Tyler said, “This is a gift from Dad to Mom. Mom really likes the singer who sings ‘North Sea Love Song.’ One time, Mom saw that singer wearing a necklace like this and liked it a lot, so Dad ordered an identical one for Mom. But Mom threw it on the ground and broke it. Dad was going to throw it away, but I didn’t want to, so I quietly picked it up.”
Thelma: “…”
Thelma thought of the broken glass she had seen in the music studio today. If she could break the glass, it wouldn’t be surprising if she broke the necklace too.
The little guy seemed to remember something and said, “Actually, we didn’t live here before. We lived near Auntie’s house. But later, Mom saw an advertisement for a villa and said, ‘So beautiful,’ and then Dad bought the villa, and we moved here.”
Thelma: “…”
He lowered his head, looking somewhat shy and a bit sad, “Dad and I both really like Mom.”
Thelma suddenly felt a sense of guilt, a feeling akin to being a bad parent who abandoned her family.
This feeling of being a bad person brought her a deep sense of self-reproach. So, looking at her baby with his head down, revealing a bit of his tender neck and looking somewhat sad, she couldn’t help but pull him into her arms and comfort him, saying, “Mommy likes you too.”
“Really?” he asked with a soft, joyful voice.
“Mm, really.”
“What about Dad?”
Thelma thought of that handsome man, who opened a studio for her to help her out of her predicament, who bought her gifts to win her favor, who bought a house here just because she said she liked it.
As she thought of these things, for some reason, her heart began to race inexplicably. She hurriedly shook her head, not daring to think further, as if she had desecrated some revered deity.
But the little boy didn’t get her answer and persistently asked, “Mommy, what about Dad? Does Mommy like Dad?”
Thelma felt her cheeks burning. She met the little boy’s expectant gaze, tightly watching her. She needed to reassure him, not wanting him to feel disappointed.
But as soon as she thought of the words to comfort him, her heart raced uncontrollably faster. She didn’t even dare to face his gaze. Holding him close, she closed her eyes and steeled herself to say, “I… I will also like your dad.”
The next day, when Thelma woke up, both father and son had already left.
Thinking of that necklace, she wanted to see if it could be repaired. After having breakfast, she took a taxi to the jewelry store. Thank goodness, the jewelry could still be fixed, but the clerk told her it probably wouldn’t be restored to its original state. As long as it could be repaired, that was enough for Thelma; she didn’t expect it to be the same as before.
Back home, with nothing to do, Thelma started to busy herself in the workshop again. Before long, the maid came to knock on the door and handed her a package. Thelma opened it to find it was a rejection from the music company.
It seemed that she had sent some compositions to the music company out of boredom, but judging by the situation, they had all been rejected. Was her depression due to the constant blows from these rejections? Did she doubt herself and blame herself, and the more she blamed herself, the more depressed she became, ultimately falling into a vicious cycle?
However, it should be due to her amnesia; her mindset had changed a lot. When faced with the rejection, she was particularly calm.
Thelma casually set the rejection aside and began to create again. Not long after, the maid knocked on the door again. Thelma noticed her expression was somewhat awkward. She knew that her previous temperament had made the maid a bit afraid of her, so she asked with a pleasant smile, “What’s wrong?”
The maid smiled somewhat unnaturally, “The old lady from Maplewick has come.”
Maplewick? That was Sam Noah’s hometown, and the old lady from Maplewick was likely Sam Noah’s mother.
The Sam family’s winery was built in their hometown of Maplewick; the headquarters was originally there, but later Sam Noah moved the headquarters to Brackenfield.
Thelma instinctively furrowed her brows, “I understand, I’ll go down now.”
After changing her clothes, Thelma went downstairs. Sure enough, there was an elderly lady sitting in the living room. She was wearing a three-quarter sleeve suit jacket over a white dress that reached her knees.
She looked to be in her fifties or sixties, but due to good maintenance, she appeared to be in her early forties. Her attire was not as conservative as one would expect for someone her age; instead, she had a forward-looking, professional woman vibe.
She was very beautiful; even though her face had wrinkles, her features were still striking. A significant part of why Sam Noah was so handsome was due to inheriting this beautiful mother.
