The person on the other end said sothing in a deep voice, and Lydia Fletcher hung up with an unpleasant expression.
Outside the fitting room.
Natalie Kendall knocked lightly on the door and asked, "Do you need help?"
"No need."
Lydia Fletcher casually grabbed a dress and put it on after speaking.
She ca out of the fitting room, and the sales assistant imdiately stepped forward to help adjust the dress.
While adjusting it, she praised, "Madam, you have such great poise, this dress seems tailored specifically for you."
Lydia Fletcher glanced at herself in the mirror, then turned to ask Natalie Kendall, "Are you satisfied?"
Natalie was taken aback.
The sales assistant sensed sothing amiss in the mother-daughter atmosphere and tactfully stepped aside.
Lydia raised her arms to show Natalie the dress she was wearing, "A dress worth over forty thousand, if we go to last night’s restaurant again, should it not embarrass you anymore?"
Natalie frowned, "That’s not what I ant."
She only wanted to make Lydia happy.
She rembered that Lydia used to love new dresses, every ti she wore one, she bead with joy, sotis even dancing in the living room or yard with her when she was little.
It was an unforgettable joyful ti for her.
"If you don’t like it, then let’s leave."
"I like it." Unexpectedly, Lydia said, "Whether it’s this dress or the ones inside, I like them all."
Natalie pursed her lips.
They packed all the clothes, totaling three hundred and ten thousand.
When they left the luxury store, Lydia asked, "Where else do you want to go? Do you want to buy jewelry?"
Before Natalie could speak, a female voice sounded, "Isn’t this Nat?"
Natalie and Lydia turned around, Natalie’s eyes imdiately jolted, her body stiffened, and she instinctively called, "Mom..."
The newcors were Cynthia Kendall and June Huxley.
They were also shopping, and June recognized Natalie’s figure from behind and called out to her.
Cynthia glared at Lydia beside Natalie with a gaze that seed to want to rip her apart!
Fourteen years!
They hadn’t seen each other for fourteen whole years!
But Lydia’s face, even if it turned to ash, Cynthia would recognize it!
Noticing Cynthia’s upset, June asked, "Cynthia, what’s wrong?"
Cynthia looked at the bag of clothes in Natalie’s hand and laughed grimly, "What a beautiful scene of motherly love and filial piety!"
They could shop and buy clothes together, enjoying the mother-daughter relationship.
But she had lost her Annie, her precious child, forever.
Why?
Why could Lydia and Natalie be so happy?
Cynthia stepped forward, raising her hand to slap Lydia.
She wanted to smack this bitch to death!
A "slap" echoed.
But Cynthia’s slap didn’t land on Lydia; it landed on Natalie who had blocked it.
Lydia frowned, looking at Natalie with a complex expression.
"Nat!" June hurriedly held Cynthia back, "Cynthia, what’s going on?"
Then she asked Natalie, "Nat, who is this person? Are you really going to upset your mother for her?"
Natalie turned her face back from the slap.
Her cheek was burning red, marked with a clear handprint.
She glanced at Cynthia and whispered to Lydia, "Let’s go."
"What? Nat?" June was incredulous, watching Natalie leave with the woman by her side.
Cynthia stared fiercely at their backs, wishing she could tear them apart.
If Lydia dared to show her face, then she shouldn’t bla Cynthia for not letting her go!
——
Natalie walked Lydia to the hotel entrance.
Lydia glanced at her swollen face, hesitated a bit, and then said calmly, "Do you want to co up for a while?"
The cheap hotel room, once entered, exuded a musty stench.
The room was not only small and shabby but also windowless, with mold visible in the corners.
Natalie couldn’t imagine how Lydia, who once wanted everything to be the best and lived a privileged life, could tolerate living in such a place.
Turns out she had been lying; her life over the years wasn’t what one would call good.
Lydia went out for a while and ca back with an ice pop.
She handed the ice pop to Natalie to apply to her face.
Natalie took it, holding it, scratching at the plastic wrap around the ice pop.
She wanted to say sothing, but Lydia’s cell phone suddenly rang.
Lydia took her phone into the bathroom.
The room had no soundproofing at all.
Natalie could clearly hear her conversation over there.
"Hey, has the baby eaten?"
"You must eat properly, okay? Eating is important for growing tall."
"Yeah, mom misses you too; mom loves you the most."
"The baby should listen to dad, mom will co back after handling business, and will bring gifts. A toy car, yeah, mom noted it."
Natalie suddenly ripped the plastic wrap of the ice pop.
Lydia had a new family, a new child.
Her motherly love, gentleness, patience, the words she spoke, they were what Natalie always longed for.
Yet neither Lydia nor Cynthia loved her the most.
One abandoned her, the other wanted to kill her.
After finishing the call, Lydia ca out of the bathroom and found the room empty.
Natalie had left.
——
Natalie didn’t know how she returned ho.
Upon entering, she was so weak she fell forward as if collapsing.
Her knee hit the ground hard with a "bang."
"Little Ear!"
Isaac Vaughn heard the noise and rushed over, seeing her fall at the entrance, his heart almost stopping.
He quickly picked her up, looking at her pale face and the obvious marks from being struck on her cheek, his gaze darkened: "Who hit you!"
Natalie leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck, instinctively seeking his scent for security.
Isaac gritted his teeth and carried her to the living room.
Sitting on the sofa, he didn’t put her down, letting her sit on his lap.
He gently stroked her back, over and over.
After a long ti, Natalie got off his lap of her own accord and sat to the side.
Isaac went to get an ice pack to apply to her face.
After a short while, she said she was tired and went to sleep.
Isaac took out his phone and sent a ssage; shortly after, he received a reply; after reading it, his expression dimd.
In the room.
Though Natalie said she was tired and wanted to sleep, she couldn’t fall asleep.
Suddenly, a ssage popped up on her phone.
She reached over, opened it, and suddenly sat up straight.
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