Charles Page lifted his eyes, his pitch-black gaze falling on the little girl being carried away on her mother’s back.

They walked farther and farther, until they finally disappeared from sight.

Hail rattled down overhead with a crackling sound, lively as firecrackers. Emma Bennett was too weak to speak, feverish and dizzy. In the classroom, only a little boy with jet-black pupils remained, sitting in a wheelchair.

The kindergarten wasn’t far from home, but it was a long way from Lillian Clark’s workplace. Lillian Clark walked fast, and in just ten minutes, braving the hail, she brought Emma Bennett home.

The little girl had already fallen asleep with a fever.

That night, she woke up groggy from the fever. Lillian Clark was wiping her back with alcohol, sighing helplessly, “When did you get a fever? You should have told the teacher. Hope you didn’t get burned silly.”

William Bennett came in from outside to check on his daughter. Just now, both parents had been terrified by how high Emma Bennett’s fever was. Fortunately, Emma Bennett’s uncle ran a small pharmacy and was a doctor. He came to take a look and prescribed some medicine. Otherwise, in this weather, even going to the hospital wouldn’t have worked.

In 1996, Emma Bennett was the only child in the family; her younger brother James Bennett hadn’t been born yet. It was the couple’s first time being parents, so they took extra care with their child.

William Bennett touched his daughter’s soft cheek. “You’re better now, not so hot.”

“No kindergarten tomorrow. Just tell Teacher Zhao when you go out in the morning.”

Half-awake, Emma Bennett suddenly heard her parents mention Charles Page.

Lillian Clark: “No one picked up that child today. I see Juan’er still hasn’t finished work, and David Page hasn’t come home yet!”

“Such a little kid, his whole life ruined… sigh…”

Her parents’ soft sighs drifted into her dreams.

Emma Bennett remembered that cold, indifferent man years later, struggling and falling from his wheelchair to embrace her.

Everyone said he was a devil, and she was a little afraid of his silent, withdrawn manner.

But this devil was still just a little boy now.

When daylight finally broke, Emma Bennett opened her eyes. Her fever had gone down a lot.

Lillian Clark was making breakfast, and Emma Bennett’s bedroom door was open.

William Bennett came in and went to the kitchen. “I just went to ask Teacher Zhao for leave, but she said…”

Emma Bennett looked through the old living room furniture. She heard a heavy sigh.

“Charles Page wasn’t picked up all night…”

Emma Bennett was stunned.

The temperature had dropped last night, the summer night was the coldest. Charles Page hadn’t managed to wait for anyone in the whole world.

Chapter 2: Trapped Beast

Children recover quickly, and by breakfast, Emma Bennett was much better.

Lillian Clark took leave from the factory to take care of Emma Bennett. She worked at a garment factory, spending her days at a sewing machine making clothes. Her monthly salary was 430 yuan, which was considered pretty good.

Breakfast was a bowl of porridge and a bowl of pickles. Only Emma Bennett had a plump, white egg in her bowl.

There were footsteps in the hallway, then a woman’s shrill voice called from outside the door: “Lillian Clark!”

Lillian Clark called back loudly, “I’m not going to work today, I took the day off. You go ahead.”

The woman muttered, “You could’ve said so earlier,” then swayed her hips and left.

Emma Bennett looked up at her mother, who indeed wore a stern face.

That woman was named Susan Clark, and she and Lillian Clark were from the same village. By coincidence, both women later married and became neighbors in City C, working at the garment factory. A couple of years later, they got pregnant the same year and both gave birth to daughters in August. Naturally, people around them liked to compare Susan Clark and Lillian Clark.

But Lillian Clark just couldn’t outdo Susan Clark in anything.

Lillian Clark’s husband, Emma Bennett’s father, worked at a brick and tile factory—a tough job with low pay. Susan Clark’s husband was an elementary school math teacher, respected and with a decent job.

Even so, Lillian Clark wouldn’t have minded so much, except when it came to their daughters.

Susan Clark’s daughter was named Grace Ford, half a month older than Emma Bennett. Grace Ford was born pink and cute, not as chubby as other kids her age, but delicate and pretty, like a little jade doll. Everyone who saw her said she’d grow up to be beautiful!

In comparison, Emma Bennett was the one who got overshadowed.

Four-year-old Emma Bennett had round cheeks and big eyes, but as a child, she ate a lot, had two little pigtails on her head, and was chubby and adorable. Every time Susan Clark saw little Emma Bennett, she’d cover her mouth and laugh, “What does Yaoyao eat? Her little hands are even chubbier than my Minmin’s.”

It sounded like praise, but was really a veiled jab. After all, Lillian Clark was chubby herself, so she was hinting at genetics.

Seeing her mother’s unhappy face, Emma Bennett sighed softly.

Her family had always been pretty average, and luck was something you couldn’t compare. In her memory, Grace Ford’s family moved away in middle school, bought a new house, and a couple of years later, that house was demolished and they got two new apartments. Grace Ford’s family kept getting better off, while Emma Bennett’s family lent money to her uncle and stayed poor.

But in one thing, the Bennett family completely turned the tables—

By high school, Grace Ford had lost her looks; the “little jade doll” had become sharp and mean.

As for Emma Bennett, after she grew taller, she blossomed like a tender leaf, stunningly beautiful, and became the school beauty of No. 2 High School in City C.