The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 404

There was no way this was a coincidence.

"Yesterday on the cruise, Zane told me that his great-grandma and Aunt Mia love him very much. I wanted a great-grandma and an Aunt Mia to love me too. So I called him and asked if I could sneak over to your house just to see them. He told me you were all about to go to a restaurant on the eighty-eighth floor for a buffet…"

*That boy is going to be the death of me,* Winona thought, mentally scolding Zane.

"So you begged your father to bring you to the eighty-eighth floor for a buffet?" she asked Tiana.

Tiana nodded.

Winona understood completely.

For Julian to abandon his entire family—even Felicity wasn't with him—on New Year's Day just to bring Tiana here, it was clear he still doted on her. With such a powerful father so devoted to his daughter, even after she had once treated him with disdain, Winona knew she couldn't challenge him for custody.

Besides, just last night, Tiana and Felicity had sounded so close on the phone.

She was still the outsider.

"Well, you and your father enjoy your meal. We're leaving," Winona said calmly, offering no words of comfort to Tiana. She didn't even suggest taking her to see her great-grandmother and Aunt Mia.

With that, she gracefully took Yves Prescott's arm. "Yves, let's go."

"Alright."

The two walked away from the restrooms without a backward glance.

Back at the table, Winona apologized to the Shaws, Wesley, and Louis. "I'm so sorry, but we can't celebrate here anymore. Why don't you all come to my place tonight? Yves is a fantastic cook. He can whip something up for everyone."

Yves nodded. "My cooking is on par with a Michelin-star chef."

Tiana also looked up hopefully. "Aunt Mia, Grandma, I can share my allowance and my snacks with you."

Nearby, Yves muttered, "Weren't you going to give all that to me? Make up your mind, kid."

Winona shot him a look.

Mia gave Tiana a cold smile. "Sorry, little princess, but I'm Zane's family, not yours. Do we even know each other?"

Her grandmother wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and asked Tiana in a heart-wrenching voice, "Mia told me you used to yell at your mother all the time, that you didn't want her in your home. You even made her act as a maid for you and your new mother. How could you be so cruel to her at such a young age?"

Tiana's eyes welled up, but she remained silent.

"Tiana, come here, sweetie. Don't let these strangers hurt your feelings." Felicity had appeared out of nowhere, her voice dripping with tenderness as she called to Tiana from a short distance away.