Alan lifted up his head and looked at Mrs. Steele for a long while.
Mrs. Steele bristled by his gaze, âWhy are you looking at me like that?â
Alan hurriedly got up to let her sit, pressing down on his mother-in-law, âMother, can I take that as Olive has also the exact jade pendant in her hands like the one in this photo?â
The answer to the question in his heart was ready to come out now.
âYes. Olive isnât my and her fatherâs biological child. This is no longer a secret in our family. Didnât you know it already?â Mrs. Steele suddenly was taken aback and grasped on something. âThen do you mean that the jade pendant in this photo isnât Oliveâs?â
Alan shook his head and answered, âNo.â
âOh my,â Mrs. Steele was surprised and hurriedly picked up the photo to take a closer look. This was obviously the same thing. She kept her eyes on the photo and held on Alanâs arm tightly. âTell me now whose pendant in this picture? Now!â
Alan could even feel the trembling in her fingers. He held her hand and tried to calm her down. âMother, donât get too emotional. Calm down. Letâs talk slowly. We tall slowly.â
Mrs. Steele had a prior case of a stroke. He couldnât let her emotions fluctuate too much.
Actually, he wasnât calm too, but he had to be calm. He thought of his girl who had concealed it for a few months. He really wanted to catch her and hit her butt.
But Mrs. Steele couldnât calm down. She lost herself for a moment and was panicking, âWait. Iâll call her dad first.â
When Mr. Steele received a call from his wife, he happened to be in the elevator. Before he could speak, he heard a rushing voice on the other end of the phone. âCome home quick. Now.â
He thought something happened back at home. He ran as soon as he got out of the elevator and he almost hit onto the house. âHoney, whatâs wrong?â
Mrs. Steele didnât expect her husband to come home as soon as the call had ended, but she didnât care anymore and waved at him anxiously. âCome here and take a look.â
Mr. Steele had the same reaction with Mrs. Steele when he first saw the photo, âIsnât this Oliveâs jade pendant? Whatâs wrong? I had thought our house is burning.â
He even almost fell down when he got out of the elevator.
Alan breathed out a sigh of relief. His girl even hid a little secret from her husband. He even wondered how she could be so sure that woman named Susan was a fake. It turned out it was her.
âFather, the jade pendant in the photo isnât Oliveâs.â
Mr. Steele was shocked. âNot Oliveâs?â
Alan nodded, âBefore today, although I knew that Olive wasnât your biological child, I never heard her mention that she also has this jade pendant. She also hides it very well and I never finds outâ¦â
âThen whose jade pendant is in the picture?â asked Mr. Steele.
Alan said, âOlive actually already knew the owner of this jade pendant a long time ago.â
âOlive has known for a long time? Then whose is it? Alan, donât talk halfway.â
âThe chairman of the Angel Holiday Hotel, Mr. Norton Geven, who is also Oliveâs current boss. A few months ago, Mr. Geve was seriously ill and asked me to look for his biological daughter, but I didnât expect that she has been by my side all this time.â
Did this mean: It took a lot of his effort to find something urgent, but he found it by accident?
He didnât deny that he deliberately let her parents see the photo.
She didnât say it, but it didnât mean he couldnât detect it. He just didnât want to force her to say what she didnât want to say.
Maybe, she still needed time to accept this matter.
However, he probably understood why she insisted on staying at the hotel, managing the hotel for Norton Geve, went to the hospital to give him food whenever she was free, made him happy and walked with him.
She actually felt conflicted inside too. Whether to acknowledge or not? She was in a dilemma.
Mrs. Steele stared at the photo and sighed blankly, âSince she has known everything, why hasnât she told us anything?â
From the day Olive was adopted, the couple was ready to find the childâs biological parents. If they really wanted to their child behind, they wouldnât leave a jade pendant as a keepsake. It was just too cruel.
Alan stood in Oliveâs perspective and said, âMaybe, she still doesnât know how to tell you guys. This time, if it isnât for someone impersonating as Mr. Geveâs daughter, I might not notice her strangeness.â
Mrs. Steele said, âThis silly girl. Whatâs so hard? If she wants to acknowledge them, we wonât stop her as long as she can still call us mom and dad.â
âBut, in her heart, you guys are closer than her biological parents. It wasnât easy for you to raise her.
Then, you guys worked so hard to help her raise Annie. She felt sorry to you if she acknowledges them,â Alan thought. This was probably the conflict in his wifeâs heart.
âTell us, why did the Geve throw her on the street back then? Sheâs their flesh and blood. Didnât they feel pain?â Mrs. Steele had a flashback to the scene when she picked up Olive and her heart couldnât help but ached. âIt was winter that day and the day before snowing. It was cold. A baby as small as a little mouse. She was frozen that she turned blue and purple and was placed in a torn cardboard box.
The doctor said that if it was a few minutes later, she would freeze to death. Why do you want to get pregnant if you donât want the child? Fine if you get rid of the baby as soon as youâre pregnant, but they left her after she was born. Iâve never met such heartless parents. They arenât humans, theyâre monsters.â
Mrs. Steele, who never said harsh words, couldnât help but swore.
Mr. Steele rubbed her back, fearing that she would harm her health from getting angry.
Alan told them about Nortonâs hardships back then.
Mrs. Steele had calmed down a bit. âEven if he was extremely difficult, abandoning child is an irresponsible behavior. Donât make excuses for his mistakes in the past. Now that heâs dying, he just remembered he still has his abandoned daughter. He didnât even think that Olive almost froze to death in front of the hospital back then. His daughter almost died.â
Mr. Steele was silent for a while, then he said, âSince Olive already knew that her biological parents are looking for her, sheâll decide on her own whether she wants to acknowledge or not. We wonât blame her if she wants to. If she doesnât want to, itâs her choice.â
âI think she may have already made a decision in her heart.â Otherwise, she wouldnât have pointed out about Susanâs truth from the beginning.
Sometimes, when he thought about it, he felt a little angry. She actually didnât say anything on such big matter. Even though she didnât want to acknowledge them, she could find him and discuss it with him.
To bear it alone in silence⦠Did she not rely on him who was her husband? He would punish her well later. It was to prevent her from treating him like an air again when another major event happened.
When Olive got off work, she didnât ask Alan to pick her up. She grabbed a ride to her house.
As always, since her dad liked to compete a few games on chessboard with his son-in-law. When she came home, they were playing together.
But, she was still aware of the strange atmosphere in the air, but she couldnât put her finger on it.
Until she found her busy mother in the kitchen and her eyes were red.
âMom, why are you crying?â
âI do not.â Mrs. Steele hurriedly wiped her eyes with her apron and explained, âWhen I was cutting the peppers, its seed got into my eyes.â
âReally?â Olive didnât really buy it, but her mom had no reason to cry. She washed an apple, went out and asked her dad. âDad, whatâs wrong with mom? Why was she crying? Did you bully her?â
âI have never bullied your mother. She got peppers in her eyes. Sheâll be fine.â Her dad didnât lift up his head too, holding the chess piece while thinking. He heard their conversation from the kitchen just now.
âOh.â Olive didnât doubt it anymore. Her eyes swept around the house, but didnât see the little troublemaker. âWhereâs Annie?â
Mr. Steele said, âWent with her master, Big Beard, to play to her godfatherâs place. Chloe will bring her home later.â
âNo wonder the house is quiet, itâs because the two troublemakers arenât home.â Olive turned on the TV to a music channel. She laid down on the sofa while hugging a pillow. After a busy day, her back hurt.
Somehow, she fell asleep fast. The unfinished apple in her hand didnât fell from her hand.
Alan couldnât help but smiled when he noticed that she was sleeping. She had become a mother already, but she was still drooling.
This was a rare opportunity. He took his phone and turned on its camera. He snapped a few closer-
ups.
Mrs. Steele came out of the kitchen, âWhat are you doing?â
Alan replied with two words, âThisâs fun.â
âYouâre a father already and still find this fun. Arenât you afraid being laughed at?â Mrs. Steeleâs mood improved watching her son-in-lawâs childlike behavior.
âHow did I fall asleep?â Olive was awakened by then, rubbing her eyes. Then, she opened her arms and made a baby voice, âHoney, a hug.â
Occasionally, they wouldnât do some intimate actions that werenât excessive in front of their parents.
The old couple laughed every time. The childrenâs relationship was more important than anything else.
Everybody had ever been like them when they were young. They werenât old-fashioned people.
On the contrary, the Hoyleâs residence was quiet and deserted at the moment. Compared with the liveliness of the previous few days, this was too lonely.
Mrs. Hoyle sat alone at the big dining table with a pair of cutleries on her left and right, but no one came back to dine with her.
Mrs. Hudson said, âMadam, I just heard that young lady has an appointment with a friend, while youngest young master is working overtime and canât come home.â
These were the same bad excuses which were used to avoid her. It was even this hard to ask them returning home for a dinner. Mrs. Hoyle was furious that she threw away the chopsticks, âForget it. I wonât eat anymore.â
âMadam, you didnât have your lunch. If you donât eat your dinner too, your body wonât be able to stand it,â Mrs. Hudson persuaded.
âLook at them. They all wish me to die early,â Mrs. Hoyle snorted.