“Is your mom mad?” Laney worriedly asked.
Garrett pushed the plate towards her and assured her, “Don’t mind her. Let’s continue eating.”
Laney nodded in response. But then, her phone rang this time. The moment she answered the call, Vera’s voice came from the other end of the line.
“Hello-“
“Laney, I don’t want to be mad at you. You’re my son’s wife now. But as his wife, you should behave yourself. Let him go to work, and don’t distract him. Our company has a lot of employees, and they have families. They’re hoping that Garrett will give them a job so that they can have money to support their family. Don’t be selfish, please.”
Although Vera’s voice was low and calm, Laney could feel the anger in Vera’s words.
After she hung up the call, Laney nudged Garrett and beckoned to the door, no longer in the mood to eat. “I’m full. You should go back to the company now.”
“How can you be full after only having a few bites? Besides, it’s not every day I get to spend time with you. Don’t push away.”
Garrett wanted to be with his wife for as long as he could.
Laney sighed. “If you don’t go back to the company now, your mother will blame me for it.”
Vera would never let her off.
Meanwhile, Garrett massaged his temples. His current situation was making his head ache. Of course, he did not want his mother to make things difficult for his girl. Even so, there was nothing much he could do about it.
It was Laney who often made concessions but always getting the short end of the stick.
“If I go back to the company now, I won’t be able to help you when you go home alone later,” Garrett explained with a heavy sigh. Suddenly, his face lit up as an idea occurred to him. He looked at Laney with bright eyes and suggested. “I’ve got an idea! You won’t have to worry about getting scolded!”
Laney was actually dubious of his idea even after his explanation. But seeing him so confident, she forced a smile and acquiesced.
At this moment, Garrett patted her on the shoulder and said, “I’ve already paid the bill. I’ll call Kelly to pick you up. Wait for her here, okay?”
With that, he stood up and left for the company.
Once Garrett was gone, Laney stared at the almost untouched dishes on the table with regret. The food looked scrumptious: although she had lost her appetite, she didn’t want them to go to waste. Because of this, she asked the waiter to pack the food into containers as takeaways.
A few moments later, Kelly entered the restaurant and happened to see
Laney packing food with a waiter.
She sneered and thought how pathetic Laney was. Even after marrying into a rich family. Laney’s poor habits had not changed and would never do.
Kelly walked over to Laney and slapped the container box from Laney’ s hand.
“Mrs. Harding, don’t waste your time here. The car is waiting for you outside.”
The box fell to the ground, and the spaghetti scattered all over the floor.
Laney looked at the spilled food regretfully but said nothing.
“Let’s go. I have to go back to the company to help Mr. Harding later. Please don’t waste my time, okay?’ Kelly impatiently urged.
Laney had no choice but to let Kelly drive her home to the Harding’s family house.
As soon as Laney entered the house, she sensed that something bad was about to happen. Vera, who was supposed to go to a party with her rich friends, was waiting for her in the living room.
Vera didn’t look well. She set down her teacup on the table with a bit of force.
The sound of it hitting the saucer was very clear.
Laney moved about cautiously. She racked her brains, but she couldn’t figure out what had happened that made Vera upset
“Let me get you some more tea,” Laney offered. She bent to take the teapot off the table and started to walk towards Vera.
“No, thanks.” Vera put the teacup aside and asked, “What’s wrong with you today? How many times do I have to tell you that a daughter-in-law of the
Harding family shouldn’t be a stumbling block to Garrett’s career? How can I trust you with the Harding family’s children in the future? Do you want your kids to be as clingy to their father as you are now?”
Laney’s hands trembled as she held the teapot. Vera was looking harshly at her.
Laney lowered her head and apologized as she typically did at times, such as this one.
Kelly, who had been standing to the side the entire time, chuckled quietly to herself as she watched Vera’s outburst. Her plan had worked. She also felt relieved when she saw Laney’s timid reaction.
Vera spoke again, still in an angry tone. “You have been married into the Harding family for almost four months. And you haven’t changed at all! I’ve been trying hard to educate you for months, but all seem to be in vain.” Vera was so angry that she spoke in a heavy tone. She didn’t even care that Kelly was still there.
“I will mend my ways,” Laney replied in a weak voice. “I promise I will.”
She was now feeling uncomfortable. Her breathing quickened and her heart pounded rapidly. In addition, Kelly’s strong perfume made her want to throw up even more.
It was then when Laney remembered the approach Garrett had advised her to do when she got home and faced her mother-in- law. Pursing her lips, she decided to try it. Gritting her teeth, she cried out, “Oh, my stomach! It hurts!”
She fell on her knees on the carpet with her arms on her stomach.
Vera was alarmed when she saw Laney fall on the floor. She got up from the couch and asked Laney, “What’s wrong?”
Vera yelled at a servant who happened to be in the room with them. “Go! Call the doctor!”
Kelly was alarmed as well. She hastened forward to assist Laney in getting up.
Vera hurried to Laney’s side. “What happened?” There was panic in her voice.
“You were fine just now.”
In a weak voice, Laney said, “I was already famished after listening to your lecture this afternoon. But Kelly kept on telling me to go back, even though I was telling her that I needed to eat something. So, I had no choice but immediately return since I dared not slight her.”
She held her stomach more tightly.
Even though Laney was acting, she was actually feeling a little queasy in the stomach.
Vera looked at Laney’s pale face and saw her lips turning pale. “Don’t say anything,” she nervously told her daughter-in-law. “Save your strength.”
Vera called another servant to help them pull up Laney so she could lie down on the sofa.
Vera then turned to face Kelly. Glaring at her, she said, “How could you be so thoughtless? Laney is still in the early stage of her pregnancy. How dare you not let her eat when she was hungry?!”
“I… I am s-sorry, Mrs. Harding… all my f-fault… I didn’t t-think… a-about it,” Kelly stammered. Kelly had thought that Laney was in good health. Although her tummy was getting bigger, she was spry and agile. It didn’t cross Kelly’s mind that a pregnant woman could be delicate.
Meanwhile, Vera found Kelly’s thoughtlessness repugnant.
But she was more concerned that something bad might happen to the Harding family’s first grandchild.
It was at this time when a servant came in with the family doctor.
Vera waved the doctor to hurry up. “Check on Laney!”
Laney became a bit sober when she saw the doctor crouching in front of her.
She was now having regrets. Before acting sick, she should have colluded with the doctor.
