Tammy struggled for a long time before finally stopping and pleading for mercy. She blinked her big eyes and said, “I’m sorry, Mom. Please let me go. Everyone is staring at you. Many of my friends are here, too.”
“You’re worried about other people staring at you? Then why weren’t you worried two weeks ago when you threw the head teacher’s glasses into the restroom?” Anna released her grip and said.
Tammy took a step back in horror, her eyes widening, and she asked, “Huh? How did you find out about this?”
With one hand, Anna opened the passenger door, adding, “You thought you could keep it a secret from me, didn’t you? Get in the car. We’ll talk about it later.”
Tammy was forced to get in the car. She took out her phone and secretly texted someone as soon as she sat in the passenger seat. Anna lectured Tammy as she drove back home. “Why didn’t I realize you were so smart before? Last week, your teacher asked you to call your parents to school. Why did you let Natalie go? I thought it was your brother’s job to clean up your mess.”
“My teacher said my brother was underage, so she asked me to bring an adult,” Tammy explained.
“So why Natalie?”
“Technically, she is my Grandaunt…”
Upon hearing that, Anna stepped hard on the gas pedal in rage. She thought, Tammy, you sure are a tough nut to crack. A troublemaker like you always got yourself into trouble at school. But you’re not afraid of it because Matthew always got your back. Because I want you to focus more on your study instead of causing trouble, I transferred you to another high school and I even stopped Matthew from cleaning up your mess again. Well, well, well. And now you even dare to invite Natalie to your parent-teacher conference without telling me. This is way out of line, Tammy.
Tammy immediately put her phone away after noticing Anna’s angry expression. “I’m sorry, Mummy. I swear I’ll study hard and never bring any trouble again!” She pled.
“Really? I just saw you bullying your friend! You gripped her and kept her from leaving.”
Tammy raised her hands and said, “I was just kidding her. She seems to have been in love lately, and I asked about it.”
“What?” Anna paused before answering.
“Yeah! There are always a lot of snacks in her locker these days. She also got a few love letters.”
Then Tammy started telling Anna what the boy had done to attract her friend. Gradually, she seemed to have forgotten what Anna had just said and didn’t notice the change in her expression.
Anna gripped the steering wheel tightly, her gaze drawn to her beautiful daughter’s face from the corner of her eye. She became a little emotional all of a sudden. And Anna thought, How quickly time passes! You’re already a teenager, and now, you became interested in love. I’m curious how Wayne would react if he heard that.
“Why did you come to pick me up from school today, Mom? Are you not busy today?”
Anna snapped back, saying, “I switched shifts. Your Great Grandpa misses you, so I’m taking you to his house for dinner.”
Tammy’s eyes immediately lit up. She asked, “Really? I want to grill fish Grandma made! It’s so delicious.”
“OK,” Anna smiled resignedly and replied.
It was getting late, and the city lights were turning on. When they got home, they noticed that the lights at the front door were also turned on. The gentle night made even the old, solemn house appear cozy.
Tammy was thrilled as soon as she saw her grandmother. She helped Jennie in the kitchen with the cooking and kept entertaining her. During the meal, Tammy kept eating the cooking ingredients until she was full.
Jennie loved Tammy, so she sat next to her at dinner. She said, “Tammy, you’ve grown up a lot! You are just as gorgeous as your mother. I’m curious about which lucky man could marry you.”
Anna glanced at Wayne and noticed that he appeared to be upset. “It’s too early to talk about that,” he said. And he thought, Tammy is my most treasured child. I don’t want her to leave me so soon.
Ryan teased Wayne and said, “Take a look at my son, Zac! I wonder if he’ll ever be lucky enough to marry someone as lovely as Tammy.” Sitting next to him, this cute 2-year-old boy was eating rice pudding and appeared to be enjoying it.
“So? I have a daughter, but you don’t,” Wayne said to Ryan.
Ryan shook his head and said, “What’s the big deal about it? My son is adorable! Can’t you see?”
“So? You don’t have a daughter, but I do.”
Nearly rolling his eyes at Wayne, Ryan bit into his meatball indignantly, refusing to speak to Wayne.
Wayne appeared smug and condescending whenever he showed off his daughter. Anna couldn’t take it any longer and said, “Don’t be upset, Ryan. You can Emily can have another child when she comes back. You might also have a daughter later.”
Ryan snapped back to his senses and said, “You’re right! I’ll have a daughter later.”
Wayne was cutting steaks for Tammy at that time. “But Emily doesn’t have time for that,” he said calmly.
What Wayne was the harsh truth that everyone was avoiding mentioning. Emily was away on missions and rarely had the chance to go back home, so she and Ryan saw each other only a few times a year. They had very little time to themselves.
Anna didn’t bother to keep talking to Wayne and Ryan because she thought their two childish quarrels were boring. While their fathers were still arguing over the “daughter thing”, Tammy was putting meat into Zac’s small bowl.
“Tammy, he can’t eat that,” Anna stopped her immediately and said.
“Kids grow taller if they eat more meat,” Tammy said.
Anna sighed and said, “That’s right. But he’s only two years old, so he can’t eat anything with a strong flavor.”
“It’s okay. He can eat it,” Tammy insisted as she placed another piece of meat in Zac’s bowl. Then Zac blinked his big eyes and ate with his chubby little hand holding a fork. He picked up a piece of pizza, attempted to hand it to Tammy, and said, “Tammy, eat some ‘neat.’”
“The word is MEAT, not ‘NEAT.’”
***
“How wonderful it would be if Tammy was my daughter!” Ryan said.
“You wish!” Wayne frowned and said.
Ryan gave Wayne a hard stare and said, “I just imagined it! Why are you so mean to me?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Wayne said, pulling Tammy’s chair toward him. Wayne thought, I could have been much meaner! Keep your distance from my daughter, Ryan!
Because they had a rare opportunity to get together, Peter asked the maid to open a nice bottle of wine. Afterward, he and his two grandchildren kept drinking and talking.
The maid sent Peter to his room to rest at 9 p.m. Anna and Jennie were chatting on the living room sofa when the guys were drinking. Tammy dashed to Jennie, hugged her arm, and said she wanted to sleep in her room.
Jennie stroked Tammy’s face and asked, “Really? You’ve recently been staying at Selina’s house and you haven’t seen your mother in a long time. Don’t you want to stay with your mother tonight?”
“I like you the best, so I’m going to sleep with you.”
“Are you afraid I’ll mention what happened to you at school?” Anna asked, rolling her eyes at Tammy.
Tammy got into a lot of trouble at school recently. If Anna wasn’t so busy with work, she would meet with Tammy’s teacher and discuss these issues with him.
Jenny, who had always been kind to the kids, agreed to Tammy’s request. Tammy then began to yawn. Then Jennie said, “They don’t appear to have had a good time. Anna, why don’t you just stay here tonight?”
Anna turned around and faced the dining room, saying, “I’m sure they’re both drunk by now. I’m going to go tell them to stop drinking.”
When Anna walked downstairs, she noticed that the two men were drunk. The maids were standing nearby, unsure of what to do. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Anna.
Then Anna uttered, “Please walk Ryan to his room, guys. I’ll look after Wayne.”
Wayne disliked it when others other than Anna made physical contact with him. Even when he was drunk, he held fast to his principles. As a result, the servants were hesitant to move him.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.