Chapter 506 A Warm Reception
“I’ve bought a plane ticket for the flight at ten o’clock. I’m not going to talk to you anymore.” Eleanor picked up the suitcase beside her leg and walked out.
Seeing that, Amelia immediately ran over and stopped her. “Mom, you’ve already met her, which should be good enough. She’s now married with kids, and even her foster parents are doing great. Why must you disrupt their peaceful lives?”
Her utterances evoked a glare from Eleanor. It was very unnerving that she subconsciously loosened her grip on the suitcase.
“Amelia, I’ve always doted on you and am certain that you’re the only one who understands me in this household. Never did I expect you to be on your brother and father’s side all along. All I want is to see my own daughter. Why do you all have to think of me as someone crazy?” Eleanor’s gaze was sharp as she questioned Amelia.
A hint of panic flashed across the latter’s eyes. While she was in a fluster, Eleanor seized the opportunity to snatch the suitcase, walked past her, and left.
Amelia stood rooted in place as she watched Eleanor walk away with a vacant gaze. By the time she regained her senses, her mother was already getting into the car. That scene startled her, and she quickly sprinted to the car and gripped the suitcase in Eleanor’s hand. “Mom, I’ll go with you. I’ll be worried if you go alone. Moreover, Dad will definitely scold me when he returns and finds out you’re gone. Please bring me with you.”
Eleanor merely shot her a glance and responded, “I only bought a plane ticket for myself. If you want to go, I’ll bring you along another time.”
Afterward, she got into the car. To her surprise, Amelia seemed to be out of her mind as she followed her into the car and snatched the suitcase, which was not particularly large, and held it in her arms tightly. “Mom, I’ll follow you to the airport and buy a ticket for the next flight to Tayhaven. I won’t be at ease if you go alone.”
Her mother looked at her again and finally gave in.
After reaching the airport, Eleanor passed the security check and went to the gate. As for Amelia, she went to the ticket counter miserably. Probably because luck was on her side, she actually managed to get a ticket for the same flight as Eleanor’s.
“Mom, I got a ticket for the flight at ten o’clock too. This must be fate. Thirty minutes more, and we will be taking off.” Amelia went to Eleanor, waving the ticket in her hand as she spoke proudly.
The latter pointed at an empty seat beside her and said impassively, “Sit here.”
Amelia sat down. For a while, the mother and daughter duo was at a loss for a topic of conversation. The atmosphere between them was awkward.
After a long time, Amelia broke the silence. “Mom, is she really that important to you? So important that you insist on going over even though you know Dad will flip out when he finds out? Don’t you care about his feelings?”
There was no need to clarify the “she” in Amelia’s question. Both of them clearly knew the person she was referring to.
Eleanor was silent.
Amelia then held her hand and pleaded, “Mom, will you please go home with me? You’ve already met and spent time with her. Isn’t that enough? You know Dad will never agree to let you reunite with her. If you disturb her life, he will certainly make things hard for her when he learns about it. What’s the point?”
Eleanor tilted her head to look at her. The emotion in her eyes was impenetrable.
Amelia implored, “Mom… Please, go back with me. Aren’t you satisfied with Sean and me as your children? She never lived with us for the past twenty-odd years. Even if you reunite with her, you won’t have a deep bond with her. Why bother?”
By then, Eleanor’s expression was utterly grim.
“If you don’t want to go, you can head home now,” she said in a cold tone.
Amelia gave her a glance and shut her mouth wisely.
The two of them boarded the plane and sat in the first-class cabin in silence.
Amelia ran toward Eleanor and sat beside her. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “Mom, I’m sorry. I merely said those words in a fit of anger. Please don’t take them to heart.”
Eleanor sighed. She then held her daughter’s hand and said, “Amelia, Lia is your sister. That’s an indisputable fact. Please don’t let me down again.”
Amelia lowered her head, concealing the jealousy that flickered in her eyes.
“Okay, Mom.”
The mother and daughter duo fell into silence once again.
After the plane landed, Eleanor received a call from Oscar.
She answered the call and said, “Oscar, I’ve arrived. Are you here?”
“I’m at the airport entrance. Can you meet me out here?” he replied.
“All right. Oscar, wait for me there,” she responded.
Amelia and Eleanor went out together and saw Oscar leaning against the car with a pair of sunglasses on his face. His appearance stirred up Amelia, and she felt a surge of emotions well up in her heart. It was as though someone had thrown a pebble into a serene pond, causing ripples to form.
Amelia thought her feelings for Oscar had long faded with time. However, when she saw him again, she realized her heart was still racing for him.
Subconsciously, she began twirling her well-maintained long hair and was tempted to take out her mirror from her handbag to check her makeup. Unfortunately, he was already walking toward them, leaving her no choice but to drop the thought.
“Mom, why didn’t you tell me Oscar will be picking us up?” she complained. If she had known earlier, she would have taken the chance to touch up her makeup on the plane.
Oscar took over Eleanor’s suitcase and politely said, “Mrs. Hutton, it must’ve been a long trip for you.”
The second Eleanor saw him, she started regarding him with a warm smile, treating him like a typical mother-in-law who grew fond of their son-in-law with every passing second.
“Oscar, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to pick me up. I hope I’m not interrupting your work,” she voiced after following into his car.
“Of course not, Mrs. Hutton. Don’t worry about it. It’s a family business. Even though I’m not around, there are many employees helping me out,” Oscar replied as he put on his seat belt.
“That’s good to know.”
He started the engine and remarked, “Mrs. Hutton, I’ve booked a table at the best restaurant in the city. I’ll bring you two over now, and Amelia will be there in a bit.”
Amelia Hutton twirled her hair and tried to attract Oscar’s attention by saying, “Oscar, how’s Amy faring since returning here?”
It might be due to her being Amelia Winter’s family that Oscar did not resent her. However, he did not have any fondness for her as she hoped.
“She’s doing all right,” was his brief reply.
The young woman looked in the rearview mirror and was dejected when she could not find what she expected to see.
“Oscar, it’s been a while since we last met. It seems that you’ve gotten even more handsome than before.” She then started to initiate random conversations.
Eleanor gave her a sidelong glance.
“Amelia, stop messing with Oscar,” she warned.
Her daughter stayed quiet for a while but ended up striking up another conversation as she was unwilling to give up. “Oscar, I’m just asking some stuff out of curiosity. You don’t mind, do you?”
“As long as Amelia likes you two, I don’t mind,” Oscar replied.
Amelia Hutton cast her eyes downward to hide the jealousy in her gaze. When she lifted her head again, she was back to being an obedient and gentle woman.
“Oscar, you’re so funny.”
Oscar said nothing in response and drove them to the restaurant wordlessly.
After getting out of the car, he led them to the private room he had reserved and invited them to take their seats. “Mrs. Hutton, please wait for a while. I’ve ordered a spread of dishes, and you can see if they suit your palate later on. If they aren’t to your liking, we can just order something else.”
“There’s no need for the trouble. Just order something simple. It’s already one o’clock. I can’t eat too much when it’s past lunchtime,” Eleanor replied.
Oscar smiled without saying anything.
