Chapter 28: Mom, I’m an imperfect woman
Amanda went straight to her mother’s room after reading some of the incoming messages she had just opened. Apparently, her mother sent her a lot of messages. The Howard family has indeed been staying at the Hotel since the start of Steve and Kellani’s wedding preparations. The family deliberately booked many rooms for their Australian relatives and guests.
Unfortunately, Amanda had just arrived in Jakarta last night and was busy with her new restaurant branch in Sydney.
Sarah Howard’s been in a frenzy looking for Amanda since her favorite daughter suddenly disappeared after the show ended. Sarah said she was so aware of Amanda’s arrival.
“Hi, Amanda. Where have you been? Mom’s been looking for you since. You didn’t even pick up the phone and read my messages.” The middle-aged woman’s eyes were full of investigation.
Amanda couldn’t have said she had just met a hot guy who became her bed friend while on vacation in Havana a few months ago. Amanda twisted her brain for a reasonable reason. “I met an old friend at the dinner, Mom.”
“Friend?” Sarah doubted her daughter’s words.
“Y-yes, I know her, Dita Saharia. My friend from Bali.”
“You mean Dita? The beautiful dancer?”
Amanda clenched up to say yes when several makeup assistants were helping her mother. The artist removed her makeup. “Dita is working in Jakarta, Mom. We chatted because we hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and my cell phone was silent. ”
After this, Amanda had to contact Dita to plot her story, even though she still lived in New York. The two met at a culture festival in New York a few years ago.
Sarah nodded after hearing her daughter explain logically, “Ah, I see. It just so happens that tomorrow, Mom and Dad are going on vacation to Bali. You’re coming with us, right? We’re on vacation together.”
“Are Steve and Kellani also coming?” Amanda asked while taking the position of half lying on the sofa. She was tired and wanted to go to bed immediately.
“No, your brother will go to the Reiner’s house and then return to Sydney,” Sarah replied. “That’s why you better come with me. Take Dita, too.”
“Dita was busy working and taking care of her son, Mom. And it seems I’d better not disturb your romantic honeymoon if I have another sister or brother afterward.” Amanda raised her eyebrows to tease her mother, who still looked fit at a young age.
“Amanda!” exclaimed Sarah shyly at her daughter’s words. I’m old like this. I’m in menopause, too. It’s better for me to see you holding a man to stand on the aisle again.” Tease Sarah, unaware of Amanda’s look, turned into a broom.
Amanda wouldn’t want to argue that kind of thing with her mother. Sarah does like to interfere in her children’s affairs, trying very hard to find the best mate. Now that Steve is married and is about to have a baby, Amanda’s weight has reduced by one, so she doesn’t have to think about how her family line goes.
“I’m going home to Sydney tomorrow, and my restaurant can’t stay too long,” Amanda said.
Sarah stood up from her chair and disagreed. Still trying to figure out a way to get her daughter to follow him, “Oh, my God, Amanda. You just got to Jakarta last night and want to go straight home tomorrow?”
“Mom, my restaurant is…”
“Her name is Fabian,” Sarah hurriedly showed a photo from her cell phone screen.
“His family owns several department stores in Australia. She’s a widower and has two daughters. I’ve met his daughters, and it’s funny. I don’t mind having granddaughters as cute as them, Amanda, “Sarah is still blabbering about the excess men she will introduce to her daughter, unconsciously hurting Amanda.
Why is it like this all of a sudden?
Hearing her mother’s explanation made Amanda’s head throb and massage her temples. Not immediately answering Sarah’s question, Amanda stood up.
“Isn’t Steve enough, Mom?” Amanda glanced at her mother briefly. Sarah heard Amanda’s voice turn cold.
“You know my condition, and you know how devastated I have felt so far, especially since the doctor sentenced me to no longer be pregnant. My life is a mess, Mom. My past is dark. I think a man would be crazy to have a relationship with a troubled woman like me. Has Mommy told him about my past?” Amanda’s eyes blushed, either holding back her anger at her mother or the pain of her imperfections.
“Amanda, you–”
“Not yet, right?” Amanda interrupted her mother’s words, not wanting to give Sarah a chance to find more excuses.
“And is his family willing to accept me after knowing the truth? I don’t think so. Mom, I’m just going to embarrass everyone, embarrass our family even more. Tell him he’s wasting his time dealing with a crippled woman like me–”
“Amanda, stop!” cried Sarah.
It doesn’t matter if Amanda’s mom screams through. “He’d better find another woman. This conversation, I’ll assume, never existed, and I’ll go to my room, Mom. “Good night.” Amanda doesn’t care about her mother, who hangs up in shock. This is the first time he’s ever yelled at his mother.
Sarah didn’t say anything after. Amanda just left after giving her a good-night hug, leaving her mother stunned by her daughter’s drastic attitude. Why does the princess always look down on herself?
It’s just a normal introduction. Why is it so cold?
…
Hearing the kind of rock and roll music played made Adam think his boss was happy and excited. But seeing Matt’s facial expression in a haunted fashion, like a graveyard, it seems like Adam’s guess is a big mistake, even more like a sleep-deprived zombie.
Matt is busy smoking cigars when he realizes Adam’s arrival and immediately turns off the music. Matt reverses a report that had just been sent by one of his right-handers, Adam Husain. Adam swallows his spit when he sees Matt gnashing his teeth.
“So, she had experienced violence in her household until she finally filed for divorce,” Matt’s face looked harder, her hands clenched tightly until her nails whitened.
“I want to know more than this. What, who, when, where and how? I want to know everything. I order you to intervene directly and investigate in more detail,” Matt said while grinding his teeth.
Adam nodded slowly. “Fine, Boss.”
Matt may be crazy because he confessed his feelings clearly to Amanda after forcing her. However, how deeply concerned that man in Amanda’s past made her even more aware that she had become entangled.
In 39 years of his life, Matt never thought this hard. It’s hard to read Amanda’s thoughts and feelings, and her words annoy Matt. Her dim gaze and honest attitude, which tried to be strong with all her vulnerability, made Matt increasingly want to protect her, becoming Amanda’s shield.
Matt knew this feeling was real, his heart pounding, and his depressing longing making him lose his mind. Amanda’s beautiful figure fills her entire body with breath and cells. Matt loves Amanda and wants her.
“Have you ever been in love?” Matt asked Adam after a few minutes of silence.
“Yes?” Adam was stunned for a while to hear Matt’s question. He didn’t think that that strange question would come out of his boss’s mouth, which looked like a bloodthirsty demon. It would be more normal for Matt to ask about drugs, firearms, or fun killing.
But why all of a sudden ask about something strange that makes Adam creep himself out? Are the boss and his friend possessed?
I guess I’ll have to call a shaman after this.
“You can talk casually. Now we’re talking to each other.” Matt said.
“Excuse me, if I may ask, why you’re asking me that? Adam asked, “Are you not in love?”
“I think I’ve fallen… in Love.”
“Did you fall in love with that woman I’m investigating?” Adam is in complete shock.
Matt’s nod made Adam even more wry and shocked. He wanted to scream, but Adam held back his almost suffocating desire.
This psychopathic demon speaks of love, that ridiculous love, right? That makes people soft like jelly?
A bit Adam’s throat then said, “I’ve been in love, only a monkey in high school, but never until I didn’t sleep at all like you. You seem very fond of that Havana woman?” Matt frowned after. “I mean, you met him in Havana, right?”
“Ah, I see that woman,” Matt smiled meaningfully because Adam did have a girlfriend. “Her name is Amanda. Do women always have high prestige?”
Matt could have kidnapped Amanda and locked her in a golden cage. Still, he chose to be patient because he feared making Amanda uncomfortable. Matt didn’t want the woman he loved to hate him.
“Don’t tell me he rejects you?” asked Adam, not playing this time.
“Yes, but that’s not the case. She avoids me when she kisses me back and wants me to leave when I’m clearly in her eyes,” Matt breathed, feeling bad right now.
“It sucks because I know Amanda also likes me. My feelings for her are not one-sided. Her body can’t lie. Shit!” Matt drank his whiskey with a single shot of anger.
Adam’s lost his mind. “Like Amanda that much, boss?”
Sucking his cigar rough before answering. “Yeah, and it looks more than like it.” Adam looked at Matt, who was sort of monologizing himself. “Then now, what shall I do?”
“Of course, chase her, get her heart. If she likes you, she still doesn’t want to admit that only three possibilities exist. First, she has a denial. Second, she still wants to see your efforts,”
“Third?” Matt asked impatiently.
“He has something to hide,” Adam replied gravely.
“And if the third one is true, you should not play rough at all, let alone cause her to get hurt because she is likely to have experienced trauma,” Adam explained.
Matt’s been quiet for a while. “I once felt so lost that it felt like the world was completely dark. My family, I don’t want to feel it anymore. I can’t fall in love, let alone dream of a family. But Amanda, that woman, just showed up and made me greedy for her. I want to be a good man for Amanda and be her protector.
…