Seeing the tension between Nicola and Holden, Samuel rushed over and positioned himself protectively in front of his mom. He was worried Nicola might say something that would provoke Holden and make him act irrationally.
Fortunately, Holden didn’t seem interested in arguing with either of them today, and Samuel easily pulled Nicola away.
Nicola was so furious that her body trembled, and her teeth were grinding together.
“Forget it, Mom. Let’s not mess with him anymore,” Samuel sighed. “I’m worried that if we keep this up, we’ll all end up dead. Holden is like a demon.”
Dressed up as a gentleman, he always seemed so easygoing and mild-mannered, but in reality, he was ruthless and completely cold-hearted. Anyone who had opposed Holden over the years had met a terrible fate.
Nicola was in agony. “Linda made such a stupid mistake in front of everyone. There’s no way she’ll ever marry Holden now… What’s going to happen to the Lewis family?”
Samuel grew annoyed at her constant fixation on the Lewis family and didn’t want to engage with her anymore. If it weren’t for the endless pit that was the Lewis family, and if Nicola hadn’t given her greedy, incompetent brother so many resources and wealth over the years, maybe Holden wouldn’t look down on their whole family.
From Samuel’s perspective, whatever happened to the Lewis family in the future would be their own doing. He just hoped Holden would leave him a little something to cushion the blow when everything fell apart.
Nicola had been spoiled by her relatives over the years, and she had gotten a bit carried away. Everyone praised her for marrying well and claimed she was lucky. She couldn’t bear the thought of the Lewis family crashing down soon and everyone blaming her for being incompetent.
Her hatred for Holden, as the root of all their problems, had reached a boiling point.
The next day, when Sarah was set to leave with Holden, he had something come up unexpectedly. Nicola couldn’t keep her cool like before; her expression was icy the entire time.
As Holden was leaving, she finally spoke up. “Holden, are you going to your mother’s hometown to celebrate Christmas?”
The moment she said that, Samuel and Reuben’s expressions changed. They didn’t understand why Nicola suddenly brought that up and exchanged glances to warn her.
But now, Nicola was completely consumed by dark, twisted emotions, wanting to attack Holden as much as possible. She smiled, “Oh, I just remembered, your maternal family doesn’t recognize you anymore. You’ve always been so pitiful, without a single relative who truly cares about you. The ones who speak up for you are just distant relatives who like to ride on coattails.”
Sarah’s expression suddenly turned cold. She knew how vicious Nicola could be, but she never expected her to be this cruel.
Holden had grown up without parents, and even though Sarah didn’t know why he wasn’t in touch with his maternal family, there had to be a reason for it. Using the fact that he didn’t have any relatives who cared about him to attack him was just heartless.
Before Holden could say anything, Sarah spoke up. “Grandma, that’s not true. Holden is so amazing, and there are way more people who genuinely care about him than you think. My family and I see Holden as one of our own. He’s coming over to my hometown today for the Christmas celebration. With me as his loving wife, he’s going to be really happy.”
Nicola was taken aback for a moment.
Holden gave a half-smile. “Well, we should get going.”
Once they settled into the car, Sarah let out a sigh of relief.
Holden raised an eyebrow. “Loving wife? Caring for me?”
Sarah fell silent, realizing she had just blurted that out. She wasn’t really a loving wife or someone who cared that much.
Feeling a bit guilty, she said, “I just can’t stand how she always bullies you.”
In Sarah’s mind, Holden was the gray prince who had been bullied throughout his childhood and teenage years. Even now that he had grown stronger, those who once tormented him still occasionally showed up to remind him of their existence.
Holden smirked slightly but didn’t explain anything.
Since it was Christmas, Sarah needed to head back today-not just to visit the Brown family but also to see David’s mother.
When the original Sarah was a child, Monica, her stepmother, made her life difficult, and when she sometimes couldn’t even get a meal, David’s mom was always there to help her out. So during the Christmas season, Sarah definitely had to visit her.
Maybe it was because Sarah was not well-liked by the Brown family-everyone seemed to want to take advantage of her-but she really empathized with Holden’s experience in the Smith family.
The Brown family had gone on vacation to the beach, so there was no one at home.
David’s house, on the other hand, was lively. David’s mom, Julie, had prepared a huge feast to entertain friends.
The awkward part was that not only were David and Merry there, but Ronald had shown up too.
Julie was as gentle and loving as ever, remembering everyone’s preferences and cheerfully making everyone wait for her cooking.
Ronald had played with them back in school and often came over for Julie’s cooking. For some reason, he suddenly felt nostalgic for the old days and dropped by uninvited.
Julie remembered that Sarah had once had a crush on Ronald, but now that Sarah was married, she couldn’t help but ask her, “Sarah, why didn’t your husband come along?”
Sarah replied, “He’s been really busy lately, and he has an important engagement today.”
Ronald’s eyes were glued to Sarah. In the past, her gaze had always lingered on him, but now it seemed like her look at him was no different from how she looked at anyone else.
Ronald was confused about what was happening with Sarah. She used to love him so much, acting like her life revolved around him.
Taking a sip of coffee, Ronald asked, “So, Sarah, after you finish this movie, what are you planning to do next?”
Sarah responded, “I haven’t taken on anything else. Why?”
Ronald’s expression darkened slightly. “The company I’m investing in is about to shoot a period drama. Elisa didn’t pass the audition, and there’s no suitable female lead yet. I think you’d be great for the role.”
Sarah was taken aback. “Wait, what?!”
Was the sun rising in the west or something?
Sarah wanted good opportunities, no doubt about that.
People liked to climb up the social ladder. But when it came to the olive branch Ronald extended, she never even considered it. Since she’d decided from the start to steer clear of romantic entanglements and avoid the original plotline, Sarah wasn’t about to break her own rules.
“No thanks,” Sarah replied coolly. “I just want to take a break for a while.”
Ronald frowned. “Sarah, what’s with the attitude? Why are you mad at me? Is it not enough that you’ve been ignoring me for so long?”
She felt annoyed with him. “Come on, I’m a married woman. Why would I be mad at you? If I were upset with anyone, shouldn’t it be my husband?”
Ronald felt a knot in his chest. He didn’t even know how to ease it. Sarah hadn’t always been like this with him… After all, Holden was the newcomer. He couldn’t believe that the bond he’d shared with Sarah since childhood could be overshadowed by someone like Holden.
Feeling frustrated, Ronald couldn’t help but recall the past. “Sarah, do you remember what you told me on my sixteenth birthday?”
Sarah looked puzzled. “Huh?”
“You said that no matter when or where, as long as I wanted to see you or needed you, you’d always be there for me.”
That moment felt like it had just happened yesterday. He could picture Sarah in her white dress, her innocent smile tinged with a bit of shyness, her eyes too shy to meet his gaze. Maybe her pride was getting in the way, or maybe she just didn’t want Ronald to think she was being too humble. After saying that, she added, “Because we’re best friends.”
Ronald didn’t like that explanation one bit.
Best friends?
If that was the case, he wanted to show her what it meant to be more than just friends. So, the next semester, he started flirting with two really pretty girls. Unsurprisingly, Sarah and Merry caught the girls in the bathroom and gave them a stern warning.
At that moment, it felt like the Sarah of today and the Sarah from years ago were overlapping.
Ronald’s voice turned bitter. “Do those words you said back then still count?”