Jean looked around the rented house. It was as dirty as a garbage dump
Afraid that Jean would get angry, Mandy smiled to give her some reassurance. "Please don't mind the
mess. It will be very tidy after thorough cleaning."
Mandy walked towards Jean and tried to hold her hand. Her eyebrows furrowed when she spotted the
injury on her hand. Hastily, she asked, "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter." Jean dodged the question.
Mandy smiled bitterly in response and looked at her empty hand. She couldn't help but say, "Jean, why
didn't you tell me that you came back? I could have cleaned the house in advance."
"Come on!" Jean sneered. "I would be more than happy if you wouldn't gamble anymore."
"What else can I do?" Mandy narrowed her eyes at Jean. "I am already old enough. My children are no
longer around. Even Aron has left me, and I really don't know what else I can do."
While she was saying this, she tried to squeeze out a few tears, but failed in her attempt.
Jean rolled her eyes in contempt. She could see through Mandy's obvious trick. "Stop acting in front of
me. Do you think I'm as idiotic as Julia? While Dad was still alive, you were gambling every single day.
If I hadn't covered up for you, then you would've been caught a long time ago."
Only Julia was foolish enough to think that Mandy was so affected by her husband's death that she
used gambling to numb herself.
In fact, Mandy was just an innate gambler.
A tinge of embarrassment flashed across Mandy's face. She looked at the girl in front of her and was
reminded of herself when she was Jean's age. "Jean, how long are you planning to stay?" she asked.
"I am not leaving," Jean answered.
"If you don't go, then he—" Her eyes widened at Jean, shocked that she almost blurted out a secret.
Fortunately, Jean interrupted her. "Shut up. I already know what I should be doing. You don't need to
worry about me."
"Look, as your mother, I still care about you..." Mandy replied with a wry smile.
Ignoring Mandy, Jean raised her wrist to look at her watch. "It's already lunch time, why don't we go out
to eat?"
"No, we don't have to do that. There is still food left in the fridge. It's been a while since you last tasted
my cooking. How about—"
"No, thanks," Jean interrupted impatiently. She looked at Mandy with a frown. "I've already reserved
seats for us."
Jean was unwilling to eat in Mandy's messy house.
Hearing Jean's impatience and annoyance, Mandy didn't protest anymore. Silently, she followed Jean
into the restaurant.
Jean had booked a private room for them. After ordering, she looked at Mandy and asked, "Have you
and Julia been in touch recently?"
With a dry smile, Mandy answered, "Julia is a superstar now. Would she still remember her mom?
A month ago, she gave me two hundred thousand dollars. But I lost the lot in a few days. I will be
calling her again to ask for more money.
By the way, Jean, you are staying in a hotel, right? How about this? I can Julia for more money and you
can rent a house."
"Did she give you money every time you asked for it?" Jean asked, her eyes widening in surprise. She
didn't expect Julia to be so filial.
"Yes." Mandy nodded. "Julia always gives me money. Even if she looks cold, she is still a dutiful
daughter. She was the one taking care of me while you were abroad all this time."
"Are you blaming me for not supporting you?" Jean asked, raising her eyebrows.
"No, no. I didn't mean that..." Mandy waved her hands to brush off the accusation. "I can support
myself for the time being. I don't need you to support me at all."
Jean curled her lips in response and replied, "I won't leave this time. Three years ago, Terence almost
went bankrupt. I drugged Julia so that they slept together. And I didn't need to marry him. But I didn't
expect that his company would rebuild itself and become so much more successful than it was before.
It seems that Julia has gotten the upper hand without even doing anything."
The thought of Terence being her brother-in-law made Jean's blood boil in anger. If she had known that
he would become successful again, then she wouldn't have given up her engagement to him.
"Exactly." Mandy sighed. "But I heard that Terence has seldom come back home during the past three
years. I think she's having a hard time."
"That's because she couldn't win the man's heart," Jean scoffed. "I came back here to take back what
belongs to me."
"What do you mean?" Mandy asked, frowning.
"Terence belongs to me. Even though Julia has stayed by his side for the last three years, she failed to
win his heart. So she can't blame me for stealing him away. He wanted to marry me in the first place. I
strongly believe that I can win his heart."
"Do you want to... be the other woman?" Mandy was taken aback.
Jean frowned and asked, "What do you mean by 'the other woman'? I just want to take back what
belongs to me.
Besides, as soon as I came back, Terence divorced Julia. Since he's single now, I don't see anything
wrong in pursuing him."
"Jean, there is something I haven't told you yet," Mandy began. "In fact, Julia was the woman Terence
was supposed to marry."
"Are you kidding me?" Jean scoffed, obviously not believing Mandy. "I was already engaged to Terence
three years ago. We were preparing for the wedding. Now, you're telling me that he was supposed to
marry Julia? You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not kidding. I'm telling the truth." Mandy looked at Jean with a serious expression. "Terence came
to our house, saying he wanted to marry Julia. He is good-looking and was born into a rich family, so I
begged your father to replace her with you. When Terence got to know the truth, he got upset and
demanded that we correct the mistakes we made."
Although three years had passed since the incident, Mandy still shivered when she thought about how
Terence had gotten so furious that night.
It was so terrible.
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