?Chapter 1772:


    Jayden nodded. “He lost his dad when he was just a kid. He had to fight tooth and nail to survive, to protect himself and his mom. That’s why he’s the only one in our generation who ever swore loyalty to our grandpa.”


    “That exins a lot,” Elyse said softly.


    Jayden continued, “No one ever celebrated my birthday when I lived with my grandpa. But Brook somehow found out and secretly brought me a small cake.”


    “What happened next?” Elyse asked.


    “The bodyguards found out. I didn’t get to finish the cake, and Brook was taken away. After that, no one ever celebrated my birthday again,” he said, his voice t.


    Elyse tilted her head, her gaze soft. “Then let’s change that. How about we celebrate your birthday together every year from now on?”


    Jayden blinked in disbelief. “You actually want to celebrate it with me?”


    “I would love to,” Elyse replied, a warm smile on her lips.


    “Hmm. Let’s do it then,” he mumbled, looking everywhere but at her.


    Everyone else paired off with their loved ones or friends, rxed and happy—everyone except Corrie. Ignoring the cheerful conversations and bright smiles around her, she knelt on the ground, consumed by her own pain. All she could see was her perceived inadequacy, and a fierce anger rose within her. Why couldn’t she experience the happiness and sess that seemed toe so easily to everyone else?


    After wallowing in her misery for a while, she finally pushed herself to her feet. Without a word or a backward nce, she slipped into a car and drove away.


    Watching her leave, Elyse frowned. “Shouldn’t we go after her?” she asked, worry etching her brow.


    Jayden shrugged indifferently. “She’ll get an earful when she gets home.”


    Elyse remembered the hurt in Corrie’s expression and said, “Something feels off. I have a bad feeling about this.”


    “Don’t worry about her,” Jayden said dismissively. “Her family haspletely brainwashed her. She’s beyond help now, and the one person who truly loved her is gone—she’s on her own.”


    Elyse blinked, confusion flickering across her face. “But aren’t her parents the ones who love her most?”


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    Jayden shook his head. “Not in her case. And let’s be real, Elyse—not all parents love their children.”


    Corrie drove home with a heavy heart. Before she could even reach the living room, a ss shattered against her forehead.


    She staggered backward, struggling to steady herself as blood trickled down her face.


    “Useless!” Bertha spat, her face contorted with fury. “You can’t even keep a man interested in you. What else can you achieve? Do you know how arrogant Brook’s mother was when she came here to call off our engagement? You’vepletely humiliated me.”


    Corrie lifted her weary eyes to nce at her mother, then at her father, who remained silent like a mere bystander, and finally at her younger brother, Mitchel, whose face wore a smug expression.


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