After his betrayal, I married his father

chapter 5

After the friends invited to the joint birthday party arrived one after another, they all came to greet the birthday girls, then presented their birthday gifts.

"Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday! Here's a gift for you both. I hope you like it."

"Thank you all," they both thanked them with smiles, then took the gifts and set them aside.

"Your relationship is just too good; you even celebrate your birthdays together."

"Exactly, my relationship with my own younger sister isn't even this good."

"It's because Lily is willing to accommodate me, treating my birthday as his own so we can celebrate together," Vic said with a smile.

"Relationships are mutual, and as you all know, I'm the type of person who returns any kindness I receive twofold. Vic often tells me that even if everyone else betrays me, she will definitely stand firmly behind me and support me, and would never do anything to betray me. If only for the sake of those repeated promises, I must treat her well."

Victoria smiled, but his smile was a bit forced, and she felt particularly guilty in his heart.

Shortly after Lily's mother divorced her father, she passed away, and her father quickly married Victoria’s mother. Victoria arrived at the Barn Family when she was ten years old. Her life before age ten had been very difficult; after arriving at the barn Family, she lived a life she couldn't have even dreamed of before. Her mother told her that if she wanted to keep living like this, she had to please Lily.

Lily's mother was a career-driven woman, and Lily's father was essentially married into her family. Although Lily's mother was always busy with her career, she knew full well that her husband had maintained some form of contact with his first love. However, to give Lily a complete family, she chose to pretend she didn't know.

When Lily was nine, her mother suddenly filed for divorce. She then handed over the company's management to the Vice President and transferred all assets and shares under her name to her daughter. She signed an agreement with the bank to manage them on her behalf until he reached adulthood, at which point he could dispose of them freely. A few months later, Lily’s mother passed away.

In this country, one becomes an adult at sixteen and can marry at eighteen. Lily was now nineteen and had long since taken control of her finances. Therefore, everyone living in the barn's house relied on her for their livelihood. Yet, they clearly knew about Victoria and Arthur being together, but kept it from her alone while living off her with a clear conscience.

When facing Lily, Vic actually felt a bit of an inferiority complex. This was because Lily was very wealthy—wealth that truly belonged entirely to her—and Lily was better looking than her, with so many friends revolving around him.

Victoria had always been trying to please her, looking for opportunities to integrate into her social circle, which was how their relationship slowly improved.

After all the friends had arrived, Chloe had someone wheel out the cake and then had the birthday girls make wishes and blow out the candles. Using the excuse that she had already made a wish on her actual birthday, Lily let Victoria make a wish alone. In her heart, she thought that for her, being reborn was already the best wish fulfilled.

"For my first wish, I hope our whole family can be healthy and safe. For my second wish, I hope..." She looked at Lily and said, "I hope Lily can be happy. For my third wish..."

She did not say the third wish out loud. Instead, she closed his eyes and thought to herself: she hoped that she and Arthur could love and stay with each other for a lifetime.

Victoria blew out the candles and kept smiling amidst the cheers of the others. Meanwhile, Arthur stood behind everyone else, leaning against the wall, gazing at Victoria with eyes full of love and tenderness.

Everyone ate, drank, and chatted. After the party ended, since it was already very late, everyone stayed overnight. The villa was quite large and could easily accommodate twenty to thirty people.

After waiting in her room for a while, Lily finally received a call from Chloe.

"The fish has taken the bait. Can we begin?"