Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“So you’re even going to abandon your own mother, all for Mary Hanks?” Sofia asked as she squeezed out a tear. She stared at Max with pain and grief.
There was an icy streak in Max’s eyes. His lips formed a mocking arc as he asked, “Mother, do you remember what I said to you back then when you forced me to agree to a marriage with the Whites?”
There was silence. Sofia turned pale.
Back then, she had also threatened to kill herself in front of Max. Darius Gaston had been overseas. Max, who had only been 14, was too young to understand much. However, he had promised Candice Liam to protect Mary. Without any other choice, he had agreed to Sofia’s request to marry the Whites. During that time, he had told Sofia, “Mother, I can promise you to marry the Whites. But one day, I’m going to let you know that your decision is wrong.”
It was only until a few days ago that he discovered that Sofia had not only forced him to marry the Whites, but she had also forced Mary to make a cruel oath. Sofia had tormented Mary.
Max’s gaze turned impossibly cold when he thought about that.
“Did you come to hate me from then on? Did you think that I was unfit to be your mother? Or do you think that you can find a new mother at any time just like your father does?” Sofia questioned as she cried. She looked like she was extremely aggrieved.
Max was indifferent towards her tears. He said coldly, “I don’t hate you. I don’t care about whatever you do as long as you do not breach my threshold or harm the people I care about.”
“Max!” Sandra called for him anxiously when she saw him turning to leave.
Max Gaston’s masculine facial features were accentuated perfectly under the light, though they looked like they were covered by a layer of frost. His aura was extremely suffocating.
Sandra asked with a choked voice, “Can’t you let the Whites off on account that we are going to get married soon?”
“You can cancel the wedding if you can’t accept what I’m doing,” Max retorted, then left without hesitation.
Sandra’s expression changed drastically as she cried out again, “Max!”
She wanted to run forward to hold onto him. However, she was stopped by Matthew Smith before she managed to get close.
—
On Sunday, Mary called Priscilla along and spent the entire afternoon shopping with Rebecca Yelton. Rebecca was quite the shopper despite being pregnant. She bought piles of stuff. She eventually even wanted to buy some clothes for Paul.
They arrived at the menswear section of the mall. Rebecca pointed to a suit and asked Mary, “Mary, do you think Paul would look good in that?”
The white suit did not fit Paul’s disposition. Mary had known Paul for more than 20 years but had rarely ever seen him wear a suit.
“I don’t think he wears white clothes oftent?” Mary replied.
“What do you think, Priscilla?” Rebecca asked.
“I also feel that my brother won’t look good in white,” Priscilla answered. Her taste was similar to Mary’s.
Rebecca looked visibly upset. She pointed to the suit on the display model and put on a fake smile as she said, “Paul looks very good in white. I like it when he wears white, especially white shirts. I’ve loved him in white shirt even before I got pregnant. He likes it too—”
There was a pause in the air. Mary and Priscilla looked at each other silently. They understood the meaning behind Rebecca’s words— They did not know Paul as well as she did.
Rebecca then told the store attendant, “Help me get a set of this suit in this size. Do you have men’s underwear here? I want a larger size—”
Priscilla’s phone rang. She went out to take the call.
The store attendant brought a few pairs of underwear over for Rebecca to choose from. Rebecca then asked Mary, “Mary, which color do you think is nice?”
“Any color that you think is nice will be great,” Mary replied, not really wanting to answer such a question.
Rebecca glanced at Mary and asked with a smile, “Do you want to buy a pair or two for Max?”
She glanced at the store attendant beside her as she said that, then lowered her volume and said intimately, “John gets especially excited whenever I buy underwear for him. You should buy a few pairs for Max too.”
Mary knitted her brows. However, Rebecca was too engrossed in the conversation to notice, “Mary— Just get some for him. Max is a good man. I do wish for both of you to be together. He can take care of you and Jason. That way, Paul wouldn’t have to spend all his time worrying about you and Jason anymore.”
“You’re overthinking,” Mary interrupted, not wanting to listen any further.
Rebecca frowned as she said, “I’m not overthinking. Paul worries a lot about you and Jason and is neglecting his wife. You can get just two pairs for now. Only then will he believe me when I tell him that Max Gaston will take care of you. Mary, my baby is going to be born soon. I don’t want Paul to be distracted. Can you do it on account of me helping you to save Jason back then?”
Mary looked into Rebecca’s eyes. A moment later, she chuckled and waved to the store attendant with an indecipherable emotion in her eyes, “Do you have any other styles and colors?”
“We do,” the store attendant replied before happily fetching over a few other designs of underwear.
“Let’s get these two styles. Wrap them up for me, two of each,” Rebecca told the store attendant.
She then said with a satisfied smile, “Mary, please don’t think badly of me. I’m doing this for your good.”
The smile on Mary’s face faded as she responded, “Paul is not the kind of person you think he is. You don’t have to overthink things.”
“I don’t want to either, but I don’t have a sense of security,” Rebecca replied, her gaze turning sullen. She suddenly became less forceful as she continued, “I forced Paul to marry me. Mary, I’ll only feel at ease if you get married or are seeing someone.”
Rebecca was very direct.
Mary wanted to laugh but could not. She did not know how Rebecca and Paul had spent the last few years together. However, she knew that they quarreled a lot. Usually, the argument would be one-sided on Rebecca’s part. Paul would ignore her and simply leave the house.
Rebecca took two photos of Mary grabbing the bags when they were settling the bill. She also had photos of Mary picking out the underwear just now. She was thinking about how to tell Paul about it when they got home. Those photos were enough to explain the relationship between Mary and Max.
Mary and Priscilla sent Rebecca home after they had lunch outside. However, Rebecca wanted to look for Paul at the shop and so, they had no choice but to send her there.
Paul was sitting in front of a computer and busy at work. Rebecca hugged Paul from behind and said playfully, “Paul, I’m so happy today. Mary and Priscilla not only bought things for the baby, but we also bought clothes for you.”
She made the announcement to him in front of Priscilla and Mary.
Paul’s expression changed slightly as he freed up his seat for Rebecca. He then poured each of them a cup of water.
Rebecca said with a laugh when Paul was handing Mary her water, “Paul, let me tell you a piece of good news. Mary and Max are seeing each other. She even helped Max pick out underwear just now—Right, Mary?”
Mary’s eyes widened slightly. She did not expect Rebecca to talk about that in front of everyone.
Paul stared at Mary awkwardly, a little stunned.
Rebecca continued, “I also bought some for you. You can try it on when you send me home later—”
She stood up and walked over to Paul and Mary, then cradled his arm and whispered intimately, “I can still do it if you are gentle.”
Paul’s expression turned dark as he fought back his raging urge to fling her away.
Mary pursed her lips and said casually, “Priscilla and I still have business to attend to. We’ll take our leave first.”
“Mary, you must be in a hurry to give Max the underwear, right? Go quickly. Priscilla, you don’t have to follow,” Rebecca called after them..