“This is so twisted! You must have been cursed by someone wicked to have all these bad things happening to you, Yvonne. Oh, God. All my life I’ve known so many people, yet all of their miseries can’t even add up to yours.”
Frustrated, Sabrina paced in front of me with her child in her arms. At the sight of me keeping quiet and staring blankly into the air, she sighed and handed her son to me. “Hold your godson for me. Since there’s no way of reversing what happened, we should find a way to solve it rather than give up, don’t you think so?”
I held the baby in my arms and rocked him gently. “It was only yesterday when Chris and I were discussing which wedding gown I should wear, Sabby. Just one day, and we are separated by our families’ feud.”
“You’re definitely the unluckiest person in the world. I thought Christopher decided that celebrating April’s Fool early was a good idea when he called me this morning.” Sabrina clutched her head. “All of this started from the moment your mother came back! If I knew this was going to happen, I would have done anything to prevent her from returning.”
Uncertain of what to say, I merely stared at Sabrina.
“Relax. I’m just joking.” Realizing that she might have gone overboard, she laughed dryly.
“What should I do? I can never be with another man other than Chris. But how do I get my mom to agree to our marriage?” I could only turn to Sabrina for help as I was running out of ideas.
“I’ll need time to think of something. This is no easy feat. I may have a lot of ideas but I’m just an ordinary person.”
Sabrina continued pacing anxiously. After a while, she rushed to my side and whispered, “How about we give this a rest? Not having a wedding ceremony can’t change the fact that you are already married to Christopher. Wait till you have your first child! Mrs. Goldstein will be so happy to have a grandchild that she will agree to your marriage.”
With a hand to my head, I leaned limply on the sofa. Sabrina scratched her head and sighed.
Nothing much happened in Avenport for the past two days, including at the Goldstein residence. The Tanners should be the only ones having a problem. Nathan saw me at the hotel the other day, but he didn’t say anything to me. He was gone by the time we left. I had no idea what Mom could have told him that made him so grumpy that day. I hadn’t heard a word from him since then.
The latest economic news was the acquisition of a company originally under the Tanners due to bankruptcy. As I read the news, the purpose of Isabelle’s return suddenly became clearer to me. Hidden behind her gentle smiles was the promise of revenge against those who had hurt her before.
All of a sudden, she seemed so distant from the mother I thought I knew.
Then, Sharon came to my mind. She must have known something about the Andersons, given that she knew my mom a long time ago. Maybe I could ask her what happened at that time and find a way out of this mess. Sabrina was right. I should not give up easily without trying.
Sharon’s mansion was refurbished. The flowers that I planted for her were gone and replaced by other flowers, making the courtyard lifeless. Since Sharon didn’t like her daughter-in-law Wendy much, they were no longer staying together. In the end, she was the only one left in the mansion. All she could do was gaze at the flowers in her wheelchair alone.
I walked over to her and handed the pair of scissors on the table to her. Sharon looked up. Unsurprised, she started tending to the flowers while saying, “I met your mom two days ago, and now here you are. I’ll get someone to pass you the shares.”
“I’m not here for that!” Money was never of that importance to me. I had refused it the last time, and it made no difference for me to do it again.
“Why else are you here if not for the shares?” Sharon widened her eyes. After all, no one could resist the temptation of getting rich, and I own the shares rightfully.
“Could you tell me about the Andersons?”
