Chapter 15

I looked through the photos one by one. In these photos, my mother’s expression was very natural, without a trace of sadness on her face, and the clothes she wore were not something she had worn recently. It was obvious that these photos were taken before my birthday.

Just then, my father came out of the kitchen, saw me standing at the entrance, and said, “What are you doing? Come in, wash your hands and eat.”

I waved the photos in my hand at my father and asked, “Have you seen them all?”

Dad said calmly, “I saw it.”

I was a little worried and confused. I changed my shoes and followed my father and asked, “Are you not angry?”

Dad laughed and said, “What’s there to be angry about?”

“No ... Then what happened last time...”

Dad turned around and took the photos from my hand and said to me, “Not only did I see these photos, I also showed them to your mother.”

“What’s going on? Why does it feel so weird?” I was completely confused by my dad.

“Go wash your hands quickly, and study hard after dinner. There is nothing for you to do here.”

“If you don’t explain it to me clearly, I’ll be curious and there’s no point in me learning.”

I followed him into the kitchen. My father was so annoyed by me that he said to me, “Your mother did this on purpose.”

“On purpose? What do you mean?”

Dad explained, “Last time someone sent the photos, your mom and I got suspicious. Someone must have deliberately tried to destroy the relationship between us. We discussed it privately. At first we both suspected that Arthur did it, but your mom and I are quite familiar with this Arthur. He was a playboy when he was in school. He asked your mom out several times in private, but your mom ignored him, so he stopped pestering her.”

“So, it wasn’t Arthur who sent the photo?”

Dad said, “What your mom meant is that although Arthur is a playboy and pursued your mom when they were in school, he has no shortage of lovers around him now. He doesn’t want to marry your mom, so why would he do so many tricks and go to so much trouble to break us up?”

“Then it’s someone else? Do you already know who it is?”

“Your mother guessed someone, but she didn’t have any concrete evidence. It was your mother’s immediate boss, Arthur.”

“It’s him.” I remembered that I had met that Arthur twice, but at that time my attention was focused on that damn Arthur and I didn’t pay attention to him.

Dad continued to explain, “Your mom told me before that Arthur had been interested in her for a long time. He got divorced a few years ago, but he really had feelings for your mom. Ever since he knew that your mom and Arthur were old classmates, he has been arranging for her to contact Arthur intentionally or unintentionally. Your mom didn’t take it seriously at first, but after the photo incident, she became a little suspicious. When Arthur arranged work, she deliberately went out for a walk with Arthur and had a meal. I thought the photos would come in a few days, but then there was no movement. Hey, who knew that the photos would come when something happened in our family. Do you think this grandson has bad intentions?”

After listening to my father’s explanation, I understood a little bit, but I felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, I said to my father, “I think my mother did this not only to test Arthur, but also to give you peace of mind.”

“Huh?” Dad obviously didn’t understand what I meant.

“I mean, my mother told you in advance that she deliberately followed Arthur to go for walks and meals. Once the photos come out later, won’t it prove my mother’s innocence?”

Dad pondered for a long time, patted my shoulder, and gave me an affirmative look. After leaving the kitchen, an idea suddenly popped up in my mind: could this photo be taken by my mother to reassure my father?

Then I thought, if my mother had someone take the photo, why didn’t she send it to me right away? Why did she wait until the house was in chaos to send it to me? After thinking about it, I decided that Arthur was the most suspicious.

Anyway, no matter what, I will never believe that my mother cheated on me.

The final exam of last semester finally came. I don’t know why, but after seeing those photos that day, I felt more relaxed. In addition, I studied very hard during this period, and my grades caught up a lot. But because I was too lazy in the past period, I just barely squeezed into the top ten in the class.

This is my usual performance, but this time I wanted to prove my repentance and hard work to my mother, so I was somewhat disappointed with this awkward ranking.

Since I agreed to spend New Year’s Eve with Elizabeth last time, she has never come to see me again. People are sometimes mean, when she comes, I get annoyed with her; when she doesn’t come to bother me, I actually miss her.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. That afternoon, I was studying hard in my bedroom when I heard a sudden noise in the living room, and then I heard Barbara shouting in surprise, “Mom, you’re back~!”

My mind buzzed, I was surprised and happy, I didn’t think too much, I threw down my pen and ran out of the room. I saw my mother standing in the living room, Barbara hugged her tightly with both hands, her face expressionless; my father was carrying a lot of luggage, it seems that he just came back from a business trip.

I hadn’t seen my mother for almost a month, so I was extremely happy. I wanted to hug her like my sister did, but I didn’t dare to. I could only stand at the door of the bedroom and watch them from a distance.

Mom hugged Barbara with one hand and patted her head gently. She turned her head and saw me, and her expression suddenly dropped. Dad smiled and said, “Don’t stand there, take a rest, you haven’t been home for such a long time.” Then he said to me, “What are you standing there for? Come and help me.”

I agreed, lowered my head and walked over, calling “Mom” softly. Mom didn’t seem to hear me and didn’t even look at me. I awkwardly helped Dad pack his luggage.

Dad personally cooked a sumptuous dinner to welcome Mom. At the table, Mom was still sitting there like a bodhisattva, not eating, drinking, or talking, and even had no expression on her face.

The atmosphere was a little awkward. Dad raised his glass first and said with a smile, “Something happened at home recently, and your mom ... stayed out for a while. Today I finally invited her back. As a family, living together, there are bound to be some bumps and bruises. In the final analysis, we still have to stick together through thick and thin. If there are any difficulties, let’s get through them together, okay?”

“Okay~!” Barbara excitedly raised the cup full of juice, but my mother had a stern face and didn’t react at all. I also followed Elizabeth and wanted to raise it but didn’t dare. It was a bit awkward that she was the only one so enthusiastic.

Dad quickly tried to smooth things over, smiling innocently and saying, “Look, your children are welcoming you, you ... this isn’t a good idea.”

Mom was silent for a moment, sighed heavily, and picked up the cup in front of her. Dad signaled me with his eyes, and I quickly picked it up.

“Cheers~!”

With a bang, the four cups clinked together. While drinking the juice, I quietly looked at my mother beside me. Her face was still expressionless and a little cold and scary.

Dad and Barbara took turns picking up food for Mom. Mom accepted all the food but didn’t show any gratitude. I hesitated for a long time, then mustered up the courage to add a piece of dried tofu and carefully put it into Mom’s bowl. Mom didn’t even look at it, she just took it out and threw it on the table.

The originally cheerful atmosphere suddenly froze. I lowered my head, not daring to speak. Barbara was a little confused, looking at me and then at my mother, her eyes full of curiosity, wanting to ask but not daring to.

At this time, my father would come out to smooth things over. I cleared my throat and smiled at my mother: “Oh, your own son has made such a big mistake, how can you deny it?” Then he said to me: “Hurry up and apologize to your mother.”

I quickly climbed up the pole my father gave me, holding the cup in one hand and supporting the bottom with the other, and respectfully raised it to my mother. Although my voice was small, I said sincerely and respectfully: “Mom, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. Don’t be angry, please forgive me this time.”

My mother looked cold and didn’t even look at me. I stood there for three minutes. My father couldn’t help it and whispered, “Be more sincere.”

I quickly left my seat, held the cup in my hands, knelt in front of my mother, and cried and said in a trembling voice: “Mom, I really didn’t mean it. I really know I was wrong. Please forgive your son this time.”

My mother was still sitting there motionless, and the atmosphere at the dinner party had reached a freezing point. I kept praying in my heart, hoping that my mother would forgive me, but she didn’t even look at me. My tears rolled in my eyes and began to flow uncontrollably.

Finally, with no other options left, my father sighed, helped me up from the ground, and muttered, “How did my son offend you to make you so angry? You can get over my problem, but why ... you can’t get over my problem?”