Chapter 99 Winifred Comes to Dawnlight City
When Steven came back, it was already 10:30 at night.
Rachel was eating the late-night snack Quinn had made.
Carol had bought a lot of cakes that afternoon, and she'd eaten quite a bit, so she hadn't had much appetite for dinner. Right after ten o'clock, she got hungry.
When she heard the sound of a car engine outside, her hand paused.
She knew Steven was back.
Soon enough, Steven appeared in her line of sight.
After just a two-second pause, she was already smiling, "You're back. Did you drink? I had Quinn prepare some hangover medicine for you. Have some."
Steven stared at her gentle, bright, and beautiful face, and froze on the spot.
That brief guilt that had cooled down a bit came flooding back like a tide, almost drowning him.
What was he doing?
Why was he still feeling sympathy and concern for Nancy?
Rachel was so good to him, so considerate, and she was pregnant. How could he think about staying in touch with Nancy again?
Rachel watched him standing there motionless, his eyes behind his glasses full of self-loathing and deep shame.
She immediately knew what he was thinking.
That's just how he was—feeling guilty toward her on one hand, but unable to let go of Nancy on the other.
His heart was divided perfectly.
Half with her, half with Nancy.
It didn't matter anymore.
What she needed now was his guilt toward her.
But this guilt alone was far from enough—not enough for her to give up her shares in Radiant Beauty Spa.
She quickly hid the emotion in her eyes, walked over, and her smile turned to concern, "What's wrong? Why are you standing there spacing out?"
Steven snapped back to reality and murmured, "Honey, I'm sorry."
Rachel's heart sank.
His "I'm sorry" was like salt, like chili powder, endlessly sprinkled on her wounded heart.
It hurt, and it was harsh to hear.
She frowned slightly and looked at him with feigned suspicion, "Why does it feel like you've been saying sorry to me a lot lately? You didn't do something to betray me, did you? Are you cheating on me?"
Steven felt like something had struck his heart hard.
He laughed helplessly, "I swear I haven't. I just thought that since you're pregnant and I had a few drinks at dinner, I was worried the smell of alcohol would bother you."
Rachel did smell the alcohol on him. She wrinkled her nose and instinctively stepped back a few steps.
"Then drink the hangover medicine first, then go upstairs and wash up."
Her obvious look of disgust made Steven laugh despite himself. Normally, he would have hugged her and deliberately annoyed her with the smell.
But she was pregnant now, so he couldn't do that.
His eyes filled with amusement, the guilt slowly fading, "Okay, whatever you say. You eat first."
Quinn brought out the hangover medicine. He drank it in one gulp, then went upstairs to change.
Rachel looked away, her smile fading a bit. The shrimp in her bowl seemed to have lost its flavor too.
Suppressing the nausea in her stomach, she picked at it a couple more times, then had Quinn take the bowl away.
As she was about to go upstairs, her phone in her bag suddenly rang.
[Nancy's mother Winifred Gonzalez will arrive in Dawnlight City tomorrow afternoon. Heather leaked the address of Scenic Bay Estates to Winifred. Winifred has decided to take Nancy back to Thornfield to get married. The groom has already been chosen—he's an elementary school teacher.]
Rachel was completely shocked and stunned when she read this message.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Winifred coming to Dawnlight City was within her expectations.
But she never imagined she would take Nancy back to get married, with the groom already picked out.
Heather was too ruthless.
She had completely destroyed Nancy's reputation in Dawnlight City, making it impossible for her to stay here, forcing her to obediently return to Thornfield and follow her parents' arrangements.
With such a shameful incident, Nancy's parents definitely wouldn't let things blow up further.
Taking Nancy back to get married now was a good way to cover up the scandal.
But would Nancy really submit like this?
She probably wouldn't obediently go back and get married.
The privileged life she had now wasn't something an elementary school teacher could provide.
Once people get used to the good life, when they have to go back to their old life, even if it's not bad, there's a huge gap.
Living in a villa, driving luxury cars, using designer bags and jewelry for over a year was enough to feed Nancy's vanity.
Even if she had to go back, she wouldn't easily give up these things.
Nancy had been anxiously waiting at Scenic Bay Estates since eight o'clock that evening. By 10:30, it was still quiet outside the villa.
A crescent moon hung in the cold night sky, casting pale silver light that made the quiet, luxurious villa complex seem somewhat desolate and bleak.
Nancy sat on the living room sofa, constantly taking deep breaths and reassuring herself.
What if he was on his way?
Her heart stayed calm for about ten minutes, then started racing again.
After eleven at night, she finally couldn't sit still anymore and picked up her phone to call Steven.
But it showed the call couldn't go through.
Just like the past two days.
She was still on his blacklist.
Nancy bit her lip, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her phone.
Time passed second by second. She sat tensely until 2:30 in the morning, when the composure and calm she'd maintained for hours was torn apart by the knife of reality, and she completely lost it.
She knew Steven wasn't coming.
He had broken his promise again.
He had clearly promised her.
Why?
Why exactly?
Was this afternoon just to get rid of her?
Nancy's tears fell again. Overwhelming anger and hatred filled every cell in her body. Finally, she swept the set of cups on the table to the floor in frustration.
This night was another sleepless night for her.
After her outburst, she sat numbly on the living room sofa all night, until the sky showed the first light of dawn, with thin rays of light seeping through the gaps in the heavy curtains into the dark room.
Perhaps tired from sitting, Nancy didn't go upstairs but fell asleep on the sofa.
She woke up again to the phone ringing from the community gate security booth.
It was already past two in the afternoon.
After a night of distress, Nancy felt like her head had been crushed by something heavy when she woke up.
It hurt badly.
She rubbed her temples, frowned when she saw the phone, suppressed the inexplicable irritation rising in her heart, and answered the call.
The security guard's voice came through, "Ms. Gonzalez, there's a woman outside claiming to be your mother. I'm just confirming with you."
Winifred?
Nancy's whole body tensed up, her breathing stopped, and her sleepiness and headache completely vanished in that moment.
Impossible.
Winifred didn't even know the address of Scenic Bay Estates, and it wasn't winter break yet. How could she possibly come here looking for her?
Could it be another fake sent by that person behind the scenes?
Thinking of the scene that afternoon two days ago made her blood boil. She clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, "That's not my mom!"
The guard acknowledged and said to the woman outside, "Ms. Gonzalez says she doesn't know you. Leave now and stop causing trouble, or I'll call the police."
As he was about to hang up, Nancy vaguely heard a familiar voice through the phone.
"What? Now that she's living in such a nice villa, she doesn't even want to recognize her own mother?"
Nancy froze, cold sweat suddenly breaking out all over her back.
That voice—
Winifred really came?
How could this be?
She opened her mouth, her heart racing uncontrollably. The overwhelming panic made it hard for her to breathe. After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a voice, "Let her in."