Chapter 291 A Loaded Apology
Michael stared at me, frowning at my somber mood. He asked gently, “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly upset?”
He stared at me in concern. Faced with his piercing gaze, I found myself at a loss for words.
I hesitated about recounting my confrontation with Josephine to Michael. I had no idea how he would react and I did not wish to add to his worries.
“Nothing’s wrong. The weather’s been so hot lately that it’s making me uncomfortable. I’ll be right as rain after some rest.” I forced a smile on my face and immediately evaded his eye contact.
He saw straight through my weak excuse and asked seriously, “Do you think I would fall for that? Anna, don’t lie to me. What happened?”
“I-I… Mrs. Shaw approached me today.”
I eventually succumbed to his request after some hesitation. Honesty is the best policy. I did not want to keep things from him and cause a rift between us in the future.
Michael’s expression hardened as I told him what had happened. When I finished recounting my experience, he looked downright hostile.
His anger was palpable, yet my insecurities flared their ugly heads as I wondered if he was furious at his mother for driving a wedge through our relationship or if he was annoyed that I was being a tattletale.
My anxiety peaked at Michael’s prolonged silence, and I immediately offered an apology. “I’m sorry, I-”
“Don’t take anything she says to heart,” he said simply before turning his attention back to dinner.
I was perplexed. Is this his way of comforting me?
Michael’s firm reply did little to soothe my fraught nerves. She’s his mom, after all. I can’t bring myself to care less about her words.
He was exhausted enough as it is, and it would be thoughtless of me to add to his burdens. Josephine’s appearance was frustrating, but I believed that with time, her impression of me would improve.
After dinner, I cleared the table while Michael headed off to the balcony to make a phone call.
“All right, I’ll see you in half an hour.”
That was the first thing I heard when I came out of the kitchen after doing the dishes.
I stared at Michael and wondered who he had been on the phone with.
“I’m going out for a while. You should catch an early night’s rest.” He seemed to avoid my gaze as he said this.
It was far too late at night for him to be working on company matters. Despite my suspicions, I swallowed the question on the tip of my tongue. I did not want to pry into every single one of his matters.
“Okay. Don’t come home too late.” I smiled at him and pretended I was not dying to know who he was meeting at this hour.
Michael nodded wordlessly and headed for the coat rack near the door. He grabbed a jacket and left.
The house suddenly felt a lot quieter without him in it. Though we had only been living together for a few days, my dependence on Michael had grown considerably. I did not know if I could bring myself to leave him again.
Bored, I sat on the living room couch and watched a sitcom distractedly.
I was about to expire from boredom when my phone began ringing. My heart sank when I saw that it was my mom calling.
She had not contacted me in over a month. This out-of-the-blue phone call can’t be good news.
I answered the phone resignedly.
“Mom,” I greeted her once the line connected.
“Anna, what are you doing? You haven’t called me in ages.” My mom sounded unusually caring on the other end of the phone. It was a stark contrast to her characteristic demanding self.
I wondered if something was wrong with my hearing. Did I hear her right? She’s never treated me like this.
Sometimes, I thought that my mind was a bit messed up. I tended to expect the worst whenever my mom was acting nicely toward me.
“Mom, why did you call me today?” I asked warily, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest.
“Oh, nothing much. I just missed you since you haven’t visited Dad and me for a while. You should visit us tonight if you’re free. We’re heading back to the village in a couple of days,” she said warmly. Her claims of missing me, however, raised my suspicions. I knew her personality; she would never say such things.
Despite knowing that she probably did not mean her words, I was still delighted at her display of concern. I longed for my mom’s love more than anything else in this world.
“Okay, I’ll be over in a bit.”
We ended our last meeting on bad terms and I did harbor some resentment toward my mom. Still, she had taken the initiative to call me and extend an olive branch, so I believed it was my duty as a daughter to forgive and forget.
I checked the time and realized it was barely nine at night. Since I had no idea when Michael would come home, I decided to head over to my mom’s.
When I arrived at her place, I took a deep breath to calm myself before knocking on the door. I had not seen her in over a month and did not know what to expect.
My hand had barely left the door knocker when it was opened from the inside by my mom, who practically dragged me into the house.
“Anna, you’re here! Come in and take a seat.” My mom held my hand as she invited me into the house.
Faced with her unprecedented display of affection, my suspicions grew. Mom’s acting really weird today.
“Mom, did you call me here for something?”
It was increasingly difficult to believe that my mom invited me here simply because she missed me. I recalled all the times Mom had reached out to me in the past and failed to pinpoint an occasion during which she did not require my help with something. When things were nice and calm, she had always gone radio silent.
“Of course not, dear. I called you to have a chat with you. You haven’t come by to see me or call me in such a long time—are you still mad at me over our last meeting?” Mom looked at me like she had been unfairly maligned.
