Chapter 554 Apology
When Amelia opened the door, Tiffany ran straight toward her and hugged her neck. She was basically hanging off of Amelia’s body doing that.
Amelia wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry as she stepped back into the building and closed the door.
It was as though she was dragging a big baby to the couch before laying the baby down on the furniture. “Sit. I’ll brew a cup of coffee for you to drink first. Then, you can tell me what’s bothering you. I’ll listen attentively. I promise.”
When she entered the kitchen, Tony ran downstairs with a toy plane in his hand. His eyes shone when he saw Tiffany. He quickly made his way down and jumped straight into her embrace. “You’re here, Tiffy! I’ve missed you so much.”
Tiffany hugged his soft little body. Finally, there was an expression on her face.
“Have you gotten heavy, Tony? Your face looks chubbier, but you also look more handsome overall.” She gently pinched his nose and smiled.
He wrinkled his little nose and asked, “Did I really get fatter, Tiffy? No wonder I can’t wear some of my clothes already. Am I becoming a big fat pig?” His fingers drew the image of a pig in the air.
Tiffany was thoroughly amused by him.
“You’re not fat. In fact, you look as cute and delicate like a doll. When you grow up, you’ll definitely become a handsome man who charms lots of women.”
“As pretty as Mr. Pretty?”
The smile on her face froze a little.
Her thoughts and emotions began to spiral out of control when the problem between her and Derrick popped up in her mind.
“Tiffy. Tiffy!” Tony shouted a couple of times before she returned to her senses and stared at him. “What’s up, Tony?”
“Is something bothering you, Tiffy? Let me know and I’ll teach the person who bullied you a lesson.”
She chuckled again before giving a big kiss on his cheek.
Then she patted his head and said, “I’m fine, Tony. You should go and play upstairs. I have something I want to talk about with your mom.”
When he turned around, he saw Amelia walking out of the kitchen with two cups of tea. He turned back and nodded. “Then I’ll go upstairs and play first. Once you two finish talking with each other, I’ll come back down and accompany you.”
The moment he finished speaking, he ran upstairs like a little monkey.
Amelia placed two cups of coffee on the table. “What did you talk about with Tony?”
Tiffany smiled. “He’s just trying to comfort me so I don’t feel sad. I realize that Tony’s quite the people person. He knows when to act obedient, when to act cute, when to flatter someone, and sometimes, he even acts like a tiny adult. I suspect he reincarnated with his memories because he’s too smart sometimes.”
Amelia wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. “He’s just a kid who’s smarter than his peers. You’re exaggerating.” She sat on the other couch and faced her friend directly. “So, tell me, why have you come here so urgently? Are you having a problem with Derrick again?”
A bitter expression appeared on Tiffany’s face as she spilled out everything that happened between her and Kate.
“His mom doesn’t like me, babe. She even tried to pretend she was sick to force Derrick to leave me! It’s the first time I’ve seen an elder acting as extremely as her. It’s such a shame she’s so beautiful that her appearance is comparable to that of an angel because she can whip out an endless amount of evil schemes. I really have no idea how to deal with her right now.” She opened her palms and said everything in her mind.
Amelia became silent. I know what the problem is here. It’s the same as last time when she used her own body as a bargaining chip to put her own son in a dilemma. Still, there’s not much that can be done. She’s an elder, so even if Tiffany knows she’s pretending to be sick, Tiffany can’t just reveal the lie and make her look bad. You can have awful parents, but you can’t have children who go against their parents. They’ll be considered unfilial otherwise. Unless you have truly lost your humanity, there’s no way you can ignore your parents and their needs.
“Aside from telling you to get into her good favors and make her like you, I don’t know how else I can help you, Tiff. I can’t think of any other method to resolve the conflict between the two of you. If you can’t get into her good graces, I’m afraid your stay in the Hisson residence will be extremely unpleasant if you manage to marry Derrick.”
Since the dawn of time, managing the relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law had been the most difficult thing to do in a marriage. Take Amelia herself, for example. There were still some misunderstandings between her and Olivia. However, at least Olivia only ever said something upsetting instead of actually hurting Amelia. Overall, her situation was much better compared to Tiffany’s.
Tiffany was discouraged, like a hen who lost her battle.
Seeing her like that, Amelia wasn’t sure how to comfort her.
“Say, if I hadn’t agreed to Derrick’s proposal way back when and found a man with a similar status as me instead, would I have been happier, Amelia?” Tiffany suddenly asked.
“But will you have loved that man, Tiff?” Amelia tossed a question back at her.
Tiffany chuckled bitterly and defeatedly. “I write novels, Amelia, and a lot of them involved rich families. I thought something like a battle for love only exists in the novels. It never truly crossed my mind how life gives birth to those novels. Sometimes, reality is much crueler than fiction. I realize my personality really isn’t suited to deal with the people from upper-class society.”
Her personality and attitude were quite straightforward. It was easy for her to deal with people if they were direct, but she would get annoyed if those people kept beating around the bush with their schemes.
Amelia spoke. “This isn’t like you, Tiff. When I married into the Clintons, I had no family of my own, yet I still managed to succeed. In order to integrate with the Clintons, I learned to wake up at six in the morning every day. After I finished my breakfast, I would attend all sorts of etiquette classes and learn how to speak like them. I also learned music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and other skills in order not to embarrass Oscar. Initially, he treated me as a product to be bought with money and told me his only condition is that I mustn’t embarrass him. Our marriage was a contract marriage. Regardless of how much pain the Clintons put me through, I endured all of it, and now I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. If you ask me, your current situation with Derrick is much better compared to mine from years ago. I can’t think of any reason you should give up.”
Tiffany became silent.
“I’ll always be on your side and support your goal to be with Derrick. That’s why I hope you won’t give up that quickly. It’s not easy for someone to meet their soulmate.”
Tiffany chuckled and ruffled her own hair.
The depression in her heart vanished a lot.
“Even though I’m here to rant about my problems, I’m instead convinced by you to deal with it head-on. I wasn’t serious about it, you know. If I really wanted to break up with Derrick, I wouldn’t have been so troubled by it.”
Amelia smiled. “I’m glad you managed to look on the bright side of things. How about you stay here for dinner tonight? I’ll go to the hospital with you tomorrow to apologize to Mrs. Hisson. Regardless if she was pretending to be sick, we still need to give her an apology.”
Tiffany gave it some thought and nodded.
She stayed at Amelia’s place and had dinner with her. The next day was the weekend, so Amelia didn’t have to go to work. She bought a bunch of gifts and headed to the hospital with Oscar.
After getting in the car, she said, “Help me give Tiff a little support later, Oscar. There are some people who don’t listen to you even if you talk to them properly. With you around, I don’t think Mrs. Hisson will be foolish enough to offend someone from the Clinton family. I want to let her know that Tiff didn’t acknowledge you as her godbrother for fun and that she has a family back in Tayhaven.”
Oscar smiled at her. “I’ll do it if that’ll make you happy.”
He then drove the car to the hospital and parked it there. When they exited the car, he carried Tony in his arms. Amelia informed her son, “When you meet Mrs. Hisson later, try to talk nicely, okay, Tony? Tiffy made her angry, so if you can make Mrs. Hisson happy, maybe she won’t get as angry toward Tiffy.”
Tony nodded seriously and replied with a straight face, “I will, Mommy.”
Amelia smiled. “You’re a good boy, Tony.”
When the three of them arrived at the hospital entrance, they saw Tiffany already waiting there.
“Did you wait long?” Amelia asked.
Tiffany shook her head. “Let’s go in. Why did you buy so many gifts?”
“We’re here to apologize. If we prepare enough presents, she won’t be able to find faults in our attempt.”
Tiffany didn’t say anything else.
After they all went into the elevator and walked out of it, Amelia informed, “Do keep your emotions in check after going inside, Tiff. Don’t rush it. Once we deliver a proper apology, everything will be better.”
“I know. I’m not that stupid.”
Amelia nodded and didn’t say anything else.
