It was nothing like Tessa’s perfectly braided pigtails.

Grace had always been good with her hands, and with little girls already being naturally cute, those braids looked especially lovely on Tessa’s delicate face.

That was exactly why Aurora had come up with the idea of cooking a meal for Grace and William. Maybe then they’d like her more. She pressed her tiny lips together and climbed up onto the chair.

As expected, she ended up getting splashed by hot oil. She let out a sharp scream, but it wasn’t until a while later that Grace and Tessa wandered in.

Grace’s voice carried an edge of impatience. “You little rascal, what are you doing in here? This is a kitchen. Who said you could come in here?”

Before she could finish, her eyes landed on Aurora curled up on the floor, clutching her arm in pain, her face twisted in agony.

Grace’s heart wavered for a moment.

Watching from outside the scene, Aurora felt a pang shoot through her chest. So that was how she got the scar on her right arm. No wonder Grace never spoke about it. And whenever Aurora brought it up, she always responded with irritation.

“I told you—that’s just a scar from when you were being naughty as a kid. Why won’t you believe me?”

That had been Grace’s tone, even back then. She brushed it off lightly, almost as if the scar really had been Aurora’s fault. If she hadn’t been so mischievous, trying to cook on her own, how would all that trouble have followed? Grace saw it all clearly.

It wasn’t until she stepped into the kitchen that she seemed to remember she had another daughter.

And when she finally saw Aurora’s injury, there was a flicker of distress in her expression. After all, this was still her child. How could she not feel even a little pain? Without another word, Grace called an ambulance. Then she picked Aurora up from the kitchen floor herself. Seeing how much pain the little girl was in, she did feel a trace of sympathy, but like always, it vanished in an instant. This was his child, and no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t bring herself to care.

Poor Aurora was completely in the dark. She hadn’t chosen to be born, but the love she craved afterward—she thought she could earn it. That was why she always tried so hard to please them.

Watching from outside the memory, Aurora was already sobbing silently. So, it was true—she’d always been nothing but a joke. To Grace, Tessa had always come first. And she… was just an afterthought. If that was the case, why even have a second child at all? That was something Aurora had never understood. Wasn’t it enough to just have Tessa?

The scene continued to unfold. When the ambulance arrived, little Tessa clung to Grace in fear, whispering, “Mommy, the sound is too loud. I’m scared.”

Upon hearing that, Grace immediately turned to the nurse and said, “Excuse me, could you turn that siren off? My daughter isn’t well. She can’t handle loud noises.”

The nurse paused for a second while lifting Aurora onto the stretcher. What kind of person was this? One daughter was being wheeled away on a stretcher, and she was worried about the other daughter being bothered by the sound?

Chapter 694