Chapter 44 Early Rise to Return to Uncle's Place
After returning to her room, Lillian made sure Lucas's blanket was properly pulled up, and then, hugging her pillow, she went back to her own room. Her sleep was restless, waking and dozing fitfully. Around six in the morning, she got up, packed her bag, and left the house—she intended to get to her uncle's place before Lisa could leave, planning to catch them at home.
She took the subway back, bought breakfast at the nearby supermarket, and carried it upstairs.
Lisa was already up early, orchestrating the morning's activities loudly: "Harry, go shave that stubble off. You look scruffy, and Alexander is going to laugh at you."
"Adam, get up and go across the street to the supermarket to buy some fresh fruit."
"Camille, what time do you call this? Get up! We’re supposed to go to your cousin’s husband's house soon."
Camille emerged from her room, hair in a tousled state, leaning against the doorframe dismissively, "Mom, you're just fussing over nothing. I bet they don't even want us to come over! Maybe start by fixing breakfast before anything else."
"What do you know?" Lisa retorted, her hair in rollers, adding, "Help me style my hair later, something with class."
Camille didn’t respond and went back to her room.
At that moment, Lillian walked in, carrying breakfast, and stood at the doorway, greeting, "Morning, Aunt."
"Lillian, why did you come back so early?" Lisa looked behind her, then asked, "You're alone? Where's Alexander?"
"Oh, he caught an early flight for a business trip. I left the house with him, so I came over," Lillian explained, heading straight to the kitchen to set down the breakfast.
Hearing voices, the other family members came out of their rooms.
Adam rubbed his eyes as he looked at her. "Why did you come back? We had plans to go to your place, what gives?"
"Adam, can't you see what this means? They don't want us there," Camille huffed with annoyance. "They're looking down on us, thinking we're poor."
Harry clicked his tongue and, with a foamy face from shaving, asked, "Is Alexander away on business?"
Lillian, forcing a cheerful smile, explained, "Yes, it's something that was arranged before the holiday season and it's quite important."
Lisa, puzzled, inquired, "But does it really matter if we miss one day? Lillian, didn't the company just resume work after the holidays?"
"Mom, do you actually believe that?" Camille looked at Lillian and said to Lisa, "When you called earlier, Lillian was all evasive. Truth is, they never wanted us to visit. Think about it, that's a wealthy household. Do you think they'd just let us drop by anytime we want? The timing of Lillian's arrival is deliberate, just to block us from going."
"That's about right, isn't it, Lillian?" Camille challenged, tilting her chin up as she addressed her.
With the whole family scrutinizing her, Lillian took a deep breath and openly admitted, "You're not wrong."
"That's Alexander's house, not mine. You need his permission for a visit, right?" Lillian said, "I married him, but you act as if my status has changed. Ha, what basis do I have for that? Aunt, in the future, please don't make unilateral decisions that put me in a tough spot. Alexander won't agree with me!"
"Is Alexander not treating you well, Lillian?" Harry asked with concern.
"Dad, how can you think that? Lillian is Alexander's chosen one, he adores her. Why would he treat her badly? You shouldn't take her words at face value. They probably just had a little squabble, it's nothing."
Adam walked over and casually rested a hand on her shoulder, "Don't be so temperamental. Your husband is such an exceptional man, what's there to be unsatisfied with?"
Lillian hated Adam's condescending manner and shot him a glare, shaking off his arm.
Lisa, hearing this, felt there was some truth to Adam's words. They must have had some kind of disagreement for her to react like that, otherwise, there would be no reason to deny the visit.
"Come sit down and have something to eat first and we can talk while we eat," Lisa urged Lillian to sit down and, with a smile, asked, "You've come over so early, you haven't eaten yet, have you?"
Sitting next to Lillian, Lisa added solemnly, "Men prioritize their careers. If he can't be with you during the holidays, it's understandable. You need to be more empathetic."
"Yeah, Mom's right," Adam said as he sat on the other side of Lillian, chiming in, "You can't keep losing your temper like that. Once or twice is okay, it might seem novel to a guy, but if it happens too often, you come off as immature. When you get home, just send him a video and be all sweet; newlyweds shouldn't have that many issues. You might just make up on the spot."
The two of them went back and forth, which only irritated Lillian further.
"What do you know? Just stop it!" she shouted.
How could they possibly understand the turmoil inside her heart?
Lillian stood up frostily and said, "I'm not hungry. I'm leaving now."
"Lillian, listen to Adam and me, just go home and pamper Alexander a bit, and everything will be fine."
As she came out of the kitchen, she pulled an envelope from her purse and handed it to Harry, saying, "I haven't visited during the holiday, take this for yourself. Buy whatever you fancy. I'm off now."
"Lillian," Harry called after her, looking at her with concern and sighed, "Call me if you need anything."
Lillian left Harry's house. It was just past eight. She sent a few messages in her group chat with her best friends, but Angela and Wendy didn't reply – they were probably still sleeping in. After pondering for a moment, she decided to go see Angela since she lived alone.
Being woken up early in the morning was annoying. Angela, with a frown, opened the door for Lillian and then climbed back into bed.
"It's nine already, get up. I brought you breakfast, come on and eat," Lillian said, disregarding whether Angela wanted to sleep more or not, placing the breakfast on the table and sitting down on the floor's carpet to start eating.
"You're so annoying!" Angela suddenly sat up. "Tempting me with food, huh?"
"Get up, Wendy will be joining us soon."
Angela got out of bed, went to freshen up in the washroom, then sat down beside Lillian, picked up the breakfast, took a bite, and asked, "Why are you here so early? Where’s your husband?"
"He's not my husband," Lillian said, feeling her eyes well up at the thought of the grievances she had endured. "I came from my uncle's place."
"What happened this time?" Angela asked seriously.
"It's nothing big," Lillian mumbled with her head down, munching on her breakfast as she relayed the incident to Angela.
After listening, Angela chuckled, "It really isn't that big of a deal. In the future, you don't have to report everything to him; see how well you solved today's issue without him? You are just too naive, that's your problem. Just think things through more from now on."
