"She held you and cried until she passed out. She never let go. After she woke up, her condition improved a lot. The therapist said your presence eased her illness.


    "You and your aunt were blood-rted after all. At the time, your aunt treated you as a recement for her daughter who had died. That was understandable. She insisted on taking you and raising you herself.


    "Adrian wanted to make it up to her and fix the marriage, so he weed the idea. He wanted to bring you to the Malone family and raise you as his own daughter.


    "On one side, there was the Malone family''s little princess. On the other side, there was me, a single mother with nothing. In the end, your mom chose to send you away, even though it broke her heart.


    "Gianna, can you please not me me? It was your aunt who took you. With her condition, I couldn''t just watch her depression get worse until she tried to kill herself. I''m her younger sister.


    "I also didn''t have the ability to give you a good living environment or proper education. I had no choice."


    Pepper hugged Gianna and cried as she begged her daughter to forgive her. However, her eyes flickered. She didn''t tell the full truth.


    Back then, Wendy did hold Gianna and cry until she lost control. She mistook Gianna for the daughter she had lost.


    But after Wendy woke up, she became clear-headed. Pepper was the one who carried Gianna to Adrian. She knelt down on her own and persuaded him to take the


    child away.


    "Adrian, this child wasn''t born because I wanted her. Daniel forced me. If it weren''t for the fact that I couldn''t get rid of the pregnancy, I wouldn''t have given birth to her. Seeing her makes me feel miserable.


    "Adrian, if the child can ease Wendy''s illness, that is the best fate she could have. Maybe this is God sending your daughter back to you and Wendy.


    "Adrian, take her with you. Being a daughter of the Malone family, being your daughter and Wendy''s daughter, is her blessing."


    That year, Pepper used those exact words. She held Gianna in her swaddling nket and knelt by the hospital bed as she begged Adrian.


    At the time, Adrian was desperate to make it up to Wendy and cure her. Wendy refused to see him at all.


    Adrian felt that Gianna could be a bridge between him and Wendy. He also felt that treating Wendy''s niece as a daughter might stop his guilt and regret from eating him alive.


    In the end, Adrian brought Gianna back to the Malone family. He also shifted the guilt he felt toward his biological daughter onto Gianna instead.


    "So all these years, Dad''s love and everything he gave me were because I was a recement for the Malone family''s short-lived heiress."


    Giannaughed in mockery. Herughter grew sharper and harsher.


    No wonder that when she got sick as a child, Adrian always pushed her to call Wendy. He told her to act sweet and coax Wendy intoing to see her.


    Whenever there were parent-child events at school, Adrian treated them like a big deal. Even when the school didn''t require both parents to attend, he still told her to act spoiled and ask Wendy toe.


    She used to think those actions meant Adrian cared deeply about her. Now she realized it was all her own wishful thinking.


    She was just a tool.


    The family background she was proud of and the love she believed in were all fake. She felt like the biggest joke of all.


    When Pepper saw herughing with tears streaming down her face, her heart twisted in pain.


    She held Gianna tightly. "Gianna, don''t do this."


    Gianna struggled hard. "Let go of me! You threw me away when I was little. Now


    you''re acting like a loving mother. It''s disgusting!"


    "That''s not true. It really isn''t. I love


    you. I just wanted you to have a better life and a stronger background. Gianna, all these years of being by your side but not being able to acknowledge you, don''t you feet even a bit of that pain?"


    Pepper cried uncontrobly. Gianna pushed her away even harder, her eyes full of ridicule.


    "Aunt Pepper, do you think I''m stupid? Adrian treated me as a tool to get his wife back and ease his guilt. Didn''t you also use me as a tool to get close to Adrian?"


    Gianna saw Pepper''s feelings for Adrian very clearly.


    Back when she gave Gianna to Adrian as a daughter, Pepper had already set her sights on him.


    That was exactly the case.


    Raising a baby was never easy. When Gianna had a fever or felt unwell, it was only natural for her biological mother to want to care for her.


    Adrian was a grown man. He


    couldn''t properly care for a baby girl.


    Wendy stayed cold and refused to


    help. Pepper, her real mother, stepped in and offered to take care of Gianna. Adrian was more than happy to ept it.


    As Pepper cared for her again and again, she slowly developed feelings for the daughter she once resented. She appeared at the Malone Residence more and more often, and it all feltpletely natural.