Chapter 37 Exposed

The next day was Saturday, and Mrs. Winston called Yvonne early in the morning to go shopping.

Yvonne claimed to be on a business trip in Seattle.

Mrs. Winston sounded a little disappointed. "My dear, Mr. Winston and I have carefully considered it and decided to move your engagement ceremony to next Saturday. Ryan agreed, and you don't have any objections, do you?"

"I have no objections," Yvonne said, her mind filled with Ryan's promise of $600,000, but her tone was no longer firm.

"Don't worry, my dear. Although you don't have any family members to stand up for you, we will never mistreat you. I have prepared the jewelry, the property, and the gifts. When you return to Winslow, you must come to our house and let me know if there's anything you're unsatisfied with so I can fix it quickly."

Mrs. Winston continued talking nonstop, and Yvonne felt a twinge of warmth in her heart from the care and affection of her elders.

For the next couple of days, Yvonne planned to stay at Rhode Hills and work on the drawings for the RD event. She heated up some milk and bread while sitting in the dining room, eating and swiping through her phone.

Suddenly, a message from Elijah popped up on WhatsApp: [Are you awake?]

Without hesitation, Yvonne opened the message and replied: [I woke up early, and I'm having breakfast.]

There was silence on the other end as Yvonne continued scrolling through TikTok.

A few minutes later, Elijah sent another WhatsApp message: [The flight is early. I can arrive in Winslow tomorrow evening.]

Whether he returned on Sunday or Monday didn't matter to Yvonne.

Out of politeness, she replied with a "Hmm" emoji.

"I'm coming back early. Doesn't that surprise you at all?"

Elijah immediately retracted the message, but Yvonne had already seen it.

Yvonne inexplicably thought of Emily and, with a hint of jealousy, opened the voice chat and said, "If you're in Norway, why not stay a few more days? After all, there are people you want to see there."

Elijah's phone immediately rang, and he reproached her in a low voice, "What are you talking about?"

"Just being honest. Why be so defensive?" Yvonne retorted, annoyed. "Joseph said you go to Norway every year on his birthday. I've thought about it, and there's only one woman in the world more important than your son, and that's his biological mother."

"Let me correct you. She's not my son's biological mother, but Joseph's biological mother." Elijah's tone was ambiguous.

Yvonne felt he was being evasive and coldly hummed, "If you love each other so much, why don't you bring her back? Wouldn't it be better for the three of you to be together as a family?"

"You're jealous," Elijah chuckled heavily. "Yvonne, the reality is not what you think."

"What does any of this have to do with me!" Yvonne also felt that her words went a bit too far and hastily explained, "I just feel sorry for Joseph. He clearly has a mother and still can't enjoy the warmth of a family."

"Then please take care of Joseph in the future. After all, our relationship is here, and you have the obligation, both morally and ethically," Elijah said calmly and deliberately.

"Our relationship is limited to the bedroom, nothing else!" Yvonne ended the call angrily.

There was still half a glass of milk and a slice of bread on the table. Yvonne dumped them into the trash.

The phone rang again.

Thinking it was Elijah, Yvonne answered it to argue, "Do you want me to take care of your son again?"

"It's me." George's sullen voice came through.

Yvonne covered her mouth, speechless.

"Yvonne, your father heard some good news today. You're getting engaged to Mr. Winston next Saturday—"

Yvonne sarcastically laughed, "You've already cut off all ties with me, so why do you care about my engagement?"

"No matter what, you're still my daughter. Getting engaged is a big deal, and I should at least have the right to know, right?" George laughed patiently.

"Now that you know, do whatever you want. Just don't bother me anymore." Yvonne could never forget George's face when they broke ties.

"Yvonne, you not only have good taste but also emotional intelligence surpassing Grace! Even ten Edwards can't compare to the Winston family. From now on, you'll be the Winston family’s-"

Before he could finish, Yvonne hung up the phone and blocked his number. He was truly disgusting.

Yvonne took a shower, turned off her phone, and got into work mode on her computer.

At noon, Yvonne checked her phone and found many messages on WhatsApp mentioning her.

It turned out that she had been added to the Winston family's WhatsApp group by Ryan at some point!

She scrolled through dozens of chat records, and apart from Mr. Winston welcoming Yvonne, the rest were various pictures of gifts sent by Mrs. Winston, who kept asking Yvonne if she liked them.

A row of brand-new red suitcases filled with dollars, eight sets of gold necklaces and bracelets, a set of top-grade emerald jewelry, six property deeds, and a dozen designer handbags...

Every picture that Mrs. Winston sent made her tremble with fear.

She thought the engagement ceremony would be a simple dinner!

Yvonne was nervous, her palms sweating.

Mrs. Winston kept mentioning her in the group, so Ryan replied to Mrs. Winston, saying Yvonne must be busy and hadn't seen the messages.

She dared not reply a single word now.

Yvonne found Ryan's phone number and dialed it. Ryan answered with a smile.

"Ryan, have you ever thought about how this will end?" Yvonne scratched her long hair in despair. "Your mom made it so grand, won't we be punished by God for lying to her?"

"You’re not going to run away with the gifts, so why should you be guilty?" Ryan laughed awkwardly. "I didn't want to add you to the group either, it was my mom who forced me. Just reply in the group, she's been waiting for your message all morning."

Yvonne sighed. "Ryan, you have such a good mom, you should find a good woman and settle down."

"Women are too troublesome! It's alright to date and have a good night's sleep, but I won't spend my entire life with one woman!" Ryan said.

"You're lucky to be born into such a good family, with such good parents!" Yvonne retorted sadly.

Why was there such a big gap between her and Ryan?

"There's something you have to discuss with your parents. George might come to your house—"

"He has severed ties with you, so even if he comes, it won't matter. My parents won't care about him," Ryan reassured Yvonne. "Don't worry, with me around, he won't get anything from my family."

"That's good." Yvonne placed her phone on the table and pressed her slightly aching forehead, deep in thought.

Mrs. Winston's grand plan couldn't possibly deceive Elijah.

In fact, their engagement ceremony would have no impact on her relationship with Elijah.

The key is Elijah.

If Elijah understands her, everything will be fine.

If he doesn't understand and hinders her, she will have to think of another solution.

Yvonne reopened Whatsapp and typed a line to Mrs Winston: "Thank you, auntie and uncle, for your generosity, but it's too much. I feel pressured. Let's keep it simple."

This sentence immediately triggered numerous responses!

"Yvonne, this is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. How can we keep it simple?"

"I only have one son!"

"Don't worry, I have already prepared the return gifts for your side. You don't need to worry about anything."

Mrs. Winston bombarded Yvonne with several voice messages, each expressing a deep motherly love for her son.

Yvonne pondered for a moment, sent a smiley face, and dared not express her opinions again.

That night, Yvonne fell asleep with a sense of guilt.

Sunday passed by peacefully, with only a phone call from Joseph, which lasted for over half an hour. At the end of the conversation, Joseph mentioned that Old Harper would be back tonight.

Yvonne remembered Elijah saying he would arrive in Winslow at 8 p.m., so at 6 p.m., she put on an apron to prepare dinner.

For the past couple of days, she had been eating casually, causing some discomfort in her digestive system. She wanted to make up for it with a hearty meal.

She cooked beef and radish soup and prepared several meat and vegetable dishes to go along with it.

Yvonne felt a sense of accomplishment and took a picture from a good angle to send to Elijah, but he didn't respond.

The sound of the door lock echoed as Elijah walked into the living room, pulling a luggage bag with him. Yvonne was on the balcony, collecting clothes.

"You're back," she said.

Elijah's gaze swept across the dining table, and there was a hint of worldly charm in his expression.

"I made fruit tea. It's on the coffee table in the living room," Yvonne said, feeling uneasy. When their eyes met, her smile seemed forced.

Elijah bent down to open his luggage, took out three identical bags, and placed them on the sofa.

"What's this?" Yvonne approached and saw a prominent logo on the bags.

"It's for you," Elijah said as he took off his coat and loosened his tie. "You mentioned that you like black, white, and red. I bought all three colors."

Yvonne had already guessed what it was and covered her mouth in surprise.

She quickly removed the outer packaging. The limited-edition platinum bags in three different colors were indeed eye-catching.

"This brand is my life goal! You've helped me achieve it in one go. I no longer have the motivation to strive!" She smiled, her eyes lit up. "You're really thoughtful!"

"And there's something even more thoughtful. Do you want it?" Elijah pulled her into his embrace, and his lips, with a faint tobacco scent, suddenly covered hers.

Yvonne didn't resist and responded by tiptoeing.

They kissed fiercely.

Yvonne thought that during his days in Norway, he must have been with his ex-lover every day. But his eagerness and desire clearly resembled a beast that hadn't tasted meat for a long time.

If he didn't go meet Emily, then where did he go?

"What is Norway for again?"

Yvonne lay by Elijah's side, complaining that he didn't take any contraceptive measures this time.

Elijah whispered in her ear, "I calculated, it's your safe period."

Yvonne pinched him on the waist.

The food had gone cold a long time ago, but the couple heated it up again.

"There's been progress in cooking," Elijah commented while eating, and he asked about RD's event preparation.

"The first draft is ready. I'll let you take a look later. I plan to submit it officially the day after tomorrow." Yvonne lowered her gaze. "You provided me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I don't know if I have the ability to seize it."

"If you work hard, you won't have any regrets." Elijah put down his cutlery, lost in thought. "I heard RD only issued two golden invitation cards domestically this year, and the other one is with Grace."