Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Mary decided not to care anymore.

Whether Austin loved her or Christina.

As long as Austin still had a place for her in his heart, she could make sure he'd never be able to get rid of her.

For the first time, Mary went around asking how Christina used to take care of Austin.

After hearing it all, she was stunned.

Was Austin really that difficult to please?

But no matter how hard it was, she had no choice but to accept it now.

Mary started taking care of Austin the way Christina did.

When Austin got drunk, she'd make him honey water before bed, cook oatmeal porridge when he woke up, and bought lots of stomach medicine.

If Christina could determine which stomach medicine worked for Austin, so could she.

When he fell asleep on the couch, Mary also copied Christina's approach—instead of taking him back to the bedroom, she let him sleep on the couch and covered him with a blanket.

She thought Austin would be touched, but when he woke up and saw the blanket on him, he asked in a daze if Christina had come back.

Mary gritted her teeth, but knew this wasn't the time to argue with Austin. She could only gently coax him into eating the oatmeal porridge.

But the oatmeal was so bad that Austin spat it out right after the first bite.

Mary looked hurt; her face covered with the oatmeal Austin had spat out, looking utterly miserable.

Later, Mary humbled herself and did many other things, but none of them earned her a kind look from Austin.

Mary's efforts not only failed to repair their relationship, but actually made Austin remember how good Christina was, making him even less able to accept Christina's departure.

Christina loved him so much—why did she leave him?

If he had shown some restraint when Mary first came back, considering Christina's feelings, would Christina not have left so decisively?

He started looking for photos of him and Christina, only to realize they only took photos together when Christina suggested it.

And afterward, he never asked Christina for photos. The ones Christina sent him were all deleted when he cleared his chat history without thinking, so he hadn't saved a single one.

Unable to find any photos of them together, Austin watched the video of Christina and Gabriel, and as if making up his mind, used AI to replace Gabriel's face with his own.

The video suddenly looked right.

If things had gone smoothly, this should have been his and Christina's future.

Mentally satisfied, Austin, who had just woken up not long ago, fell asleep again. Even when Mary crawled up beside him, he pulled her closer in his sleep, mistaking her for Christina.

Mary gritted her teeth, feeling frustrated, but she clearly knew this was an opportunity.

She fumbled to climb on top of him and started stimulating Austin.

"Christina, I knew it, I knew you still love me."

...

Three days after the engagement, Christina finally saw Gabriel's mother, Maeve, again.

Last time, maybe because Clarence was there, they didn't say much to each other.

This time, as soon as they met, Maeve pulled Christina to sit down, her eyes full of relief as she looked her over. "Christina, you've grown up."

Christina's eyes reddened. "Ms. Harrington."

Even now, Christina didn't know how Maeve had gotten through discovering that decades of loving marriage had been a lie.

And Maeve still didn't know that Cecil was actually older than Gabriel.

Christina felt wronged on Maeve's behalf, but Maeve thought Gabriel had wronged Christina.

She raised her voice. "Gabriel, what's wrong with you? Weren't you the one who was so eager to marry Christina? Now that you two have finally gotten engaged, you dare to bully Christina?"

Gabriel felt wronged. "How could I let her be wronged? Mom, isn't it possible that Christina just hasn't seen you in so long that her emotions are complicated?"

"Is that it?" Maeve asked Christina.

"Yes, Ms. Harrington, don't worry. Gabriel treats me very well. He hasn't bullied me."

"That's good."

Maeve patted Christina's hand and turned to gesture at someone following them. That person immediately brought something over.

"I heard the bracelet your mother gave you broke." Maeve opened the jewelry box in her hand. "Actually, besides the bracelet and pendant, I have another bracelet that's identical to your mother's. Because your mother liked bracelets and I liked pendants, I kept this identical bracelet and never wore it. After coming back for your engagement party, I specially went home to look for it. From now on, it's yours. I hope it makes you happy. That way, both your mother and I can rest easy."

She had so many things, especially ones piled up at home that she hadn't taken out in ages. It took her quite a bit of effort to find it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have waited three days after Christina and Gabriel's engagement to see Christina.

Thinking of this, Maeve blamed Gabriel again. "It's all your fault. If you'd told me earlier that Christina's bracelet was broken, I would have come back to find the bracelet sooner."

Coming back meant inevitably seeing Clarence. Maeve had deliberately waited until Christina and Gabriel's engagement day to fly back.

Gabriel shrugged. "If I'd known earlier that you had an identical one, I would have asked you to come back sooner."

Even though they hadn't seen each other in years, there was no awkwardness between Christina and Maeve. In fact, because they would be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the future, they were even closer.

Unfortunately, after dinner that day, Maeve said goodbye to them.

She was going abroad again.

"I hope you two set a wedding date soon, so I can look forward to holding my grandchild. But don't think I'm rushing you—take your time, enjoy your life as a couple first, then think about marriage and kids. No rush, I'm just looking forward to that day, whenever it comes."

Christina didn't feel she was being pressured into marriage. She nodded and saw Maeve off.

After Maeve was out of sight, Christina touched the bracelet Maeve had personally put on her wrist, and looked at Gabriel. "Gabriel, can I go visit Mom again right now?"

When she visited Lillian before, she hadn't dared mention the bracelet. She was afraid Lillian would be upset. But now, she missed Lillian.

Gabriel looked at the sky. "Okay, let's go. I'll drive."

Gabriel grabbed the car keys and headed for the door.

Gabriel being so accommodating actually made Christina feel embarrassed.

"But it's already late. The cemetery must be closed, right?"

"It's fine, we can climb over the wall."

Christina was speechless, but shamefully tempted.

The two looked at each other and went to the garage.

Unfortunately, this impromptu plan fell apart in front of two people with strong initiative.

Only because of Gabriel's cautious nature—after starting the car, he stepped on the brake.

Then both their expressions changed.

"There's something wrong with the brakes!"

If it were just an ordinary driver, they might not notice, but both of them had been around racing cars as children. When the brake sounded, they heard something wrong.

They got out to check, and sure enough, the brake pads had been quietly tampered with. At first, braking might not show any problems, but after multiple brake applications, the brake pads could shatter completely.

"Investigate!"

"Investigate!"