Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Mary opened her eyes, it was already the next morning.
Her body hurt all over. She couldn’t move, so she just lay there and stared at the ceiling. Her eyes were blank for a long time before she remembered how she sustained her wounds.
She raised her arm slowly and observed the scabs. Sadness, anger, and disappointment ebbed and flowed within her. As she looked on at back of her hand, there was a knock on the door.
Jason asked in his childish voice, “Mom, are you awake? Can I come in?”
She gently put her hand down on the bed and stared at the door.
Marry hesitated. She didn’t want Jason to see her injuries and make him worried, so she didn’t answer him. She pretended to be asleep, as if she could not hear him.
“Mom?” Jason asked again.
“Are you inside? I miss you. I had nightmares last night.” He knocked on the door again.
Mary could not bring herself to leave Jason outside the door.
“Come in,” Mary said.
Jason pushed the door open.
She sat up slowly.
Jason’s small body seemed to carry a gust of wind as he ran to the bed. As he did, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.
His brows furrowed, and his voice was laced with anger. “Mom, why are you hurt? Who dared to bully you?”
His heart ached so much and he wanted to avenge his mother.
Mary forced a smile and comforted him, “Jason, don’t be angry. Mom’s fine.”
“How can you be fine when you are so badly injured? It must be painful. Mom, tell me who did it. I can’t beat him up, but Fred and Max can help! I’ll go find them!” He turned around and ran toward the door.
Mary tried to stop him. “Jason, come back!” But Jason did not listen to her.
Jason ran out of the room and into Max who was at the doorway.
He looked up, then shouted anxiously, “Max, I don’t know who had the guts to bully my mother. She’s hurt bad. Go take a look!”
Max’s eyes flickered.
Holding Jason’s hand, he entered the room. Tears began to well up in Jason’s eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “Some bad guy hurt my mother. If I had a new father, my mother wouldn’t have been bullied.”
He knew that he was still too young to protect his mother. He had to find a good man to help him protect her.
Jason them pulled his hand out of Max’s grasp. He trotted to the bed, opened his arms, and hugged his mother tightly. He even patted her head and said solemnly, “Mom, I will definitely grow up fast and learn martial arts from Fred. I will also find a good father to protect you and not let you be hurt by bad guys.”
Max looked at Mary, but she ignored him. She lowered her eyes and patted Jason’s back.
She didn’t want Jason to be sad anymore, so she decided to tell him a white lie.
She explained gently, “Jason, I wasn’t bullied by bad guys. I was bitten by a dog when I was on the way back last night.”
Jason looked up. He asked, “Mom, where is that dog? I’ll go beat it up! Also, have you been vaccinated? People need to be vaccinated against dog bites!”
“Of course.” Mary gently caressed Jason’s head.
Jason stared at her hand for a few seconds and blew on it. It warmed her heart.
“Mom, does it still hurt?”
“If Jason blows on it, it won’t hurt anymore.”
“Jason, let’s go downstairs first. Let your mom wash up before breakfast.” Max’s gentle voice broke the warm atmosphere.
Jason turned to look at him. He smiled gently at Mary and whispered in her ear, “Mom, I love you.” He then left the room with Max to wait for her downstairs.
Half an hour later, Mary went down. She saw Jason and Max sitting at the dining table, chatting away. The way Jason looked at Max was full of admiration.
As she came down from the final step, the man at the dining table looked up at her. It was hard to figure out what he was thinking through those eyes. Mary turned her gaze away and walked towards them.
Max got up and pulled out a chair for her.
“Mom, have an egg.”
Over the past few years, Mary had cooked an egg for Jason almost every day. Jason had been responsible for peeling the eggs since he was two.
“Thank you, Jason.”
Because of her injury, Mary had sent Priscilla a message saying that she wouldn’t be in the office for the next two days. Priscilla thought that Mary was sick, so she gave her a call. She was relieved to hear that she was fine.
Mary rested for three days. The medicine she had applied was excellent.
Upon waking up on the fourth day, she was almost fully recovered. Unless people looked closely, they would not be able to see her wounds.
On a working day, Jason insisted on seeing her off with Fred.
He raised his head to look at Mary. “Mom, Fred and I will protect you!”
Mary didn’t stop him.
At the office, Priscilla felt that something was off about Mary when she saw her. Priscilla held Mary’s hand and asked worriedly, “Mary, what happened? Were you recuperating at home these few days? Did Sandra do something to you?” The questions came one after another.
Mary shook her head with a smile. “No, I fell and hurt myself.”
“You fell?”
Priscilla frowned and recalled, “John sent you home that night. How did you fall? I’ll call him and ask him what happened.”
“Priscilla.”
Mary grabbed Priscilla’s hand. “It has nothing to do with John.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, did you hurt yourself anywhere else?”
Mary was wearing long sleeves and pants, so Priscilla could only see only the wounds on her hands. Other than those, Priscilla could not be sure if there were any other.
Mary shook her head. “No, just my hands. How’s Sofia?”
“Oh, they will come over this afternoon to finalize the proposal. Mary, they want us to do an interview with Sandra.”
“Interview?”
Mary walked to her desk, pulled out the chair, and sat down.
Priscilla explained, “Sofia wants to take advantage of Sandra’s wedding. So, before Sofia promotes the products, she wants to Sandra to have an exclusive interview.”
Many reporters always tried to schedule an interview with the famous film star, but Sandra rarely ever agreed to give one. However, it seemed like Sofia could persuade Sandra to go through with it this time.
“As long as Sofia can get Sandra to agree, we will arrange an interview for her.”
Mary turned on the computer, and frowned as something occupied her mind.
Priscilla nodded and continued, “Mary, there’s something else. Yesterday, I received a call from the Gaston Group. They want to establish a long-term working relationship with us.”
Mary froze, her hand on the mouse stopped. She looked up and met Priscilla’s gaze, only to laugh coldly.
Three days ago, Max had gone on a business trip on the very next day after he had pushed her down. Matthew informed her that Max would be back in about a week.
“Mary, should we agree to the Gaston Group’s proposal?”
The Gaston Group was definitely a capable company. Many would grab such an opportunity. Once Mary secured a contract with the Gaston Group, she would no longer need to consider other business partnerships. Priscilla knew that much, but she was unsure about was the personal relationship between Mary and Max.
Mary focused her vision back to the computer.
She asked casually, “Who contacted you?”
“Lily.”
Priscilla thought that perhaps Mary didn’t know who Lily was, and so after a while, added, “Max’s chief secretary.”
His chief secretary?
Why did Max want to cooperate with her now and even get his chief secretary to contact them?
Because he felt that he needed to compensate for what he had done to her? Or because he felt guilty after knowing about those men five years ago?
Mary’s scorn for Max deepened.
She said calmly, “Reject them for now. Tell them that we’re busy promoting Garcia Group’s products and preparing for Sandra’s interview. If they want still want to work together, they’ll have to wait until after Max and Sandra’s wedding..”