“I’m truly not, Mom,” Sasha protested anxiously. “It’s a huge threat to road safety when he’s driving
without a license—at that speed, no less! If he gets arrested, he might even have to go to jail!”
Upon hearing that, Helen froze for a moment before she stammered, “I-I didn’t realize it was so serious.”
“What did you think?” Sasha snapped. “Have you seen how carelessly he drives? His life could very well
be in danger if he got into an accident!”
Scratching her head perplexedly, Helen finally conceded, “Alright; I’ll call your aunt.” And so, she pulled
out her cell phone as she walked over to the couch, making a call to her sister. After chatting idly for
ages, she finally got to the point, only to have Chloe tell her, “It’s not a big deal. Tate is a pretty good
biker and he often went out biking while we were abroad. Don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine.”
“But he’ll be found breaking the law if he gets caught,” Helen protested.
With a laugh, Chloe replied, “It’s not as serious as that! Kids just like to play. He never ran into any
trouble while abroad despite their stricter laws there, and he hasn’t run into any trouble here even after
having biked for so long. It’ll be fine.”
It was only then that Helen breathed out a sigh of relief. “Alright, then.”
After she hung up the phone, Sasha cried out indignantly, “That’s it, Mom? It’s fine simply because Aunt
Chloe says so?”
“Tate is her son, Sasha,” Helen pointed out. “She must worry about him more than we do. So, don’t let it
trouble you. If she says it’s fine, then it is!”
Upon hearing that, Sasha shouted, “Well, go ahead and spoil him, then! I’ve said my piece so I don’t
care if anything happens to him—and don’t you come asking for my help, either!”
With that, she stormed upstairs.
Affronted, Helen yelled after her, “How can you say that? He’s your cousin and you can’t treat him like
that! Don’t forget how your aunt treated you when you were young—”
The lecture was cut short as Sasha slammed her bedroom door shut. Truly, she was fed up with listening
to her mother go on and on. Over the past few days, she had heard it so much that her ears were about
to fall off.
When Matthew, who was sitting inside the room, saw the expression on her face, he couldn’t help
chuckling. “What happened? Did your mom refuse to take your advice?”
Helplessly, she sighed. “They dote on him too much. If they keep going on like this, an accident is bound
to happen!”
“These kids are too self-centered,” he agreed quietly. “They won’t listen to anyone. I imagine they won’t
learn their lesson until they’ve suffered a loss.”
“But when it comes to this issue, that loss could potentially be the loss of a life,” she pointed out
anxiously.
“Well, what are you going to do about it?” He shrugged. “If his parents say it’s fine, what could you say
that would convince him otherwise?”
Sasha knew that Matthew was right and she grumbled to herself, If my aunt and uncle don’t even care,
what can I do?
With a smile, Matthew walked up to her and he comforted her gently, “Alright; let’s forget about it. There’s
no need to stay angry. You seem so stressed out these past few days.”
“How could I not be with those two brats living here?” she complained. “Not to mention that I have to wait
on them hand and foot from dawn to dusk. Every time I see them now, I get angry!”
With a laugh, he suggested, “Well, if you don’t want to see them, would you like to elope with me?”
“Oh—now you want to elope?” Sasha retorted, rolling her eyes. “When I suggested leaving back then,
you wouldn’t. Where could we possibly ‘elope’ to now?”
“Lakeside Garden!” Matthew announced triumphantly. “I told you that I have a place there!”
At this point, she couldn’t help a snort of laughter. “Yes; I know you have a place there. Let’s find a time
to pack up our valuables and go there then, shall we?”
Throughout the entire conversation, Sasha thought that Matthew was joking.
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