Chapter 35: The Mother’s Dissuasion
Elda picked up the piece of paper and turned it over to see that it was an agreement written by Octavia Gills when she went abroad to accompany the son of an important client of the Drye Family to school in place of Ms. Lilian. No one but the Drye Family, the Princess and their mother and daughter knew about it!
“This is the agreement when Octavia left the country for the princess, but I have not said a word about this matter for twenty years as it is written in this agreement!” Elda couldn’t understand what Lilian Drye was doing with this agreement. Was it that this had been discovered?
“Is that so? And do you know whose bed your daughter is running into now? Do you know Tredan Davi, the president of Group Davi?”
“Tredan Davi?” Why does that name sound so familiar!
“My fianc??, my man! Are you both sinister enough to try to get close to him by taking advantage of the fact that I asked your daughter to replace me abroad in the past? Are you trying to use this incident to turn your daughter into a phoenix? So that your embarrassingly poor family can go being destitute to powerful?” Lilian Drye spoke aggressively, and Elda understood what Lilian Drye was saying.
“Ms. Lilian, please do not slander my daughter by your words, how could she have slept in your fianc??’s bed, Princess, and also, this agreement has never been spoken to the public by my daughter and I, and we, as mother and daughter have always been grateful for Mrs. Drye’s kindness to our family. There must be some misunderstanding here, Princess!” Elda knew her daughter well.
“Misunderstanding? Is it that you don’t know how talented your daughter is at being a vixen or are you just playing dumb in front of me?” Lilian Drye picked up her glass, sipped it delicately and looked at Elda with a scornful expression, “Your daughter, that bitch, used my leaving the country to stir up my relationship with Tredan and has been his lover for over a year now, and she’s still pestering Tredan up to now. Because of the Drye family, Octavia was given a good education abroad instead of me, a good platform to start on, and your daughter was able to study in Taiwan and Japan? How else could she become a painter of some minor fame today.”
“No, Princess, Octavia would certainly not do such a thing, are you mistaken about something? I’ll go and ask! There must be some misunderstanding, our family was kindly taken in by Mrs. Drye, we could never do anything wrong to the Drye Family!” Elda would never allow her daughter to do something like that.
“If that’s the case, go ahead and talk to her. Of course, I’m about to get engaged to Tredan Davi, so you’d better make your daughter disappear in front of me and Tredan Davi or don’t blame me for being cruel!” Lilian Drye said earnestly to Elda and handed her a note with the address of the old Davi Family house on it. Tell Elda, “If your wonderful daughter isn’t home, go to this address and you’ll be sure to find her. I don’t know if you’ll have the face to come back to the Drye Family after this!”
“Princess, we will keep always this contract, and I am sure that my daughter has never revealed a word of it. Please believe us!”
Once Elda had finished speaking stiffly, she took the small note with the address given by Lilian Drye and went out of Lilian Drye’s room.
Tredan Davi? The name was really familiar and Elda suddenly remembered the man at the hospital who claimed to be Octavia Gills’ boyfriend, could it be him? No, her daughter would never do such a thing. But her daughter’s expressions and movements that day were unusual! Yes, where did Gar Gills’ medical bills come from, could it be? No!
“Elda, what has happened to your face?” Eldwin had been waiting uneasily for Elda at the workers’ quarters, and when he saw her come out of the princess’ room, he called out to her several times without seeing a response, and an anxious Eldwin approached to see a red and swollen finger mark on the left side of her face. Even more worried. “Mr. Eldwin, Mr. Eldwin, you told me that Octavia was a good child, she wouldn’t do anything wrong, right, since she was a child, she knew how to behave, right? Yes! There must be a misunderstanding, I’m going to Octavia now to clear this misunderstanding!” Elda became afraid that Lilian Drye was telling the truth, what was she going to do then? What would happen to her Octavia?
“Elda, what’s wrong with you? Calm down for a second, what’s going on? What does it have to do with Octavia?” Elda’s whole mind was on whether or not Octavia Gills had hooked up with Ms. Lilian’s fianc?? or not, unable to listen to what Eldwin had to say, Elda grabbed her bag and ran out.
When the Drye Family’s business was in a financial crisis, the Drye Family was fortunate enough to be saved by Group Davi’s capital injection. Master Drye took the initiative to propose to Floyd Davi that he would also send his only daughter to study abroad for two years and that the two children would go together so that they could look after each other. Floyd Davi was very happy about this, saying that his son Tredan Davi would have a companion and that Lilian Drye, who is two years older, would be able to look after him and help him to put his mother’s affairs in perspective.
But when Lilian Drye heard that she was going abroad to serve someone else, she burst into tears and cried for days. Mrs. Drye was so distressed to see her own daughter crying that she began to complain that her husband had to send his daughter abroad for two years because of that shabby business and that she had to take care of someone else’s son instead of being looked after. When Lilian Drye met Octavia Gills, who was about the same height and age, she told her mother that she would let Octavia Gills go abroad instead of her, so that she could take care of the Davi family’s eldest prince and also deepen the friendship between the Drye and Davi families. Most importantly, Octavia Gills is a country girl and it would be a great blessing for Octavia Gills to go abroad in her place. The Drye Family decided that this was a good idea for their daughter. So, the agreement was made for Octavia Gills to replace Lilian Drye as the Drye Family princess to look after the eldest prince of the Davi Family, and in return the Drye Family gave Octavia Gills the opportunity to go abroad and read the comics she liked to read. But not a word of this must be divulged to the public. And the two of them, mother and daughter, must never mention it to anyone.
Elda hurriedly got off the bus and ran without stopping, heading for Octavia Gills’ house. It was Sunday, Octavia didn’t have to go to work, she wouldn’t go out without something to do, her family would be at home. But there was no answer.
Elda was holding the note in her hand, she was afraid to go there, but she had to find out today! Elda stopped a taxi on the road, handed the driver the note and said, “Driver, I need to go to this address, please take me there.”
“Big sister, you can’t really tell who the rich people are!” As soon as the taxi driver saw the address, he sized Elda up, thinking that someone so plainly dressed would go to that place, all rich people’s residences!
“Driver, concentrate on driving!”
When they arrived at the old Davi Family house Elda got out of the car and came out, it was a more luxurious gated house than the Drye Family, there was no way Octavia would live in such a place, Elda didn’t want to think too much about it and went straight to the door and rang the bell.
Octavia Gills wondered if she should answer the door, since Tredan Davi had gone out on a business trip. Never mind, she would only be seen as a servant.
“Wait! I’m coming!” Octavia Gills took off her apron, dried her hands, and ran over to get ready to go out and open the door.
Octavia Gills subconsciously ran back to hide. But how could Elda, who had been watching the entrance to the compound, not see her daughter’s silhouette? It was Octavia, really Octavia, and Elda’s face turned pale for a moment as she watched Octavia Gills hide from her.
“Octavia, Octavia, you… how can you… no, you can’t do this! You open the door for me!” Elda shed tears of heartache and sat down on the floor and cried.
Hearing her mother’s cries, Octavia Gills walked over uncomfortably and opened the door for her mother.
“I didn’t expect it, I didn’t expect it, Octavia, why are you doing this to your mother?” Elda smacked herself in the face with sadness and self-reproach. “How can I face your dead father? How will I face the Drye Family?”
“Mum, please don’t do this, it’s not what you think, I’m with Tredan…” Octavia Gills didn’t even finish her sentence when Elda slapped Octavia Gills in the face in an unforgiving manner.
“Do you know why I slapped you? I know that I am indebted to you so much, you have lost a lot for your brother and for this family, and you have taken on a lot of things that should not be under your responsibilities, mummy is useless, mummy owes you. But…” Elda suddenly burst into tears, she so disheartened that she could hardly speak.
“But you! How could you sleep in Ms. Lilian’s fianc??’s bed, and to think that I patted myself on the back, telling Ms. Lilian that you would never do something like that! Octavia, you disappoint me so much!” Elda was so angry that her head was heavy and a wave of dizziness came over her. She leaned heavily against that wall.
Octavia Gills was likewise tearful as she tried to hold Elda up, only to be pushed away by Elda!
“Mom… Mom, don’t be like this! It’s really not what you think, really, please believe me, Ma!” She never wanted to stay with Tredan Davi, she just couldn’t help but fall into it, bit by bit, and couldn’t help herself! She knew that sooner or later she would have to leave Tredan Davi, and sooner or later she would have to let him go too.
“I ask you, what kind of tactics did you use to hook up with Ms. Lilian’s fianc??, tell me, did you use that incident twenty years ago? Tell me!” Elda was holding on to the contract as her life-saver, as long as she kept the terms on that agreement, she will be able to face Mr. and Mrs. Drye without disgrace.
“Hooking up? Mum you… how can you think way that about me? How can you say that about your own daughter?” Such words were so familiar to Octavia Gills these days that she has long since become numb to them. Just why has she been humiliated so much, especially coming from her mother.
“I never broke any of the words in that agreement, but I do love Tredan Davi.”
“You bastard! How can you be so ignorant? When did you become such a lowlife! Octavia, will you wake up? Have you seen this big villa; do you think you fit in? What kind of family are we, how can we aspire to be so high up? Octavia, come back with me, and from now on, forget everything about this place!”
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