Alan lifted up his head and looked at Mrs. Steele for a long while.
Mrs. Steele bristled by his gaze, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Alan hurriedly got up to let her sit, pressing down on his mother-in-law, “Mother, can I take that as Olive
has also the exact jade pendant in her hands like the one in this photo?”
The answer to the question in his heart was ready to come out now.
“Yes. Olive isn’t my and her father’s biological child. This is no longer a secret in our family. Didn’t you
know it already?” Mrs. Steele suddenly was taken aback and grasped on something. “Then do you
mean that the jade pendant in this photo isn’t Olive’s?”
Alan shook his head and answered, “No.”
“Oh my,” Mrs. Steele was surprised and hurriedly picked up the photo to take a closer look. This was
obviously the same thing. She kept her eyes on the photo and held on Alan’s arm tightly. “Tell me now
whose pendant in this picture? Now!”
Alan could even feel the trembling in her fingers. He held her hand and tried to calm her down. “Mother,
don’t get too emotional. Calm down. Let’s talk slowly. We tall slowly.”
Mrs. Steele had a prior case of a stroke. He couldn’t let her emotions fluctuate too much.
Actually, he wasn’t calm too, but he had to be calm. He thought of his girl who had concealed it for a
few months. He really wanted to catch her and hit her butt.
But Mrs. Steele couldn’t calm down. She lost herself for a moment and was panicking, “Wait. I’ll call her
dad first.”
When Mr. Steele received a call from his wife, he happened to be in the elevator. Before he could
speak, he heard a rushing voice on the other end of the phone. “Come home quick. Now.”
He thought something happened back at home. He ran as soon as he got out of the elevator and he
almost hit onto the house. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
Mrs. Steele didn’t expect her husband to come home as soon as the call had ended, but she didn’t care
anymore and waved at him anxiously. “Come here and take a look.”
Mr. Steele had the same reaction with Mrs. Steele when he first saw the photo, “Isn’t this Olive’s jade
pendant? What’s wrong? I had thought our house is burning.”
He even almost fell down when he got out of the elevator.
Alan breathed out a sigh of relief. His girl even hid a little secret from her husband. He even wondered
how she could be so sure that woman named Susan was a fake. It turned out it was her.
“Father, the jade pendant in the photo isn’t Olive’s.”
Mr. Steele was shocked. “Not Olive’s?”
Alan nodded, “Before today, although I knew that Olive wasn’t your biological child, I never heard her
mention that she also has this jade pendant. She also hides it very well and I never finds out…”
“Then whose jade pendant is in the picture?” asked Mr. Steele.
Alan said, “Olive actually already knew the owner of this jade pendant a long time ago.”
“Olive has known for a long time? Then whose is it? Alan, don’t talk halfway.”
“The chairman of the Angel Holiday Hotel, Mr. Norton Geven, who is also Olive’s current boss. A few
months ago, Mr. Geve was seriously ill and asked me to look for his biological daughter, but I didn’t
expect that she has been by my side all this time.”
Did this mean: It took a lot of his effort to find something urgent, but he found it by accident?
He didn’t deny that he deliberately let her parents see the photo.
She didn’t say it, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t detect it. He just didn’t want to force her to say what she
didn’t want to say.
Maybe, she still needed time to accept this matter.
However, he probably understood why she insisted on staying at the hotel, managing the hotel for
Norton Geve, went to the hospital to give him food whenever she was free, made him happy and
walked with him.
She actually felt conflicted inside too. Whether to acknowledge or not? She was in a dilemma.
Mrs. Steele stared at the photo and sighed blankly, “Since she has known everything, why hasn’t she
told us anything?”
From the day Olive was adopted, the couple was ready to find the child’s biological parents. If they
really wanted to their child behind, they wouldn’t leave a jade pendant as a keepsake. It was just too
cruel.
Alan stood in Olive’s perspective and said, “Maybe, she still doesn’t know how to tell you guys. This
time, if it isn’t for someone impersonating as Mr. Geve’s daughter, I might not notice her strangeness.”
Mrs. Steele said, “This silly girl. What’s so hard? If she wants to acknowledge them, we won’t stop her
as long as she can still call us mom and dad.”
“But, in her heart, you guys are closer than her biological parents. It wasn’t easy for you to raise her.
Then, you guys worked so hard to help her raise Annie. She felt sorry to you if she acknowledges
them,” Alan thought. This was probably the conflict in his wife’s heart.
“Tell us, why did the Geve throw her on the street back then? She’s their flesh and blood. Didn’t they
feel pain?” Mrs. Steele had a flashback to the scene when she picked up Olive and her heart couldn’t
help but ached. “It was winter that day and the day before snowing. It was cold. A baby as small as a
little mouse. She was frozen that she turned blue and purple and was placed in a torn cardboard box.
The doctor said that if it was a few minutes later, she would freeze to death. Why do you want to get
pregnant if you don’t want the child? Fine if you get rid of the baby as soon as you’re pregnant, but they
left her after she was born. I’ve never met such heartless parents. They aren’t humans, they’re
monsters.”
Mrs. Steele, who never said harsh words, couldn’t help but swore.
Mr. Steele rubbed her back, fearing that she would harm her health from getting angry.
Alan told them about Norton’s hardships back then.
Mrs. Steele had calmed down a bit. “Even if he was extremely difficult, abandoning child is an
irresponsible behavior. Don’t make excuses for his mistakes in the past. Now that he’s dying, he just
remembered he still has his abandoned daughter. He didn’t even think that Olive almost froze to death
in front of the hospital back then. His daughter almost died.”
Mr. Steele was silent for a while, then he said, “Since Olive already knew that her biological parents are
looking for her, she’ll decide on her own whether she wants to acknowledge or not. We won’t blame her
if she wants to. If she doesn’t want to, it’s her choice.”
“I think she may have already made a decision in her heart.” Otherwise, she wouldn’t have pointed out
about Susan’s truth from the beginning.
Sometimes, when he thought about it, he felt a little angry. She actually didn’t say anything on such big
matter. Even though she didn’t want to acknowledge them, she could find him and discuss it with him.
To bear it alone in silence… Did she not rely on him who was her husband? He would punish her well
later. It was to prevent her from treating him like an air again when another major event happened.
When Olive got off work, she didn’t ask Alan to pick her up. She grabbed a ride to her house.
As always, since her dad liked to compete a few games on chessboard with his son-in-law. When she
came home, they were playing together.
But, she was still aware of the strange atmosphere in the air, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Until she found her busy mother in the kitchen and her eyes were red.
“Mom, why are you crying?”
“I do not.” Mrs. Steele hurriedly wiped her eyes with her apron and explained, “When I was cutting the
peppers, its seed got into my eyes.”
“Really?” Olive didn’t really buy it, but her mom had no reason to cry. She washed an apple, went out
and asked her dad. “Dad, what’s wrong with mom? Why was she crying? Did you bully her?”
“I have never bullied your mother. She got peppers in her eyes. She’ll be fine.” Her dad didn’t lift up his
head too, holding the chess piece while thinking. He heard their conversation from the kitchen just now.
“Oh.” Olive didn’t doubt it anymore. Her eyes swept around the house, but didn’t see the little
troublemaker. “Where’s Annie?”
Mr. Steele said, “Went with her master, Big Beard, to play to her godfather’s place. Chloe will bring her
home later.”
“No wonder the house is quiet, it’s because the two troublemakers aren’t home.” Olive turned on the TV
to a music channel. She laid down on the sofa while hugging a pillow. After a busy day, her back hurt.
Somehow, she fell asleep fast. The unfinished apple in her hand didn’t fell from her hand.
Alan couldn’t help but smiled when he noticed that she was sleeping. She had become a mother
already, but she was still drooling.
This was a rare opportunity. He took his phone and turned on its camera. He snapped a few closer-
ups.
Mrs. Steele came out of the kitchen, “What are you doing?”
Alan replied with two words, “This’s fun.”
“You’re a father already and still find this fun. Aren’t you afraid being laughed at?” Mrs. Steele’s mood
improved watching her son-in-law’s childlike behavior.
“How did I fall asleep?” Olive was awakened by then, rubbing her eyes. Then, she opened her arms
and made a baby voice, “Honey, a hug.”
Occasionally, they wouldn’t do some intimate actions that weren’t excessive in front of their parents.
The old couple laughed every time. The children’s relationship was more important than anything else.
Everybody had ever been like them when they were young. They weren’t old-fashioned people.
On the contrary, the Hoyle’s residence was quiet and deserted at the moment. Compared with the
liveliness of the previous few days, this was too lonely.
Mrs. Hoyle sat alone at the big dining table with a pair of cutleries on her left and right, but no one
came back to dine with her.
Mrs. Hudson said, “Madam, I just heard that young lady has an appointment with a friend, while
youngest young master is working overtime and can’t come home.”
These were the same bad excuses which were used to avoid her. It was even this hard to ask them
returning home for a dinner. Mrs. Hoyle was furious that she threw away the chopsticks, “Forget it. I
won’t eat anymore.”
“Madam, you didn’t have your lunch. If you don’t eat your dinner too, your body won’t be able to stand
it,” Mrs. Hudson persuaded.
“Look at them. They all wish me to die early,” Mrs. Hoyle snorted.
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