Chapter 45

'Can't believe this man, who himself leads an unscrupulous life, is trying to school me' Melissa pondered in her mind. "It's ridiculous! I'm certainly not what he thinks. Hmph!" "Why are you staring at me?" Joseph frowned and asked. "I'm doing nothing. Can't I admire your good looks?" Melissa responded grumpily and walked up the steps quickly. "You interrogated me so much today, I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Just wait and see, I'll get back at you when I have the time!" When Melissa and Joseph entered the living hall one after another, they saw Alvin and Alvina chasing each other. Grandma Julia, watching the two children frolic, made no attempts to stop them and sat blissfully on the sofa, laughter spreading across her face. "Are you back? Did Joshua leave?” Grandma Julia asked, noticing Melissa and Joseph upon turning her head. "Yes, Big Brother just left" answered Joseph. At that moment, Aunt Sarah came into the central hall on the first floor with a few people carrying two buckets of water and several watering cans to water the plants. "Alvin, Alvina, stop running. Why are you not watching cartoons today?" Melissa, fearing that the children might stumble, stopped them. "The cartoon time is over" Alvina replied, running and laughing. Melissa reached out and grabbed Alvina into her arms. Touching her head, she found it wet from sweat. Out of breath from the running, Melissa asked Alvina. "Did you have a chat with the great-grandmother just now?" "Yes, Mommy" Alvina struggled to break free from Melissa, wanting to continue her game of chase with Alvin. "Great-grandmother said we can play on our own!" "Come on, Alvina! Let's help Aunt Sarah water the plants!" Alvin said waving at Alvina, called out loudly. "Okay! Okay!" Alvina finally managed to break free from Melissa's embrace and joined Alvin watering the plants. Seeing the two great-grandchildren watering the plants, Grandma Julia turned her head towards Melissa in admiration and said “Melissa, the dishes you cooked tonight are really delicious, especially the Fresh Mushroom Soup with Lotus Leaf. Teach Aunt Sarah one day, so that everyone in the kitchen can learn." "There's no need for everyone to go through so much trouble. If you like that soup Granny, I can make it for you every day," Melissa responded courteously and softly. Meanwhile, a heated argument was being heard from the Humphrey Villa. "Liam what do you mean by this?" Nancy let out a piercing shriek "Are you really that fond of that cheap woman's Lotus Leaf Fresh Mushroom Soup? It's just a soup, is it really worth getting this angry over?" "Nancy, there hasn't been a single peaceful day with you!" Liam was getting increasingly impatient. If not for certain considerations inside him, he would have long abandoned this unreasonable woman. "I knew it, you still have her in your heart. What's so good about that Melissa? She's already the mother of two kids, are you still harboring fantasies about her?" Nancy in a rage, smashed a glass on the table. During dinner, Liam had looked at Melissa with such longing, thinking about it ignited a roaring rage in her heart. "So what if she's a mother of two? That's still better than you, who can't bear a child!" Seeing Nancy smash a glass, Liam's temper worsened. Recently, Nancy has been constantly picking fights with him, his patience for this woman is wearing thin. "Liam! Say that to me again!" Nancy's heart felt like it had been stabbed, the pain was unbearable. How could he utter such hurtful words? "Humph!" Liam gave Nancy a sidelong glance and slumped onto the couch, clasping his hands together, he sulked. He began to regret marrying such a bullish and unreasonable woman. If heaven were to give him another chance, he would not let Melissa go. Tears streaming down her face, Nancy collapsed onto the floor. She cast a resentful stare at Laim. she spoke quietly, "You knew from the start that those two dishes were made by Melissa, didn't you?" "Yes, I couldn't be more familiar." Liam couldn't bother lying to Nancy anymore. Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Nancy said "Six years...and you still haven't forgotten her..." "I will never forget her in this lifetime." Liam confessed emotionlessly, hoping it would prompt Nancy to end their relationship. "But she has already slept with my second brother, and now they've ended up together due to a series of unexpected events. This must be their destiny. Can you please stop allowing this woman to ruin our relationship?" Whenever Nancy quarreled with Liam, she would bring this up repeatedly to remind him of this unfaithful and impure woman. "Hmph, so what if they've slept together before? It’s your doing after all. Nancy, six years ago you thought you could kill two birds with one stone, but didn't expect it to backfire. " Liam paused and sneered coldly,. "I know you. You won’t let my second brother and Melissa be together smoothly.” Six years ago, Liam and Nancy conspired to make Melissa cheat, getting her kicked out of the house entirely barehanded. The man Melissa had spent the night with was Joseph, although he was also a victim of this plot. That night, he was drugged by Nancy and consequently made unconscious decisions. This was due to a shocking secret in the Clarkson family that was not made public - Nancy is not Joseph's full-blood sister, but rather the illegitimate daughter of their father, Clarkson Jacob. Nancy's birth mother was just a third-tier model, so Nancy had no right to inherit the Clarkson family's estate. And the older brother Joshua was the son of Clarkson Jacob's first wife; so the only person who truly has the right to inherit the Clarkson family fortune is Joseph. "I only wanted to spread rumors that my second brother had an affair with a married woman and bring shame to the Clarkson family. Who knew that the very next morning, my second brother would disappear, leaving only Melissa in the hotel? I couldn't have predicted this!" Nancy hurriedly defended herself, she didn't want Liam to think she's a useless woman now. "Is there any point in saying these now? Look, during the banquet, Melissa was even serving your second brother dishes, even your grandmother seemed to be quite fond of them." Liam sighed, looking agonized. "And then you got angry about it! Because you're jealous of them, you came home and vented your anger on me?" Nancy's face was full of grievance, she sobbed occasionally to show her vulnerability. Liam lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke and said "Nancy, stop crying, it's making me agitated." Nancy's eyes widened in surprise, she incredulously asked "Liam, do you have no feelings for me anymore? Do you have any real feelings for me?" Liam inhaled sharply, his expression gloomy as he slowly said "We're just holding each other's weaknesses." "Liam, I..." Nancy shook her head in desperation, tears streaming down her face but she tried her best to soften her voice. "If you like sweet and sour pork ribs, I can cook that for you too. Anything I don’t know, I can learn!” To see Nancy, the sparkling Miss Clarkson, be so humble and submissive to Liam was shocking. She despised Melissa to the core and was determined to return all the pain Melissa had inflicted on her!