Chapter 131 Setting the Bar for How Men Should Behave
Niamh was already displeased with Ophelia, and hearing her mother compare the two—and suggesting she came up short—only made her feel worse.
"Mom, I'm your daughter. Why do you always side with outsiders? I didn't come back to you until I was 15. I was deprived of a mother's love since I was little. I want to excel, too, but no one cared for me back then. My foster parents favored boys over girls and didn't let me study properly. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to buy my degrees, making me a laughingstock behind my back."
Niamh intentionally dredged up the past, a sensitive issue for Dovie. Whenever Niamh brought up how she was lost, it struck a chord of guilt in Dovie, who would then give in to her wishes.
And this time was no exception.
Seeing Niamh's forlorn look, Dovie felt a surge of distress. "Niamh, your mother has failed you. I didn't take proper care of you, I didn't protect you, and that made your childhood so hard. In my eyes, you are the most outstanding, my dear daughter. Whoever dares to speak ill of you has me to answer to."
"Mom," Niamh sniffled, feigning a cry to appeal to her mother's emotions, and hugged Dovie. "You've always been the best to me. I don't blame you. I blame the person who took me from you. It tore us apart for fifteen years."
Dovie had never found the enemy who had stolen her daughter away. This adversary had vanished without a trace for over twenty years. When her daughter returned, Dovie no longer pursued the matter, hoping instead to spend more time with her.
Patting Niamh's back with a gentle smile, Dovie said, "Come on, you're all grown up now. Why are you crying like when you were little? Why don't you spend some time with Grandma Abbott? You want to marry into the Abbott family, right? Then you'll need to win Grandma Abbott's approval. In the Abbott family, Finnegan always listens to his grandmother."
Niamh's heart leaped at this, "Really? Then I'll go keep Grandma Abbott company. Mom, call Finnegan to come pick up Grandma Abbott. That way, I can see Finnegan."
As someone who had been through it all, Dovie hoped her daughter would marry someone who truly loved her. Observing the birthday party, Dovie could tell that the potential marriage between the two families mattered a lot to Celia, but it appeared Finnegan might not be as committed.
Deep down, Dovie was reluctant to have Niamh get too close to the Abbott family, fearing her daughter might be hurt. However, she found it hard to refuse her daughter's request and always obliged.
Dovie called Finnegan, but his secretary, Linda, answered the phone, informing Niamh that Finnegan was in a meeting.
Upon learning that Old lady Abbott had gone to Parks Corporation, Linda rushed to the conference room and whispered to Finnegan, "Mr. Abbott, your grandmother is at Parks Corporation. Ms. Parks called, asking you to come pick her up."
Had it been any other time, Finnegan would most certainly have gone himself. This time, however, he simply instructed, "You go instead, and bring my grandma back to the old house."
Linda was momentarily taken aback, then quickly replied, "Understood, Mr. Abbott."
She couldn't help but wonder why Finnegan wouldn't go to Parks Corporation himself. After all, Ophelia was there, and it would be a perfect chance to see her.
Then it clicked for Linda. If Mr. Abbott and Ophelia were having a secret romance, of course, it had to be discreet. It wouldn't do for people to start talking, and that explained why Finnegan couldn't pick up his grandmother himself.
In fact, Finnegan chose not to head to Parks Corporation because he knew that when Dovie called, there had to be another agenda at play.
Old lady Abbott was openly itching for a granddaughter-in-law, haunted by the lingering promise of marriage between the Parks and Abbott families. Otherwise, he would not have considered visiting Parks Corporation, an act most likely intended to see Niamh.
Had Finnegan gone there, the matter of marriage between the two families would have inevitably been brought up for discussion, stirring up unnecessary trouble.
Knowing Dovie, Finnegan was certain that if old lady Abbott had shown up at Parks Corporation, Dovie would have normally alerted Celia first. The fact that Dovie dialed his number instead suggested to him that Niamh must be involved, and that the call had her fingerprints all over it.
After the meeting was adjourned, and Linda had left to pick up someone, Caspian teased, "Finnegan, why didn't you go to pick up the old lady yourself? Don't you want to see Miss Sinclair?"
Caspian was at Abbott Corporation that day to learn and had sat in on the meeting.
Finnegan replied, "With Niamh around, she's likely the one behind the call. Going there would just mean stirring up a fuss. Besides, I'm in a relationship now, and Ophe would get jealous if she found out. All women are sensitive. Once they get upset, and it's not easy to appease them.”
Despite claiming it was hard to appease, Finnegan's tone was unmistakably affectionate—was he not subtly bragging about having a girlfriend?
Caspian caught on and said with an air of revelation, "Finnegan, you're more cunning than a fox. You've thought this through, avoiding any chance of making Miss Sinclair uneasy. You're setting the bar for how men should behave! Do you really need to go this far in your romance, bringing intelligence into the game?"
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