Chapter 5

The woman rushed over and hit Alison directly with the flowers in her hand, pushing her back forcefully and pulling Lily into her arms.
Victoria Layton nervously checked on Lily, "Are you hurt? Is there any bleeding or pain anywhere?"
With flower petals scattered all over the ground, thorns from the flowers stuck to Alison's neck, causing a slight stinging sensation. She was momentarily stunned by the woman's nervousness.
Matthew quickly walked over and asked Alison, "Are you OK?"
Victoria turned around abruptly and stared at Alison with a fierce look in her eyes. "What are you trying to do? Do you want to kill Lily?"
Alison looked at the disgust and hatred in the woman's eyes, feeling shaken.
Lily glanced at Alison and hurriedly grabbed Victoria's wrist. "Mom, you misunderstood. I asked my sister to help me cut my hair. She didn't hurt me."
"Oh, I see!" Matthew laughed it off and scolded Victoria angrily. "You're always so impatient that
you get angry without understanding what happened first! Look at how dirty Alison's clothes are because of your actions."
Realizing she had wrongly accused Alison, Victoria felt embarrassed as she tried to explain herself: "When I came in through the door, I saw Alison holding scissors near Lily's neck. How could I have known that she was cutting hair?"
"Enough said!" Matthew signaled for Victoria to stop talking before turning his attention back towards Lily: "Take your sister upstairs to change clothes since hers is now dirty."
"Sister, come with me!"
As Lily went ahead, holding onto her hand while they climbed upstairs together, Alison brushed off some flower petals from her shoulder without leaving any trace behind. Once inside their bedroom on the second floor, Lily apologized guiltily, "I'm sorry, sis, I didn't expect Mom would come back this early and hurt you."
"It's not your fault!" Alison replied with a faint smile on her pure face.
Lily went to the closet and took out a new white T-shirt, placing it on the sofa. "This one is brand new, never been worn before. Please change into it while I wait downstairs for you."
"OK."
As Alison walked down the hallway after changing clothes, she heard Matthew's voice coming from behind an open door: "How could you hit Alison with flowers? That was too much!"
Alison slowed down her pace.
Victoria refused to back down: "How was I supposed to know she was just cutting hair? She had scissors near Lily's neck; I panicked!"
Matthew sighed, "Don't you think your attitude towards Alison is problematic? Remember that she is our biological daughter!"
"I know! When she came home three years ago, I wanted to make up for lost time, but she insisted on moving out. How can I make it up to her?"
"Did you try persuading her not to move out?" Matthew asked. "I know how much you love Lily, but remember that since birth, Alison has suffered so much being mistaken as someone else's child and living in their household. Can't we treat her better?"
Victoria sounded helpless, "I also want to treat Alison better, but for twenty years now, I've treated Lily like my own daughter. How can things change overnight? Besides, Lily is so talented in piano playing, drawing, and playing the violin. She excels at everything; she's smart and sensible. But, on the other hand, look at Alison-what good does she have to do for herself? Even if I want to be kinder, I don't know where or how to start!"
"How could you say such things about your daughter?"
"Well, I didn't say this before her, didn't l?" Victoria complained." Why did you invite her here? You've ruined her birthday celebration!"
Alison's eyes darkened, and she didn't want to hear anymore. She opened her bag, placed the light grey jewelry box on the flower rack outside the door, and walked downstairs. Lily downstairs was holding a stuffed cat, and when she saw Alison coming down, she immediately smiled and asked, "Sister, do the clothes fit well?"
"Fit well, thank you!" Alison politely replied.
"We are sisters; why be so polite?" Lily smiled innocently.
Alison lightly laughed and said, "I just received a call from the department. There's something I need to attend to. I'll leave first. Please tell Dad for me."
"So urgent? You haven't even had cake yet!" Lily showed a regretful expression.
"Please apologize to Mom for me and sorry for disturbing her birthday," Alison said as she walked towards the door.
It started raining outside at some point without anyone noticing. The raindrops were pattering on the ground, which was already wet.
Lily turned around and shouted: "Lucy, where is Uncle Chen? Ask him to drive, Sister."
Lucy ran over and glanced at the rain outside before sighing: "Oh no! What bad luck! Uncle Chen went out to pick up Madam's cake but hasn't returned yet."
"I'll walk myself then. Can you give me an umbrella, please?" Alison requested.
"Sure thing!" Lucy turned around quickly and soon came back with an umbrella in hand while reminding her: "This umbrella costs thousands of dollars, so please be careful with it."
A hint of sarcasm flashed through Alison's eyes, but she remained calm as she opened the umbrella and stepped into the drizzle. As soon as Alison left through the front door, Lily saw Uncle Chen walking across their yard, holding an umbrella in his hand. Lucy felt embarrassed about forgetting that he had returned half an hour ago already while it rained heavily outside, causing them trouble by letting Allison go out like this alone...
Holding onto her cat gently with a smile that looked harmless enough, Lily comforted Lucy, "Maybe you've been working too hard lately. I'll talk to Mom about raising you when there's time."
Lucy immediately smiled from ear to ear and said eagerly: "Thank you, Miss Lily! I will listen to everything you say from now on."
Lily turned and went upstairs, seeing the jewelry box on the flower stand. When Matthew and Victoria came out, she picked it up but hadn't opened it yet. Knowing that Alison had left, Victoria breathed a sigh of relief instead.
Matthew didn't want to argue with her on Victoria's birthday, so he changed the subject by looking at the jewelry box in Lily's hand and jokingly asked, "Is this for your mom?"
Victoria took over with a smile as she opened it and was stunned before showing excitement: "This is GK's latest model, which is still in its promotional period. They say each one has only one
set available, but they're not easy to buy. Lily, did you buy this as a birthday gift for Mom?"
A hint of surprise flashed through Lily's eyes, but she smiled without denying it: "As long as Mom likes it!"
"My dear sister Lily!" Victoria hugged her gratefully while feeling guilty about hitting Alison earlier; all those feelings disappeared instantly.
Meanwhile, Alison left The Grey Family estate walking along the road back home, which was located in another villa area where no buses or even taxis were passing by frequently during such rainy weather. The sound of raindrops tapping against her umbrella sounded cold yet chaotic. Alison walked neither fast nor slow while stepping into puddles of water underfoot, just like how chilly spring rain matched her current mood perfectly.
Several cars belonging to the Si family rushed past them quickly on the road, including Bentley, where Emily Rosier sat next to Alexander, who looked coldly handsome, holding onto some documents. Suddenly Emily spotted someone familiar outside their car window and then turned towards Alexander, saying, "Uncle, I saw a classmate. There are no buses here. Can we give her a ride?"
Alexander glanced at Emily before nodding slightly.
Emily Rosier asked the driver to reverse and then lowered the car window, shouting to Alison: "Alison, get in!"
Alison was stunned for a moment before recognizing Emily as they were college classmates.
"Thank you!" Alison thanked her and opened the door to sit inside while noticing someone else sitting next to her, which made her pause for a second.