Chapter 668: Jealousy

[Old Pierson Residence]

"Grandma, is this you when you were a kid?" Slater asked, seated on the floor near Old Mrs. Pierson’s leg while she kept a photo album on her lap. "Wow! How come you didn’t become a supermodel back then?! I’m sure you’d easily pass!"

Old Mrs. Pierson laughed out loud, ruffling his hair. "Oh, you. You really know how to flatter Grandma."

"Hehe."

Slater had been visiting Old Mrs. Pierson more frequently than any other members of the Pierson family. Back then, Zoren would drop by her home every day without fail. Although Zoren still visited the old residence, Old Mrs. Pierson kept chasing him away so Penny wouldn’t have to wait for him.

Even so, she was glad that Slater constantly came to accompany her. There were times he would stay from morning until dinner. He said it was bcause he had nothing else meaningful to do and that he wanted to be with her until he resumed his work activities.

"Grandma, this man... is this... my brother-in-law’s father?" Slater pointed at the man in the photo, gazing up at Old Mrs. Pierson with awe. "He looks like Renren."

Old Mrs. Pierson smiled and sighed, gazing at the photo. She carefully caressed the image with her thumb, her smile softening with a mix of longing and sorrow.

"He is," she said. "Renren truly took after him, not just with his personality, but also with their looks."

"They look like twins!" Slater blurted out, looking at the photo again. He squinted the longer he stared at it. "Or maybe... just a little. He didn’t have the same eyes as him."

Old Mrs. Pierson sighed and glanced at Slater. "That’s probably the only thing that Renren didn’t inherit from his father."

"His mother has dark eyes?"

"..." Old Mrs. Pierson pressed her thin lips together, forcing a smile. Seeing her reaction, Slater understood that the person he just mentioned was someone Old Mrs. Pierson wasn’t comfortable talking about.

"Heh... sorry, Grandma." Slater slapped his mouth lightly. "My mouth sometimes runs on its own. It’s like it has a spirit of its own."

"Haha. Silly child." Old Mrs. Pierson laughed, snapping her wrinkled eyes back to the photo of her son. "It’s alright. You wouldn’t have known."

A moment of silence fell between them as if she was contemplating whether to satisfy Slater’s curiosity. After all, Old Mrs. Pierson knew that people were curious about Zoren’s mother. However, mentioning her was akin to a taboo in this residence—especially for Zoren.

Zoren wouldn’t even mention his mother. After all, that woman was the first to break Zoren’s heart.

Old Mrs. Pierson shifted her attention to Slater, only to see him offering a warm smile.

"Grandma, how about we take a walk around? We’ve been sitting here for a while. The weather’s nice, so it’s a great time to stay in the garden."

"Slater, are you curious about Renren’s mother?" she asked him instead of dwelling on his suggestions.

"Well." Slater cleared his throat. "It would be a lie to say I wasn’t. After all, my brother-in-law never mentioned his other family aside from you. I didn’t want to ask because I don’t think he wants to talk about it."

He paused and held her hand, grinning. "But Grandma, you don’t have to tell me! I’m just curious, that’s it! There’s no need for you to share anything, especially if it doesn’t make you feel comfortable. My curiosity will pass when I start doing something else."

"Haha." Old Mrs. Pierson chuckled, holding his hand back while nodding. "There’s a reason no one talks about her and why Renren doesn’t even want to think about her."

She paused, taking a deep breath and casting her eyes on the photograph. "Renren’s mother... she is a person of humble beginnings. She and my son met while he was on a business trip in a village far away from here."

"I do not know the details, but my son was very fond of her," she said. "Even after his trip, he would go to that village just to see her. Eventually, after one of his trips, he came home with a woman."

"Initially, I didn’t like her because he was set to marry someone else. But he was stubborn, willing to give up everything for her. So, in the end, I approved of it—she was already pregnant. How could I let my grandson arrive in this world illegitimate?" Her eyes shone bitterly, as if she were recalling the start of a nightmare. "At first, everything was fine. Although I didn’t like her, she was well taken care of."

"Until she gave birth," she continued, pausing to sigh. "She... didn’t like the attention Renren was receiving from his own father."

"What?" Slater gasped, scrunching up his nose in dismay.

His reaction made her chuckle, distracting her from the bitterness in her heart. "She loved my son with all her heart, but she wanted his love all for herself. Renren was only a few months old when she first... tried to drown him. Fortunately, the maid was there to save the situation."

"We didn’t know it was deliberate, so we just told her to take a rest and let the nanny take care of Renren," she added with a sigh. "At some point, I suspected that she was doing all the things that put Renren’s life in danger. So, I suggested I’d take care of the child. For a time, things quieted down."

"Everything was going well, and Renren was growing up nicely." Old Mrs. Pierson stopped momentarily, staring at the photo of her son. "Until Renren was four years old."

Deep lines appeared between Slater’s brows as he stared at Old Mrs. Pierson, waiting for her to continue the story. He had a few guesses in mind as this sounded more like a drama, but what he heard next sent a shiver down his spine and made all the hair on his body rise.

"She set the house on fire and locked Renren in the attic," she revealed quietly. "That wasn’t the most horrific part, but the reason behind setting the house on fire. She... stabbed him first, and when she realized what she had done, she tried to bury her crimes by setting the house on fire."