The servant looked at Faye, then over at Natalia.
It was really obvious that the atmosphere between the two of them wasn't quite right, but it wouldn't do to ask.
With a respectful "yes", they went over to prop Faye up.
Faye's anger was brimming. Looking at Natalia's calm and cold face, the phrase "I'm the true matriarch of the McCarthy family" reverberated throughout her skull.
She wanted to pounce up and rip her to shreds!
Finally, she took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed all her indignation and rage.
"Fine. You've got guts saying that to my face. Fine, we'll see! Here's some advice from me too, Natalia. You can replace a wife, but not an aunt! I saw Archie grow from when he was small. No matter how much he likes you now, it's just for the moment. Nothing lasts forever, so just wait! One day, I'll chase you out of the McCarthy family!"
With that, she took the servant's hand and stormed off.
The moment she left, Natalia felt the air in front of her clear.
She lifted her head to look at the sky, then took a deep breath, her temper almost erupting from her throat.
After a while, she stilled her temper.
She turned and strode out.
When they got in the car, Archie could see that her face wasn't quite right and frowned.
He set down the magazine he'd been reading while he waited, leant over and asked, "What? What did she say to you?"
"Nothing."
It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him Faye's words, but she didn't think it was necessary.
At the end of the day, she believed in Archie. It didn't make a difference if they spoke or not.
She took a deep breath and commanded Brain, "Drive!"
Brian nodded, started the car, and drove out slowly.
Archie examined her closely in silence.
He'd always had a good eye and sharp observation skills. He couldn't have missed the emotions she was bottling up.
The woman's sunken face and redness in the eyes clearly told him that she'd been treated unfairly.
Obviously, Faye had said something ugly again.
Archie's face darkened.
He took out his phone and growled, "I'm calling her about it now!"
Natalia saw it and her eyes widened as she reached out to stop him.
"No."
Archie frowned.
Natalia paused, adjusted her own emotions, and said, "She doesn't like me to begin with and thinks I'm using this opportunity to kick her out of the McCarthy family. This was just a misunderstanding. If you call her now, no matter what you say, she'll think I'm using you to get to her again. That will only deepen the misunderstanding, and nothing will end up getting solved. So there's no need to call her."
Archie scoffed. "But she treated you wrong."
Natalia forced a smile.
"Not really. I don't really care, so it doesn't matter."
She turned to look outside the window, towards the quiet, lonely road.
Archie's heart ached as he grabbed her hands and pulled her into his embrace.
"I'm sorry, Natalia. I'm putting you through all this."
Natalia chuckled.
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