But Olive didn’t mind. Hadn’t she seen enough of the old lady’s expression? She had gotten used to it.
This habit had become natural. This kind of nature made her heart harden into an iron wall. She could
withstand it no matter how many blows.
“Mrs. Hoyle, everyone says if the family lives in harmony, all affairs will prosper. If you insist on making
this family in turmoil, then I can’t do anything about that.”
Mrs. Hoyle slammed the table that it shook. “I’m making this family in turmoil? If you don’t exist, my
family will be so harmonious now.”
Olive shrugged and chuckled, “If I don’t exist, Alan wouldn’t fall in love with Ophelia Meyer too. As a
mother, if you really love your children, you should give them freedom to choose, instead of thinking to
control their lives, including their marriage.”
“If a woman truly loves her man and knows she isn’t his match, she should have left him,” Mrs. Hoyle
retorted.
Olive smiled, “Mrs. Hoyle, how are we not match?”
“You two aren’t in everything.”
“Please be specific.”
“Do I still need to say it?”
“Since Mrs. Hoyle can’t tell it specifically, I can only treat you as a childish elder being unreasonable.”
“I’m unreasonable? Hmph. I forgot to tell you that after you left the study, Alan agreed to let Ophelia go
and not hold her accountable.”
How could Olive fail to see that Mrs. Hoyle were intending to provoke her? She faintly smiled and
wasn’t surprised.
“I’ve said it, I won’t intervene in this matter and won’t say too much. I have no opinion on how Alan will
handle it. Alan is willing to let her go because he’s open-minded. If he isn’t, that’s also because Ms.
Meyer reaps what she sows. Everyone must be responsible of their actions’ consequences. Mrs.
Hoyle, you’re not wrong for protecting her ‘cause it’s natural. I can understand that, but it’ll cause bad
gossips about you. As for myself, I don’t care. Jiangcheng doesn’t have the places I miss and I don’t
plan to stay here longer, so that I won’t upset you more. I wouldn’t be able to hear any rumors.
However, you are welcome when you came to Luo City and visit my family. If you come, my home will
treat you as a guest.”
“Forget that. I don’t care,” Mrs. Hoyle snorted coldly and refused to accept.
“Of course you don’t. My home is small and can’t be compared to yours.” Olive didn’t feel disappointed.
In front of the stubborn Mrs. Hoyle, she wanted to reach the softest place in her heart. It was a tortuous
and secluded path and it wasn’t opened for her.
“Good that you know.” Mrs. Hoyle’s words meant that for Olive climbing up to the Hoyle Family, it was
like a sparrow that turned into a phoenix. She should be grateful and tone down her tone.
But love didn’t distinguish between high and low. Olive didn’t want to be a noble phoenix, but she also
didn’t see herself as a humble little sparrow. So, she didn’t plan to lower her esteem and flatter her
without principle.
“Without doubt, my Steele Family isn’t as wealthy and prestigious as the Hoyle, but my family doesn’t
steal and cheat. We rely on our own hands to earn money to eat and we’re not necessarily inferior to
the Hoyle. Although the Hoyle is impressive, it’s not necessarily nobler than the Steele.”
To be respected by others, one must respect the other first. If Mrs. Hoyle couldn’t even do this, even if
she pleased her for a while, she wouldn’t be able to please her forever.
“My son is bewitched by you now that he doesn’t even listen to his mother’s words. Of course you can
say these arrogant words here. You’ve taken my son away, of course you can be proud here.”
Mrs. Hoyle actually knew that she was a bit wrong, but her dignity was repeatedly provoked by this
woman. As and elder, if she couldn’t even control a junior, where should she face?
“I’m just stating the fact. Besides, you seem to never have thought about it this way. My appearance
isn’t stealing your son from you, but adding another woman who loves him deeply like you. Of course, I
know that you won’t necessarily care.” The old lady cared about that woman who was in the detention
center.
“I really don’t care and my son doesn’t lack love,” Mrs. Hoyle rebuked her indifferently.
But Alan appeared silently at this moment with a doctor behind him. “But I care. It’s not my business if
other women love me or not, but I only lack of Olive’s love and only want hers.”
Mrs. Hoyle pointed at her son, “Will you be more satisfied after you anger your mother until I die?”
“No one wants to make you angry. You’re just being unreasonable,” Alan said lightly.
Mrs. Hoyle was furious, “I’m not reasonable? You don’t even treat me as your mother anymore, of
course I’m unreasonable.”
Olive held on the man who wanted to continue. She always put on her smile. “Mrs. Hoyle, don’t get
angry. I would like to ask you something.”
The old lady shook her head stubbornly again, refusing to look at her straight.
Olive didn’t care and went on, “I heard that Alan’s father loved you very much when he was alive.”
“Of course. He was so kind to me back then.” Speaking of her deceased husband, the old lady’s eyes
shook a little. There was a soft light in them and they weren’t as cold as before.
“Then, Alan’s grandma, your mother-in-law, did she think you were stealing her son? Did she feel sorry
for you? Your husband didn’t obey his parents anymore because he loved you?” Olive stared at her
with a smile. Although she didn’t know much about the Hoyle’s past family affairs, she still heard bits of
it from the siblings. Back then, the old grandmother was still alive and so was Alan’s father. The three
of them were still young. They were a loving husband and wife, a harmonious in-laws, and a filial, kind-
hearted family.
Only then did Mrs. Hoyle wake up. She fell into the pit dug by this woman when Olive said that. No
matter what her answer was, it was a trap. In fact, Alan’s grandmother was so good to her that she had
always been thankful that she had met a good, sensible, and gentle mother-in-law.
Alan said, “Mom, you really don’t learn anything from grandma.”
Olive quietly jabbed at his back, then she turned to the doctor and said, “It’s getting late, doctor. Please
take care of the old lady. It’s healthier to sleep early.”
“Understood,” the doctor walked out from the dark.
But Mrs. Hoyle obviously didn’t appreciate it. “I think you wish I die early.”
Alan’s face darkened, “Mother, what is wrong with you? It seems that you really want to force your son
to live permanently in Luo City. Fine, I’ll book a plane ticket tomorrow.”
Mrs. Hoyle slammed the table again. “Are you threatening me?”
“Threatening you?” Alan sneered. “I wouldn’t dare to. In this family, you’ve been refusing to recognize
Olive as your daughter-in-law. But in the Steele, they recognize me as their son-in-law, Olive’s husband
and Annie’s father. They show me how nostalgic a warm home is.”
“That’s because they want to take advantage of you, holding onto you before it’s too late.”
Alan was very angry with the old lady’s understanding. He knew better about the Steele after getting
along with them for so long.
“According to your understanding, the poor should fawn on the rich, so the rich can despise the poor.
To you, there’s completely no need to be nice to them, right? Mother, don’t forget. The Hoyle’s three
generations before was also poor. Shouldn’t you look down on the Hoyle’s ancestor first?”
The old lady was too speechless to refute. Her face went pale. “You…”
“Hey, don’t talk too much.” Olive pulled at Alan. If she didn’t stop them now, she was afraid that this
matter wouldn’t finish. She knew that he was sincerely protecting her. She was being reasonable with
the old lady, but he directly confronted her. In the end, it wasn’t a solution. She was afraid that it would
only make the old lady more rebellious towards her. “Mrs. Hoyle, I don’t want to be your enemy. In this
lifetime, maybe you can’t treat me like a daughter and I won’t demand too much for that wish. But I
wish to see each other for Alan’s sake and live our lives together peacefully as friends. If you can
respect me a little, I can respect you too.”
“Sweet-talker.” Even so, the old lady’s tone did soften a bit.
Olive smiled a little, “We won’t find out unless we try. I’m just afraid that Mrs. Hoyle doesn’t want to try.”
“You don’t need to trick me. I won’t be fooled by you.” Mrs. Hoyle initially wanted to spit at her, but
somehow she snorted instead in the end. “Doctor, take me back to my room.”
If she stayed here any longer, she would really be pissed off by these two people. She raised her
children to take care of her later. But looked at them. Each of them worked against her.
After watching Mrs. Hoyle go upstairs, Olive sighed and said to Alan, “Your mom won’t like me. What
should we do?”
It wasn’t easy to please this old lady. She thought that after staying the night in the Hoyle’s residence,
their relationship would change for the better. But the moment Ophelia Meyer was mentioned, it blew
up again. Now, neither wanted to yield and she couldn’t talk through the old lady. She was at loss.
As for Ophelia Meyer, Olive didn’t intend to say good things and bad things too. She felt that it was
considered good enough that she didn’t intervene. What more did she want?
Being generous didn’t mean that you had to be a good person who could forgive everything.
Alan pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. “As long as I like you, that’s enough. You’re married to
me and I’m married to you, not my mother.”
“But it’s not a way to keep it like this. She has bad health. It’s really a miracle that she isn’t pissed off by
us.” From this point, Olive had to admire the old lady, stubborn and tenacious.
Mrs. Hoyle returned to her room and sat on the bed. She hit the mat a few times, “I’m so angry.”
The doctor shook his head helplessly, “Old Madam, why are you doing this? Mr. Hoyle and Ms. Steele
are in love. Didn’t you say you want to try to get along with Ms. Steele yesterday? Why did it change
today?”
“It’s because she instigated my son not to let go of Ophelia.”
“Madam, don’t blame me from being frank.”
The old lady’s rejection towards the doctor wasn’t as strong as before. She could occasionally talk
about her feelings, so she simply agreed, “Talk.”
The doctor said, “You treat Ms. Meyer like your own and your daughter, but I think, Ms. Meyer doesn’t
treat you as a mother. Outside, she looks obedient and innocent, but she has a quite a dark heart and
she did a lot behind your back. I never comment on what she had done before, but there’s something I
think it’s necessary to let you know now.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know if you remember that one time when I accidentally knocked over the medicine bowl.”
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