Chapter 710 A Complicated Marriage
Amelia picked Tiffany up as soon as the latter arrived in Saspiuburg. She immediately spotted the bruise on Tiffany’s face, which was pretty hard to miss.
“How did you get that bruise, Tiff?” Amelia scrutinized her with a frown.
“I accidentally bumped my eye against the edge of a table. It’s no big deal,” answered Tiffany tersely, obviously having no intention to discuss the matter further, especially not in front of Derrick.
Sensing that, Amelia didn’t press the matter either.
When they arrived at the hospital, Tiffany handed the bouquet of flowers she brought with her to Eleanor. “Mrs. Hutton, I heard from Amelia that you’re not well, so Derrick and I came over to visit. How are you feeling today?”
Lying on the hospital bed, Eleanor looked rather pale and sickly, but she appeared to be in good spirits.
“Thank you for visiting, Tiffany. I’m glad to see you both, but why are you still standing? Go on and grab a chair!”
With that, Tiffany and Derrick sat down and ended up chatting with Eleanor for almost an hour before bidding goodbye.
As they were leaving, Amelia got going as well. “Mom, I’m bringing them to check in at their hotel. Derrick will be meeting with his business partners here in Saspiuberg, so they may be staying for about three days.”
“Sure, go ahead. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine here with your dad taking care of me.”
Amelia nodded and left.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Tiffany turned to Derrick, urging, “Don’t you have appointments with your clients today? You should get on with them. I’m going to hang out with Amelia for a while.”
Ignoring the fact that there were other people in the room, Derrick planted a kiss on her cheeks. “All right, then. I’ll join you for dinner tonight.”
Tiffany sent him to the door, following him with her gaze until he entered the elevator, and then she turned to head back into the room.
Meanwhile, Amelia was encouraging Oscar to do the same. “Go on and settle your work matters. I’ll stay and catch up with Tiff.”
Oscar nodded in agreement.
Immediately after Oscar left the room, Amelia went straight to the point. “All right, tell me the truth. What’s with that bruise on your face? Don’t tell me you accidentally bumped against a table again. You know I’m not buying that.”
Hearing that, Tiffany slumped onto the couch like a deflated balloon.
With her head buried between her knees, she sighed dejectedly. “Babe, marrying into the Hisson family isn’t at all what I imagined. I got this bruise because Derrick’s mother tossed an ashtray at me. Since she’s an elder, I’m at fault whenever I start arguing with her. With all this pressure the Hissons are giving me, I really don’t know if I’ll be able to hang in there any longer.”
Shocked, Amelia hurried to Tiffany’s side, straightening the latter up and asking at once, “What happened? Why did she suddenly hit you? Does Derrick know that she was the one who gave you that bruise?”
“No, I haven’t told him about it, as I didn’t want to spoil the relationship between him and his mother. His mother already detests me. If I tell him about this now, it would seem as if I’m intentionally driving a wedge between them, and then I’d only end up having an even harder time.” Tiffany let out a long sigh, looking more downcast than ever.
Marrying into this prestigious family was in no way as sweet as she had imagined. It had been less than half a year since the marriage, and she was already overcome with exhaustion.
Amelia furrowed her brows as a burst of frustration filled her heart. First, her mother became critically ill, then now, her good friend’s marriage turned out to be an unhappy one. With all this going on, she could not help but feel tired as well. If it were not for Oscar, who gave her his unconditional support, she did not know whether she would have the strength to keep going either.
“I’m so sorry, Babe. Mrs. Hutton is so terribly sick, and yet I’m bothering you with all these petty matters. Don’t mind me, okay?” Tiffany stated gloomily as she covered her cheeks with her hands.
Smiling faintly, Amelia stroked Tiffany’s hair gently. “Don’t be silly. We’ve known each other for so many years and have been through so many storms together. Who else should you tell your troubles to if not me?”
Leaning into Amelia’s embrace, Tiffany started sobbing quietly like a lost little child.
Amelia could not help the tears that sprang into her eyes either. After being through such a lot with Tiffany, she had never seen the latter crying so miserably before. Tiffany had always been a big-hearted person who readily forgave and forgot the people who hurt her. The fact that she was crying so dismally now showed just how hard of a time Kate was secretly giving her.
Amelia let out a long sigh. Perhaps it was a mistake to encourage her and Derrick to be together back then!
After Tiffany was done crying, Amelia continued stroking her hair in the same gentle manner, asking, “Tiff, have you ever considered having a proper talk with Derrick?”
“How? You have no idea what a despicable person his mother is. Whenever Derrick’s around, she treats me like a princess, serving me my favorite dishes at the dining table and treating me even better than the way she treats her own son. Naturally, Derrick assumed I’ve made up with his mother now. If I say anything at this moment, he would think that I’m just slandering her.”
Amelia frowned deeply. What a two-faced b*tch that woman is!
“Tiff, you have a strong relationship with Derrick, and he’s not an unreasonable man. I’m sure he’ll believe in anything you say,” advised Amelia after a moment’s contemplation.
In fact, Tiffany believed that Derrick would believe her words, too. However, how long would he be able to keep doing that before he started to think that she was merely being unreasonable?
“You might be right, Babe. However, his mother is currently giving me the best treatment on earth. Or at least, that’s what it looks like to outsiders.” Tiffany smiled bitterly as she went on, “I don’t even know how she changes her character so quickly. Perhaps she learned it from an expert. Whatever it is, she gives me the royal treatment whenever others are around, but the moment they’re gone, she turns into a wicked witch. This incident with the ashtray was a good example. It was flying in my direction the moment I stepped into the study. I didn’t even have a moment to react.”
“She’s too much!” Amelia snarled.
“And this isn’t even the worst example. She’s always cursing my family and criticizing that they’re just a liability that keeps leeching off her family. Whenever I fail to hold myself back, I’d snap back at her, and then she would immediately fall ill. Now, all the housekeepers of the Hisson residence are calling me a troublemaker and an ungrateful person. I don’t know what to do anymore,” Tiffany added, sounding utterly helpless and exhausted.
Amelia had never known that Kate was such a scheming character. We have to think of a way to expose her as soon as possible. If not, Tiffany and Derrick’s marriage might crumble at any time!
“Why don’t you and Derrick move back to your condominium?” she suggested.
“If we could do that, then we wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to move into the Hisson residence in the first place. Living with the Hissons was Old Mr. Hisson’s only condition for Derrick to marry me, and Derrick might leave his current company to take over Hisson Group in two years’ time as well. Whenever I think of everything he has sacrificed for me, I just couldn’t bring myself to trouble him over such trivial matters,” Tiffany responded glumly as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees.
Just as Amelia was about to say something, Tiffany’s phone sounded with a notification. Seeing that she had just received an image, Tiffany tapped into it and was immediately shocked by what she saw, her hand trembling uncontrollably.
Perplexed, Amelia asked, “Tiff, what is it?”
Tiffany did not answer.
Thus, Amelia took the phone from Tiffany’s hand, her eyes instantly widening when she saw the couple in the picture. She had not expected to see a picture of Derrick and Crystal together. Although they were not doing anything out of the line, the background of the picture was clearly a restaurant in Saspiuburg, and Derrick was clad in the clothes he had been wearing earlier today.
Her head throbbing dully, Amelia turned to look at Tiffany, only to see that the latter was, in fact, looking quite calm, albeit slightly pale.
“Don’t overthink it, Tiff. Perhaps Ms. Halliwell simply got to know that Derrick had come to Saspiuburg and asked to meet him over a meal. You can’t expect him to cut off contact with all his female friends just because he’s a married man, right?” Amelia remarked with a chuckle.
Taking in a deep breath, Tiffany spoke through her pale lips. “I’m fine, Babe. I trust him. I just didn’t expect him to lie to me and feel a little upset about that. That’s all.”
“As long as you trust him, everything’s fine. Later, when he comes back, you could ask him about it openly. There’s nothing worse for a couple than being distrustful of each other.” Amelia was beginning to realize that Tiffany was stronger than she had imagined.
Tiffany nodded, leaning limply against Amelia and shutting her eyes, clearly not wanting to speak about it anymore.
