Kendall followed Vivian toward the pavilion.
Ronnie and the other bodyguards were standing outside the pavilion as usual. When Kendall came near them, they greeted respectfully, "Greetings, Young Mistress Kendall."
Kendall smiled at them in return. Ronnie is just as handsome, cool, and steady as his boss; Amelia is still hung up on him even now. She thought it was a waste for Ronnie to work as Dylan's bodyguard. If he were to enter the workforce, she was certain he would be able to become Dylan's right-hand man.
Tilly and Dylan were sitting at the marble table in the pavilion. Wearing a pair of reading glasses, Tilly looked as benign as a nun. When Kendall came in, she was still looking fondly at Dylan and speaking to him without even raising an eyebrow.
On the other hand, Dylan looked frosty with his thin lips pressed together. He didn't speak much, save for the cold and monotonous "Uh-huh" he uttered in response to Tilly's lengthy speeches.
The marble table was full of breakfast dishes.
Kendall's eyes lit up as she glanced at the breakfast on the table. Today's breakfast was cupcakes, which she liked the most because of their variety. There weren't a lot of cupcakes on the table, but there were many kinds of them, and all of them tasted pretty good. Whenever she ate cupcakes, she would resent the fact that she wasn't born with two stomachs. "Grandma," she greeted Tilly politely. Dylan had confessed to Tilly about them being husband and wife, so she called Tilly "Grandma" as he did.
Tilly still appeared kindly and affable, but she replied without looking at Kendall, "I'm used to you calling me 'Old Madam Coleman,' so you'd better not call me 'Grandma.'"
She's not acknowledging me as her granddaughter-in-law, huh? Kendall thought. Just when she wanted to correct herself and call Tilly "Old Madam Coleman," Dylan said coldly, "It's exactly because you're unused to it that Kendall has to call you 'Grandma' more often so that you'll get used to it sooner. Kendall, call Grandma a few more times to let her get used to it."
Tilly's lips twitched for an instant.
Seeing that Tilly still maintained her composure, Kendall couldn't help but think to herself, Old Madam Coleman is so imperturbable. Well, how can the person who trained Dylan to be such an outstanding grandson be inferior? "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma…" Going along with her husband, she called Tilly "Grandma" a few more times until the latter could hardly keep her countenance.
"That's enough. What are you waiting for? Wash your hands and serve Dylan at breakfast. He'll be going to work in half an hour," Tilly ordered. "Vivian."
Vivian soon brought over a basin of water, which had a few pomelo leaves floating on it that gave off the smell of pomelo leaves.
Seeing the basin of water that had clearly been boiled with pomelo leaves, Kendall stared at it quietly for a minute. Then, she said, "Grandma, I've washed my hands before coming here."
In the village where the Woods Family lived, only people who were thought to bring bad luck would clean themselves with water boiled with pomelo leaves. In other words, Tilly had her wash her hands using water that was mixed with pomelo leaves because the former thought she brought bad luck.
In what way do I bring bad luck? Inwardly, Kendall was angered, but she put up with it, considering Tilly's identity. She didn't lash out at Tilly, but she also refused to wash her hands using the water boiled with pomelo leaves.
Just then, Tilly urged, "Even if you've washed your hands, you have to wash them again. Your hands have become contaminated with bacteria when you came all the way here. You have to wash your hands clean before serving Dylan breakfast."
Before Kendall could respond to her words, Dylan asked, "Grandma, have you washed your hands? You came from the main house, so you came even farther than Kendall did. Surely your hands have more bacteria than her hands do."
Tilly was at a loss for a retort.
"Ronnie," Dylan called out in a grim voice.
Ronnie immediately entered the pavilion.
"Pour the water off!"
Ronnie immediately snatched the basin of water from Vivian. Just as he was about to step out of the pavilion, Dylan stopped him and ordered in a cold, deep voice, "Just splash it here." Instead of asking Ronnie to "pour" the water off, he said "splash," which carried a different meaning.
Ronnie immediately splashed the ground with the basin of water, causing most of the ground to become wet with the few pomelo leaves lying pitifully on it.
"Grandma, don't let me see water that's boiled with pomelo leaves ever again!" Dylan looked into Tilly's eyes. Stressing each word, he said, "Unless you want me to cut down all the pomelo trees."
Tilly fell silent for two full minutes before saying affably, "It was my fault. I forgot that you hate the smell of pomelo leaves the most." She picked up a cupcake and put it onto Dylan's plate with a pair of kitchen tongs as if nothing had happened. Then, she said with a smile, "I remember that you don't like to eat cupcakes. Why have cupcakes for breakfast today?"
"Because Kendall likes them."
Tilly was rendered speechless.
Kendall's heart warmed, and she sat down next to Dylan.
However, as soon as she sat down, Tilly suddenly picked up an exquisitely-made purse from the chair next to her before taking a piece of paper out of it. "Kendall." Looking at Kendall with gentle eyes, she handed the paper to her while maintaining an affable manner throughout. "Kendall, copy the contents of this paper 100 times to commit them to memory so that you won't repeat the same mistakes again like you did this morning." She paused and added, "And submit your copies before lunch."
Kendall was puzzled. Not knowing what the contents of the paper were about, she took the paper from Tilly and unfolded it. As soon as she darted a look at it, a large hand reached over and grabbed the paper, tearing it from the middle. Zap! All she heard was the sound of the paper being torn as the paper was forcefully torn in half in her hands by Dylan.
She was stunned.
Dylan took her hands and dragged them toward him. Then, he prised her fingers open and took the paper that had been torn in half in her hands. After ripping the paper into shreds in front of her and Tilly, he put them on his plate and stuffed them along with the cupcake Tilly had given him in his mouth.
"Dylan!" Kendall stretched out her hand in an attempt to prise his mouth open, but he held her hand in his before she could do so.
"Dylan!" Tilly finally lost her composure. Angry and distressed, she said, "Why did you eat the paper?!"
Having swallowed the shreds of paper along with the cupcake, Dylan let go of Kendall's hand. Looking into Tilly's eyes, he replied in a grave voice, "I said that the only rule Kendall needs to follow in the Coleman Mansion is to love and respect me. If you have her copy the Coleman Family's rules 100 times, I'll eat up however many copies she makes."
"Dylan, any woman who marries into our family has to follow our family's rules, and Kendall is no exception! It's fine if she doesn't copy them 100 times, but she has to learn the Coleman Family's rules by heart," Tilly said soberly. "Rules are meant to be followed. The Coleman Family's rules have existed for decades; we can't nullify them because of Kendall," she continued. Then, she said to Kendall, "Kendall, from today onward, don't go to work anymore. The women in our family don't have to go to work. Your task is to give birth to—"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....