The Lane family was rather nice to me even though Christopher wasnât around. Darius kept topping up my plate with food but Julia had a conflicted look in her eyes when she looked at me. She probably wasnât expecting my mom to be an old acquaintance of hers.
Julia asked me to go for a walk with her in the garden after the meal. Shelley wanted to join us, but Julia immediately rejected her request by saying, âGo check Dariusâ closet and see if he needs any new clothes. The weather is turning cold soon; you should get him some extra coats.â
âBut I already had one tailored yesterdayâ¦â Shelley stopped mid-sentence when she realized what was going on and continued by saying, âI mean, Iâve already checked his closet yesterday and we just need to decide on which design to go with today. Iâll get to it right away. Have a nice day, you two!â
I could tell that Julia had something she wanted to talk to me about, so I followed her into the garden. Julia tended to her garden often as she loved her flowers a lot. The place was filled with beautiful flowers in full bloom.
She then stopped in the center of some lilies and knelt down to touch them. âLook at the flowers. Theyâre all blooming in such bright colors, showing their most beautiful sides to the world. See these two flowers over here? They are quite similar in size and look the same at first glance, but there are tiny differences between each individual flower. This one is growing in a suitable spot, so it blossoms nicely. The other one is growing on the side and hasnât been receiving enough nutrients, so it wonât last long even if it does blossom. The same principle applies to marriages.â
I was able to read between the lines and immediately understood what Julia was implying. âAre you saying that my marriage with Chris wonât last long because of my mom, Mrs. Lane?â
Julia thought she would need to beat around the bush before getting to the point, only to have me do the exact opposite. Since I had already addressed the issue, she decided to cut to the chase. âIâm glad to see that youâre on the same page! Had I known that you are Isabelleâs daughter and Robertâs niece, I would never have agreed to you marrying Chris in the first place!â
âWhy is that, Mrs. Lane? I donât understand why the grudges of the previous generation should affect the next!â I exclaimed with a sigh.
Everyone kept telling me we should not be together, and I was getting really sick of hearing that.
âIâve been through a lot more hard times than I have good times, but meeting Christopher made me realize that all of my sufferings have occurred so that he could come into my life and bring me happiness. My life is only complete with him in it, so why canât we be together? Why canât I be happy? Am I just fated to live a miserable life forever?â
Julia let out a wry smile when she noticed the anger in my eyes. âBecause youâre Isabelleâs daughter, thatâs why. Youâre a good kid, really. Itâs a shame you are a descendant of the Anderson family.â
I looked her in the eye and asked in a questioning tone, âAre you trying to separate us again, Mrs. Lane?â
âYou may not know this, but your mother has a long and messy history with the Lane family.â Julia frowned as she said that, her eyes glancing at Dariusâ room from time to time.
âAre you referring to my momâs history with Darius?â I asked.
This time, it was Juliaâs turn to be shocked. âYour mother told you about something like that?â
I shook my head. Mom had barely spoken to me ever since she returned as she was busy with work all the time and behaved rather mysteriously, much to my confusion. The only thing she talked about the most was my Uncle Robert. She would also often remind me that the Lane family was our enemy.
âIâve long since known about the history between Mom and Darius. Darius told me about it himself.â
The look on Juliaâs face turned grim instantly. âDarius knew about it but never told us? If he had said it earlier we wouldnât be in such a messy situation. Did you know that your mom approached Darius with bad intentions?â