But Olive didnât mind. Hadnât she seen enough of the old ladyâs expression? She had gotten used to it.
This habit had become natural. This kind of nature made her heart harden into an iron wall. She could withstand it no matter how many blows.
âMrs. Hoyle, everyone says if the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper. If you insist on making this family in turmoil, then I canât do anything about that.â
Mrs. Hoyle slammed the table that it shook. âIâm making this family in turmoil? If you donât exist, my family will be so harmonious now.â
Olive shrugged and chuckled, âIf I donât exist, Alan wouldnât fall in love with Ophelia Meyer too. As a mother, if you really love your children, you should give them freedom to choose, instead of thinking to control their lives, including their marriage.â
âIf a woman truly loves her man and knows she isnât his match, she should have left him,â Mrs. Hoyle retorted.
Olive smiled, âMrs. Hoyle, how are we not match?â
âYou two arenât in everything.â
âPlease be specific.â
âDo I still need to say it?â
âSince Mrs. Hoyle canât tell it specifically, I can only treat you as a childish elder being unreasonable.â
âIâm unreasonable? Hmph. I forgot to tell you that after you left the study, Alan agreed to let Ophelia go and not hold her accountable.â
How could Olive fail to see that Mrs. Hoyle were intending to provoke her? She faintly smiled and wasnât surprised.
âIâve said it, I wonât intervene in this matter and wonât say too much. I have no opinion on how Alan will handle it. Alan is willing to let her go because heâs open-minded. If he isnât, thatâs also because Ms.
Meyer reaps what she sows. Everyone must be responsible of their actionsâ consequences. Mrs.
Hoyle, youâre not wrong for protecting her âcause itâs natural. I can understand that, but itâll cause bad gossips about you. As for myself, I donât care. Jiangcheng doesnât have the places I miss and I donât plan to stay here longer, so that I wonât upset you more. I wouldnât be able to hear any rumors.
However, you are welcome when you came to Luo City and visit my family. If you come, my home will treat you as a guest.â
âForget that. I donât care,â Mrs. Hoyle snorted coldly and refused to accept.
âOf course you donât. My home is small and canât be compared to yours.â Olive didnât feel disappointed.
In front of the stubborn Mrs. Hoyle, she wanted to reach the softest place in her heart. It was a tortuous and secluded path and it wasnât opened for her.
âGood that you know.â Mrs. Hoyleâs words meant that for Olive climbing up to the Hoyle Family, it was like a sparrow that turned into a phoenix. She should be grateful and tone down her tone.
But love didnât distinguish between high and low. Olive didnât want to be a noble phoenix, but she also didnât see herself as a humble little sparrow. So, she didnât plan to lower her esteem and flatter her without principle.
âWithout doubt, my Steele Family isnât as wealthy and prestigious as the Hoyle, but my family doesnât steal and cheat. We rely on our own hands to earn money to eat and weâre not necessarily inferior to the Hoyle. Although the Hoyle is impressive, itâs not necessarily nobler than the Steele.â
To be respected by others, one must respect the other first. If Mrs. Hoyle couldnât even do this, even if she pleased her for a while, she wouldnât be able to please her forever.
âMy son is bewitched by you now that he doesnât even listen to his motherâs words. Of course you can say these arrogant words here. Youâve taken my son away, of course you can be proud here.â
Mrs. Hoyle actually knew that she was a bit wrong, but her dignity was repeatedly provoked by this woman. As and elder, if she couldnât even control a junior, where should she face?
âIâm just stating the fact. Besides, you seem to never have thought about it this way. My appearance isnât stealing your son from you, but adding another woman who loves him deeply like you. Of course, I know that you wonât necessarily care.â The old lady cared about that woman who was in the detention center.
âI really donât care and my son doesnât lack love,â Mrs. Hoyle rebuked her indifferently.
But Alan appeared silently at this moment with a doctor behind him. âBut I care. Itâs not my business if other women love me or not, but I only lack of Oliveâs love and only want hers.â
Mrs. Hoyle pointed at her son, âWill you be more satisfied after you anger your mother until I die?â
âNo one wants to make you angry. Youâre just being unreasonable,â Alan said lightly.
Mrs. Hoyle was furious, âIâm not reasonable? You donât even treat me as your mother anymore, of course Iâm unreasonable.â
Olive held on the man who wanted to continue. She always put on her smile. âMrs. Hoyle, donât get angry. I would like to ask you something.â
The old lady shook her head stubbornly again, refusing to look at her straight.
Olive didnât care and went on, âI heard that Alanâs father loved you very much when he was alive.â
âOf course. He was so kind to me back then.â Speaking of her deceased husband, the old ladyâs eyes shook a little. There was a soft light in them and they werenât as cold as before.
âThen, Alanâs grandma, your mother-in-law, did she think you were stealing her son? Did she feel sorry for you? Your husband didnât obey his parents anymore because he loved you?â Olive stared at her with a smile. Although she didnât know much about the Hoyleâs past family affairs, she still heard bits of it from the siblings. Back then, the old grandmother was still alive and so was Alanâs father. The three of them were still young. They were a loving husband and wife, a harmonious in-laws, and a filial, kind-
hearted family.
Only then did Mrs. Hoyle wake up. She fell into the pit dug by this woman when Olive said that. No matter what her answer was, it was a trap. In fact, Alanâs grandmother was so good to her that she had always been thankful that she had met a good, sensible, and gentle mother-in-law.
Alan said, âMom, you really donât learn anything from grandma.â
Olive quietly jabbed at his back, then she turned to the doctor and said, âItâs getting late, doctor. Please take care of the old lady. Itâs healthier to sleep early.â
âUnderstood,â the doctor walked out from the dark.
But Mrs. Hoyle obviously didnât appreciate it. âI think you wish I die early.â
Alanâs face darkened, âMother, what is wrong with you? It seems that you really want to force your son to live permanently in Luo City. Fine, Iâll book a plane ticket tomorrow.â
Mrs. Hoyle slammed the table again. âAre you threatening me?â
âThreatening you?â Alan sneered. âI wouldnât dare to. In this family, youâve been refusing to recognize Olive as your daughter-in-law. But in the Steele, they recognize me as their son-in-law, Oliveâs husband and Annieâs father. They show me how nostalgic a warm home is.â
âThatâs because they want to take advantage of you, holding onto you before itâs too late.â
Alan was very angry with the old ladyâs understanding. He knew better about the Steele after getting along with them for so long.
âAccording to your understanding, the poor should fawn on the rich, so the rich can despise the poor.
To you, thereâs completely no need to be nice to them, right? Mother, donât forget. The Hoyleâs three generations before was also poor. Shouldnât you look down on the Hoyleâs ancestor first?â
The old lady was too speechless to refute. Her face went pale. âYouâ¦â
âHey, donât talk too much.â Olive pulled at Alan. If she didnât stop them now, she was afraid that this matter wouldnât finish. She knew that he was sincerely protecting her. She was being reasonable with the old lady, but he directly confronted her. In the end, it wasnât a solution. She was afraid that it would only make the old lady more rebellious towards her. âMrs. Hoyle, I donât want to be your enemy. In this lifetime, maybe you canât treat me like a daughter and I wonât demand too much for that wish. But I wish to see each other for Alanâs sake and live our lives together peacefully as friends. If you can respect me a little, I can respect you too.â
âSweet-talker.â Even so, the old ladyâs tone did soften a bit.
Olive smiled a little, âWe wonât find out unless we try. Iâm just afraid that Mrs. Hoyle doesnât want to try.â
âYou donât need to trick me. I wonât be fooled by you.â Mrs. Hoyle initially wanted to spit at her, but somehow she snorted instead in the end. âDoctor, take me back to my room.â
If she stayed here any longer, she would really be pissed off by these two people. She raised her children to take care of her later. But looked at them. Each of them worked against her.
After watching Mrs. Hoyle go upstairs, Olive sighed and said to Alan, âYour mom wonât like me. What should we do?â
It wasnât easy to please this old lady. She thought that after staying the night in the Hoyleâs residence, their relationship would change for the better. But the moment Ophelia Meyer was mentioned, it blew up again. Now, neither wanted to yield and she couldnât talk through the old lady. She was at loss.
As for Ophelia Meyer, Olive didnât intend to say good things and bad things too. She felt that it was considered good enough that she didnât intervene. What more did she want?
Being generous didnât mean that you had to be a good person who could forgive everything.
Alan pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. âAs long as I like you, thatâs enough. Youâre married to me and Iâm married to you, not my mother.â
âBut itâs not a way to keep it like this. She has bad health. Itâs really a miracle that she isnât pissed off by us.â From this point, Olive had to admire the old lady, stubborn and tenacious.
Mrs. Hoyle returned to her room and sat on the bed. She hit the mat a few times, âIâm so angry.â
The doctor shook his head helplessly, âOld Madam, why are you doing this? Mr. Hoyle and Ms. Steele are in love. Didnât you say you want to try to get along with Ms. Steele yesterday? Why did it change today?â
âItâs because she instigated my son not to let go of Ophelia.â
âMadam, donât blame me from being frank.â
The old ladyâs rejection towards the doctor wasnât as strong as before. She could occasionally talk about her feelings, so she simply agreed, âTalk.â
The doctor said, âYou treat Ms. Meyer like your own and your daughter, but I think, Ms. Meyer doesnât treat you as a mother. Outside, she looks obedient and innocent, but she has a quite a dark heart and she did a lot behind your back. I never comment on what she had done before, but thereâs something I think itâs necessary to let you know now.â
âWhat is it?â
âI donât know if you remember that one time when I accidentally knocked over the medicine bowl.â