"Bye, Mom and Dad."
"Bye, Clark and Shirley. Have a nice day in school."
"Okay." Shirley blew her parents a lovely kiss as she got into the car. At the same time, Clark ran to his parents wearing a shy expression as he hugged them before he silently got in.
Sheryl momentarily felt lost since she was unable to send her children to school today. That was one thing she loved the most being a mother to these two beautiful kids.
That morning, Charles and Sheryl were waiting patiently in the dining room. It had been a long time before Melissa and Leila came into view. Their pace was unusually slow as they came in with their arms linked together.
Melissa seemed to be not aware that she was late, completely ignoring Sheryl and Charles. And without uttering any apologies, she uncaringly went straight to sit down and start eating her breakfast.
Seeing Melissa acting in such a way, Sheryl felt upset. She was too disappointed in missing her chance to send her children to school just because she wanted to have breakfast with Melissa. Regret filled her when it turned out that Charles' mother completely ignored her presence. It made her feel unhappy as if a thorn was stuck in her throat.
Across her, Melissa was chatting happily with Leila while eating, not even sparing her a glance.
"Aunt Melissa, how was your sleep last night?" asked Leila.
"Not bad. Thank you for your concern. This vanilla cake tastes good. Have a try."
Melissa then cheerfully offered the cake to Leila, still completely ignoring the rest.
Sheryl started to be noticeably discomfited by Melissa's behavior, which made her feel like a stranger. She had the urge to leave, but she decided to finish her breakfast first. So she resorted to gobble her food as quickly as possible.
Charles was not oblivious to the scene unfolding before him, as he quietly held Sheryl's hand under the table. He could sense how this made Sheryl feel awkward and upset. He squeezed her hand and gave her an assuring look. Just right at the moment when Sheryl raised her eyes to look at Charles with curiosity, she heard him speak.
"Mom, Sher and I, have been waiting for you the entire morning to have breakfast. If you get up late in the future, you can have it in your room and save us from waiting for you. We're so hungry right now," Charles expressed in a light tone, looking straight at Melissa.
Melissa didn't expect that her son would embarrass her in public in such a rude manner. She couldn't take it. She just got up a little bit late. What was the big deal? Why did he make a fuss out of it?
No matter how angry Melissa got, she wouldn't dare to show it to Charles.
Though he was her son, she sometimes feared for his coldness, just like now.
Sheryl turned a deaf ear to everything Charles just said. He was right anyway, and she tacitly agreed with him. Melissa was too selfish after all as she never considered other people's feelings.
"Charles, don't blame your mother. She didn't get up late intentionally. The truth was, she was ill yesterday, so she slept very late. She had no idea you were waiting for her downstairs. If she knew, she would get up early no matter how tired she was," Leila interjected, coming to the rescue.
She thought it was a perfect explanation, which not only disclosed to Charles, that Melissa was ill last night but also might seek Charles attention and concern. Most importantly, it explained why Melissa was late for breakfast.
"Aunt Melissa, don't be angry. Charles means nothing with it. He is just too anxious."
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