She snorted, “I heard you were an orphan, and it was your grandmother who got you married to Dennis. A man like Dennis needs a partner who is his equal. And you seem to be mentally ill. What does a woman like you, with no background, get him by his side? You’re just a drag on him.”
Once upon a time, hearing these words, I would feel inferior and uncomfortable, but not now.
I was quite calm. I looked back at her and smiled, “So, Ms. Torres, what can you bring him?”
There was no denying that she was proud. “My education, my ability, and my beauty have a lot to offer him. I can keep pace with him. I can always keep up with him. And you, you are just a housewife, you know nothing else.”
I nodded and smiled. A woman’s pride was worth appreciating, but that was all.
I looked at her. I didn’t say anything to hurt her, or anything disrespectful. I just smiled and said, “So, Miss Torres, I look forward to you taking my place one day.”
I stopped looking at her, smiled, and left the room. Rose was at the door. When she saw me suddenly open the door, she was a little stunned.
There was something wrong with her face. She probably heard everything.
She tried to say something, but I smiled and said first, “Go in!”
She nodded and said after a pause, “Miss Kennedy, would you mind waiting downstairs for me?”
I was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, “Okay.”
She went in and I went downstairs.
The weather in City P was always changeable. It was sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon. It seemed that the snow had started again.
The heat was on in the car. I was a little drowsy when Dennis called.
“Still in the hospital?” His voice was deep and firm, as good as ever.
I nodded and said, “How’s it going at the office?”
When he finally got ready for the holiday, he was busy again because of it.
Looked like he just came out of a meeting. After a pause, he said, “PR will take care of it. What would you like to eat later? I’ll pick you up and we’ll have dinner together.”
I thought about it. I was going to talk to Rose later, and I guessed we would be eating by the time we were done talking.
So, I said, “Mr. George, I have an appointment. I don’t think I can go with you.”
After a pause, he said quietly, “Do I know him?”
I wanted to tease him, so I nodded and said with a smile, “Yeah.”
“Rose?”
I was stunned and pursed my lips, “Dennis, are you following me again?”
He smiled, “Don’t be mad. There’s a lot of eyes on the George Group right now, and I can only trust you to go out if you’re safe.”
I couldn’t argue back, but I said, “I’m not a baby.”
“Good girl!” His voice was low and pleasant, with a little indulgence, which sounded particularly moving.
I pressed my lips together and became quiet.
I stood at the hospital door watching Rose come out of the hospital. I raised my hand and pressed the horn.
Then I said to the phone, “Dennis, I got to go.”
I hung up the phone before Dennis could say anything.
When Rose heard the horn, she looked sideways and got into the car. I saw that her eyes were red and swollen, it seemed that she had been crying.
I didn’t know what her relationship with Sheila Torres was, but it looked like it was not as simple as I thought.
After a pause, I said, “Let’s get something to eat later. It’s dinner time, too.”
She nodded, raised her hand, rubbed her face, and looked at me with a smile, “Thank you.”
I nodded and started the car.
If you held something on your mind for too long, it would pop out of your eyes even if no one asked.
I didn’t ask, but Rose said it, in a self-deprecating tone.
“My mother was born in the countryside and is a real country woman. She was uneducated and illiterate. The relatively primitive education made her believe in her bones that a woman must give birth to a son in her life before she could be considered a real woman. So, after she gave birth to me, she began to have children desperately, in order to have a son.”
At this point, she sighed slightly and said reluctantly, “She had seven or eight children, including boys. But like a curse, the boys she gave birth to could not be raised and died at a young age. More than a decade later, she gave birth to a daughter, Sheila Torres. Because it is a daughter, she did not want to keep her, and she wanted to get rid of her. Fortunately, Sheila Torres was picked up for adoption. Later, the couple made a fortune in business and had no other children, so they decided to raise her and let her study abroad to learn the skills.”
I frowned, “Isn’t that good?” An unloved daughter was adopted and brought up rich, and it was an extraordinary blessing. Why did she have such bad blood with her?
She smiled at herself and sighed, “Well, that’s great. My mother continued to have children because she always wanted a son. After Sheila Torres, she had another daughter, but that child was not as lucky as she was, and after she was born, my mother put her in the mountains. It snowed heavily that winter, so the child froze to death after spending seven days in the mountains with no one to nurse her.”
Very cruel!
I frowned, subconsciously trembling. An ignorant mother was terrible.
Seeing me like this, she pursed her lips and said with some self-reproach, “And I know this is my mother’s fault. Her ignorance has cost so many children. After several years, my mother finally gave birth to a son and raised him. After sacrificing so many children, her lifelong wish was fulfilled.”
“Well.” I sighed, “Too bad for those innocent kids.”
She nodded and snapped her fingers, “It would not be bad if things went on so unscathed. But every cause has consequences, and she had to face the consequences for all the lives she’s taken. A few years after she gave birth to her son, her health gave out. And then when my father cheated on her in midlife, she was devastated. And then to force my father to break up with that woman, she took paraquat. She survived because she was rushed to the hospital, but her body was badly mangled.”
Having so many children on and off must have had some effect on the body.
She continued to say, “At the end of last year, my brother was suddenly diagnosed with blood cancer. The family was not rich all these years. After years of my mother’s struggles, there was not much left. We scraped together some money to pay for the surgery, but the doctor said to have it, we must take bone marrow from our family members to have any chance of being cured.”