away without a second thought.


    Throwing a grand event like this always meant giving the restaurant a little room to profit.


    Sandra understood that, and though she hated the waste, she valued her dignity more. “It’s really not worth much. Let’s just leave them here,” she said quietly.


    Keira’s expression hardened. “Absolutely not! Do you realize that a single slice of that cake costs hundreds? And the wine—these are luxurybels. One bottle alone is worth a fortune. You might be a member of the Harper family now, but that doesn’t mean you should toss money away. Remember how we used to struggle? Having money doesn’t mean you can start wasting it.”


    Sandra’s patience wore thin under the lecture. Keira’s views werepletely out of step with her new status.


    Sandra believed this was mortifying, more so when the manager rolled his eyes several times.


    Still, Keira stayed firm. “Have someone send all of this to the CloudPath store on the pedestrian mall tomorrow.”


    “Alright,” muttered the manager, clearly displeased.


    As Keira and Sandra were leaving, Keira spotted the towering seven-tier cake and stopped to take the remaining cake. “This cake must’ve cost tens of thousands! The guests barely touched two tiers. Are you seriously going to let the restaurant take the rest? Have you lost your mind?”


    In the car, Keira chatted away, her voice bright with excitement. “Sandra, that cake was amazing! And the wine? Oh, it was so good. I swear, it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever had anything that delicious. My friends couldn’t stop talking about it. I told them to take some cake home for their grandkids and grab a couple of bottles of wine. You don’t mind that, right?”


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    Sandra slumped against her seat and mumbled, “I don’t care, Mom. Give them to whoever you want.”


    She felt humiliated. She had gone out of her way to make things special, only to end up embarrassing herself again.


    So what if the Harpers didn’t throw her a birthday party? She and her mother could’ve celebrated her birthday at home. Why had she felt the need to go and hold a birthday party only to make a fool of herself?


    Beside her, Keira kept talking,pletely unaware of the storm brewing inside her daughter.


    “Tons of guests showed up! I even saw a few people from TV. Sandra, you’ve got serious clout now. You’ve really made it big…”


    After dropping her mother off, Sandra got home close to eleven. The Harpers were still up. As she made her way up to the third floor, a sharp exchange of voices drifted through the slightly open door at the end of the corridor. It was Giselle and Shepard arguing.


    Giselle’s voice was filled with fury. “This is all your fault! Why’d you let her throw that party? An illegitimate daughter should stay out of sight, not go out and humiliate us like that! Do you even realize what you’ve done? My colleagues, the same ones who can barely stand me, areughing behind my back! They’re saying you cheated on me, and I didn’t even have the sense to divorce you. Shepard, I regret everything now…”AdChoicesADVERTISING


    Shepard reached out and drew Giselle into his arms. “I’m sorry, honey. I swear I had no idea she’d bring her mom there. If I’d known, I would’ve stopped her from holding the party. I didn’t think it through. I promise it won’t happen again.”


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