Olive Steele smiled, “your mother is not a monster. She won’t eat people. Don’t worry.”
Alan Hoyle was not worried about anything else. He was afraid that his mother would behave ugly,
unreasonable, and unforgiving. Although Olive Steele was smiling, but deep inside her heart, she felt
uncomfortable. She was not a kind of person who liked to talk about her grievances.
But, obviously Olive Steele had something to say. She put down her chopstick and smiled at Mrs.
Hoyle, “will you allow me the honor?”
Mrs. Hoyle said flatly, “Is there something you cannot say at this table?”
“Are you afraid to be alone with me for a while?” Olive Steele deliberately provoked her.
Sure enough, the old lady’s face sank. A threat was an invitation for her. She stood up, “Do you think
I’m afraid of you? Come with me. As for the rest of you, just sit down here. Don’t think you can impress
me just because you manage to hook my son around your little fingers.”
Olive Steele never thought that a few words would move the stubborn old lady. She followed her
upstairs.
People in the dining room looked at each other. Alan Hoyle watched his wife leaving and lost in his own
thought.
Aoba Hoyle kicked his brother’s foot under the table, “Brother, what do you think sister-in-law will say to
mom?”
“If you listen, you will know.” Ada Hoyle replied.
Finally, three of them followed upstairs stealthily.
Soon, three ears were attached to the door of the study. Annie pushed their legs apart and did the
same, but she couldn’t hear a word.
She poked Alan Hoyle and asked, “Dad, do you think grandma will do something bad to mom?”
Alan Hoyle stroked her head while Ada Hoyle quickly put her fingers over the little girl’s mouth. She
hissed and told her to shut up.
The conversation inside lasted for almost half an hour. No one knew what they were talking about. The
door was suddenly opened and people standing at the door fell back.
Alan Hoyle was quick-witted. He held the door frame and grabbed Annie, but the other two weren’t so
lucky. They stumbled and fell back. Olive Steele gasped.
Mrs. Hoyle looked at her children on the floor and frowned.
Ada Hoyle with the help of her younger brother got up and rubbed her nose. She tried to ease the
awkward atmosphere, “Mom, can’t you open the door slowly? You’re hurting me!”
“You deserve it.” Mrs. Hoyle said coldly, but her face eased a lot. She said to Olive Steele, “Remember
to keep your words.”
Olive Steele smiled gently, “I don’t make promises easily. Once I promise, I make sure to keep it. It
takes patience to get something, Mrs. Hoyle.”
“Mommy, why are you talking in codes?” Annie said with her head lifted.
Even children knew that they were talking about something, not to mention adults. Alan Hoyle looked at
the old lady warily and turned his eyes back to his wife.
“What did you say to her?”
Ada Hoyle said, “If she could tell you, she wouldn’t have bothered to talk to mother alone.”
Olive Steele smiled when she saw his nervous appearance, “Don’t worry. Nothing can stop me from
being with you now.”
“You once said that you will never leave, but you did.” Alan Hoyle was still haunted by the five years of
separation. It made him skeptical.
Olive Steele patted his chest, “I had to do it, okay?”
“Will it happen for the second time?”
“I—”
Alan Hoyle snorted coldly, glanced at the back of his mother downstairs and looked at Olive Steele
again, “If you ever run away again, I will chase you, and lock you up with a chain; one on your hand
and one on mine so that I know where you’re going.”
Ada Hoyle had goosebumps and poked Aoba Hoyle, “How is it possible to flirt and threat at the same
time? Bro, you have learn from big brother more.”
By the time everyone went downstairs, the food served earlier were cold. The old lady asked the maids
to reheat it. It meant that they had to continue to eat.
Olive Steele sat down and smiled brightly at the old lady.
“Since you’re back, don’t live outside again. You too. This house has some empty rooms, no?” the old
lady opened her mouth to Olive Steele in front of everyone. It was hard to avoid some reproachful tone,
but it was better than indifference and rejection.
They were dumbfounded. Did the sun really rise on the west today? Ada Hoyle looked out of the
window and found that the sky wasn’t raining blood or something weird. The old lady changed after a
thorough talk.
“Sure.” Olive Steele replied before Alan Hoyle objected.
“Don’t think I have accepted you completely just by letting you live here. You’re still on a trial.” the old
lady added.
“I’ll do my best on the trial.” Olive Steele smiled confidently.
She was not a person who liked to waste opportunities. The old lady’s heart was softened before she
knew it. Although her words were still sarcastic and cold, but her heart was touched. How could she
waste such opportunity?
Besides, man would get tired after dealing with two women after a long time. Alan Hoyle looked like he
was still fighting with the old lady on the surface but deep inside, he was very concerned about her.
After all, she was the mother who gave birth and raised him. Every day, he received an e-mail from
Doctor Gu. The doctor reported the old lady’s health daily in discretion. She looked tired. They might as
well end the confrontation for good.
Olive Steele arranged some people to move her things from villa in the mountain to Hoyle family
mansion.
Although Alan Hoyle’s room had not been occupied for a long time, it was still free of dusts. Mrs. Hoyle
must have asked the maids to take a good care of it.
Mother would always love their children no matter what happened.
Alan Hoyle was curious about the conversation, but Olive Steele smiled mysteriously and asked him to
guess away.
There was a song saying don’t try to guess the girl’s mind. They were still maintaining the tense
atmosphere and exuded no intimacy. However, it was not as cold as before.
After taking a bath, Annie was taken away by Mrs. Hoyle.
Olive Steele was happy that the old lady was close to her daughter. She let them spend some time
together.
After closing the door, she stood by the window and called her parents in Luo City. After only a few
days, her parents though that they would go back. Three of them left leaving the house deserted and
the elders were not used to it.
Alan Hoyle was standing behind her listening to her phone call, laughing and chatting. When she
finished, he patted her shoulder and asked, “What did you say to my mother?”
Olive Steele turned around, wrapped her arms around his neck and blinked, “It’s a secret. I’m not
supposed to reveal it.”
He pretended like he was unhappy, “It turns out that I’m an outsider, huh?”
“It’s just the women things. Do you want your mother to kill me?”
“You—” he poked her forehead helplessly. Since she didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t mention it
again.
His wife had a secret, but he was fine as long as she didn’t leave him. But, looking at her stealthy
appearance, she must have reached some kind of reconciliation with his mother.
However, Annie didn’t change her surname which she originally agreed. Did she change her mind? The
old lady didn’t mention it again. She also stopped slamming the table. How wondered that his wife told
her for her to stop doing these things.
In fact, it didn’t matter what the child’s surname was. Whether it was Steele or Hoyle, it wouldn’t
change his feelings for her. The inside mattered more than those on the outside. It was better to live on
your own rather than on other’s ideal.
There was laughter from Mrs. Hoyle’s room downstairs.
“Grandma, you have something in mind, don’t you?”
Since she was young, she loved to observe her surroundings. Mrs. Hoyle was moved and touched.
She stroked he little girl’s head, “How do you know, baby?”
“I know it with my eyes closed.” Annie was lying on the bed. She turned over and looked at her
grandma, “Grandma, do you still hate me?”
Mrs. Hoyle was embarrassed, “Baby, I’m wrong and I’m sorry for that. Grandma loves you very much.”
Annie put her hands on Mrs. Hoyle’s chest and said, “Grandma, you don’t have to say sorry to me. You
hated me and mommy before because you didn’t understand. After you get to know her better, I believe
you will like her. She is a very nice woman. She’s someone dearest to me. You can rest assured that
no matter what my surname is, I will be filial to you as I am to my grandparents in Luo City because you
are the mother of my father. Pinky promise.”
The little girl’s words melted her. She kissed her face and said, “Good girl.”
Her old self would think that it was Olive Steele’s doing to make her daughter say sweet things to
please or to confuse her. Her old self would think that this gesture was scheming and ill-intentioned.
However, now, this kind of thought was getting weaker and weaker. She even began to think that a
woman who could teach such an intelligent child with a cheerful personality must have a strong heart
under the pressure of life.
Her heart didn’t hold a grudge on the hands life throw at her and she didn’t vent it on her child. As for
Mrs. Hoyle’s problem with Alan Hoyle, Olive Steele even helped her to solve it from her point of view.
The old lady was surprise when she talked to her behind the closed door.
Perhaps, it was not a bad thing for her son to fall for this woman.
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