Chapter 472
Vera had a feeling of what was going on. She had discovered that the maids were sneaking snacks—and junk food at that—to Laney.
As a lady, she believed Laney shouldn’t eat any junk food. lt was disgraceful. But Vera didn’t say anything. She reasoned that it would be best to catch Laney on the spot.
That night, Laney told her that she was not having dinner and she wanted to go to bed right away.
Vera was quite certain that Laney would get up at midnight to eat junk food since she skipped dinner. So she turned off the light in her room and waited quietly.
A little after midnight, she heard noises from downstairs, just as she had expected.
As quietly as a mouse, Vera walked towards the kitchen in darkness. She wanted to catch Laney this time.
“Laney! she called out as she switched on the light in the kitchen.
“Are you having junk food again? In the middle of the night, even? You know that…”
Her voice trailed off when she saw the person in front of her.
“Garrett!”
Her son was standing next to the fridge door with a slice of pizza in his mouth.
“Mom! Are you sleepwalking? I’m not Laney.”
Garrett then took out the box of pizza from the fridge and put it on the table. He then pulled out the chair beside the table and sat down.
Vera smiled awkwardly.
“Garrett, when did you come home?”
Garrett had been too busy with work that leaving for home had been difficult. So, he had been staying in the hotel near the company.
Vera hadn’t seen her son for more than ten days.
“I miss home. Can’t I come back?”
Garrett continued to eat pizza.
With a helpless look on her face, Vera asked, “Why didn’t you ask them to cook something for you? Eating cold food can upset your stomach.”
Garrett nodded and said, “Oh, right, I’ll microwave the pizza then.”
And he l**ked his fi**gers after putting the slice of pizza back to the box. He heated up the pizza in the microwave for a minute.
Turning to face Vera, he asked, “Mom, why haven’t you gone to bed? It’s way past midnight.”
Vera thought it best not to tell the truth to her son.
“I heard the noises downstairs and thought it was a thief, so I came to check it.”
She felt a little sorry for her son who was eating leftover pizza for dinner.
“I’ll ask the maid to cook for you. You should keep a healthy diet.”
Garrett reassured his mother, “I’m fine, really. I just need to get something wake Laney up. I just went upstairs and saw her sleeping soundly.”
Thinking of Laney with her grandchild, Vera couldn’t argue with Garrett.
“Yes, Laney needs her good night sleep.”
She walked over to the fridge and opened it.
“There is some soup here. I’II heat it up for you.”
Garrett grinned indulgently at Vera.
“Mom, stop fuzzing over me. You have to go back to sleep,” he said as he walked his mother to the stairs.
When his mother had gone upstairs, Garrett turned around and returned to the kitchen. He took out the pizza that had been heated in the microwave.
The temperature of the pizza was just right.
Garrett took out a slice and went to the table. He knelt down and looked at the woman who was curled up under the table.
Grinning affectionately, he removed the cold pizza from her mouth and offered her the warm slice instead.
“Have this one.”
Hiding under the table, Laney bit into the pizza, nodding pitifully. She then bowed her head and savored a large slice of the pizza.
Garrett smiled. He touched her head and said. “You poor little thing.”
Laney had come downstairs for the pizza. She had taken the pizza out of the fridge to reheat it in the microwave when she heard Vera walking towards the kitchen. She was so scared that she didn’t know what to do.
Garrett fortunately arrived home in time.
When he heard his mother’s voice, he told Laney to hide under the table and then adjusted the tablecloth to cover her.
Squatting down in front of Laney, Garrett held out his hands to her so she could get out from under the table. Red in the face with embarrassment, Laney explained herself, “t haven’t had dinner tonight. I was very hungry, so I came here to grab a bite. Your mother wouldn’t allow me to eat fast food. I had to hide it from her.”
Garrett bit into her pizza.
“This tastes good.”
He then gently touched his wife’s face and said, “You don’t have to hide any more, just let me know when you want to eat something. I’ll come here and take you to it.”
Garrett also didn’t think that pizza was healthy food for Laney, especially now that she was pregnant. Yet, he thought that eating it occasionally wouldn’t do her and the baby any harm.
They then heard people talking.
Although they were speaking softly, their voices could be heard through the night’s silence.
“Why is the light in the kitchen on?” said one of the maids.
“And do I smell pizza?” asked another voice.
Garrett and Laney looked at each other.
They must have awakened the maids.
“Mrs. Harding apparently woke up in the middle of the night and decided to grab a bite again. Gee, she really has a knack for making her mother-in-law upset.”
“For sure, she’ll get another lecture. She just won’t listen to us.”
“She isn’t a lady at all. How could someone like her be good enough for Mr. Harding?”
Hearing the maids talked about her had upset Laney. They were aware of how Vera treated her.
Even though she was now a part of the family, the staff frequently spoke ill of her.
Incensed by what they had heard, Garrett wanted to walk outside and stand up for his wife.
When Laney noticed the icy expression in her husband’s eyes, she grabbed his hand and made a gesture to keep him quiet.
Annoyed, Garrett struggled to get up. So, Laney grabbed him by his tie and kissed him.
Caught by surprise, Garrett didn’t know how to react. He didn’t object to the kiss though.
He held Laney into his arms and kissed her back passionately.
The maids exchanged a few more words with one another.
They switched out the light and decided to go back to bed when they realized no one was moving in the kitchen.
“I suppose she has finished her meal and gone back to her room.”
“Let’s go. I want to go to sleep now.”
Garrett and Laney stopped kissing when the maids left. But before letting go of his wife, he l**ked her lips with the tip of his tongue. He pecked her again and asked, “Why did you stop me? How dare they talked about you like that! I intended to discipline them.”
“If I didn’t stop you, they would have found us,” Laney answered, her face still flushed from their kissing.
They’ll tell your mother, and she’ll be upset with me for sneaking into the kitchen.”
Garrett was aware of Laney’s difficulties in sharing a home with Vera.
