Next One Is a Babe

“This is all on me, not her.” John didn’t hide it, so in a way, he admitted it.

Old Mrs. Constance didn’t dwell on this. “You know what you did, so we’ll stay out of this.”

John leaned back on the sofa and sighed. He would have consoled his mother usually, but he wasn’t in the mood now. “I’ll go to Sophia’s place tomorrow. Maybe I’ll stay there after this. She dislikes it here, so we won’t be coming back.”

Old Mrs. Constance could understand that, for Matilda would just forget everything and repeat her mistakes after a while, so living under the same roof wasn’t optimal for them. She nodded. “That’s good. It’s nearer to the company, so it’s convenient for you.”

William came back a short while later. He had an appointment on this day, but his wife kept calling him to complain. So, he had no choice but to ask Owen to go in his stead, while he came back to check out the situation.

Old Mrs. Constance was speechless, so she looked at her son. “You spoiled her.”

William smiled. “I’ll take a look.”

After William had gone upstairs, John said, “My dad really loves my mom. Now that’s really enviable.” William did spoil Matilda, and she became arrogant because of that. She might be old now, but Matilda was a bigger troublemaker. Everything she disliked in the house, she would complain to William, but he never got angry at her and kept taking a step back. Maybe both of them got used to it after all these years.

A moment later, Old Mrs. Constance said, “They didn’t love each other in the beginning as well.”

John froze, for he never heard about his parents’ story.

Old Mrs. Constance felt compelled to talk about it. “Your dad wasn’t going to marry your mother in the first place. The lady he wanted to marry came from almost the same background as us. They were a good match, and after the meeting, your father felt great about her. However, a more powerful family had their eyes on her, so the lady chose them after thinking about it. It had been years since then. There was nothing like the engagement system we have today, so everyone skipped to marriage. If she didn’t marry you, she could marry someone else she liked. Because of that, your father was depressed for a long time. Then, his old man asked someone to introduce Matilda to him. He didn’t like her, or well, at least he thought she was incomparable to the girl he liked. Matilda didn’t like him either, but she thought they were a good match in terms of family background, so they could try it out. Then, they got married.”