Staring at Ronan’s silhouette, Mom frowned before turning her gaze to me. Her eyes were filled with anger and displeasure.
“This is the kind of friends you make? How ridiculously rude!”
“Mom, don’t speak of him that way. He has been taking care of me the entire afternoon.”
Hearing Mom berating Ronan, my anger flared up that I defended him. Despite everything, Ronan did take care of me the whole afternoon. I would be lying if I was not blaming Mom for not even checking in with me.
After all, I was not a saint. It would be impossible for me to feel indifferent if my own mother did not love me.
“Taking care of you the entire afternoon? What’s going on between you two? Is he your boyfriend?”
At the news of Ronan taking care of me, Mom’s eyebrows knitted even tighter. Her voice became solemn as well.
“No, Mom. We’re just friends. You’re reading too much into it. He’s younger than me. How could he have been my boyfriend?”
Although taken aback by Mom’s sudden accusation, I still answered her truthfully.
“You’re not young anymore. It’s time for you to find someone and settle down. It’s because of the whole fiasco between you and Justin that your father and I still feel humiliated. We can barely look at anyone back home.”
At the mention of my boyfriend, Mom started bringing up the incident with Justin again. She had repeated it so many times that I pretty much had it stored in my memory.
Even so, I still felt hurt every time Mom brought that up. My past with Justin was a deep emotional trauma. Mom’s repeated recollection of the past was a huge disregard of my feelings.
I had sincerely wanted to marry Justin back then. It was he who cheated which caused the wedding to be canceled. Must I be blamed for that as well? Was it my fault that he cheated?
“Mom, can you not talk about this again? I have yet to find a suitable match for me, and I am not planning to look for one for the time being.”
I snapped at Mom in frustration, irked by her words.
“What do you mean you have yet to find a suitable match? I think Michael is a fine young man, wealthy and handsome. If you were to marry him, you would never have to worry about anything else in your life!”
All of a sudden, Mom somehow included Michael in the topic. Upon hearing that name, my eyes gleamed as my heart ached.
“It’s impossible for anything to happen between Michael and me, much less getting married.”
Suppressing the disappointment I felt, I spoke calmly.
Michael had told me not just once but many times that our relationship was nothing but a fling. He would never take me as his wife. Besides, I knew my place. Someone like Michael would only marry someone of the same family status and wealth, definitely not a nobody from a small village like me.
“How is it impossible? I think Michael seems interested in you. If not, he wouldn’t have paid for all of Steven’s medical bills and the follow-up treatments without a doubt.”
Mom’s eyes lit up as she recalled Michael’s generosity in paying for Steven’s bills. My heart sank. I had assumed that Mom wanted me to marry Michael for my happiness. Turned out she just wanted to leech off Michael for Steven’s sake.
“Michael and I are not dating, unlike what you had assumed. Besides, it’s absolutely impossible for us to be together.”
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