Chapter 577 The Winters Family
“Say, did you visit Lia when I was asleep?” questioned Eleanor.
Benjamin’s smile faded slightly at her query. He replied in displeasure, “Eleanor, I’m trying to convince myself to accept her for you. Why the harsh words? Do you want me to despise her instead?”
Eleanor crossed her arms against her chest. “Don’t be angry. I’m just worried about her. I’m afraid that you will act differently behind my back by putting them in a dilemma. Saspiuburg’s your territory, after all. Sorry for hurting your feelings.”
Upon hearing that, Benjamin’s expression softened.
“Let’s head back, Eleanor. I’m in the wrong too. Initially, I wanted you to consult the psychiatrist to forget about your so-called daughter. However, I realized that I nearly lost you in that way. You never know how important you are to me. I would acknowledge Amelia Winters than lose you. She’s my daughter, and I know that well. I’m so sorry for my stubbornness that put you in guilt for the past twenty years. I promise that I will not do so in the future,” he uttered sincerely.
Eleanor couldn’t help but feel touched. “Do you mean it?” she asked in disbelief.
“Are you suspecting me after all I’ve done for you?” Benjamin glared at her.
Eleanor took a step back and replied in frustration, “I don’t know. You are not willing to give in in the past twenty years. It’s weird that you change your mind within a few days of my absence. What are you planning? And what are your motives? Old habits die hard, you know. I won’t know if you are merely putting up an act.”
Benjamin snorted in response and scoffed, “Don’t you think you are too much, Eleanor? Is that what you think of me after all my efforts for you? Am I such an unworthy person in your eyes?”
She moved her lips, hoping to say something. However, she couldn’t come up with a word to retort him.
He sighed. “Eleanor, I hate to say this, but have you ever thought that Amelia Winters never wanted to acknowledge you as her mother?”
Eleanor’s face instantly turned a nasty shade of white – her mind went blank at his words.
“No. No! It couldn’t be!” she denied as she shook her head furiously.
With that, Eleanor retreated another few steps and turned to run away. However, Benjamin grabbed her in time. “Eleanor, you should face the truth.”
“No! It’s impossible for her to do so. She’s just flustered as we gave her too little time to think of it. I shall give her another few days to make up her mind. She’ll be able to accept me then!” Eleanor tried to explain herself.
“All right. She will. Calm down first, okay? Don’t panic. Just give her some time. I will not stop you if she really wants to acknowledge you,” Benjamin consoled. It was rare for him to be so gentle.
In the past, he stubbornly assumed that Amelia Winters was just an illegitimate child, resulting in his fight with Eleanor for twenty years. Their relationship worsened so much that they nearly divorced each other. Hence, he was surprised that she was willing to reconcile with him when he approached her with a different strategy.
I will not be so stubborn if I know how easy things are.
After comforting Eleanor, he took out her phone secretly and blocked Amelia Winter’s phone number. He then deleted it and replaced it with a similar number, not forgetting to save it as “Lia.” Following that, he placed the phone back into her bag indifferently.
Eleanor emerged from the restroom after washing her hands. She then said, “Let’s go back.”
She wasn’t in high spirits as Amelia Winters left her without a word. Her face was pale, and she looked tired.
That day, Eleanor kept holding her phone in her hands. Once she confirmed that the airplane Amelia Winters boarded had arrived at Tayhaven, she called her phone number. However, no matter how many times she called, the only thing she heard was the robotic voice of a lady stating that the phone number was unavailable.
Her hands trembled vigorously. She then borrowed Amelia Hutton’s phone and dialed again but to no avail. “H-How could this be?” she mumbled in disbelief. “It can’t be unavailable! I must have dialed the wrong number. Why didn’t I memorize her number in the past?”
Eleanor was so frustrated she started pacing in circles, nearly scratching her head. Amelia Hutton felt heartbroken seeing her in such a state. However, that feeling dissipated when she recalled Eleanor’s determination to abandon the entire Hutton family just for Amelia Winters – a familiar person, yet a stranger to them.
“Mom, calm down first. Perhaps you dialed the wrong number. Let me call her for you,” she suggested.
Eleanor passed her phone to Amelia Hutton immediately. However, the latter failed to reach Amelia Winters too.
She frowned. “Mom, she may have changed her phone number.”
Eleanor turned pale at her words, and her chest was heaving.
“No. Lia wouldn’t do that to me,” Eleanor mumbled softly.
“Mom, don’t be worked up. I’ve told her before that you are her mother. Perhaps she doesn’t hope to acknowledge you in the meantime. That is why she changed her phone number to give everyone some time to figure things out. She just needs time, Mom. You will be scaring her off if you keep pursuing her,” Amelia Hutton consoled as she faked a worried look.
Eleanor lifted her gaze and looked at her. She replied helplessly, “Is that so?”
“Mom, don’t you trust me?”
“Okay. I will wait for five days. If she still refused to call me, I would look for her. I will confront her face to face.”
“Mom, just calm yourself down! Can’t you see that she has no intention of meeting you now? What do you plan to do when you arrive at her place? To ask her the reason she changed her number? Or why is she avoiding you? Isn’t the answer apparent? Just relax, okay? I’m not against you visiting her. However, I advise you to play dumb for the moment,” Amelia Hutton persuaded.
Eleanor fell into silence.
Amelia Hutton shot Sean a look. The latter understood her at once and approached Eleanor. “Mom, how about going out for a walk with me to lift your moods? We shall give Amy some time. Or else you will scare her if you keep pursuing her. After all, it isn’t easy for her to accept that she is an adopted child. It must be hard for her too, right?”
Eleanor raised her hand and supported her head. “No, thanks. I shall rest upstairs.”
Seeing her going up the stairs weakly broke the siblings’ hearts.
“Dad, is it the right choice to do so? Mom looks sad,” Amelia asked as it was unbearable for her to see her mother tearing up.
“You want that brat back?” Benjamin asked in return.
Amelia fell silent.
“Amelia, go and keep your mother accompanied,” he said as his heart softened.
“All right, Dad.” She then went upstairs.
Sean waited for her to leave. He then questioned Benjamin, “Dad, you know that Mom will insist on going to Tayhaven, no? If so, what is the point for you to do so?”
“It doesn’t matter if she goes or not. I have various methods to ruin their relationship,” Benjamin said confidently.
“Dad, you better know your limits. There is no going back once you break Mom’s heart.” Sean went upstairs without looking back as soon as he said that.
With that, Benjamin was left alone. His gaze darkened intensively after hearing Sean’s words. It was after a few minutes before he gathered himself and walked away.
Meanwhile, Amelia Winters and Oscar arrived at Tayhaven. The former turned on her phone as she asked, “Oscar, should I give a call to Mrs. Hutton to announce my arrival?”
“Yes, you should. Otherwise, she may think that you are an impolite girl,” he replied.
Amelia called three times to Eleanor. “Sorry, the number you have dialed is engaged at the moment.” The female robotic voice was all she heard from her phone.
She hung up and said with a smile, “The line’s busy.”
“Well, let’s go then. She will call you back later,” Oscar uttered.
They then entered the chartered car waiting for them outside the airport. Suddenly, Oscar’s phone rang. After answering it, he replied, “Okay. I will be there shortly.”
Once he hung up the call, he said to Amelia, “Something’s wrong with one of my project’s contracts. I need to attend to it. Sorry that I can’t accompany you back.”
She answered, “If so, let the driver send you there. I can go home on my own.”
“There’s no need. Let me ask someone else to pick me up. You shall go back first. I will be back to accompany you and Tony as soon as I wrap things up.”
Amelia nodded in response.
Oscar leaned toward her and kissed her deeply. He then said in a coarse voice, “Be careful on your way home. Just call me if anything happens, understand?”
Amelia nodded.
Once he left, she received Molly’s call.
“Mrs. Clinton, a couple claiming that they are your biological parents came to visit you,” said Molly over the phone.
Amelia tightened her grip, which was holding her phone. A flash of emotion flickered through her eyes.
“Mrs. Clinton? Hello?” Molly called out as she didn’t get any response from Amelia.
The latter returned to her senses and replied, “I’m heading back now. Molly, be sure to host them well. I will be reaching home soon.”
“Sure, Mrs. Clinton.”
Amelia’s hand grabbed tightly to her phone even after she had hung up the call. She found it hard to calm herself down as she felt ripples going through her heart.
It had been some years since she met the Winters couple. Back in her days as a university student, they never invited her to stay back at their place during any festival. All they did was send her living expenses. When she married into the Clintons, none of the Winters family bothered to attend her wedding. Although they were her family, they treated her like an orphan. Nobody wanted her or loved her. It was Tiffany’s support that helped her through those years.
That was why she had complicated feelings toward the Winters family. It wasn’t true to say that she had never hated them before. After all, they were the ones being cruel to her.
Those tortures they gave her were not physical but mental. Since she was young, they always wore the same cliquish attitude toward her. Under such an atmosphere, she might have stepped on the wrong path and become less than the person she was at the present moment if it wasn’t for her positive attitude.
