Free Web NovelChapter 711: She Always Wanted to Say Sorry
Michael and Wendy returned to Lake City.
In the next few days, Wendy seemed to be quite busy.
Whenever Michael came home from work, he would see Wendy cooped up in the study.
One day, when Michael came home, he saw Leah and Jake playing in the living room. "Where’s Mummy?"
"Mummy is in the study. She told us not to disturb her." Leah pointed at a tightly shut door.
Luke frowned slightly.
He went in front of the study, gently knocked twice, and opened the door.
Wendy lifted her head when she heard that. When she saw that it was Michael, she buried her head back in her work.
"What are you working on?" Michael went over and saw that she was working on a design.
"I found out more about Uncle Tom’s company, and I realized that I still have the clothing designs from the Nimbus Collection," Wendy said. "I thought of revising them and giving them to him."
"Are you helping Uncle Tom to get his company publicly listed?" Michael asked.
Wendy nodded and put her pen down. "Tom has always wanted to have his company publicly listed, but he never found a good opportunity. If I can collaborate with Stewart Corporation and launch the Nimbus Collection with their brand, I believe they can get themselves publicly listed."
"I’ve been wondering why you were so busy." Michael did not understand the drawings, so he asked, "How has work been?"
"I’m almost done," Wendy said with a smile. "Mom’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. We should go to Queens City again. Let’s bring the children along.
Grandma wants to see them."
"Alright." Michael nodded.
Mary’s birthday was on Saturday. On Friday evening, Wendy and Luke brought the two children to Linton.
Mary was happy to see Wendy and the others visit her.
"Grandma!" Leah and Jake greeted Mary at the same time.
Mary took their hands happily and asked them, "What do you want to eat for dinner?
I’ll go and buy the ingredients."
"I love everything you cook!" Leah said sweetly.
Mary’s heart warmed when she heard that.
"Let me go with you, Grandma," Leah said.
"Sure! Let’s go together." Mary said to Wendy and the others, "You can make yourselves at home."
"Let’s go together," Wendy said as she supported her stomach.
At the market, the family received a lot of attention. Many acquaintances greeted them when they saw them.
"Mr. Lucas, Wendy, you’re back. Why not stop by for dinner? My wife is cooking now."
"Hi, Jake and Leah. Would you want to come to my house for dinner? I’ll make you anything you want."
"Good evening, Mr. Lucas. Good evening, Wendy. Good evening, Mrs. Stewart."
"You’re so lucky, Mrs. Stewart. The two children are so cute!"
Wendy and her family smiled and replied to each other’s greetings.
Michael had donated a lot of money to Linton’s development.
His money was used to refurbish the local school and repair the roads. Even the new trees on both sides of the roads were planted with Michael’s money.
The people of Linton treated Michael as their benefactor.
The vendors at the market did not want to take Mary’s money whenever she wanted to buy something. They insisted on giving her everything for free.
"It’s fine, Mrs. Stewart. I’m not going to take the money from you," the vendor said.
"Mr. Lucas did so much for us. This is all I can do to show my gratitude."
"This won’t do. You’re running a small business, and I don’t want to take advantage of you." Mary insisted on paying.
The two people quibbled for a while.
Eventually, when Mary threatened to leave her shopping basket there, the vendor took a nominal sum.
...
That night, the family enjoyed a happy dinner together.
At night, Mary slept in one room with the two children, while Michael and Wendy slept in another room.
Michael and Wendy woke up very early the next morning.
Wendy noticed that Mary was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen, so she went in to help.
"You can relax. I’ll be done soon," Mary said.
"Mom..." Wendy remained in the kitchen. She said, "I’ll bring you somewhere after breakfast."
"Where are we going?" Mary asked.
"Let’s go to Queens City."
After Wendy said that, she saw Mary’s hand that was holding the spatula freeze mid-air.
Wendy continued to speak, "The car ride will take six hours, so we’ll have to leave as soon as we finish breakfast."
"I don’t think I want to go." Mary smiled awkwardly. "How about next time? It’s rare that the two children come here to visit. Let’s not ruin the mood."
Mary was afraid that Janine had not forgiven her. If she went to meet her mother that day, she was afraid that the trip would end in disappointment.
It would be fine if she went alone, but she did not want Wendy and the others to be driven away along with her.
"We should go. Who knows if Grandma might forgive you on your birthday?" Wendy tried to convince her mother.
Mary hesitated for a while and shook her head. "I think I should go myself some other time."
"Listen to me, Mom. We’ll have to go today." Wendy took the spatula from Mary’s hand and helped her cook the rest of the omelets.
After breakfast, Michael, Wendy, and the two children convinced her to go to Queens City together.
Finally, Mary agreed to it.
They left the house at nine o’clock in the morning, and they arrived at their destination at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Mary sat in the car. She did not want to get out.
Last time, thanks to Leah, she had found the courage to stand in front of her mother’s house.
However, Tom had driven her away.
"Let’s go in, Mom." Wendy took Mary’s hand.
Mary was extremely nervous. She did not move.
"Let’s go, Mom. Look, the front gate is opened." Wendy smiled and pointed at the front gate outside of the car window.
"If I get out of the car, the gate will close..." Mary said timidly.
"Let’s go, Grandma..." Leah also held Mary’s hand.
"Jake, Leah, you can go into the house first. If you see a man in his forties, you can call him Grand-uncle Tom," Wendy said to the children. "Great-grandma should be lying on her bed. You can ask Grand-uncle Tom to bring you to see her. She would love to see you two."
Leah nodded. "Yes, Mommy."
Leah took Jake’s hand, and the two children got out of the car.
Mary watched the two children hop and skip past the front gate and call out, "Grand-uncle Tom!"
Soon, Tom came out and brought the children into the house.
A while later, a woman in her forties came out of the house. She looked around and walked toward the eight-seater.
The woman stood outside of the car and smiled at them. "Mr. Lucas, Ms. Stewart, Sylvia..." Mary did not recognize the woman standing in front of her, but when she heard the woman call her "Sylvia..."
...
"Donna Sanford?" Mary asked in surprise.
Donna Sanford was Tom’s wife and her childhood friend.
Donna nodded and smiled. "That’s me. Mom and Tom are both waiting for you in the house."
Mary was even more shocked when she heard that.
She turned her head to stare at Wendy, as though asking what was going on. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Let’s go, Mom. Uncle Tom won’t drive you out of the house." Wendy got out of the car first.
Mary remained seated in the car. She only came to her senses a long while later.
After urging her a few more times, Mary gingerly stepped out of the car.
...
Wendy and Michael followed behind Mary.
Mary lingered at the gate. She dared not step inside.
"Mom..." Wendy wanted to urge Mary to go in, but she thought for a while and eventually said nothing.
Soon after Donna went into the house, she came back out with Tom.
Donna lightly shoved Tom’s back. She did not say anything, but her intentions were clear.
Tom coughed awkwardly and looked at Mary. "Come in. Are you waiting for us to roll out the red carpet?" There was a hint of impatience in his voice.
Mary’s eyes lit up when she heard that.
"Yes!" she called out happily.
After she stepped into the house, Mary saw Janine sitting in a wheelchair.
The smile on her face instantly faded away when she saw Janine’s weathered expression.
She fell on her knees with a thud and reached out to take her mother’s hand. "Mom, I’m sorry..." She had always wanted to apologize to her mother, and she only had the opportunity to do so now.
Janine’s hands were shaking. She looked as though she wanted to touch Mary’s face.
However, she could not lift her hand at all.
Tears welled up in Janine’s eyes as she smiled wryly. "Look at me. I’m old and useless now."
"I’m so sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry..." Mary apologized repeatedly. "I should have stayed by your side to take care of you."
As Mary looked at Janine sitting in the wheelchair, her heart was filled with guilt and regret.
Things would have been so much better if she had not been persuaded by Timothy and ran away from home.
Mary held Janine’s hands tightly. She took her hand and placed it on her face.
Janine’s heart wrenched when she felt the coarseness of Mary’s skin.
It had been 30 years since she had last seen her daughter.
30 years ago, Sylvia was still the apple of her eye.
30 years later, Sylvia stood in front of her again. If she had not known beforehand, she would not believe that the plainly dressed woman with coarse skin was her daughter.
Sylvia must have suffered a lot in those 30 years. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The mother and daughter hugged each other tightly and burst into tears.
"Mom, how could you so easily..." Tom wanted to say something when he saw that his mother had forgiven Mary.
Wendy smiled and stepped in front of Tom. "Uncle Tom, I have some fashion designs that I want to show you. Do you want to take a look?"
"Fashion designs?" Tom’s eyes lit up when he heard that.
He knew that Wendy’s designs were incredibly precious.
Over the years, Wendy’s fashion designs were famous around the world.
Wendy reached out to Michael. Michael rubbed his nose in embarrassment and said, "They’re still in the car. I forgot to bring them with me."
Then, he turned to speak to Leah. "Leah, can you get the designs for your mommy?
It’s in the compartment next to the back seats."
"Yes." Leah went and did what she was told.
Soon, Leah returned with the designs.
Wendy handed the designs to Tom and said, "Let’s go over there, Uncle Tom. You can see if there’s anything that needs improvement. These are still initial sketches, so I can still change them."
After Tom got the designs, he had all but forgotten about Sylvia.
He glanced at the designs and had nothing but praises for Wendy. He nodded repeatedly as he said, "This is great!"
Tom was in the fashion business, but his knowledge in fashion design was only rudimentary.
He could not find any flaws in Wendy’s designs.
After all, Wendy was one of the best fashion designers in the world.
