âYoung man and young lady, the meatballs are ready downstairs. Miss Nelson asks you to come downstairs.â Thomas stood in the doorway.
Dolores swallowed the words that hovered on the tip of her tongue and said, âLetâs go downstairs.â
When Matthew was drinking with Armand and Boyce, he merely drank some wine, but ate nothing. He was a little hungry at the time.
So he responded with a slight âhmphâ.
It wasnât New Yearâs Eve yet, but Victoria had prepared a sumptuous meal, presumably because Dolores and Matthew had brought their two children, so she prepared plenty of food to make Matthew happy.
But she didnât know what he liked, so she prepared more.
Dolores knew what Victoria was thinking. She looked at Matthew.
Matthew pretended not to see her and pulled out a chair to sit in.
Dolores went to the kitchen. The maid had just put out the fire. There were meatballs inside the pot. Dolores picked up a ladle and said, âIâll serve it.â
The meatballs in the pot were prepared by Victoria, Dolores and her children, which seriously affected the attractiveness of all the meatballs.
Dolores put the meatballs made by her two sons in a large bowl.
The maid glanced at it and was a little confused, âSince you serve them together like this, itâs not appetizing. Who can finish such a large bowl of dumplings?â
Dolores smiled and said, âSomeone can finish it.â She was doing it on purpose.
She didnât want to eat the dumplings Victoria had prepared. So, she gave him the dumplings prepared by her and the children.
It was good to make him feel extremely full.
He was very stubborn.
Simona had eaten the meatballs and didnât want to eat them now. So Dolores served the rest of the meatballs in three bowls, one for Samuel, one for Victoria and one for her.
The maid helped carry them to the table.
Dolores put the large âmiserableâ bowl in front of Matthew and said, âYou wonât mind, will you? This was all prepared for you by me and your children.â
Matthew looked at the large bowl of meatballs in front of him and his eyelashes quivered slightly, was this feeding the pigs?
âDad, you have to finish eating it, donât let us down.â Samuel was so smart he could tell what Dolores was thinking at a glance. So he added and tugged on his sister, âSis, look at Dad eating the meatballs you made, are you happy?â
âYes. Daddy, do you like the meatballs I made?â the little girl asked with twinkling, hopeful eyes.
Matthew was speechless.
Could he say he didnât like them?
He picked up a spoon and stirred it. It looked like a huge lump of dough with vegetables on top. It didnât look anything like a dumpling.
âWhy donât you eat, daddy?â Simona didnât think too much, she just felt a sense of accomplishment when her father ate the dumplings she had made.
Dolores âkindlyâ poured him vinegar, âMeatballs taste good with vinegar.â
âItâs true, Dad, they are good when dipped in vinegar,â Simona said innocently.
Victoria sat to the side with a little distress. There were so many dishes, could she continue eating other foods after finishing that big bowl of âmeatballsâ?
She hesitated for a moment, âGive me some.â He placed an empty bowl in front of him.
Without even looking up, Matthew picked up a dumpling and popped it into his mouth. He would eat them, even if they were ugly, just as his wife and children had prepared them.
It was clear that Matthew would rather eat them himself than accept Victoriaâs kindness.
Victoria was sad. Dolores put two of her meatballs into the empty bowl and took it to Victoria. She didnât want Victoria to feel embarrassed and sad. Trying not to embarrass her, âMom, I canât finish it, help me eat some.â
Victoria smiled stiffly and said, âOkay.â
After eating that huge bowl of meatballs, Matthew couldnât sleep well as he was still very full.
Tossing and turning in bed, no matter how he lay down, he still felt sick.
It was morning and he was inside a hospital.
That night, Armand called several times for water. Mrs. Leslie woke up for a while during the night. She was not very conscious. After a while, she went back to sleep.
Theresa barely closed her eyes during the night. She was only able to nap for a while on the couch when it was almost daylight. Gradually she drifted off into a deep nap. He did not notice the sun rising in the morning.
After drinking for a night, Armandâs whole body ached. He rolled over and opened his eyes slowly. He remembered that last night he had been drinking with Boyce and Matthew. Then Boyce took him out of the restaurant. After that, he couldnât remember anything.
He got up and looked around. He realized that Boyce had sent him to the hospital.
He looked around and realized that Theresa was not covered by anything. Although the air conditioning was on in the room, it was still a little chilly for being the twelfth moon of the lunar year.
She picked up a thin quilt that was on the bed and walked over to the couch to gently cover her. When he lowered his head, he saw green spots under Theresaâs eyes.
It was evident that she had not rested well.
Armand secretly thought that she must not have slept all night, otherwise, she couldnât be this tired.
Perhaps because Armand had just woken up, the comforter was still warm. So she felt warm and moved her body to find a comfortable position to continue sleeping.
Armand squatted down next to the couch and watched her carefully. She seemed to have lost some weight and didnât look well.
He thought it must be because of his and Phoebeâs affair, Theresa was sad and hurt.
Armand sighed slightly. He never really meant to hurt her, but he had inadvertently hurt her.
The door to the living room opened with a gentle push. Armand heard the rattling and thought it was the doctor making the rounds. He stood up and looked towards the door.
However, it was not the doctor, but Phoebe. She was at the door with a basket of fruit and a bouquet of flowers.
âI heard that Grandma is sick, so I came to take a look.â
In fact, she did not leave the Bernie Family home that day, but hid outside to see if Theresa had gone. Later, he did not see Theresa leave, but saw Armand run out with Mrs. Leslie in his arms.
He followed them to the hospital at that time and learned that Mrs. Leslie was ill. She didnât show up yesterday because it would be too obvious, so she came today.
Armandâs face sank, âWhat are you doing here?â
âCanât I see Grandma?â Phoebeâs eyes were red, âNever mind, in the past, you had formally brought me home to see Grandma and I had called her Grandma, now that sheâs sick, is it wrong for me to come visit her?â
Theresa thought she heard a loud noise, her brow furrowed impatiently, as if she didnât like such cacophony.
Armand helped her cover the quilt tightly, fearing that Phoebe would wake her. He looked at Phoebe: âCome out with me.â
Phoebe looked at Armandâs action at that moment and her heart ached. He was doing all this for her before, but now he was doing it for another woman.
She couldnât help but clench her hands. He didnât show much expression on his face, âIâll put the things here.â
She put the flowers and the basket of fruit on the table, then looked at Armand and said, âOkay.â
Armand said nothing and headed for the door. Phoebe followed behind him.
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