Chapter 443
Skr stood awkwardly at the door of the living room.
Did Willie get it wrong? Am I even invited? Skr reflected. Gritting her teeth, she felt a surge of
exasperation rise within her. Is it too much of me to expect to be treated as a guest?
Incensed, Skr dumped her fruit basket unceremoniously onto the dining table. Raising her voice, she
announced brightly, “Mrs. Ford, my apologies foring over sote.”
Skr’s smile was entirely stiff and insincere. She already deeply regretted allowing Willie to drive her
over.
Tobias’ head suddenly snapped in Skr’s direction, alerted only at the sound of Skr’s voice. He
turned to udia and exined, “Mom, Skr’s here. I won’t be staying here tonight, then. Have a good
rest.”
udia turnedzily to face Skr, scanning her from head to toe.
The smile on Skr’s face faded, and she met udia’s eyes stonily. Respect was mutual, and if
udia did not even show Skr the courtesy of inviting her to take a seat or offering her a drink, Skr
would take no pains to be polite, either.
“It’ste. Why don’t you stay here with her? Aren’t the two of you already in a rtionship?” udia
finally said with a disdainful sniff.
Skr was momentarily bewildered by the change in udia’s attitude.
If that had urred before, Skr would have stayed without hesitation. Nevertheless, she resented
beingmanded by udia’s whims. Even though Skr loved Tobias, she was not willing to sacrifice
her dignity.
Skr thus simply answered, “It’ste, Mrs. Ford. I’ll be heading back home. It wouldn’t be good for me
to stay here when I’m not married to Tobias. I came for a quick visit, but I’m going home now.”
Tobias finally spoke. His tone was solemn as he said, “Stay with me tonight. My mother’s feeling unwell
and I have to remain here.”
Realization dawned upon Skr. Tobias had summoned her here because he could not tear himself
away. If not for udia’s condescension, Skr would have stayed in her own ord. However, she
could not endure the fact that she had just stood there and being neglected, in front of Tobias and
udia for a whole half an hour.
Skr was determined not to bow her head to the Fords. She thus lowered her eyes, avoiding Tobias’
probing gaze.
udia then asked witheringly, “Are you sure? I guess you’re more conservative than I expected, Ms.
Jones. If you’re not staying, you may take your leave.”
Without another word, Skr turned to go.
“Stay. Don’t leave,” Tobias called, a new note of urgency in his voice. Skr, however, refused to take
the insult of being ordered around.
Tobias watched her departing figure, glowering. Suddenly, a dryugh escaped him.
It looks like she’s Little Miss Independent now. She’s intent on making her own decisions, Tobias thought,
smirking to himself.
udia sighed. “All that poprity must have gone to her head. She has totally disregarded you.”
Tobias chuckled. “We were rude to her. I didn’t want her to overhear what we were saying about
Sheldon, so I treated her coldly on purpose. Skr must have gotten offended. It’ll be alright. I’ll give her
a callter to coax her a little.”
An unhappy expression hung over udia’s face. “When are you nning to put a stop to Sheldon’s
foolish act? What can he actually do? Will he only stop only after creating havoc?”
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Thoughtfully, Tobias replied, “Everyone must be given a chance to figure things out on their own. We
need to give him some space to grow.”
udia never expected that her two sons woulde to be at odds with each other. As children,
Sheldon had clung to his elder brother. The two had been inseparable when they were young.
In order to pay off her debts, udia had worked from dusk to dawn. She barely had any time for her
sons. Therefore, udia felt that she had not fulfilled her responsibility as a mother to both of them even
until now.
When udia was absent, Tobias had taken on the mantle of raising Sheldon during the family’s darkest
days of battling poverty. udia hated being reminded of that period. The suffering she had undertaken
was still raw in udia’s mind. She med Xander and hated him squarely for it.