Chapter 80: Liam is getting better Chapter 80: Liam is getting better Mrs.
Smith and Chris ca ho from the restaurant on that day, and both felt a bit under the weather as they got caught in the rain.
Chris, being a boy with a good physique, was just fine after having a bowl of pepper soup made by the nanny that night.
However, Mrs.
Smith fell seriously ill.
It seed like a disease borne from external factors, but in fact, it was heartache.
The Smith family knew why, but they were powerless.
Maureen was almost eighteen years old.
They couldn’t possibly force her to co back.
Moreover, even if she did co back, they couldn’t return to the past.
Maureen would despise them even more.
The Smith family finally soberly realized this point.
Regardless, they didn’t give up, believing that bloodline ties are the most unbreakable things in the world.
Maureen might be angry and resent them for one or two years, but she couldn’t possibly discard them forever.
Moreover, they now understood regret and compensation.
With ti, wouldn’t the relationship gradually improve?
The current problem is how to aliorate it.
Just as Mrs.
Smith and Chris saw outside the restaurant, Maureen wouldn’t give them a single glance when she saw them, let alone exchange pleasantries.
Direct confrontations had no effect.
She would certainly turn and leave as she had always done in the past.
She probably wouldn’t even utter half a sentence, just annoyingly futile.
They must think of other thods to soften her gradually.
Each mber of the Smith family was pondering their own strategies.
Mr.
Smith remained outside of the situation.
Even though he was told what had happened by Oliver, he still believed that Maureen was maybe just montarily upset and that the situation could be turned around.
Maureen felt dejected due to the small biases her family, especially towards her and Bianca.
These disappointnts accumulated over ti, causing her to ultimately decide to leave ho.
So where did it all begin?
It started with the bias.
Mr.
Smith had a private talk with each family mber, emphasizing that from then on, Bianca and Maureen must be treated evenly, whether Maureen was present or not, they must be fair and impartial.
Indeed, the incident at the last birthday feast, where Mrs.
Smith gave Maureen’s dress to Bianca, which should never happen again.
He particularly lectured his son, Mike: “Watch your mouth.
It’s okay to chatter away, but when the situation is serious, you should act accordingly.” He also told his wife, “You have the most significant influence on Maureen.
Henceforth, you must treat them equally.
But considering our situation, it will not hurt to be more partial to our own daughter, Maureen.” Oliver also had individual talks with Mike and his mother.
Addressing Mike, he criticized, “In all honesty, if you had waited for that day before impulsively going to find Maureen, we might not have ended up in the police station.
You’ve ssed up the situation.” Mike roared with anger, “So now for a little girl, this whole family is putting up a big show, taking turns to discipline ?
How was I supposed to know that day-” Before he finished, a smack on the back of the head by Mr.
Smith interrupted him, “I already told you!
Change the way you speak!
Can’t you use the word ‘sister’ instead of saying ‘little girl’?
This current dilemma is all because of you!
If you wish to stay in this house, go to the study right now and write ‘sister’ a hundred tis!” Mr.
Smith’s face turned livid.
He always maintained the image of a stern father; every family mber feared him.
Mike was boiling with fury, but he held it back and went to the study to study his script.
Oliver’s conversation with his mother mainly focused on analyzing the reasons leading to the current situation.
The two of them began to reminisce about so past events, and the more they recalled, the more they began to acknowledge certain details they had overlooked in favor of Bianca, often at the expense of Maureen’s feelings.
Mrs.
Smith’s face turned pale and she started to weep.
Oliver was quite frustrated with the whole situation and reminded his mother, “From now on, we need to pay extra attention to these details and consider Maureen’s feelings.” With those words, he hurriedly left.
Additionally, Mr.
Smith held a eting with the household staff, emphasizing that Maureen was their biological daughter and should not be neglected in any way.
It was made clear that if there were to be a repeat of the incident like Mrs.
Daniel, that person would be fired imdiately.
…
The private conversations among the Smith family naturally excluded Bianca.
It was not because they were intentionally keeping her in the dark, but because these were matters related to blood relatives.
It was actually more harmful to Maureen if Bianca got involved.
So, it was better if she remained absent.
The Smith family also sowhat took into account her feelings.
However, Bianca started to feel as though sothing was off.
She started to notice family mbers frequently sneaking off to the study in pairs, as if they were deliberately avoiding her.
And it wasn’t just the family; the servants too.
The gardener started ordering seeds for the flowers that Maureen liked, the cook began looking up recipes for Maureen’s favorite dishes from before, and the driver occasionally asked her classmates for information on Maureen.
She even saw Chris up late at night, trying to replicate the dishes that Maureen used to cook, hoping to bring them to school for her— Bianca understood, of course, this was a guilt-ridden compensation attempt.
They had all taken for granted the als Maureen used to cook, but now that she was gone, they felt an emptiness, a need to make ands.
But seeing this only filled Bianca with a sense of restlessness and anxiety.
Although Maureen had left this ho, her presence could still be felt everywhere.
Even more so than when she first arrived two years ago.
Bianca was both afraid and jealous.
People’s energy and love are limited.
Once more energy is focused on Maureen, the mbers of the Smith family inevitably overlook her.
Not to ntion that Oliver, although still gentle on the surface, had been avoiding her for a while.
And Chris’s relationship with her had always been strained.
Even Mr.
Smith no longer personally taught her to play golf on the weekends, but only let the coach teach.
Mike, who was not often at ho, always looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze, totally lacking the protection he used to offer before Maureen’s arrival.
Bianca felt a burning anxiety, understanding she could not allow this situation to continue.
…
She called Aunt Daniel.
Aunt Daniel, the nanny, was still hoping that Bianca could bring her back.
But under current circumstances, after being bluntly rejected by Mrs.
Smith, Bianca had absolutely no way to ask the Smith family to rehire Aunt Daniel.
When aunty Daniel heard Bianca crying aggrievedly, she was also anxious and quickly comforted, “Don’t worry, Miss.
The matter of arranging my return is not urgent.
You should take good care of yourself first.
You must stay steady, and you cannot slack off in your studies and exam competitions, especially the upcoming one —” Bianca said, “The Inter-school League.” “Yes, especially this league.
You can’t fall short of Maureen.
You have to show your family that you are better than her,” Mrs.
Daniel strategized, “In addition, you also need to think about how to get along with the Smith family.
You must take the initiative.
Now that the situation has changed, you can’t just sit and wait.” Bianca, frustrated and confused, said, “I understand.” Taking the initiative is easier said than done.
For the past fifteen years, as the only girl in the Smith family, Bianca has always been spoiled like a little princess.
It was only when Maureen arrived that she felt a sense of crisis.
Being spoiled led to her only knowing how to be loved, and not at all good at pleasing others.
In her mind, she only needed to be beautiful and well-behaved.
How would she know that now because of Maureen’s running away from ho, the whole family would be like this?
Bianca thought for a while and ca up with an idea.
Recently, Oliver has been troubled by a matter in his company.
His company intends to acquire a piece of land, but the other company has always set a high price, hence hindering Oliver’s acquisition.
Bianca rembered that company Rolly, was owned by Ryan Rolly from the evergreen group.
Ryan courted her once.
She could assist her brother in this matter in this way, and her brother would surely view her in a different light.
Thinking of this, Bianca opened her Whatsapp, pondering over how to persuade Ryan willingly to handle the situation.
…
========== All of Thursday, Liam didn’t co to class.
Maureen felt at a loss, looking at the seat beside her three hundred tis in a day.
She counted her little sprouts, she already unconsciously had one hundred and eighty of them.
There’s still a long way to reach five hundred, but Maureen is not so eager now.
After all, the injuries on her face have healed, and she wasn’t so unlucky during the exams.
The stolen luck has already brought her a lot of good fortune.
As for the rest, as long as she stays by Liam’s side, she should be able to gather five hundred sprouts by the ti they graduate from senior high school, right?
This resulted in Maureen not seeking Drake for Good Luck whenever Liam was absent.
It was only on Friday that Liam ca to school.
His phone and pillow had been hastily thrown on the ground when he rushed into the bathroom for a shower on Wednesday late afternoon, due to an aching head.
The phone case was cracked, the pillow drenched, and he could only leave them on the balcony.
Having been raining continuously these few days, they couldn’t be dried.
Hence, Liam could only abandon them at ho.
The mont Liam arrived — perhaps due to his two days absence from class, Maureen’s gaze couldn’t resist but linger on him.
Consequently, Maureen, who wasn’t one to pay attention to details, noticed that Liam didn’t bring his small pillow.
Ever since she had given it to him, he has always kept it by his side.
What exactly happened in these two days?
Due to her curiosity, Maureen’s gaze couldn’t help but keep lingering on Liam’s handso face.
Watching him walk into the classroom with a straight face, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
Maureen could feel his emotions obviously lowered, exuding a low pressure.
He was wearing noise-cancelling headphones when he entered, his face pale and expressionless, quickly took off his coat and started napping the mont he sat down.
Without uttering a word, and without greeting herself, Niel and Drake.
Staring at the silent and seemingly lifeless red hair of Liam, Maureen felt a pang of concern.
…
What happened exactly?
If it wasn’t for her previous conversation with Niel, Maureen would have thought that Liam was upset because she forgot about his birthday.
Yet, only she and Niel knew about this secret.
However, he is not soone who would be petty about this.
Maureen guessed it might be due to him falling ill and thereby in a bad mood.
Being sick is indeed troubling.
Maureen did not disturb him, allowing him to sleep through half of the morning undisturbed.
During class, when a gang of little brothers passed by, she gestured a “shush” to remind them to be quiet.
During the break of the third period, seeing that Liam was still silent, Maureen couldn’t help but buy a packet of candies from the convenience store.
“Do you feel a bit bitter in your mouth?
Have so Candies” Maureen softly woke him up.
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