Lydia Fletcher asked her if she could co over to her place tomorrow to see her.
Natalie Kendall gripped her phone, her heart pounding, her mind dazed, for a mont unsure how to reply.
Not long after.
Lydia Fletcher sent another ssage:
[If it’s inconvenient, never mind.]
Natalie saw it and replied without thinking:
[It’s fine]
——
Lydia Fletcher didn’t co empty-handed.
When Natalie t her, she was carrying two bags, filled with vegetables and at.
Thinking about what Lydia Fletcher might do next, Natalie felt an indescribable mix of excitent and nervousness.
She didn’t even dare to ask outright, afraid of seeming presumptuous.
They entered.
Natalie found the slippers she’d prepared ahead of ti and placed them by Lydia Fletcher’s feet.
After changing shoes, Lydia asked, "Where’s the kitchen?"
Natalie led her over, watched her take out the vegetables and at, then looked up, "Anything you don’t eat?"
Natalie’s voice was slightly hoarse, "No. Are you going to cook?"
"Yeah. It certainly won’t be five-star chef quality." Lydia glanced at her, voice flat, "Don’t be picky."
Natalie pursed her lips, walked up, quietly helping her pick the vegetables.
Lydia Fletcher didn’t say anything, letting her help out.
Natalie was pretty good in the kitchen too.
Seeing how deftly she worked, Lydia Fletcher’s brow knitted, unable to help but ask, "Aren’t you the Beckett family’s young lady? Shouldn’t you be the type whose ten fingers never touch running water? How do you know how to do this?"
"Did The Becketts abuse you?"
Natalie paused what she was doing, looked at her, "If they did abuse , what would you do? Go settle the score with them for ?"
What status did she have?
Settle the score?
Lydia Fletcher lowered her eyelids coolly, keeping at her task.
Seeing this, Natalie wasn’t really disappointed.
She’d always known Lydia Fletcher wouldn’t do anything.
"Don’t worry, they didn’t abuse . I just like it, so I learned a bit."
After six o’clock.
Isaac Vaughn ca ho.
Natalie formally introduced, "This is my husband."
Lydia Fletcher said nothing.
She didn’t ask why she married at twenty, nor give the mother-in-law speech telling Isaac to take good care of her.
Dinner was ready, six dishes, everything looked and slled delicious.
Actually, in the past it was Lydia Fletcher who never touched spring water with her fingers.
Natalie rembered she always liked bright red nail polish, her pampered hands delicate like peeled eggs.
But now, she could effortlessly make a full table of food.
The three of them sat at the table, quietly eating.
Natalie usually didn’t eat much, but tonight, unusually, she had two bowls of rice.
When she reached for a third bowl, Isaac frowned and stopped her.
"Careful, you’ll get indigestion."
Natalie gave up then.
And soon, she felt an uncomfortable pressure in her stomach and hurried to the bathroom in the bedroom.
Once she left, only Isaac and Lydia Fletcher were left in the dining room.
Worried about her, Isaac started to get up to check.
Behind him, Lydia’s cold, flat voice sounded: "Is that enough?"
Isaac stopped walking, turned around to face her, his handso face grim, eyes frosty.
"I did what you asked. I don’t have ti to keep wasting."
Wasting?
Isaac felt a heaviness inside.
To Lydia Fletcher, giving her estranged daughter a bit of motherly love after all these years was called wasting ti?
He turned on his heel, walked up to Lydia Fletcher.
The man’s aura was powerful, naturally intimidating.
Lydia Fletcher was so pressured, she didn’t dare speak, just clenched her fingers tight.
"Not enough. Keep going."
Isaac coldly spat out "five words."
Lydia Fletcher frowned, about to say sothing, when Natalie ca back.
Noticing their tense state, Natalie asked, "What’s going on with you two?"
Isaac’s look toward Lydia Fletcher was ice-cold.
But when he turned to Natalie, his eyes were nothing but doting: "It’s nothing. Aunt Lydia said she wants to stay over tonight."
Natalie was startled at this.
She looked at Lydia Fletcher, a flash of joy in her eyes.
But Lydia Fletcher said nothing, tacitly agreeing with Isaac.
*
Natalie tidied up the guest room for Lydia Fletcher.
She spread the bedding, making sure every inch was flat.
Behind her, Lydia Fletcher ca in.
"It’s fine."
Natalie paused her hands, straightened up to look at her.
"Get so rest early."
As she brushed past Lydia Fletcher, Natalie said softly.
The door closed.
Lydia Fletcher sat down on the bed, her eyes troubled.
Master bedroom.
Isaac ca out of the shower, lifted the covers and hugged Natalie from behind.
Natalie turned to him, asking, "What exactly did you say to her earlier?"
Isaac’s eyes flickered, his long fingers caressing her face, "Your mom asked if I love you, I said I’m crazy about you."
Natalie’s eyes went wide, but quickly realized that was impossible.
Lydia Fletcher would never ask that.
She dropped her gaze, resting her head on Isaac’s chest and fell asleep.
Isaac gazed at the top of her head, sighed quietly, and hugged her tight.
No idea how long passed.
Natalie heard Isaac’s steady breathing, opened her eyes, slipped out of his arms, and walked out.
Standing in front of the guestroom door.
She took a deep breath, then gently opened the door.
The blanket bulged, showing soone really was sleeping there.
Natalie crept to the bedside, looking at Lydia Fletcher’s closed-eyed face; only then did her restless heart fully calm down.
It was almost funny.
She actually thought this was a dream.
She couldn’t believe Lydia Fletcher was really sleeping in her house, in the next room.
She sat down on the floor, laid her hand next to the bed, rested her chin on her hand, not taking her eyes off Lydia Fletcher.
The once radiant beauty—even though the years had been kind, they still left their marks at the corner of her eyes.
After a while, Natalie looked at Lydia Fletcher’s hand lying outside the blanket; unable to resist anymore, she reached out and lightly touched her fingertip.
It was just a quick touch.
Natalie didn’t dare linger.
But that instant tingling, she felt the mother-daughter bond; her eyes stung with tears.
Afraid she wouldn’t be able to control her emotions, she hurried up and left.
The mont she left, Lydia Fletcher opened her eyes.
Actually, Lydia had been awake ever since Natalie ca in.
Just pretending to sleep.
She looked at the finger Natalie had just touched, her expression complicated.
——
Early the next morning, Natalie got up to make breakfast.
She didn’t know if Lydia Fletcher preferred Chinese or Western, so she prepared both.
Isaac ca to the kitchen looking for her; she fed him a bite of salad.
"How does it taste?"
"Delicious." He kissed her.
Natalie relaxed.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
So early, who could it be?
Natalie and Isaac exchanged a glance; Isaac went to open the door.
The door opened. Seeing Vanessa Grant’s dark expression, Isaac felt a bad premonition inside.
"Mom, is there sothing you needed this early?"
Vanessa Grant shot him a cold look, walked in.
Isaac frowned, following after her.
Just as Natalie ca out from the kitchen, she ran into Vanessa in the living room.
"Nat." Vanessa said right away when she saw her, "You aborted the baby with Isaac, didn’t you?"
"Mom!" Isaac quickly moved to Vanessa’s side, grabbed her shoulder, his brow deeply furrowed, his eyes dark, "This is sothing between the two of us. We decided together not to keep the baby."
"Nat is still so young. I can’t bear to let her be a mother."
Vanessa turned to her son, just about to say sothing, when soone walked out of the guest room.
Lydia Fletcher walked to Natalie’s side and looked at Vanessa Grant.
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