Liam didn’t rush to answer Rita’s question. He simply dipped his head and continued to eat porridge.
One sip.
Two sips.
Three sips down, he continued, “I thought you’d been threatened to break up with me, and yet… you
didn’t have any communications from that night.”
As Liam spoke, Rita’s nervous body tensed.
As she listened to the end, her unease and fear turned into Bewilderment with a capital B.
No… no communications?!
That wasn’t right, she had a conversation with Michael.
Why didn’t Liam find out about that?
Was it that-
Someone wiped her logs?
Even though she didn’t understand where things had taken a turn, the real reason behind her breakup
hadn’t come out, and her heart slid back down her throat to rest in her torso.
Rita took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and sneered, playing the ice queen until the end. “I
said from the beginning that there was no threat and no inside story. I never loved you. Believe me this
time?”
Behind her, Liam continued to eat his porridge without replying. “…”
Rita took his silence as acknowledgement.
As expected, he believed it.
That was best.
Rita took her gaze back from the man’s cold figure. “Now that you’re apprised of the situation, please
refrain from disturbing me from now on, Mr. Wilson. Thank you.”
Rita left again, and Liam didn’t stop her.
He stooped his head and continued to eat his porridge. He even tried some of the side dishes, giving a
serious compliment. “That’s nice.”
Standing to the side, Jacob’s mouth twitched. “The bunny’s going to run if you don’t chase after her,
you know.”
Liam raised his head to look at the girl’s slim silhouette, his thin lips curving. “It’s no rush.”
No rush?!
Right…
Like hell it isn’t.
Somebody had been so anxious over where their wife had gone he’d staked out in the car all night.
Now he was saying there was no rush – what kind of idiot would buy it?
He was betting that in five seconds, Liam “no rush” was going to run out after her.
Jacob shot a sidelong look at Liam as the man ate his porridge leisurely, his hands counting off behind
his back.
One! The man wasn’t moving.
Two! The man wasn’t moving.
…
Four!
The seated man remained still. Jacob cocked an eyebrow. Liam was really calm this time, eh?
But the thought faded.
Ever since the misunderstanding faded, Liam was no longer the Liam who treated Rita like she was
part of the background. He was completely lovesick for her. The next second, he was definitely going to
chase after her.
Five!
Jacob held up five fingers behind his back, but Liam still wasn’t moving.
Jacob was starting to doubt himself.
Er…
Had he miscalculated?
Lost, he examined Liam, still keeping count.
He did want to see how long Liam could last this time around.
Beep.
A text popped up on Liam’s phone.
The man lowered his head and opened it. It read, “Mr. Wilson, according to your wishes, we’ve
escorted Ms. Brown to the car.”
Looking at the screen, Liam raised an eyebrow in satisfaction, replying, “All right, good work.”
He put his phone away and went back to the porridge.
Halfway there, he seemed to remember something. Raising his head, his deep gaze fell on Jacob.
“Don’t just stand there. Come eat.”
Jacob looked at the dishes in front of him.
Then he stared at the perfectly calm Liam, dazed. “Are you really not chasing after her?”
“No need.” He’d already stowed her away in the car.
Not understanding how things were and hearing the decisive reply from Liam, Jacob’s eyes reddened.
In his own naïve world, he thought that the Liam who never let emotions get in the way was finally
back. Tears danced in his eyes. “You’re finally back, Liam. That’s good. That’s great.”
The breakfast was just porridge and salty vegetables, but to Jacob it tasted like a Michelin star meal.
His joy faded as quickly as it come.
When he saw Rita trapped in the car, his jaw almost dropped off its hinges.
The hell!!!
Who was going to tell him what was going on?
Well…
He felt that it couldn’t have been Liam who put her there. This stupid woman was probably trying to get
a free ride.
Then proof of the opposite came whirling about like a tornado and swept him off his feet.
“Let me out, Liam Wilson.
“Let me out.”
Rita’s yells in the car smacked Jacob repeatedly upside the head with tremendous accuracy. Smack.
Smack. Smack.
The corners of his mouth jerked with spasms.
Who was he? Where was he?
He should’ve known.
Someone like Liam couldn’t have let Rita disappear without making the situation clear.
He must’ve been kicked in the skull by a mule to believe that Liam was back to his old self again.
He was too naïve.
City folk were such terrible people… he was scared. He wanted to go home. He wanted his mommy.
…
At this moment, in the Brown household.
After Rita and Liam left, a kneeling Rose sat heavily on the ground.
For all these years, she’d been spoiled by Mason. She’d never even had to wash dishes, so there was
no way she was up to kneeling for so long.
Besides, Amelia had said to kneel, but Rose wasn’t dumb. She could see that she was just giving the
two of them a way out.
Since Rita had left, like hell she was going to keep kneeling.
The gravel road hurt.
“Kneel properly, Rose, if Mom sees you like this, she’ll get mad again.” Looking at her splayed legs on
the ground, Mason frowned and reminded her quietly.
After all, Mason was still frightened of Amelia.
But the more frightened he was, the more resentful it made Rose.
She pouted, “Oh, boo hoo, little baby’s scared. Isn’t it the old lady who’s making us kneel here?”
Mason just so happened to catch a glimpse of Amelia heading their way.
Jolting, he ducked his head and hissed, “Don’t say any more, just kneel.”
Still completely ignorant of what was going on, Rose beat at her feet and scoffed, “Kneel all you want, I
don’t think I said anything wrong!”
“Shut up.” Seeing the old woman approach, Mason’s forehead beaded with sweat and he nudged at
Rose.
The nudge thoroughly released Rose’s anger, and she shrieked shrilly, “I’m not shutting up today,
Mason. Your Mom’s been kicked in the head by a donkey to hand the Brown family over to a bastard
girl instead of her granddaughter. Why do I have to kneel here; what did I even say wrong; I…”
Halfway through her spiel, a pair of black leather loafers came into Rose’s view.
This pair of artisan shoes had been specially tailored for Amelia by Rose outside the country.
Looking at the feet before her, she went completely pale, and her heart started skipping beats.
Leaning on her cane, Amelia’s sharp, old eyes fell on Rose, and she sneered, “Why’d you stop? You
were having so much fun letting loose. Go on. I want to hear what else you have to say.”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda