From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 158: Chapter 158

"Paisley has a daughter?" Christina blurted out the question instinctively upon hearing this.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly turned awkward and tense, and everyone's expressions as they looked at Christina started to shift subtly. Especially Diana and Lauren, who couldn't help but put away their smiles and began studying her seriously.
Christina panicked and scrambled to salvage the situation. Her way of salvaging it was to continue throwing mud at Paisley.
"That damned girl, who knows which random man she hooked up with to have another kid?" She then looked apologetically at Lauren. "I'm so sorry, I'm ashamed to even call her my daughter."
Lauren looked at Christina in disgust. The words "random man" felt like a slap in her face. Back then, she thought the same of Paisley, and now it felt like karma had come back to humiliate her.
"That 'random man' is my son, Dominick," Lauren said.
Christina froze. That girl was actually so lucky to have given birth to not just one but two of Dominick's children. But now what? She had clearly just offended Lauren with her words.
Diana raised an eyebrow slightly as she caught Lauren's smug glance. Two kids. This was going to be tricky. Such strong ties—how could they possibly compete with that? On top of that, Byron insisted on keeping Nathaniel away.
But if her son liked Paisley so much, she had no choice but to help him. Rarely did he take a genuine liking to someone. Even if the woman were a goddess, she would make sure to snatch her away first.
"How could you, as a mother, not know something so important about your own daughter?" Diana asked lazily, her gaze scrutinizing Christina.
Christina was at a loss for words and didn't know how to explain herself. Before she could respond, Brittany stepped forward, holding her arm, and spoke.
"Actually, it's all my fault. When my sister was three, she accidentally got lost. Mom was devastated, and to cope with her grief, she adopted me. She poured all the love she had for my sister into me.
"Later, when my sister returned, my presence caused a lot of conflicts between her and our parents."
As Brittany spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice became choked with emotion.
"But Mom and Dad loved her, too. They just didn't understand why she wanted to drive me away. Mom and Dad couldn't bear to let me go, so she left home herself. She didn't keep in touch with the family for years.
"It's only recently that Mom and Dad finally managed to contact her. We're all family—there's no such thing as holding grudges overnight. Mom and Dad have always wanted to make it up to her, but she—"
With Brittany's narrative paving the way, Christina played along and started wiping her tears.
"All of you are mothers yourselves, so I'm sure you can understand how I feel. Even though Brittany isn't my biological daughter, I've raised her for over a decade. She and Paisley are both my flesh and blood—both equally important to me.
"But Paisley is so stubborn. Every time something doesn't go her way, she runs away from home, leaving me heartbroken."
Mothers always had a way of empathizing with other mothers. Hearing Christina say this, most of the ladies at the gathering started looking at her with sympathy.
They couldn't help but think of their own children, who also weren't always easy to deal with. And it was clear to everyone that Christina treated her adopted daughter Brittany exceptionally well.
A mother who could love her adopted daughter as much as her own child surely wouldn't treat her biological daughter poorly. With that logic, most of them concluded that the problem likely lay with Paisley herself.
Thinking this, the ladies began cautiously glancing at Lauren. They all now knew that Paisley was Lauren's former daughter-in-law.
Lauren had originally felt dissatisfied with Christina, thinking it ridiculous that a mother could be so unconcerned about her own biological daughter. But hearing her explanation now, she started to feel that it made some sense.
Lauren knew just how stubborn Paisley could be. Otherwise, she wouldn't have insisted on divorce back then, walking away from her husband and son, leaving everything behind.
Looking back, even though Marissa had stirred the pot, Dominick hadn't cheated. At most, he just neglected Paisley a bit more than he should have. And about Grayson, Lauren had to admit, she had spoiled him too much back then.
Sure, she hadn't said good things about Paisley in front of Grayson, which led him to develop a poor opinion of her. But still, he was her son. Was it really necessary to be so resolute and just give up on him?
Grayson was just a kid. He could still change if Paisley decided to teach him. Now that Sonny was a bit older, he was much more sensible than when he was younger. But Paisley just wouldn't change her mind.
Dominick was still hung up on Paisley, refusing to even look at other women. Grayson constantly cried for his mom, asking for her. And most importantly, Paisley's daughter was the granddaughter Lauren had always dreamed of having. So no matter what, she had to win Paisley over.
At that moment, Lauren looked at Christina again and suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie. She dropped her previous scrutinizing gaze and took Christina's hand. "It hasn't been easy for you either."
Seeing that things were turning in her favor, Christina immediately lowered her head and pretended to wipe away tears. Diana didn't say anything, just sat there quietly watching the drama unfold.
From school days, she had said Lauren was stupid, but Lauren never admitted it. If it weren't for her strong family background, with her fickle personality, how could she have possibly married into the Vanderbilt family?
Brittany also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but inside, she hated Paisley to the core. 'Damn Paisley, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have to publicly admit that I'm adopted.'
The word "adopted" had always been a sore spot for Brittany. But now, in order to avoid arousing suspicion from the other ladies, she had no choice but to say it.
After the previous lesson, Christina didn't dare to recommend Brittany too aggressively. She could only let Brittany go sit with the other young ladies. If she found a few young ladies she could get along with, making friends could still be useful for networking.
Brittany naturally understood Christina's intent, so she smiled and walked over to join other young ladies. The ladies present were all daughters or daughters-in-law of top families. Brittany had nothing but the status of Paisley's younger sister.
The Sullivan family was nothing compared to these top-tier families. In front of them, they were barely a watchdog. In this environment, Brittany could only lower her status and flatter others deliberately. Every word she spoke was aimed at pleasing the others.
However, this lowly attitude didn't win her any favor from the other young ladies. Instead, it only invited ridicule.
"I say, we're not children anymore. Could you stop pretending to be so innocent? It's so fake, it's disgusting," said Daisy Levine, whose mother had recently been subtly humiliated by Christina in front of everyone. Seeing Brittany now, Daisy was in no mood to be nice.