We were not in the Tanner residence, and I was no longer the former me. Previously, Crystal could make things difficult for me and bully me in the Tanner residence, but now, I would never allow her to provoke me.
“I- Aunt Isabelle…” Crystal was stumped by what I said, and her expression changed. Immediately, she looked at Isabelle and explained, “Aunt Isabelle, that’s not what I meant. I just…”
With that said, she was on the verge of tears as if she had been greatly wronged. Back then, she loved to use that kind of forlorn expression to say some specious things to make everyone misunderstand. Looking at her, I sneered. We were not in the Tanner residence, and her close male friends were not present either. Who was she showing the pitiful expression to?
“Eve, you’ve gone too far.” Isabelle looked at me displeasingly and scolded, “Crystal is our guest. As the host, how can you talk to her like this? Hurry up and apologize.”
“Mom!” Upon hearing that, I widened my eyes in shock. I was so surprised that I was at a loss for words. Mom actually sided with Crystal and asked me to apologize. Did I say anything wrong?
The next moment, I turned my head to look at Crystal. She was still looking at me pitifully, but the triumph in her eyes had already betrayed her true feelings.
“Aunt Isabelle, please don’t scold Yvonne. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t talk nonsense and make her angry. I’m the one who should be apologizing.” Suddenly, Crystal stood up and uttered in fear.
“You didn’t say anything wrong.” Immediately, Isabelle pulled her back onto her seat and glared at me. “You only told the truth and made someone irritated.”
Smack!
The next instant, I put down my spoon, pushed aside the chair, and stood up. “Suit yourselves.”
I could no longer stand it. Hence, I turned around, left the living room, and walked into the garden. Blood was rushing through my veins. I was so furious that even the flowers were an eyesore. Infuriated, I stepped on a red flower and crushed it.
I’m Mom’s daughter. How can she side with an outsider? Not to mention that the outsider had always bullied me, and I hated her to the core.
“What’s so great about you? The only thing you can do is say nice words to please others. Even if you’re good at doing that, you still dug your own grave in the end. What else can you get? Argh! I’m so angry!”
“The flower didn’t offend you. Will it apologize to you if you bully it?” Just then, Lucas walked out from behind the big tree and picked up the flower under my feet with a sympathetic expression.
“It’s just a flower. As the daughter of the Goldstein family, can’t I even step on a flower?” Under the influence of anger, I spoke without thinking. I sounded like an unreasonable woman who was taking out my exasperation on Lucas.
“This camellia is extremely rare. I had liked camellia when I was young, so I bought this from a place at a high price and shipped it here by air,” he said with an innocent expression. While holding on to the flower, he lowered his head. “If I’m the flower, this will be its expression.”
In an instant, I was bemused by his funny expression and was shocked by what he said. So that’s why the flower is planted in a separate flowerbed. Feeling embarrassed, I apologized, “I’m sorry. I was blinded by rage just now. Should I ask the gardener if there’s any way to save this flower?”
“I’m an expert. If you want to ask a gardener, you might as well ask me.” Casting me a contemptuous look, he piped up, “As my cousin, you don’t even know my craftsmanship. What kind of friend are you?”
Hearing what he said, I scratched my head and flushed with embarrassment. After he took care of the flowers and was about to leave, I looked at his back and thought of everything that happened back then. Abruptly, I asked, “Lucas, you’d known my identity since a long time ago, right? Am I really Mark’s daughter?”
