“Mom, I know. She is the mother of my classmate, Mia Collen,” Aino answered in a rush.“Oh…” She was the group admin. Sabrina finally met her today.Sebastian looked at Sabrina irritabl. “Even Aino knows more people than you!”Sabrina was speechless. She did not answer but only looked out the window. Sebastian looked at her. What’s wrong with her today?She had always been quiet, but today was a little abnormal. It was as if her soul had left her body. Just the past two days, she was still meek like a little deer. She would often proactively come looking for him, hide in his covers, and would also bury her face in his neck. She would happily rest on his shoulder. What happened today? Sebastian looked at Sabrina whose mind was wandering, then he raised his hands to touch her forehead. “Are you sick?”Sabrina shivered slightly, then answered him with a delayed reaction. “No…no.”He could tell by his touch that she did not have a fever. Her forehead was cool, and she is not havi
Sabrina's heart sank at his words but she managed to maintain calm on the outside. She avoided looking directly at Sebastian but instead turned to look outside the window. Her expression was indifferent, almost as though she was trapped in her own world and nothing outside that world would interest or affect her. She was likely to remain the same even if there was a knife against her throat. Sebastian had always liked that expression on her and how she sat upright. He reached out an arm to hold her gently from behind her back, Sabrina did not object to it and leaned over towards him like a clingy little kitten. He might have only reminded her not to bother herself with what happened to Emma, but she had read through the texts and understood that his friendship with the Poole Family was simply far too valuable for a woman Sebastian brought home to question anything related to them. There could also be a possibility that he deliberately stayed with the Poole Family in the Kidon City for
The difference in power in their relationship was simply far too big for her to ever escape him. He could care for her, teach her how to drive, get a marriage certificate with her or even take her back to the Ford Residence to announce his claim over her, but when it came back to choosing between his best friend and her, Sabrina knew she was disposable. She remained silent even after they arrived home and left Aino to spend time with Sebastian after dinner, as they always did. She took her phone and went back to the bedroom, before opening the private group chat among parents of the kindergarten Aino went to and started checking all the messages. She didn't have the time to check and now that she had, she noticed that there were people in the group that questioned her worthiness of being added into the chat room. When she had failed to reply, the few mothers that were more active than others began gossiping and said something along the lines of "Aino's mother just keeps quiet wheneve
"A very important phone call? Should I go up to ask for the money from him?" Sabrina considered for a moment before giving up and decided to wait for him downstairs instead. Sabrina thought that it must have been something he didn't want anyone to know if he went all the way to the top floor for the call. She was right, Sebastian did not want Sabrina anywhere near him when he was on that call.Ten years ago when Sebastian was exiled overseas, the second lady of the Poole Family, Emma who had just turned eighteen, pursued him passionately. However, Sebastian was on the run at the time and had no interest in romance. Furthermore, he disliked the arrogance and selfishness of wealthy young women like Emma so had therefore rejected her multiple times. When that didn't work, Sebastian escalated to verbal insults in order to be rid of Emma's persistent pursuit. Needless to say, Emma was heartbroken and remained so for a year or two afterwards, when she finally gave up on Sebastian.Every time
He responded by taking her into the study room with his arm around her. He went to retrieve a card from the drawer before handing it to her. "There's five million, the pin is your birthday.""Fifty thousand dollars is enough, I don't need this much," Sabrina muttered."This was meant for you as a form of compensation," he explained. The card was the one that he intended on giving Sabrina, but was later rejected by her six years ago after his mother Grace Summer had passed.Compensation? Was it for the manipulation and insult she was about to face at the hands of Emma? Was he paying her five million ahead of time for the suffering she had to endure? ‘That's not too bad, I guess,’ Sabrina thought. ‘As long as I live through it, the five million is more than enough for me to finally go back and visit my mother's grave. What's left can be utilized for many things, at least Aino could keep it as an insurance for her future.’"Okay." She swiftly took the card and turned to leave.Sebastian p
"My, my, aren't you good at familiarizing with people," Emma drawled casually. "We have only spoken once yesterday and immediately you managed to recognize my voice. If you are this good at familiarizing yourself with people and are capable of getting all the men of the South City elite community to be brothers by sharing you six years ago. Why on earth would you pretend to be ordinary in front of Aire, flaunting how everything is beneath like a peacock in heat?"Emma was apparently skilled in the art of insulting someone, but Sabrina was not affected. "I will go to work as per usual, let's continue this conversation then!" And with that, she hung up. Her daughter was standing right next to her and the last thing Sabrina wanted was for Aino to realize that her mother was in conflict with someone. She squatted down to look Aino directly in the eyes and asked, "Why don't you tell mommy what daddy is doing?""Daddy is going on a business trip for a few days and won't be home until then. Y
She then looked over to Aino and Susan. "The two of you should hurry and go in now."After the two little girls had left hand in hand, the contempt on Susan's mother's expression was no longer concealed. She turned to Sabrina and asked, "Aino's mommy, what happened to your private transport?""My husband is on a business trip," Sabrina gritted out, trying to suppress the annoyance she felt."But your clothes! They are so ordinary, what difference is there from wandering out to the street in your pajamas when you are dressed like this?"Sabrina paused for a moment before saying, "Susan's mommy, what are you really trying to say?""Could it be that you sold the car and your branded clothes in order to gather up fifty thousand dollars? Be honest, are you the same kind of person like those other mothers, trying to pretend like you are rich when you are not? If that's your background, this group, no, this kindergarten has no place for your kind!" Susan's mother got increasingly agitated as
Sabrina didn't have to turn around to know that it was Emma, and so she didn't. She had thought it through, she might be weak, but she was still capable of ignorance. She planned on simply ignoring Emma whatever she decided to do with her. Sabrina didn't want much, she was content as long as she could live to see Aino grow up happily."No wonder they say dead pigs have no fear towards boiling water," said Emma as she walked towards Sabrina. She was followed by the manager of the Human Resources, the Director and the Design Director. All of them seemed extremely upset with Sabrina.Every person in the entire Design Department held their breath in anticipation, even the women who kept bothering Sabrina were anxious with the feeling that something catastrophic was going to happen. The men, too, were worried about Sabrina."Your colleagues must all be wondering," Emma continued, "why wouldn't you fight back despite how much I've made you suffer, so much so that you show up at work obedient