She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew)

Chapter 336 "From the day you gave up on Alina, she was no longer your daughter!" Paityn said this to Damon in her guest room.

Given their status, it was impossible for them to discuss such private matters in the hotel corridor. She had to suppress her anger and only dared to speak after bringing Damon upstairs to her guest room.

"Paityn, calm down." Damon never let his emotions override his rationality. His tone was steady. "We both had our reasons back then. I was left with no choice, but I've done my best to make up for what happened to you and Alina. Please don't bring up the past again." "I also think that we have nothing to do with you anymore," Paityn sneered. "So why are you looking for Alina now?" Damon adjusted his glasses, his eyes lighting up with fervor. "You can see it too. Alina has a unique singing voice, and she's my daughter. I want to nurture her and make her a superstar that the whole world will be obsessed with!" "Therefore, I want to acknowledge her and sign her to my company..." "In your dreams!" Paityn said angrily. "Alina is my daughter. I raised her. You haven't raised her for a single day. You're not worthy of being her father!" "I won't let you take her away!" "Give up on this idea!".

"You're at it again," Damon frowned. "After Alina was born, even though I couldn't be by her side, I gave you around 10 million dollars in child support. I also did everything I could to suppress the news of her birth, protecting your reputation and ensuring Alina could grow up like a normal child." "I'll pay back that 10 million dollars!" Paityn roared. "Now, can you just get lost?" Damon stared at her, who was now visibly enraged, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What exactly are you so ang about?" "Alina is our daughter," he continued, "I'm willing to accept, nurture, and turn her into a superstar. Isn't that a good thing for her?" "As her biological mother, shouldn't you be happy about that?" Paityn stared at Damon in disbelief, unable to fathom how his mind could work this way.

"Alina is my daughter, raised byalone!" she said, tapping her chest. "You never gave her love. She doesn't even know who you are. Now, she's grown up-beautiful, smart, and talented-and you just want to take her away from me." "I am not taking her away," Damon interrupted her. "You're still her biological mother. No one can change that. I won't take her away from you. I just want to sign her and nurture her." "Just like training other singers, only I'll be more attentive to her than anyone else "Heh, hehe..." Paityn looked at Damon as if he was crazy. Instead of being angry, she laughed mockingly. "Do you really not know how cruel it is for you to say this?" "You've never given Alina any fatherly love. The only reason you're accepting her now is because of her talent, not because you love her as a father." "To you, she's just a tool for you to achieve your dreams." "Then what do you wantto do?" Damon interrupted her again, calmly asking, "I have a wife, and you have a husband. Do you think we can divorce our respective partners, or do you think we can publicly declare Alina our biological daughter?" This sentence silenced the string of words Paityn had been preparing to scold Damon with. Her eyes were filled with confusion, helplessness, and pain. Her chest felt so tight that she could barely breathe. "Paityn, be rational," Damon sighed deeply. "You're afraid I'll take Alina away from you, but can you keep her by your side?" "If you could keep her by your side, how could she becsomeone else's child?" These words landed like a death sentence, crushing Paityn's heart.

Paityn felt as if she were standing on the execution ground, struck by a bullet aimed directly at her vulnerable spot, as if she had died once again.

She wanted to argue, to retort, but the pain in her heart was so overwhelming that her vision blurred, and breathing beca struggle. For a moment, she couldn't find her voice.

"All we can do now is clarify things with the Donovan family and acknowledge Alina privately," Damon said calmly. "Then we'll raise Alina together, making her a global superstar, and give her everything she deserves." "You, you...." Paityn held onto the wall with one hand and pointed at him with the other. She knew what he said was wrong but could not think of a response. After a long pause, she said, "When you didn't want Alina, you ignored her. Now that you see her talent, you want to acknowledge her as your daughter, but you don't want to make it public. What do you think she is?" "How much better are you than me?" Damon replied quietly, but each word cut deeply. "If you really loved her, why would she have contracted polio? Why would you have handed her over to someone else and married into a wealthy family?" Another bullet pierced through Paityn's heart.

She clutched her chest, nearly fainting, her voice hoarse as if she were drowning. "I... I had no choice..." "I understand your struggles and choices," Damon said. "That's why I won't blyou. Please, don't treatas enemy.

He glanced at his wristwatch, paused for a few seconds, and then said "You're too emotional right now. This isn't the right tto talk." "Alina still has to participate in the finals next week. If we approach her now, it will definitely affect her mentality and state." "I suggest that we wait until after the finals to reach out to Alina. You should take this tto calm down and reflect on what I said." With that, he turned around and strode away.

The door closed behind him.

Left alone, Paityn felt her vision darken. Her stomach cramped m painfully, and she clong to the wall, gasping for breath as if she were a dying fish. She hated Damon. She hated Damon for deceiving her and abandoning her and their child.

But more than that, she hated herself.

She hated her weakness, uselessness, past selfishness, and cold-heartedness, land... even if she acknowledged Alina now, what difference would it make? X