Chapter 78: Bringing Willow Back
Since the wedding won't actually happen, I couldn't care less about any of this.
I just symbolically picked up a piece of jewelry, glanced at it a few times, and put it back.
Seeing my reaction, the smile faded from Maria's face. She put down what she was holding and had the servants store everything in my small warehouse.
Then she walked over to me and said, "Helena, what's wrong? You seem upset about something."
I shook my head. "No, I'm just..."
At this point, I hesitated, unsure whether I should tell Maria that the wedding wouldn't happen.
But worried about scaring Maria tomorrow, I thought about it and said, "Mom, if something unexpected happens on the wedding day and I can't get married, please don't get too upset."
"How could that be? What are you talking about? What could possibly go wrong?"
Hearing this, Maria became even more worried. She put her hand on my forehead and said, "You don't have a fever. Why are you saying such nonsense?"
I brushed Maria's hand away and said with a forced smile, "Mom, I'm fine. My mind is just a bit confused, overthinking things."
"You're worrying me for nothing."
Maria said with mild reproach, "I know this is pre-wedding jitters. You'll be fine once you're married."
I laughed at Maria's words. "Where did you even learn about this stuff? Jitters and all that."
"You don't understand. I've read quite a bit online. People say women about to get married feel both anxious and excited—it's all perfectly normal. It's nothing."
"Alright, go upstairs in a bit and get some good sleep. When you wake up, all those jitters will be gone."
Maria pushed me toward the stairs. "Go rest now. Once you're rested, I'll take you out for a walk."
I was forced to lie in bed with my eyes closed, while Maria chose to sit nearby and wait.
I knew she was worried about me, so to keep her from worrying, I kept my eyes tightly shut and pretended to sleep.
Who knew that after closing my eyes, I actually fell asleep without realizing it.
When I woke up, it was already afternoon. After I got up, Maria had already prepared oatmeal porridge, waiting for me to enjoy it.
After drinking a bowl of oatmeal, I started going out with Maria to stroll around town.
"I had several sets of jewelry custom-made for you. Let's go pick them up later."
"That's not necessary. You've gone to too much trouble." I was somewhat resistant.
"What trouble? I prepared it all for you. It's yours, just take it."
Maria pulled me to the jewelry counter and picked up the custom-made jewelry she'd ordered in advance.
Just as I got them in my hands and before I could appreciate them, I saw a familiar woman staring at me.
She looked somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, I realized this woman was the girl who had been talking intimately with Atlas last time. I think her name was Nancy or something.
Nancy walked straight over, and seeing the jewelry in my hands, couldn't help but say, "Ms. Lockwood was really born with a silver spoon in her mouth. All this jewelry must be worth quite a lot of money, right?"
Hearing her unfriendly tone, Maria stepped forward and said, "This is the wedding jewelry I prepared for my daughter. Miss, are you a friend of Helena's?"
"Wedding?"
Nancy laughed coldly, looking at me with hostile eyes. "Since you're getting married, why are you still clinging to my Atlas?"
"Where is this coming from?"
Maria looked at Nancy with some surprise. "Are you mistaken?"
"Whether I'm mistaken or not, Helena knows very well." After Nancy finished speaking, she looked at me provocatively.
I stood up and walked in front of her. "My wedding is in three days. If you're interested, you can come to my wedding. Also, Atlas and I are just friends, nothing more. If you don't believe me, you can go ask him yourself."
Hearing my words, Nancy said angrily, "You think I haven't asked? But Atlas has been seduced by you. I can't even see him now. If you weren't so promiscuous, flirting around, how would Atlas have become like this!"
I frowned. "Nancy, I can't and won't manage what's between you and Atlas. If you keep making trouble like this, I'm going to call the police."
Nancy stared at me intently. Seeing my unfriendly tone and knowing that continuing this standoff wouldn't benefit her, she left resentfully.
After she left, Maria looked at me with great concern. "Helena, what was that Nancy talking about just now?"
I quickly reassured her, "Mom, do you remember when there was a problem with a batch of goods at the company? Those were Atlas's goods. We went on a business trip together to solve the problem, but clearly Nancy misunderstood."
Only then did Maria nod with relief. "I know you've always been well-behaved and proper. I'm not worried about that. It's just Mr. Lancaster..."
Maria shook her head, finding it hard to put into words. "The Lancaster family situation is too complicated. But we're only business partners with them, so we don't need to worry about their family affairs."
"Alright, let's go out and walk around some more."
Maria had the counter staff send the jewelry directly home and was about to take me out for more shopping.
Just as we were about to leave, she received a call from Henry, saying Rosalind wanted us to come back to The Lockwood Villa.
"Your grandmother says she prepared some things for you and wants you to come back and see."
Hearing Maria's words, I felt no happiness at all.
Hell must have frozen over. What's gotten into Rosalind, actually thinking about preparing things for me?
When Maria and I arrived at The Lockwood Villa, Henry had already arrived too.
Seeing us, Rosalind suddenly sighed and rubbed her chest.
This scared Henry badly. "Mom, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Rosalind sighed while saying, "Seeing your family so happy and harmonious, I'm thinking about John's family. Look at what's become of that perfectly good family now."
"Henry, why don't you make a trip yourself and bring Willow back?"
The whole family had been hiding Willow's affair from Rosalind, so she had no idea about it.
Hearing her say this, Henry mumbled vaguely, "Alright, I know. Mom, don't worry about it. I'll discuss Willow's matter with John."
"Really?"
Hearing this, Rosalind grabbed Henry's hand urgently. "Then tell me, when are you planning to bring Willow back?"
Pressed with no way out, Henry could only say, "When Helena gets married, Willow will definitely come back."