âMom!â I yelled after Isabelle, but she did not turn her head back. I was rather disappointed. Ever since Christopherâs identity was revealed, there had been a gap between her and me. It was like there was an invisible wall between us that neither of us could cross.
âSigh. Your mother is really stubborn. She never wants to have a proper talk to me about this. Every time I mention it, she gets mad. I donât know what to do either.â Mark sighed lightly.
âYou tried your best, Dad.â I looked over to the mansion. After Isabelle headed in, I saw her appear in her room on the second floor. She seemed to be looking down at us. Although it was just a glance, I managed to catch the displeasure on her frowned face.
Isabelle seemed to dislike it when I got close to Mark. Every time we talked, she had an ugly expression. I could not understand why.
There seemed to be more and more secrets revolving around Isabelle, and she was becoming weirder and weirder. The image of the wonderful mother I had in my mind was slowly becoming more foreign to me. After some time, perhaps that memory of her might fade completely and be replaced by the current version of her.
Outside the door, the sound of a car honking could be heard. Christopher was urging me to hurry up. I looked down at the time and realized it was already half-past three. I was supposed to pass the painting to Remington by four oâclock. If I did not leave now, he was definitely going to cut ties with me. I raised my head to look at Mark.
âChristopher is waiting for you, isnât he?â Mark asked.
âYeah. We are supposed to go meet Remington, a famous artist. The art exhibition is coming up, and Iâve been invited to help set up.â I turned to look once more at the window of Isabelleâs room. She was no longer there anymore. Thank God. If she sees Christopher, itâs going to be another round of insults. I really donât want him to hear all that.
To be honest, there were times where I tried to think of a way that could please both parties. In the end, I merely came to the conclusion that unless Robert resurrected, that was simply not possible.
âDad, I canât bear to see Mom so sad, but I really donât know what else I can do. She sounded so determined earlier. I understand that she doesnât want to back off, but unfortunately neither will I. I donât mean to be ungrateful and choose love over my own mother. However, Christopher is someone that I could never give up. It doesnât matter what I will lose. Meeting him has been my greatest honor. If it wasnât for him, I might not even be alive right now.â
âI understand. You do what you have to. Things will sort themselves out eventually. Iâll help you come up with a solution. Have fun, okay?â Mark patted me on the head comfortingly.
âThank you, Dad!â I plunged into his arms and squeezed him tight. âItâs so nice having a father.â
âWhy did you take so long?â Christopher asked as he opened the car door for me. âI thought you were just going to take the painting and go.â
âI ran into Mom and Dad. They were arguing, so I got distracted for a bit.â I sighed. There were a lot of complicated feelings in my heart, but some part of me was delighted. âChris, itâs so nice having a father. I havenât felt love like this in so long. Iâm so happy.â
âIs Mr. Goldstein good to you?â Christopher asked me a stupid question out of the blue. His gaze was weird, and his brows were knitted tightly together. He seemed to be thinking hard.
âWhat kind of question is that? Of course, he is. Heâs my father. Isnât that normal?â I rolled my eyes at him. âItâs not weird for him to be good to me unless Iâm not his biological daughter. However, I know thatâs not possible.â
When I handed Remington the painting, relief flooded his face. âYvonne, if you screwed up again this time, I was going to start suspecting that you were deliberately trying to mess things up for me.â
I tapped him gently on the shoulder. That was all I could say for now. When he finally put my painting up in his art exhibition, I was sure he would be very surprised.
âAs long as you donât mind it. By the way, donât be too shocked if some weird stuff happens. Just remember to focus on your art exhibition, got it?â