Chapter 464
“That’s sheer nonsense!” Austin flung his arms in vexation.
“Nonsense? I’m not in the mood for nonsense, nor am I joking either,” Elise said expressionlessly. “Well then, I’ll take it as you’ve chosen to stick with Faye.”
Austin didn’t refute her.
The words the servant had just said rang in Elise’s head. In an instant, disappointment welled up inside her.
Sometimes, being foolish could be fatal. Despite his current age, Austin was appallingly not as farsighted as Jeanie and Bertha. Even they knew that Faye was a greedy and wicked monster who would bite the hand that fed her someday if kept around, but he believed her wholeheartedly. In that case, let him pay for the so-called love between father and daughter and his foolishness, thought Elise.
Shooting a glance upstairs, Elise saw Faye, who quietly avoided meeting the former’s eyes while hiding behind a pillar. “Since you’ve heard it all, keep this in mind,” Elise said to the person upstairs. “From now on, you and the Andersons have another enemy.” With that, she stormed off right away without taking another glance at Austin.
“You’ve made another wrong decision,” Alexander said before going out after her.
Shortly after the couple walked outside, they saw Bertha waiting in front of them. Even though Elise was in low spirits, she went straight up to the old woman without avoiding her
“Yoona.” Bertha looked at Elise while being visibly heartbroken. “I feel I haven’t seen you for ages.”
“You’ve got to be kidding, Old Mrs. Anderson. It’s only been a month or so,” Elise replied flatly.
“No, it’s different.” Bertha stepped forward and held Elise’s hands in her wrinkled hands, rubbing the latter’s hands again and again. “I used to know you as Miss Sinclair, but now you’re my dear granddaughter. Now that I think about it, we’ve not seen each other for almost 15 years.”
Elise didn’t say a word. She didn’t understand how Bertha had made the calculations. Regardless of whether she was speaking to Bertha as Elise or as her granddaughter, it
had indeed only been a month since they last spoke to each other. However, when Elise saw Bertha shedding tears of emotion, she decided to not be too particular about it.
After a while, Bertha wiped her tears away. Holding Elise’s hand in a tight grasp, she said, “Please don’t get angry with your dad. He has his reasons for doing so.”
“Are you gonna advise me not to fight Faye like he did?” Elise shot back. At first, she had wanted to tell Bertha that Trevor had nearly died because of Faye, but she bit back the words that sprang to her lips for the sake of Bertha’s health.
“I’m not trying to advise you. There are some matters that you don’t understand, and the matters at present aren’t the only things he needs to consider,” Bertha replied with some hesitation. In the end, she dared not reveal too many of the details.
“I’m not gonna try to understand what I don’t understand either,” Elise replied coldly “I only do what I believe is right and defend the right person.”
Bertha replied patiently in earnest, “But there are no absolute rights and wrongs in the world. Perhaps what you see is only an act that people put on to pull the wool over your eyes, no?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Elise was puzzled. “What’s right is right, and what’s wrong will always be wrong. There’s nothing that they should be afraid of facing. If they’re afraid, that only shows they’re too cowardly to summon up their courage. Are the others supposed to sympathize and play along with you if you’re a chicken? There’s no such thing in the world.”
“You’re gonna suffer for being so young and impetuous, Yoona,” Bertha said worriedly.
“I’ll suffer, then.” Elise withdrew her hand from Bertha’s grasp. “I’d rather suffer than have a guilty conscience,” she said. Then, she gave Bertha a nod and walked out.
Alexander listened to the two women’s conversation from behind them for a while. After Elise had left, he walked up to Bertha and apologized to her on Elise’s behalf, saying, “I’m sorry if Elise has offended you. She has a simple heart, so she doesn’t see people and things in a roundabout sort of way.”
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