Anya felt a little embarrassed at her mother's words. It was true that she had absolutely no experience in caring for small children.

It might be fun to accompany young children to play. But acting as a parent to care for their needs was not an easy thing.

​​

"Don't I have a mother who can help me?" Anya said with a smile.

"I'd rather take care of your own child than someone else's child," Diana replied, opening the blanket so Nadine could lay Alisa on the bed.

"Mother..." The smile on Anya's face disappeared. Her heart felt as if it had been stabbed by an invisible knife.

"Am I wrong? Alisa is someone else's child. No matter how close your relationship is, Alisa will never be your daughter. She has her own family. Do you want to be her stepmother?" Diana said it while taking off the shoes and jacket that Alisa was wearing.

Nadine looked at Anya and Diana having an argument and immediately changed the subject. "It's late. I'm going home first. Alisa drank a lot of juice earlier. Before going to sleep, it's better to tell her to pee first so she won't wet the bed later,"

Unlike Anya, Nadine had a lot of experience taking care of young children so she knew what to do.

"You often care for children, don't you?" Diana patted Nadine on the shoulder before the girl came home. "Come and join us for dinner here tomorrow after work. I will cook delicious food. Take your brother and Tara too,"

"Isn't it a hassle, inviting so many people?" Anya looked at her mother worriedly. She was afraid that her mother would be exhausted if she had to cook for so many people.

"If Nico and Tara come, I can invite Hana to cook with me," Diana answered with a smile.

Anya smiled at that. "Good. I'm going to get Tara to ask Nico,"

"Can I invite someone?" Nadine ventured to ask.

Anya narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Nadine suspiciously, "Who would you like to invite? As long as it's not Aiden, you can invite anyone."

"Why would I invite my uncle here? His presence will only make the atmosphere at dinner tense. I want to invite Harris istead. He had to work overtime everyday. I think that he needs to rest and have fun sometimes," Nadine said.

Anya had heard a story from Aiden that Harris liked Nadine and had never been in contact with anyone so far.

He was sure Nadine would come back.

After Nadine returned to Indonesia, she did not return to the Atmajaya family house nor did she stay at Nico's house. Aiden told her to stay at Harris's house instead.

Aiden's intentions were clear. He wanted to help with their relationship.

Though Anya didn't really like Harris because of her working contract issues, she couldn't really blame him. As Aiden's assistant, of course Harris would put his master first.

That was why Anya felt there was nothing wrong with helping Nadine and Harris' relationship.

"Just take him here," Anya replied.

"Okay! See you tomorrow!"

Anya escorted Nadine to the front door and returned to meet her mother. Diana was still in Anya's room, wiping Alisa's body with a warm towel.

"Mom, let me do it," Anya reached out her hand to help, but Diana shook her head.

"No need. You must be tired of going all day. Hurry and take a bath. You still have to work tomorrow," Diana said calmly.

"Are you upset because I brought Alisa home?" Anya asked worriedly.

"I'm not upset. I just want you to realize that Alisa is not your daughter. If you really want to have children, you have to take good care of yourself, take care of your health so that you can get pregnant again later," Diana was afraid that her daughter would give up on herself and put all her hopes in this little girl she barely knew.

"I want to focus on working in the perfumery field right now so that I won't get my hope high for having children. I've fallen in love with Alisa. If Jonathan wants to get married one day and Alisa's stepmother doesn't want to accept her, I can take care of her like my own," Anya said.

When she heard Anya's words, Diana rose to her feet angrily. She brought a basin filled with warm water and went to the bathroom without saying anything.

Anya could feel her mother's mood suddenly changing. She immediately followed Diana and stood in front of the bathroom. She saw her mother washing the towel she was holding while lowering her head.

"Mother, I know what I'm doing," Anya said.

Diana put down the towel she was holding. "If you were aware of what you were doing, I wouldn't need to worry about you like this. Do you realize what you said just now? Even if her father got remarried, he would never give this child to you. Who are you to him?"

"I... I am Alisa's mother..." Anya replied doubtfully.

Diana was so angry that she said, "Do you understand this child's situation? If her father gets married, he will give this child to her biological mother, not you."

"Alisa's mother has died since she was born and her grandparents don't want to take her in. If Jonathan remarries, I'll persuade him to give Alisa to me. I will never remarry and I cannot have children. I will treat Alisa like my own daughter, just like how you raised me," Anya said with a serious expression.

"When I raised you, I didn't know that you weren't my real daughter. Our situation is different from Alisa's," Diana shouted to Anya.

"Mother, do you not believe that I can raise Alisa, or..."

"I hope this child will not get in the way of your life. You still have a long future. You will have your own family and children. It's a pity Alisa doesn't have a mother, but you're not the cause of everything. Why do you have to sacrifice yourself to help raise someone else's child?" Diana said.

"Mother, I also want to have my own child one day. But I can't give up on my career now. If I keep working, maybe I won't be able to have more children. I don't want to lose Alisa because Alisa loves me too," Anya said firmly.

"Our bodies are different. Just because I couldn't have children after working in the perfume industry doesn't mean you will end up with the same fate. Everything is still possible as long as you take care of your health," Diana walked out of the bathroom and sat beside the bed, looking at Alisa who was still asleep. "Anya, don't take this child from her parents. Even if her father gets married, a father will never leave his child alone."

"I just wish..."

"Nonetheless, you're not responsible for raising her. You can love and care for her, but you are not her real mother. I can help you, but I want you to have a child of your own, not someone else's child."

Anya was very young. She didn't know how much struggle and time it would take to care for a child. Right now, Anya still didn't know how to take care of small children. She could only accompany her to play and invite her to eat together.

Then what would she do if the child threw a tantrum?

What if the child was sick?

Raising children was not as simple as Anya thought.

Diana decided to be tough on her daughter. Anya could only realize what she was doing and what she should be doing this way!

Diana would not let Anya just ignore her health and give up.

Her daughter was very young. Even though she was currently in poor health, there were still ways to recover. The medical technology was very advanced.

She knew that his daughter had given up on her love life. Anya did not want to remarry and become a reliable parfumeur.

But how could Diana, as a mother, see her daughter like this?

She still hoped that Anya would find happiness. Married and had many children with her own family.

"Take lots of vitamins and take care of your health. At least do it to make your mother happy," After leaving the room, Diana took vitamins for Anya and asked her daughter to drink them.