S21 47. For Barbara’s Sake
While the others were starting to forget what had happened, Melanie paced back and forth in her room. Sometimes she bit her finger, sometimes she sighed.
“It’s bad! This is really bad.” Gritting her teeth, Melanie slammed herself into the chair. “If Barbara isn’t here tonight, I’ll miss my inheritance.”
Melanie racked her brain. After a moment of silence, her ragged breathe subsided.
“But if no one reports this to Morris, doesn’t it mean that I’m safe?”
Her head tilted in consideration.
“Yeah…. He can’t possibly monitor this house 24 hours a day. I just need to make sure Barbara is here when Morris comes.”
Filling her lungs with hope, Melanie grabbed her phone. Despite a bit difficulty, she finally managed to log into Barbara’s account.
All I need to do now is pretend to be Barbara. Everyone will have think that she still lives here.”
Melanie photographed the view from her window. Then, imitating Barbara’s language style, she made a caption. “My favorite place in the house. Perfect for relaxing with tea and some fresh air.”
In just a few minutes, dozens of people flooded the comments column. Neither one suspected that it wasn’t Barbara. Knowing her plan had worked, Melanie curled up her lips.
“Good. Now what I need to think about is how to persuade Barbara to come back here.”
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Once again, Melanie tried to contact her daughter, but the cellular operator’s voice greeted her again.
“Insolent child,” Melanie cursed while clutching her phone. “It’s
useless for me to love her all this time if in the end, she’s just a burden. Instead of giving me a rich son-in-law, she actually put me at risk of losing my gold.”
While Melanie continued to grumble, in another room, Emily could already smile. She only whined again when Nora was about to clean her wound with alcohol. However, after Frank and Kara persuaded her, she finally agreed.
“Mommy, should Emily get an injection by Doctor Wela? Her wound wasn’t treated immediately. The germs could have entered her body,” Louis said with round eyes.
In an instant, the curve of Emily’s lips turned downward. Hugging her parents’ arms tighter, she looked up. “Mommy, Daddy, do I need an injection?”
Smiling faintly, Kara stroked Emily’s hair. “No, Little Bee. Louis just scared you.”
“But I’m serious, Mommy. It’s possible that there were many germs. that had grown in Emily’s wounds. They were circulating in the blood because Emily didn’t kill them immediately with alcohol.”
“Louis….” Frank looked at his son with a firm expression. “Stop picking on your sister.”
Seeing that, Louis bowed his head. His shoulders drooped listlessly.” Sorry, Daddy. I just wanted to cheer Emily up. Talking about germs is better than thinking about Grandma.”
Hearing that reason, Frank fell into contemplation. He glanced at Kara. Her expression was also sad. The small curve of her lips
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couldn’t disguise her emotions.
“Daddy, why doesn’t Grandma Melanie love us? Is it because we are naughty kids?” Emily asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Frank’s heart grew heavy. “No, Princess. You are not naughty kids. You are sweet children who Daddy and Mommy are very proud of.”
“But why doesn’t Grandma like us? Grandma is always rude and angry. with us.” Emily’s eyes filled with tears again. Her voice was getting. more and more heart-wrenching.
“Emily’s right. Grandma doesn’t care about us at all,” Louis continued. “Even when Emily fell earlier, Grandma didn’t feel guilty. She wasn’t moved to help Emily.”
Frank fell silent for a moment. After taking a deep breath, he pulled Louis onto his lap.
“It’s not that Grandma doesn’t love you. It’s just that she doesn’t realize it. She doesn’t know how precious and sweet you are.”
“When will Grandma Melanie realize? If she keeps being like this, I’d rather not be her grandchild.”
“Louis, why are you talking like that? That’s not good, Little Bee. You should be grateful you still have a grandmother.” Kara reached out her hand, stroking Louis’ chubby cheek so it wouldn’t sag too much.
“We still have Grandma Susan,” Louis said quietly.
“Yes, Grandma Susan is much kinder and she loves us. I think one grandma is enough.” Emily pressed her cheek against her father’s
arm.
Frank smiled sadly. After blinking, he let out a soft sigh.
“I understand that you are heartbroken to be treated like that by Grandma Melanie, but… Mommy is right. You should be grateful. At
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least you got to know your two grandmothers.”
The twins’ frown suddenly changed meaning. “Did you ever meet your two grandmothers, Daddy?”
Frank pursed his lips. “Only one.”
“Grandpa Rowan’s wife?” Louis guessed in a confident tone.
However, Frank shook his head. “In fact, I have never met her.”
“Why?” Emily straightened up, looking at Frank pitifully. “Is it because she’s dead?”
Frank tilted his head for a moment. His eyes narrowed, choosing his words carefully.
“Did you know that Grandma Melanie and her husband are planning to live separately?”
The Twins nodded.
“Yes, we heard that earlier. Auntie was very sad.”
“Auntie must be very confused about whether to live with her Daddy or Mommy.”
Frank smiled wryly. “Grandpa Rowan and his wife also separated, long before Daddy was born.”
“Where is Great-Grandmother now? Is she still alive?”
Frank took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I have never heard any stories about her. I don’t even know her name.
Emily’s eyebrows moved down. One of her hands rose to support her cheek. “That’s very sad. Daddy must miss her.”
“Yes.” Frank’s gaze began to wander. “Back when I was your age, I often wondered what your great-grandmother was like.”
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“She must be very beautiful,” Louis nodded.
Frank laughed softly. While observing Louis and Emily’s faces, he whispered, “I also think so. But because I can’t meet her to confirm it, I can only pray. I hope she will be happy wherever she is.”
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