At Mu family's house
Bang! Bang! Bang! Loud crashing sounds could be heard from Lena's bedroom. She had raged around, flinging everything she could lay hands on and breaking everything into pieces. Only when her anger calmed a little did she flop down on the bed, exhausted.
She looked around at the mess she had made and that worsened her mood.
Her resentment against Ashley grew. She thought furiously, 'Ashley! You will pay for what you have done! You will be reduced to nothing, and your name will turn to dust!'
Peggy heard the frightening noise from upstairs and couldn't help but wonder, 'What's wrong? Lena has been in her bedroom for so long. What's she doing? Why doesn't she come downstairs?'
Peggy went up the stairs, worrying about Lena. She walked up to Lena's bedroom, knocked on the door, and asked concernedly, "Lena, are you okay? You can talk to me if you're worried or disturbed."
Peggy waited for a long time, but she got no reply and began to think that Lena wasn't in the room. But just as Peggy turned to leave, Lena's voice came from behind the door, "Mom, I'm alright."
Peggy heaved a sigh of relief at Lena's words. She smiled and said, "Come downstairs. It's time for lunch."
Lena answered that she would, and Peggy went down, reassured.
Lena had never allowed anyone, not even her parents, to enter her bedroom, which she considered to be an offense to her personal space. Peggy respected her daughter's privacy and didn't think that staying away would be a problem. So they almost never went into Lena's bedroom except when it was absolutely necessary.
But if Peggy had become too worried to remember this unwritten rule, she would definitely have jumped out of her skin at how messed up the room had become. She wouldn't even have found anywhere to stand.
Lena walked out of the room and came across a housemaid who was about to do some cleaning. She stopped her and ordered, "Go to my room and clean it. Don't let my mom or dad know, or you know what you will be up against." She stared viciously at the maid to make sure she did as she was told.
"Yes, Miss Mu," she said obediently.
This happened often.
When she went downstairs, Lena saw her mother settled comfortably on the sofa watching TV. Peggy's swelling had subsided and her anger had calmed down. As she saw this, Lena thought that her parents must have made peace with each other.
As soon as Peggy caught sight of Lena, she called her to come over. "Lena, come here. Why do you lock yourself in the bedroom all day long? Didn't you hang out with Raymond today? Why did you come back alone?"
Lena was infuriated by the last question. Anger swelled within her as she thought, 'Why did I come back alone?
That's all thanks to Ashley! It's her fault, the nettlesome Ashley!'
Her eyes turned cold and venomous for a moment.
She recalled how Raymond had refused to fully trust her after the scene. She had tried to clear her name and thought that she had convinced him. But she knew that deep down in his heart, he didn't give any credit to her explanation. And proof of it became clear when he didn't accompany her back home.
She couldn't explain all of this to her mother so she said glumly, "Nothing really. It's just that the weather isn't agreeable so I stayed in my room to avoid the heat. And Raymond was talking to his parents when we were about to start for home. It looked like something had happened, so I let him attend to matters at home first."
Peggy seemed to believe her daughter and said, "Oh, I see."
"What about you and Dad? Are you getting along better? You have made peace, right?" Lena asked with some concern, though she knew that her parents must have made up already.
"We have been married for so long that the quarrel was nothing, really," Peggy responded as if it wasn't a big deal.
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