The large round table was evenly spaced. Neither too much nor too little.

"Father." Emily began. The baby in her arms breathed in steady, gentle rhythms, eyes tightly closed. "The thing between Natsha and me... was actually all fake."

She didn't try to look for any excuse.

"We were never truly married either." Natsha continued. The two of them were already on the same boat. At the very least, Natsha should say something.

"My father set a condition for me to enter the entertainment industry." She said calmly. "I had to get married before turning twenty nine. Because of certain circumstances, even though the deadline was approaching, I still couldn't make it happen. And that's how this whole situation between us started."

Emily blinked a few times.

"The child is mine and Riana's." The confession struck the man's senses like a collapse.

His hand tightened around the armrest, trembling.

"What... did you... just say?"

Emily looked at her father. She was heartbroken, and so was he.

"Riana is still alive, Father! I only sent her abroad for treatment." Her eyes reddened slightly. No matter how loud the conversation around them became, the baby in her arms still kept its eyes firmly closed.

"I chose to undergo the surgery myself to have this child. That's why I entered a fake marriage with Natsha."

He seemed to go numb and slumped back into the chair.

"She's going to die soon, Emily..." He said helplessly. "She's going to die soon... Why did you still choose this?"

"I know. But I still hope. Even if there's only a one-percent chance... I will still hope." A tear rolled down Emily's cheek.

He was in pain. Of course he understood better than anyone. That was exactly why he never wanted Emily to go through the same thing.

He fell silent for a moment, then lifted his head. Facing Emily, he still wore the gentle expression of a loving father. He smiled and spoke softly.

"My daughter... are you happy?"

The tears that had once only rippled like drops on a shallow pond now poured down like the headwaters of a river.

"I am... Father," Emily choked out.

///////////////////

"Where's Emily? And the baby? Why didn't they come along?" Mr. Taechamongkalapiwat asked when he saw her sitting alone on the sofa in the spacious living room.

"Why do they have to come?" Natsha asked indifferently. The light sweetness of the green grapes made her feel refreshed.

"Your wife and child, and you're asking why they should come?" Mr. Taechamongkalapiwat was practically stamping a huge question mark on his face.

"I'm divorced. And besides, that child isn't mine." She said. After finishing her sentence, she stood up. That seemed to be exactly the reason she had come home today.

"W... What? Explain that clearly!" He stammered as he processed the information, pointing a finger at her.

"I've already said everything. Father, I'll take my leave." Natsha said, slightly bowing her head before leaving.

Mr. Taechamongkalapiwat could only breathe in and out steadily. He couldn't forget to breathe just because he was angry. His children were already grown up. He couldn't control them anymore.

Natsha had simply found a loophole in the condition that had been set before. He had only required her to get married before the age of twenty nine. So the fact that she "divorced" just a few months later didn't violate the condition that had originally been placed.

//////////////////////////////

One morning, while Mr. and Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat were enjoying tea together in the living room, the sound of clack clack footsteps made both of them turn their heads to look behind them.

Natsha was carrying two "things" in her arms. Calmly, she placed one bundle of cloth into each of Mr. and Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat's hands.

"Father, Mother, please look after your grandchildren for me!" Natsha said with a bright smile, not forgetting to clasp her hands together in front of her chest to appear extra sincere.

From within the cloth, two tiny faces were revealed. One face looked so much like Natsha that it couldn't possibly look any more similar. The other face looked exactly like a miniature version of someone Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat found very familiar, yet at that moment she still couldn't remember who.

When Mr. and Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat lifted their heads again, Natsha had already vanished somewhere. The two of them darkened in expression. But when Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat's gaze suddenly met the big, sparkling eyes of the baby in her arms, her imposing aura instantly softened.

At their age, Mr. and Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat suddenly had several grandchildren fall from the sky.

Natsha had prepared quite thoroughly! All the baby supplies had already been arranged by her and brought to their house. Mr. and Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat had no choice but to take care of the two children that their troublesome child had brought from who knows where.

One day, while Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat was still watching the breathtaking passes of the national team on television. The team's main striker had always been her favorite player. Her sharp features appeared clearly on the screen, tiny beads of sweat scattered along her temples as she focused all his strength on a free kick.

She stared for a long while, then suspiciously looked down at the child, now over one year old, sitting in her lap. Lin sensed someone looking at them and immediately raised their head, staring back with wide eyes. The jet-black pupils and familiar facial features came into view.

She lifted Lin up to compare with the image on the large TV screen.

Why did Lin look so much like her favorite striker?

If they only looked a little alike, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. But if they looked too alike... was that okay?

She thought maybe it was just because she was getting old and her eyesight wasn't very clear anymore. She nodded to herself at that explanation.

Seeing her keep nodding, Lin simply watched her obediently with wide, round eyes.

As the years passed, the striker she loved continued to shine on the field, while Lin grew to look even more like that striker. As for Mulan, there was no need to say anything. Didn't she look exactly as if she had been cast from the very same mold as Natsha!

//////////////////////////////

Five-year-old Lin sat with her grandmother on the sofa in the living room. The back-and-forth plays on the screen kept both the old and the young from taking their eyes off it.

When the shot in the final seconds flew straight into the net, one big and one small jumped up at the same time. Cheers rang out nonstop. The striker who had just scored slid across the grass, celebrating the victory.

"Mom is amazing!" the little girl shouted instinctively, full of excitement.

Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat, even in the joy of the team's victory, suddenly froze. Did her granddaughter just say that striker was her "mom"?

The camera at the stadium turned toward the fans. A familiar figure quickly caught her eye. Her daughter appeared on the screen for a few seconds, clapping enthusiastically.

The corners of Mrs. Taechamongkalapiwat's lips twitched.

Ha! So the reason she dropped the two granddaughters off at her house and disappeared was for this. For this match, she herself hadn't even gotten to go to the stadium to watch it live.

What a filial child she had indeed!

The end.

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Author's note: Thank you guys!:))))0