Chapter 2 The First Chance Encounter with My Daughter

Four years later.

Airport.

Amelia Garcia returned to her home country with her twin sons.

As soon as she passed through the gate, she heard her best friend Snow Fitch cheering, "Amelia! Over here, over here!"

Amelia raised her hand to wave and hurriedly pushed the luggage cart to come over quickly.

"Ah! My cute little handsome guys! Let Auntie give you a kiss!" Snow rushed up and gave both of the boys a loud smooch on the cheek.

The two brothers, sitting on the suitcase, frowned in unison, rubbed their faces, and complained, "Aunt Snow, you got your saliva on my face!"

"What do you mean Aunt Snow! Don't call me that! Just call me Auntie or Aunt Fitch!" Snow pretended to be angry and pinched the boys' cute, tender cheeks again.

Amelia slapped her hand away, "Can you be gentler? You're going to bruise the children's faces."

"Whoa, you can't blame me. They're just too, too cute!" Snow said as she rubbed the children's cheeks again.

"Alright, alright, let's go. We can talk more in the car." Amelia patted her best friend, indirectly rescuing her sons.

"Okay."

The two of them, along with the luggage and children, headed towards the parking lot. Snow leaned close to Amelia's ear and whispered, "Even though Christopher is a scumbag, he's got some great genes. Both sons look like him; they're so handsome!"

"..." Amelia glanced at her and pursed her lips, speechless.

As the four of them just stepped out of the elevator and walked away, a group of people arrived in front of the elevator behind them, and a young man who looked like a bodyguard pressed the up button.

The man in the midst of the crowd had a commanding presence, his auspicious and stern demeanor made people shudder at a glance.

But he was holding a little girl in his arms, a pink bundle that softened his imposing manner.

The little girl looked three or four years old, cute and delicate, with skin as white as snow, almost looking like a mixed-race child.

She looked somewhat weak, with pale lips lacking in color.

Seeing that the dad was staring in a certain direction without blinking, the young girl followed his gaze and then twisted his ear, complaining in a sweet, whiny voice, "Hmph! You're still looking at other women while holding me, Hope is angry! The kind of angry that you can't coax away!"

Christopher Hart turned his head back, and his stern face immediately showed a tender smile as he pinched his daughter's little nose, "Little imp! Who said daddy was looking at women?"

"Hmph! I saw it all with my two big eyes! You're still arguing!" Hope Hart gestured at her own eyes with her little hands.

"President Hart, the elevator is here," the bodyguard reminded, holding the elevator door open with one hand.

"Mhm." The man acknowledged, stepping into the elevator with his daughter, and subconsciously looked again in the direction they had just come from.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but that woman's figure, looked incredibly like... his ex-wife who had been dead for four years.

In the parking lot.

Amelia got her two sons settled in the back seat and then sat down in the passenger seat.

"Snow, I'm really grateful for everything you've done these past few years." She meant it from the bottom of her heart.

Snow Fitch was the daughter of a wealthy family. The Fitch and Garcia families had always been close, and the two girls had grown up together.

Four years ago, it was lucky that her best friend had helped her by forging a death certificate, allowing her to escape successfully.

Over the years, it was also her best friend who had kept an eye out for her daughter's situation.

"Mhm, you should indeed repay me!" Snow lifted her eyes to the rearview mirror, saying with a mischievous grin, "How about... you give me one of your sons to adopt, then I won't need to get married and have kids, hahaha..."

Amelia rolled her eyes at her, "Keep dreaming!"

Jokes aside, Amelia was aware that her best friend never held these things against her, but she had nevertheless come prepared.

"Look... don't say I didn't put my heart into this! This is a set of custom jewelry I designed just for you. One of a kind, priceless! Do you like it?"

Snow turned her head and looked at the brocade box that Amelia opened, her eyes lighting up with surprise.

"Wow... It's so beautiful! You had it custom-made for me?"

"Of course!"

"I love it, love it! Geez, this treatment of mine... it's on par with the European Royalty, right?"

The set of jewelry was themed around "Ice and Snow," fitting Snow's name perfectly, with earrings and a necklace that were sparkling and eye-catching.

Snow happily accepted the gift, and Amelia felt comforted.

Miss Fitch hummed a tune as she hit the road. Amelia settled into her seat but soon fell into a bout of melancholy.

Hearing her sigh, Snow Fitch turned her head and asked, "What's wrong?"

Amelia turned, lowering her voice, "Have you seen Hope recently?"

"Yeah, last month that bastard Christopher brought Hope to my grandfather's eightieth birthday celebration. The little girl is a spitting image of you, so beautiful! And she's so sweet, calling everyone she meets, nothing like her ice-faced father!"

After Snow finished, she saw Amelia's brows furrowed in worry and understood her concern, "Don't worry, Hope's surgery will be fine. That guy takes very good care of her and hires only the top doctors."

"I know, but I'm still anxious," Amelia sighed.

It was a surprise to give birth to triplets years ago.

To save her daughter who was hanging by a thread, she had no choice but to hand the child over to Christopher.

He had the resources and money to ensure the child's survival.

Yet, she hadn't stopped missing her daughter for a single day over the last four years.

Thankfully, with a best friend back in the country, she could occasionally receive news that brought her some peace of mind.

This time, hearing about Hope getting major surgery to finally fix a lung issue, her heart clenched, and she took the risk to return to her country.

Whatever it took, she wanted to be as close to her daughter as possible during such a critical time.

"I've arranged a place for you to stay; it's right by the office building, so you can check out the studio tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks. I can handle the rest by myself."

Before she could finish speaking, her phone rang.

Amelia answered politely after glancing at the caller ID, "Hello, Mr. King. I just got off the plane... Really? What a coincidence, no need... Tomorrow, right? That's fine, please send me the address... Great, see you tomorrow!"

After hanging up, she exclaimed, "What a coincidence! I have a tricky client who also happens to be at the airport, asking if he should give me a lift to the city."

"Really? That is quite the coincidence."

Amelia muttered, "Ugh! You have no idea how demanding he is. I've revised the proposal countless times, and he insists on a face-to-face meeting! If it weren't for the money, I wouldn't bother with such high-maintenance clients!"

Snow Fitch curiously asked, "Who is it? Orders a piece of jewelry and you, a famed designer, have to travel across nations to meet!"

"Who knows. I thought I'd come back to see Hope and take care of business while I'm at it. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother unless they were paying a fortune."

————

The next day, Amelia left her two sons with her best friend to watch for half a day.

She drove her friend's Maserati to Monarch International Hotel to meet that demanding client.

As she entered the lobby, a small ball rolled in front of her.

She naturally bent to pick it up, and before she could stand, she heard a tender, sweet little voice say, "Auntie, thank you. That's my ball."

Amelia looked up, stunned to see the delicate little girl in front of her who looked like a porcelain doll!

This... this wasn't—Hope?!

"Miss, there you go running off again!" Before she could recover, a maid hurried over and picked up the little girl, "Come on, Daddy's waiting."

"Mommy..." The little girl seemed to murmur 'mommy' while being carried away, reaching back toward Amelia, but her voice was so low that no one noticed.

Amelia suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly followed, "Wait—"

Before she could finish, two burly men stepped forward and firmly blocked her path, "Ma'am, please keep your distance!"

Amelia wanted to pursue, but a sudden tightness gripped her heart.

Christopher wouldn't let Hope out alone.

The thought of Christopher being nearby sent her into a panic.

She was supposed to be "dead," having died from postpartum hemorrhage, dead for four years.

So now, she couldn't appear, especially not meet with Christopher.

Otherwise, if he discovered she had hidden two more children, he would certainly take them away mercilessly!

With this thought, Amelia looked back at the little girl being led away by the maid, suppressing the pain in her heart, and quickly turned to leave.