The next morning, Yanny learned of Winson’s stroke.
Because of the Jacob family business going badly, the shock caused him to suffer a stroke. That morning, he was diagnosed with a stroke. Unless there was a miracle, he would require someone to take care of him for the rest of his life.
When Yanny heard the news, she felt confused.
Happy? It did not bring her as much happiness as she had imagined.
Sad? She could not bring herself to feel any feelings of pity for Winson either.
She only felt that he deserved it, yet her heart seemed so empty.
Yanny gave Assistant Kiki a call. “Kiki, help me cancel all my appointments today. I need to go visit my grandmother.”
“Yes, boss.”
…
Yanny drove for over an hour, finally arriving at Lushway Town.
She passed by a silver-colored Bugatti by the traffic light at the town’s entrance.
It was just a few seconds, passing each other by.
Yanny got out of the car after arriving at the destination and saw Heather washing a mop.
Seeing Heather’s body weathered by age, Yanny instantly teared up.
“Grandma!”
Yanny could not resist calling out as she stood by the river bank.
Hearing the voice, Heather stood up slowly. Because of her age, her body was old and caused her movements to be slow as well.
Heather thought her ears were playing tricks on her but when she turned around, she saw Yanny standing by the river bank, waving at her.
“Little Yanny… Oh, Little Yanny…”
In her excitement, Heather dropped the mop in her hand to the marble floor.
Yanny quickly ran over and gave Heather a hug. “Grandma, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I didn’t visit you for such a long time… Grandma… I’m sorry.”
Yanny cried as she called out to her and repeatedly apologized. Apart from that, she did not know what else to say to make up for the guilt she had.
Heather’s eyes teared up as well. She caressed Yanny’s tear-stricken face with her rough and weathered hands, sobbing as she said, “It’s good enough that you’re back… I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you for the rest of my life. It’s good that you’re back…”
Yanny helped Heather wash her mop and then chatted with her as they went into the house.
After calming down, Heather started cutting vegetables to prepare a meal while Yanny assisted her.
Heather looked at Yanny, then asked with a kind smile on her face, “Did you meet Little Shayne on your way here?”
Yanny’s hand froze momentarily while picking the vegetables. “He came to visit you as well?”
“Yeah. For the past two years, Little Shayne visited me frequently. He even brought me so much food that I couldn’t finish them. They’re filling up the house.”
Yanny pursed her lips and chose to remain quiet. She lowered her head to carefully pick out the vegetables.
However, Heather managed to see through her, reminding her without changing her tone, “You’ve almost picked all the leaves off my vegetables. Are you trying to eat just the stem?”
Yanny bit her lips, hesitating for a moment before she decided to come clean. “Grandma, a lot of things have happened in the past two years. I—”
“No need to tell me. I know. From the moment Little Shayne came to visit me alone, I asked him why you didn’t come along. He would always try to deflect the topic. From then, I already felt that something was amiss. I was afraid something had happened to you, so I confronted him if anything bad happened. I thought… I thought you passed away. However, Little Shayne told me to stay calm. He told me that you’re fine, that you’re busy and only went overseas to further your career, which was why you had no time to visit me. With that, I felt relieved.”
Yanny felt thankful that she had a history of advancing her career in Hollywood two years ago. Therefore, Shayne’s lie could easily convince her grandmother.
“Grandma, I’m here before you, alive and well. You can stop worrying.”
Heather looked at her and shook her head helplessly, saying, “After some time, I realized that there was something wrong between you and Little Shayne. Little Yanny, I don’t want to tell you who you should be with, but I do wish for you to be happy and also hope that you won’t miss your happiness because of some temporary grudge.”
“Grandma, Shayne and I are—”
Before Yanny could finish, Heather cut her off, “Although I’m old, I’m not blind. I can see that Little Shayne is loyal to you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t come to visit me every few days. Little Yanny, please give the matter between you and Shayne more thoughts. Don’t be too rash. You can ponder the matter a little more first.”
Her grandmother did not understand what had happened to her for the past two years and Yanny did not plan to tell her either. She just listened to Heather’s advice before nodding, hoping that she would not worry.
“I tried to ask Little Shayne to stay back for a meal. If he stayed back, both of you could sit down and talk over it. Who knew that you would visit one after another. What a coincidence.”
Heather shook her head while smiling, then sighed. Her voice was filled with pity.
Yanny thought perhaps that was how they should be, always brushing by each other.
Yanny stayed in town with Heather for a night. However, Heather was advanced in age. When she was washing up in the morning, she pulled her back. Yanny no longer felt like it was safe for her to stay in town alone, forcing Heather to pack her luggage and move to the city with her.
On the way back, Yanny thought long and hard, then finally told Heather, “Grandma, Winson suffered a stroke. It just happened this morning.”
“Serves him right!”
“I was the one that cut off his clientele, so the aggravation caused the stroke,” Yanny explained the truth to her without any emotions, showing no remorse at all.
Heather was taken aback, then looked at Yanny sympathetically, asking, “Little Yanny, do you regret it?”
Yanny shook her head, then said with a smile, “I don’t feel much regret, it’s just that there’s no joy in the vengeance either.”
Heather patted the back of Yanny’s palm and said kindly, “There are some things that you should just let go of. Sometimes, you can be really obstinate over minor issues, burdening yourself unnecessarily. It’ll only make you unhappy.”
Yanny’s lips curled up, feeling helpless. “Grandma, there are some things I just can’t let go of. Sometimes, the hatred in me will drive me on the path of vengeance even if I know that I won’t feel good about it. I just can’t help it.”
Heather comforted her. “We can’t control all our emotions. That’s what makes us human. If we could control everything perfectly and plan ahead to avoid mistakes, then that’s not really living a life. Life will always be accompanied by regrets and remorse. There’s nothing to fear. Everyone has them. Little Yanny, you know yourself well. Just do what you want to do. I’ll always be on your side.”
…
Heather only knew that Yanny adopted a child after arriving in the city. He was a foreigner named Hajar.
Heather was greatly amused with all the foolish things Hajar did.
She taught Hajar to call her ‘Granny’. Hajar spent half the day trying to imitate the word but his pronunciation was inaccurate, causing him to sound hilarious whenever he tried to say the word.
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