Chapter 132: Visit The Main House
"Grandmother..." Wendy went out to support her. "Grandmother, why are you here?" she asked, shocked and surprised, and a little worried.
Mrs. Lucas was already eighty years old and had made a trip out just to visit her at home. Wendy would have felt so guilty if anything happened to her.
Mrs. Lucas held her walking stick in one hand and another on Wendy for support. There was a smile on her kind face. "Since you wouldn’t take Jake to see me, I had to come here myself."
"Grandmother, I didn’t say I wouldn’t" Wendy explained. "If you hadn’t hung up so quickly, you would have heard me say yes."
"Really?" Mrs. Lucas’s eyes lit up with joy when she heard Wendy’s answer. "So, you are willing to bring Jake to the main house to visit me?"
Wendy nodded and helped the elderly lady to the dinner table. "Grandmother, have you had dinner yet? Why not we eat together?" Wendy turned around and said to Zess, "Please prepare more food."
Zess nodded her head immediately.
"You don’t have to busy yourself. I have already had my dinner," Mrs. Lucas said. She then waved at Jake to come next to her.
Jake got off his chair and ran over to her. "Hello, Great-grandmother," he greeted her.
"You’re so well-mannered," Mrs. Lucas said as she patted Jake’s little head. "If only I could see my great-grandson every day," she said with a sigh.
Wendy did not respond to that.
See Jake every day?
That meant either for Mrs. Lucas to live with them or for Wendy and Jake to live in the main house.
Obviously, neither option was possible. Wendy had already sent out her resignation. Once the board of directors had decided, she would most likely be able to return to Rheinsville City immediately. Never mind about living together. It would be hard for Mrs. Lucas to meet her great-grandson.
Wendy was not sure if she already knew about this. Wendy did not dare to bring it up for fear that Mrs. Lucas would be sad.
Mrs. Lucas lifted up her head and looked at Wendy’s face. She laughed and said, "Don’t be afraid. I was just saying. If you promise to bring Jake to the main house once in a while, I’ll be satisfied."
She could not help looking at Jake again. Her old face was smiling. "When you grow old, you don’t really have much to look forward to. You just wish for the family to live in harmony and have lots of grandchildren. The line of the oldest son in the Lucas family is just Jake. Wendy, you should understand how I miss my great-grandson, right?"
"I understand," Wendy said, nodding.
"How about this weekend?" Mrs. Lucas asked. "It is not a workday and so you could come to visit me at the main house with Jake. And you could make your lotus cake for me. I really miss your handmade lotus cake. None of the maids at home can make one as good as yours." She continued, without giving Wendy a chance to speak, "During my last birthday, you, you had promised to make me a lotus cake. It wasn’t too long ago, surely you are not going back on your word, are you?"
Her reason for visiting tonight was all too obvious.
Wendy had already guessed that Mrs. Lucas had come because of Michael. She still wanted to help Michael patch things up with Wendy. However, Wendy was intending to leave Lake City for good soon.
Wendy could not deny Mrs. Lucas’s request. Also, once the board of directors agreed to her resignation, she would have returned to Rheinsville City.
Once she had returned, Michael would no longer be able to do anything.
"No, I’m not going back on my promise." Wendy smiled and said, "I will bring Jake to visit you this weekend."
"Good, that’s good," Mrs. Lucas said joyfully.
"You can make the lotus cake at the main house. So that’s a deal, right? I will wait for you at home this weekend."
***
After dinner, Wendy and Jake saw Mrs. Lucas down to the first floor.
Wendy had assumed that Mrs. Lucas had been driven to her place by one of the main house’s servants or steward. So, she was surprised to see Michael’s car instead.
Mrs. Lucas said, "I had asked Michael to drive me here."
Wendy was not surprised that Michael had sent his grandmother over. She was surprised that Michael did not come along too.
Earlier, Michael had been very thick-skinned. He had barged into her house and even bought the one next to hers. Yet now he could patiently wait downstairs for his grandmother?
Michael got out of the car and opened the back seat door.
Mrs. Lucas leaned on her walking stick and turned to look at Wendy. "I will be waiting for you to come this weekend," she confirmed again, holding Wendy’s hand before leaving.
Wendy nodded. "Grandmother, I will bring Jake to the main house to visit. I promise."
Jake also said, "Great-grandmother, don’t worry. My Mummy will definitely not break her promise."
The elderly lady touched Jake’s face and smiled.
Satisfied, she got into the car.
After closing the door, Wendy turned her head and her eyes met with Michael’s. Wendy’s smile faded and she acted as if nothing had happened and took a few steps back to turn away.
Michael also did not act as he did before, pestering her. He simply nodded his head a little in a somewhat distant manner. However, inside his heart were huge waves of emotions.
He no longer dared to do anything drastic to Wendy.
He was very clear that all that he had done before was really stupid and had made things very difficult for Wendy. Now, he could only be careful not to allow his emotions to get the better of him and try very hard to control his feelings.
Wendy held Jake’s small hand, stood aside, and watched as the car left.
Wendy went back inside the house with Jake after they could no longer see the car.
"Wendy agreed," Mrs. Lucas told him excitedly.
"Grandmother, you’re still the best," Michael said.
If he weren’t driving, he would have given his grandmother a thumbs up.
"I have created a chance for you," Mrs. Lucas continued. "When it comes to love, ultimately it is still up to you. If you let Wendy feel disappointed in you or hate you again, then there is nothing more I can do."
"I understand, Grandmother. I will do as you have told me," Michael said. He was elated and the frown on his face relaxed quite a bit.
***
The weekend arrived very quickly. Michael got up early in the morning to get himself ready. He looked at the mirror while trying to pick out what to wear and finally decided on one that he felt satisfied with.
Almost all of Michael’s wardrobes were suits. There was no difference in which one he picked.
He was about to leave when his mother, Winnie, called. Michael raised his eyebrows and answered the call.
"Michael, you’re not working this weekend, are you? Why don’t you come to the main house?" he heard Winnie’s voice over the receiver.
Michael’s expression changed a little.
He thought his mother called because of his father, Anthony.
A few days ago, when he went to the main house, he had witnessed Winnie and Anthony arguing So, he thought that Winnie had called to complain about how badly Anthony had treated her or cheated on her.
Michael had heard Winnie cry and complain to him for many years. Or perhaps Winnie wanted him to go to the main house and then complain about Anthony there.
"I’ll be back soon," Michael replied calmly.
Winnie was a little surprised by Michael’s quick answer.
She had prepared a long list of things to say to persuade him to come back. But she did not need to use any in the end.
Early in the morning, Wendy received a call from Michael’s grandmother.
The call was not much of importance other than to remind her to bring Jake to see her as early as possible.
Wendy had no choice but to smile and agree.
She packed hers and Jake’s things and drove to the Lucas’ main house.
Michael’s grandmother was already sitting in the living room waiting for them.
The moment they appeared, she immediately smiled and stood up, and with the help of her walking stick, she went up to welcome them.
Wendy saw the elderly lady walking over and quickened her steps to support the older lady.
"Grandmother, you should sit down."
"You two are finally here." The grandmother’s maid who was standing behind the grandmother said with a smile. "She has been waiting for you in the living room for over an hour. If you did not arrive soon, she might run off to your house again."
Wendy smiled helplessly and shook her head. "Aren’t we here now?" she said. "Grandmother, it is only ten o’clock."
The grandmother reached out her hand to Jake and he quickly grabbed her hand with his small hand. She smiled very happily. "Because I couldn’t wait to see my great-grandson. Jake, do you wish to see Great-grandmother?"
"of course, I do," Jake said. He was a bright child and obviously knew what the appropriate thing was to say to make her happy.
To be honest, Jake did not feel anything toward the Lucases.
He had spent his whole life with Wendy.
He knew about Wendy’s revenge plans the moment they had returned to Lake City. Jake had only known animosity for the Lucases.
As for this great-grandmother, Jake knew that she had been kind to his mother. So, he treated her with a better attitude than any other family member. But that was all.
"During my birthday celebration, I was not able to give Jake a gift." The grandmother reached out behind her.
The maid who was behind her immediately handed her an intricate box.
With shaking hands, the grandmother opened the box and took out a jade pendant necklace. She bent over and hung it around Jake’s neck. Then she took a step back, examined Jake, and gave a satisfied smile. "Looks good."
"Grandmother, this gift is too expensive. It’s not suitable for Jake," Wendy said and wanted to remove the jade pendant necklace from Jake’s neck.
Wendy was unfamiliar with jade, but the older lady liked jade. A look at the color of this piece of jade showed that it was most likely an expensive one. And, as the first gift from a great-grandmother to her great-grandson, she would not have chosen an inexpensive gift.
Wendy was going to take Jake and leave Lake City soon.
She felt bad accepting such an expensive gift from Mrs. Lucas.
"Who said that it isn’t suitable?" Mrs. Lucas took Wendy’s hand in hers to stop her from removing the necklace. She put on a stern face and pretended to be offended.
"This is my gift to my great-grandson. How could it be unsuitable?"
"Jake, do you like it?" Mrs. Lucas looked down and asked Jake.
Jake looked up at Wendy as if asking for her opinion.
Times like these were not appropriate for him to make the call.
"Don’t look at your mother. Just tell me if you like it or not." Mrs. Lucas used her hand to block his eyes from seeing Wendy’s.
Wendy felt helpless.
Mrs. Lucas seemed bent on giving Jake the gift. If Wendy were to reject the gift, she would seem to be trying to put a distance between them.
"Jake, thank Great-grandmother," Wendy told him.
Jake put on a smile instantly and said, "Thank you, Great-grandmother"
Mrs. Lucas pointed at her own face. Jake understood the hint and tiptoed to give her a kiss.
"Jake is so Sweet," Mrs. Lucas said, beaming with joy.
"I will play with Jake. Wendy, you could use the kitchen to make your lotus cake." Mrs. Lucas took Jake’s hand and walked away. "I’ll show you around the house. The last time you had visited at night, so you didn’t get a full tour."
