"Honey..."
Rachel Bailey called out softly.
"Too soft."
"Honey."
Rachel Bailey raised her voice a few decibels.
"Still too soft."
"Damn it, are you deaf or what? Honey! Did you hear that? Do I need to get a gaphone and shout into your ears?" Rachel Bailey, pushed past her patience by his repeated demands, couldn't help but burst out.
Hansen Ruiz laughed heartily. Her mouth just couldn't change its nature—so sharp!
It was because of Rachel Bailey's persuasion that Hansen Ruiz had been tolerating his mother's daily intrusions up until now.
"The Young Mistress usually doesn't get back until around ten o'clock," Floyd Thomas answered.
Mila Anderson glanced out of the car window at the sun again. She knew at a glance it was fierce and scorching hot.
Yet her precious future grandson was still being dragged around here and there by his mother.
"Madam, why don't we go back first?" Floyd Thomas suggested.
Go back?
Mila Anderson's face darkened slightly as she said coolly, "If Hansen returns, I won't be able to take her for the sonogram. She's almost five months pregnant now, and this is the most accurate ti to see the baby's gender with a sonogram."
It turned out that Mila Anderson had Floyd Thomas wait here with her, hoping to take advantage of Hansen's rare outing to sneak Rachel Bailey to the hospital for a sonogram to see if it was a boy or a girl. Rachel Bailey had been going for regular maternity checkups since three months into her pregnancy, but Hansen was with her every ti. As her mother-in-law, she hadn't been able to accompany her even once. Of course, it was most appropriate for Hansen to accompany her, but she was impatient to know whether Rachel Bailey was carrying a boy or a girl.
Mila Anderson herself had been the sa way. It seed that all mothers-in-law, when their daughters-in-law were pregnant, pondered this very question.
"She's here, Madam! The Young Mistress is back!" Floyd Thomas exclaid when he saw Rachel Bailey alighting from her workers' truck, imdiately alerting Mila Anderson.
Mila Anderson saw her too.
"Drive up there. We don't have much ti; Hansen will be back soon," Mila Anderson instructed at once.
If her son knew she was sneaking Rachel Bailey off for a sonogram to see the baby's gender, he would surely throw her out again. He might even order the nannies, who had been on the job for several months, not to let her set foot in the villa at all.
Floyd Thomas imdiately started the engine and drove the car to where Rachel Bailey was standing, stopping in front of her.
Rachel Bailey usually rode in her worker's truck for morning deliveries. Afterward, the worker would drop her off at Water's Edge New Village, and then she would walk ho, treating it as a leisurely stroll since it wasn't a long walk anyway. She had recently bought her own car, a white Philips. Although it wasn't worth much, she was quite satisfied with it because it was a car she had bought with her own money, not by relying on Hansen Ruiz.
Sotis Hansen Ruiz felt she was being foolish. He was her husband, and he made so much money precisely so she could live like a queen or a princess. She really didn't need to be so insistent on buying a car with her own earnings. His wife, Mrs. Ruiz, driving a Philips? He truly wanted to replace that Philips with a BMW or a rcedes.
But a wife knows her husband best.
Rachel Bailey saw right through his thoughts and even warned him that if he dared to touch her beloved car, she'd kick him out of bed. This wasn't an idle threat; if he didn't hold his wife at night these days, he would suffer from insomnia. So, for his own sake, Hansen Ruiz had to let her have her way.
After all, he had initially fallen for her straightforwardness, her independence, and her spirit that remained unbroken even in poverty. Why should he now try to extinguish those very traits that had attracted him?
"Rachel, get in the car." Once the car stopped, Mrs. Ruiz opened the rear door and called out to Rachel Bailey.
Rachel Bailey stopped in her tracks, stunned for a mont, then approached and bent down to ask Mrs. Ruiz, "Mom, where are we going?"
"Just get in when I tell you to. Why ask so many questions? Are you afraid I'm going to sell you off?" Mrs. Ruiz's tongue beca like a machine gun whenever she encountered Rachel Bailey. She had lived nearly sixty years, and it was only upon eting Rachel Bailey that she realized how sharp her own tongue could be.
"Honestly, Mom, I really am afraid you'll sell off," Rachel Bailey quipped fearlessly as she climbed into the back seat and closed the door. She hadn't forgotten that during their first eting, her mother-in-law had wanted to send her away from T City by knocking her out and having soone take her away.
"Even if I were to sell you, I'd wait until after you've given birth to my grandson," Mrs. Ruiz retorted, her words growing more venomous.
"Mom, all you talk about is a grandson. How do you know for sure it'll be a boy? So you favor boys?" Rachel Bailey wasn't surprised to hear her mother-in-law say this. Her mother-in-law was indeed very focused on her pregnancy now, but she hadn't truly accepted Rachel herself.
"No matter how well a daughter is raised, she ultimately belongs to another family," Mrs. Ruiz scoffed, indirectly admitting her preference for boys.
If Rachel were to give birth to a grandson for her, she might, on account of the grandson, formally accept Rachel Bailey as her daughter-in-law. She would then allow Hansen Ruiz to bring Rachel Bailey back to the Ruiz family ho in A City and formally welco her through the main gates of the Ruiz Family. But if it were a daughter—well, too bad—she just wouldn't like it. She would head back to A City imdiately and wouldn't bother looking again.
"Mom, aren't you a woman?" Rachel Bailey retorted.
It was the twenty-first century, yet such patriarchal views still persisted.
But she also knew there were still many like her mother-in-law in today's society. Many mothers-in-law, when their daughters-in-law gave birth to granddaughters, showed their dislike in various ways. So wouldn't even look at the baby; others would completely ignore the new mother during her postpartum confinent. But if it was a boy, their attitude would be completely different. They would be all smiles, telling everyone how their daughter-in-law had given them a grandson, as if wanting the whole world to know their family had a new son.
The patriarchal mindset that had oppressed people for millennia couldn't be completely eradicated from their minds overnight. It was indeed difficult.
"What's wrong with having a daughter? What era is this? Having a boy or a girl is the sa," Rachel Bailey exclaid angrily, extrely displeased with her mother-in-law's words. What if she really did give birth to a daughter? Would her mother-in-law just turn around and leave? Even though Rachel didn't need to live by her mother-in-law's approval—as long as Hansen Ruiz treated her well, that was enough—it still made her incredibly uncomfortable. It was distressing that her child could be so discriminated against, especially by her own grandmother. It could affect the child's psyche.
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