CHAPTER 497 STILL GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN?
"Mr. Lucas, please leave!" Mia stood up and pointed to the door, ignoring the obstruction of her grandparents.
Lucas's face turned pale. He hesitated for a while, stared at Mia for a long time, then turned and walked towards the door.
"Mia, what are you doing? How can you be so rude to our guests?" David came forward and held Lucas. "Don't mind her. She sometimes has a bad temper. She's not usually like this..."
"Grandpa, I resigned. He is no longer my boss," Mia said, seeing David forcing a smile at Lucas, which only made her more agitated. She went up to him and shoved him.
Lone Wolf stood on the side, eating noodles and watching the commotion. When the three children wanted to break it up, he held them back and said, "Be careful not to burn your pretty faces."
Madeline glared at Lone Wolf, pulled Lucas behind her and said to David, "I'm sorry, my friend doesn't speak very well. He had something else to do today, so you don't need to keep him here."
After speaking, she gestured to Elise, who quickly pulled Lucas up.
The courtyard returned to its peace. Cicadas on the tree were screaming their heads off, making everyone annoyed.
David squatted on the side of the courtyard, smoking a cigarette, while Sofia wiped her tears with her sleeve and sobbed softly.
Madeline pulled Mia aside and said softly, "Your grandparents are the closest people to you. They may have already figured it out."
Mia's eyes turned red instantly, and she stubbornly raised her head, refusing to let her tears fall.
Madeline comforted her by putting his arm around her shoulder and said, "Don't punish yourself and your loved ones for the fault of others. It's not worth it."
"I don't want to. I've been trying to forget, but I can't," Mia crouched down, burying her face in her knees and crying silently.
Madeline looked at her trembling shoulders, feeling both angry and sympathetic.
"Forgetting isn't about shutting yourself out, or locking yourself and those things in a dark room. Real forgetting is about coming out and embracing the world like before," she said.
Mia did not say anything. She stood up, feeling embarrassed, and ran back to her room.
"Ms. Madeline, I want to ask you something," Gabriel suddenly approached Madeline, looking stern. David and Sofia followed him.
Madeline nodded and went with them into an empty room, which only had a large granary.
"Why did my granddaughter suddenly resign and come back home?" Sofia looked at Madeline with tears in her eyes and asked.
Madeline hesitated. How should she say it, and to what extent?
"Ms. Madeline, please tell us, we have the right to know the truth." Gabriel said firmly, while David smoking next to him also nodded sharply, his eyes fixed on Madeline.
"Mia was kidnapped in Imperia, and those people abused her, causing psychological trauma." Madeline briefly described the whole incident.
Gabriel opened his mouth, wanting to ask what abuse meant and what exactly Mia had experienced, but seeing Gabriel's expression, he felt discouraged. He did not say anything for the sake of the two older people.
David lit another cigarette with a severe expression, and Sofia cried even louder.
"Gabriel, take your grandmother out." David tapped the cigarette butt on the wall.
Gabriel obediently took his grandmother out, leaving only Madeline and David in the room. He took several puffs of his cigarette before asking her, "That young man, is he Mia's boyfriend?"
"He was pursuing Mia, but Mia never agreed." Madeline told the truth.
He nodded heavily and said loudly, "The families don't match. They aren't a good match."
"Mr. David, Lucas is sincere about Mia."
"A rich and powerful family, Mia can't afford. Tell him to leave and never come back." Although he did not know precisely what Mia had been through and did not want to think about it, he could tell that his granddaughter did have feelings for Lucas.
She thought she was not good enough for him, so she suppressed her feelings. If she could not hold it in one day, she would go with him. But how many rich kids can be truly dedicated?
He did not believe in Lucas, so he did not want Mia to date him.
Madeline sighed secretly. There was nothing more to say about this matter.
"So, what do you want?" He suddenly changed the subject, his cloudy eyes seeming to see through everything.
Madeline was stunned for a moment. She did not expect the usually reticent Mr. David to figure out that their visit was not just to accompany Mia home and tour this small town.
"Mr. David, You should know what we want." Madeline asked tentatively.
After finishing his cigarette, he tapped the butt on the ground, raised his head, and became the honest and simple old farmer he was before. "We have mountains, water, and food here. What else do you need?"
"You wouldn't mind if we stayed here a few more days, right?"
He did not say anything. He walked to the door with his pipe and turned to Madeline, "When people are too greedy, they will invite divine punishment."
Madeline was anxious, but she remained calm and smiled at him.
When Madeline left the room, Mia's emotions had already stabilized. She was in the yard picking green beans with her grandma. When she saw Madeline, she talked to her apologetically, "Grandpa didn't say anything mean to you, did he? They're just worried about me, and there's no ill intent."
"Don't think too much about it. He just asked about your situation in Imperia. I gave them a rough idea," Madeline replied.
Mia nodded and did not mention Lucas. She acted as if nothing had happened and asked, "Are we still going up the mountain today?"
Before Madeline could answer, Thomas shouted, "Let's go up the mountain! I woke up early for this. If we don't go up, it'll be a waste!"
"You woke up at 9.00 am, and you call that early?" Elise came back from outside and teased Thomas.
Thomas pointed her tongue at her and said, "You didn't get up early either."
"Mommy, if we're going up the mountain, we must leave soon. I checked the guidebook. We need to start at ten and won't be able to come down until after six in the afternoon," Colton said seriously. His earnest expression was just like Noah's.
Madeline could not understand why Thomas and Colton looked precisely alike and had such different personalities. She did not even have to worry about mistaking one for the other because it was so obvious who was who.
Madeline pinched Colton's cheek and smiled at Mia, "Can we leave now?"
Mia nodded and went to ask Gabriel to get their things ready.
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