You Are Mine (English)

Chapter 338: Chapter 338: You Are Your Mother’s Daughter

All the calm and warmth had vanished to be replaced by anger. Stuart held his arm in front of his mother. "What do...." He paused in mid-sentence and frowning. He looked closely into her eyes. "What do you think you’re doing?" he asked sternly.

Madame Yates stood there without stepping back. The intensity between the two of them was building. Stuart’s face was getting redder by the second, and finally, Edie stepped forward and touched his arm, "It’s okay! I would like to go for a walk with your mother. What better place than the garden," Edie said, trying to reassure Stuart, but inside she was terrified to be alone with her.

"You don’t know what she’s like!" He squinted at his mother, his intense stare making her squirm.

"Well, shall we go," Madame said as she stood with her arms crossed.

"You’re pleased with yourself! Aren’t you?" Stuart asked. "I can see it in your face, that smug look of satisfaction, that curled lip with the slight sneer."

Madame Yates loved Stuart and wanted to be a good mother, but this was how she was raised from generation to generation, and the cycle continued. ’There was no way I could focus on sales growth and come up with new ideas, manage my employees and be the kind of mother Stuart wanted me to be!" she thought, and guilt stabbed like a splinter to her heart.

"Are we going or not?" Madame spoke in a business-like tone.

Edie hurriedly pulled Stuart aside. She gazed at him helplessly. "Stuart, we’re only going for a walk. If you’re so worried, you can watch us from the window. Really it’s going to be fine."

"You have no idea what that woman is capable of!" Stuart said in a cold tone.

Edie pleaded with him. "Please, she’s your mother. There will be times when I will have no choice but to be alone with her. You have to let me go!"

Madame finally spoke, "If it bothers you so much. Follow us! Honestly, I don’t care!"

"All right then?" Stuart’s expression made the sentence a question, and he felt his lips tighten.

It was a midsummer after, and the weather was warm. They walked in the garden in silence, admiring the trees and flowers. "It’s such a beautiful garden filled with every variety of flower," Edie said as she breathed in the spicy scent of the bright flowers. "Look at all the beautiful colors!" Her voice rang with excitement.

"I suppose so," Madame answered.

Stuart followed closely behind them as they walked down multiple paths. His wide eyes were staring down at his mother with fear. He knew the power and the strength she had, and he knew how easily Edie could be broken. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Madame glanced back at Stuart and couldn’t help, but smile, "I can see how much he cares for you. It’s been a long time since he’s cared for anyone."

Edie sighed deeply. "Yes," she said, not knowing what to say to ease the awkward moment.

"What? That’s all you have to say to me? I see how you look at me! It’s the look of dissatisfaction!" Madame said, sounding annoyed.

Edie shook her head. "No, it’s just..."

Madame interrupted her. "We should all get along. If Stuart sees we can have a relationship..." she hesitates. "Maybe there’s hope for Stuart and myself in the future. I was never there for him while he was growing up, but it puts me at ease knowing you’re with him now." And Madame gives Edie a funny look and a smile, and it’s as though she’s thinking of something else and someone else.

Edie stood there, awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Why is she looking at me like that?" she muttered.

"Did you say something?" Madame asked. Edie shook her head again. "You’re afraid of me? Aren’t you?"

Edie hesitated before giving Madame an answer. "Yes, a little! You’re Stuart’s mother, after all, and my mother in law. You and Stuart are the same, but so different in many ways if that makes any sense?" she explained.

Madame’s tone changed, and she smiled. "Yes! Perfect sense!" She looks back at Stuart and back at Edie. "I apologize for speaking so harshly this afternoon. I’ve always been strict with Stuart. I’m not usually like that when it’s not business-related." She took a deep breath and continued. "Come here, and I have something to give you!"

Madame Yates passed Edie a ring. Taking the ring in her hand, she felt its weight. She rolled the ring in her fingers and looked at it. The brilliant speck of returning sun on the edge of the ring gave a very striking resemblance to a diamond ring. She looked at Madame’s hand and noticed the ring mark on her finger. Edie was feeling utterly confused.

"Why are you giving me this? It’s a wedding ring!" Edie was totally surprised. She shook her head and put the ring back in Madame’s hand. "I can’t take this! It’s too expensive!"

Madame gave a ring back to Edie. "I insist! This is a gift, and I want you to have it!" she said with sincerity in her voice.

"I can’t! It’s too much!" Edie didn’t know what to do.

Madame saw the look on Edie’s face, and Madame’s expression immediately changed. "You’ve seen firsthand what my relationship is with Stuart. We were never close, and maybe one day we will be. The one person who has been by Stuart’s side is Mr. Bates, and Stuart would much rather talk to him than me. Now, Stuart has you, and I’m so happy for the two of you!" She said with a voice full of emotions.

Madame turned her face to Edie slowly, and she could see the sadness in her eyes. Then as if a switch was turned on, Edie watched the fleeting expression change back to its usual look of a cold woman. Edie knew in her heart that Madame did love Stuart, and this was her only way of showing him how. Edie remembered the conversation they had in the car and asked, "What about my past? I thought it upset you?"

Madame shook her head and brought a smile to her face. "Do you really think you could keep your marriage a secret from me? I have always known, and I had the power to stop it, but I didn’t."

"But...What about being an illegitimate child, and you said it would only bring trouble?" Edie said, sounding confused.

"No! I don’t want to hear you talk like that again. You have never heard your mother’s story, and one day you will know exactly how brave your mother was," Madame said as she lowered her voice. "Your mother and I were acquaintances, and if I knew what happened, I would have stopped her. I look at you, and I see your mother. You are just as brave and strong as she was. You are your mother’s daughter."

Edie had a weird expression on her face. Her eyes widened, and she asked, "You knew my mother?"

Madame gently nodded her head as the thoughts were racing through her mind. "Your mother helped me, but I never had a chance to repay her. Now you are my son’s wife, and through you, I can repay her," she explained as every word seemed to get lower and lower.

"I still can’t believe my mother helped you? She never said anything to me about it! What do you owe her?" Edie asked.

"The last days of your mother’s life, she had no place to go. She didn’t want to lose the dignity she had left. She should’ve come to me, and I would’ve helped her, but I didn’t know until it was too late. If I helped her, maybe she would not have died so miserably." Madame’s voice was filled with remorse.