Chapter 10
Irritation prickled at Julian.
“That’s enough,” he said coldly.
Zachary still wasn’t done yet when Susan stopped him and shook her head. “Enough, Zach. It’s Luther’s birthday today. Let’s just go in.”
Noticing the displeasure in Julian’s expression, Zachary didn’t dare to utter another word.
…
Zara had planned to book a few hosts once they arrived in their private room, but since Estelle strongly opposed the idea, she had to drop it.
“The hosts here are amazing, especially their bodies!” Zara squealed. “I can’t forget how good their abs felt! Damn… You’ll know if you give it a go. The feeling is irresistible!”
“Since I’ve already decided to file for divorce, I have to be more mindful,” Estelle explained. “I don’t want them to have any leverage over me. The last thing I want is for any mishaps to happen.”
Zara nodded knowingly. “That’s true. We don’t want them to turn the tables.”
As restless as ever, Zara decided to sing since she couldn’t book any hosts.
After some time, Estelle’s phone vibrated. She glanced at it and realized it was a call from Zane. She signaled to Zara that she was going to leave to answer the call.
Zane had called to discuss his plan to establish a studio. His contract with his agency had recently expired, and since Estelle was considering making a comeback, he thought it’d be a good time to set up his own studio.
Hearing this, Estelle immediately agreed.
She went to the bathroom after hanging up. The moment she exited her cubicle, she spotted Susan touching up her makeup in front of the mirror.
Her gaze briefly lingered on Susan before she looked away. She was just about to leave after washing her hands when Susan stopped her.
“Ms. Summer.”
Estelle turned toward her. “What is it?”
Smirking, Susan took something out of her bag. “Ms. Summer, why don’t you take a look at this?”
Inside her palm lay a traditional protection charm.
Estelle frowned, and her breath hitched for a moment.
“I heard from Tobias that this protection charm was something you got after praying at the chapel for an entire day when he was sick,” Susan said with a smile.
Estelle remained unfazed. “What are you trying to say, Ms. Lynch?”
Flaunting the charm in her hand, Susan said, “Tobias told me he recovered after getting the protection charm. So, he gave it to me, hoping that I could also recover.”
When Tobias was three, he suddenly became critically ill due to a high fever. Despite all the methods the doctors tried, nothing could bring his fever down. They told his family to prepare for the worst, and he was also brought home.
Seeing how much Tobias was suffering, Julian’s sister suggested putting him down with a euthanasia injection to make his passing less painful.
Estelle, however, was unyielding. As even the doctors were at a loss, she decided to seek help from religion in a desperate attempt.
Perhaps because of a coincidence or a miracle, Tobias’ fever began to subside the moment she returned with the protection charm. Since then, the boy began to recover.
Back when he still depended on her, he once told her that he would wear the charm every day and cherish it just because she had given it to him.
Little did Estelle expect the charm to end up in Susan’s hands now.
Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear in a deliberate manner, Susan revealed an emerald bracelet on her wrist. The surface of the gem shimmered under the light, but its soft glow still stung Estelle’s eyes.
She froze, realizing that it was the Grant family’s heirloom that was specifically passed down to the daughters-in-law in the family.
Unfortunately, Patricia Lathersby despised her and never bothered to maintain any sort of camaraderie between them. She didn’t give her the bracelet, not even after she gave birth to Tobias. She was still as cold and indifferent as ever.
Estelle was well aware that Patricia favored proper socialites, so she didn’t think much of Susan either. According to Julian’s sister, Patricia played a big part in Julian and Susan’s breakup.
But Patricia certainly never expected her son to marry someone even worse off than Susan.
No one in the Grant family respected Estelle. Even the maids looked at her with equal disdain, thinking that she had schemed to marry into the upper crust.
In the early years of their marriage, Patricia didn’t even want to see her, and she wasn’t even allowed to set foot in Grant Manor during holidays.
Later, as Tobias grew older, smarter, and began to bear a striking resemblance to Julian, Patricia finally softened up to Estelle for her grandchild’s sake. She even gave the emerald bracelet to Tobias, telling him to give it to his future wife.
Estelle had once asked to borrow it, but Tobias had refused and said solemnly, “Grandma said this is for my future wife. If I lose it or damage it, I won’t have a wife anymore.”
At the time, she had been amused by Tobias’ sullen tone belying his age. Now, however, it felt ironic.
Sensing her gaze, Susan smirked, her eyes gleaming with a triumphant glint.
“Tobias also gave me this emerald bracelet. He told me that this is reserved for the daughter-in-law of the Grant family, and he even refused to give it to his own mother when she asked for it.”
Estelle said nothing, eager to watch how things would unfold.
Sure enough, Susan continued with a smile, “He gave it to me because he wants me to be his mother and become the Grant family’s daughter-in-law. By the way, Ms. Summer, you probably don’t know that there’s a parent-child event this weekend, right? Both parents have to come.”
A parent-child event?
Estella suddenly recalled the conversation between Tobias and Julian a few days ago. That day, Julian had come home early and had dinner with them. When she went to the kitchen to serve soup, she overheard Tobias mention attending an event with Susan.
But the moment she returned to the table, he fell silent. He clearly didn’t want her to overhear.
At that time, she loathed Susan to the point of feeling sick. She didn’t want to hear Susan’s name from Julian and Tobias. Not wanting to disrupt their rare family moment, she didn’t press them for details.
It turned out they had been talking about this event.
Susan’s voice snapped Estelle out of it. “Besides, Tobias also mentioned that the mothers of the other kids are either socialites or daughters of the upper crust families. At worst, their mothers are celebrities. But his mother is just a housewife. How embarrassing is that?”
She covered her mouth and let out a light chuckle. Leaning into Estelle, she whispered, “Do you know what Tobias says about you? He says you’re a maid, which is why you bring him meals and pick him up from school every day.”
