Sophia tried to analyze the situation from Stanley’s words; Irene hadn’t been able to remember Michael and got together with Joel. Irene couldn’t remember Michael, but he could remember her! If Michael saw Joel and Irene together in a while, he would be so sad!
Becoming worried all of a sudden, Sophia quickened her pace forward; both Stanley and Nathan were anxious about their uncle and father as well. The three of them walked quickly and soon spotted Michael’s car.
However, Michael had already gotten out of the car; he was also wearing glasses with a wide frame and a black top hat that almost covered half of his face. Meanwhile, Irene and Joel were standing directly in front of him.
They were holding hands, whereas Michael stood there alone.
Holding onto Joel, Irene looked at Michael and said with a smile, “I didn’t expect that you are Joel’s younger brother, Mr. Taylor. I really didn’t think of it! My apologies!”
Michael’s wide-framed glasses were blocking his expression. His voice sounded indifferent as he said, “Nice to meet you too.”
The atmosphere was harmonious, and nothing was off.
However, Sophia was stunned.
In that moment, Michael must’ve felt really uncomfortable. Nothing was more cruel than saying ‘nice to meet you’ to someone he once loved—or might even still love.
Michael must be heartbroken now, but he pretended to be okay so he could save his last bit of dignity.
The entanglement between Michael, Joel, and Irene must be deeper than Sophia could ever imagine, and it was impossible for her to see through nor intervene.
Sophia didn’t know anything about Michael’s past, and she had no idea what happened to him. In fact, she was always an outsider to him because he had never seemed to open his heart to her.
But now, Sophia wanted to help him! She didn’t want him to face it alone!
Hence, she squeezed Nathan’s little hand and whispered, “Go to your father.”
No longer being uncooperative, Nathan smiled sweetly and ran over like a butterfly, throwing himself into Michael’s arms as he yelled loudly, “Daddy!”
Michael embraced Nathan—who had come running all of a sudden—and noticed Sophia at a glance.
Irene knitted her brows and asked Michael, “Is he your son?”
Looking at Nathan, Michael nodded and replied, “Yes, he’s my son.”
Standing next to Michael, Sophia suddenly felt a warm embrace around her cold hand. Michael took her hand and openly said to the two of them, “The Madam.”
Michael didn’t brush off the introduction by simply saying ‘this is my wife’. Instead, he introduced Sophia formally as ‘The Madam.”
At that moment, Sophia’s mind went blank as she didn’t know what to reply.
Stanley’s jaw dropped in shock as well, but he immediately understood the situation.
Michael had no courage to face Irene, so he simply asked a random woman to pretend to be his woman!
Stanley sighed to himself, Poor Uncle Michael!
Irene was stunned for a moment, but she immediately came around and said with a smile, “We have met earlier. She’s very beautiful!”
Still holding Sophia’s hand, Michael lowered his head and looked at the girl beside him gently. “Yes, she’s very beautiful.”
Sophia lowered her head as she was feeling shy.
After the short conversation, the Fletchers left and Sophia got in the car.
As the car moved, the family of three didn’t speak at all; the atmosphere became dull.
The sun came out at noon, but it started raining again in the afternoon. As the fine raindrops hit the window, Sophia looked out and gazed at the gloomy mountains and rivers; her eyelids had become droopy as well.
Sophia had her mother’s surname, but when she was born, her mother died. Later on, her maternal grandparents passed away too. Along with her mother, they were buried at the hilltop right outside of this village.
The car stopped at the bottom of the mountain, and the group walked up the mountain to look for the graves.
After the spring rain, the mountain was bleak and the wind soughed. There was no one about the remote area; the village was a kilometer away, and it seemed pretty deserted. Several graves were hidden among the cluttered weeds.
The group of people went up the mountain. As the mountain was rugged, they changed into the rain boots they had prepared in advance and walked unsteadily up the mountain.
Soon, Sophia found her grandparents’ and her mother’s graves.
On top of her grandparents’ grave, there were some traces indicating someone had cleaned the tomb together with the remnants of joss sticks and paper money, but they were all soaked in rain. On the other hand, no one had visited Sophia’s mother’s grave for a long time.
According to Sophia’s family tradition, girls were not allowed to sweep the tomb, so it was always her uncles who came. Since they believed that Sophia’s mother had died disgracefully, she was unworthy to be brought up after her death; they simply set up a gravestone for her and that was it. During the New Year celebrations, they didn’t even pay their respects to her with the joss sticks and paper money.
Michael took off his windbreaker. Only wearing a T-shirt, he picked up the equipment they brought and began clearing the weeds.
After working the whole day, they finally cleaned out the graves. Two of the graves were next to each other; one was Sophia’s grandparents’ and the other one which looked older and damaged was her mother’s. Under the sun and rain, the words on the gravestone had already blurred.
After clearing out the graves, Sophia and Michael began arranging the joss sticks and paper money before paying their respects to the deceased.
After burning the paper money, Michael took out a mat and was about to kowtow.
Sophia stopped him immediately. “Don’t… “
How can I possibly let him kneel down?
The floor is so dirty!
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