Celeste understood all of this. She leaned against Hogan''s shoulder, crying quietly for a while without saying a word.


    Amara hadn''t expected to witness such a scene when she went out today.


    She never would have sympathized with Celeste, but it wasn''t as though she still hated her either-those feelings were long gone. Too much time had passed, and now Celeste wasn''t doing well. Amara had too many of her own worries to spare any thoughts for Celeste.


    With all of thisbined, Amara found that she didn''t feel anything for Celeste anymore.


    She set down her fork and said, "If that''s all, I''m going." She had no time to watch Celeste cry and was ready to leave.


    Celeste kept sobbing into Hogan''s shoulder, too ovee to respond. Hogan looked up at Amara and nodded. With that, Amara turned and walked out.


    As she stepped out of the dessert shop, Amara''s mind was still turning over what had just happened. Behind her, she heard footsteps-Celeste had hurried after her.


    "Amara, wait!" Celeste called out, her voice breaking with tears.


    Amara stopped in her tracks and turned around, her tone cold. "What do you want?”


    Celeste''s eyes were rimmed red, streaks of tears dried on her cheeks. She pressed her lips together tightly, looking at Amara with a mix of stubbornness and pain.


    “Amara, I''ve actually always hated you—not just because you used to be ugly, but because you stole Grandpa''s affection from me!" she said angrily.


    Amara blinked, not quite sure what Celeste meant.


    Clenching her fists, Celeste continued, "My parents always seemed like such wonderful people Everyone praised them said they. were the most aplished of their generation—even more so than Finnian''s or Hogan''s parents."


    "But honestly, they weren''t good parents. They were always busy with work and barely paid any attention to me. When I was little, they sent me to tive with Peter and Bess. They only visited maybe once a year. called them, I was lucky if they answered one time out of ten..."


    "They brought me into this world, but didn''t care about me at all."


    "Living in the Peter household, I nevercked for food or clothes, but Peter and Bess only truly cared for their own kids. They were polite to me, but I could never really feel close to them..."


    "So growing up, the only love I received was from our grandparents..."


    "But even Grandmother rarely gave any to me. She only doted on Finnian and didn''t


    really care about Hogan or me. Only Grandpa truly cared for me."


    "But ever since you arrived three years ago, you became Grandpa''s favorite granddaughter. He stopped giving me the attention he used to..."


    Fresh tears fell from her eyes.


    Wiping them away, Celeste continued, "So I really, really hated you. Even the tiny bit of affection le had was taken away you have no idea how much I wished you would just disappear after you joined the Everly family."


    Amara was silent. So, that was how it was.


    For her, the best thing abouting to the Everly family had been meeting Mr. Kevin Everly. He had always cared for her, treating her as if she were his own granddaughter.


    Growing up, she had no mother, and her father had only cared for Fiona and Elowen. She had never felt any sense of family.


    It was only when she arrived at the Everly family that she finally experienced that kind of love from Mr. Kevin Everly. She never realized that, for Celeste, that meant losing the only bit of affection she''d ever had.