Love Is a Sweet Addiction

So when Terence came back, she asked Terence this question and got a reply, “You’re too kind and too stupid.”

“If it was you, would you promise her?” Esther stared at him and asked.

Terence thought for a moment and shook his head. “I never thought about it. But kindness tends to vanish after one goes through hardships. I hope you won’t have to go through such a process in the future.”

“It’s no big deal. I just hope you can know what she’s like.”

Esther nodded, then put her slender arms around his neck, and looked at him. “But if I exposed what she did, would you misunderstand that I did it for James?”

Terence glanced down at her, ignoring her question.

“You would definitely be jealous.” Esther smiled and pinched him on the nose.

Terence smiled at her and pulled her up from the sofa. “If I were not jealous, you would be upset, right?”

Esther thought about it and nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go downstairs for dinner,” Terence said. Then the two of them walked towards the dining room on the first floor.

Everyone was present at the dining table. Esther and Terence greeted everyone and sat down. When Esther accidentally glanced at Anne, the latter immediately lowered her head guiltily.

This was the first time Esther had seen Anne like this. After all, she used to be so arrogant given that she was pregnant.

Esther hoped she could realize her mistake and get rid of those bad habits this time.

“Anne, why do you look so pale?” Since Anne didn’t touch the food Amanda had gotten for her, she noticed that something was wrong with her and looked at her, asking, “Did James fight with you again?”

“No way!” James immediately retorted.

Anne also forced a smile and said, “No, Mom. James didn’t.”

“Then why don’t you talk or eat? And you look so pale.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I … I just have terrible morning sickness today, so I don’t have a good appetite.”

“If so, don’t force yourself. You can eat some food when you want to later,” Gill said with concern.

Amanda smiled and retorted, “Gill, how can you know how a pregnant woman feels given that you’ve never had such an experience? Anne and the baby she’s pregnant with are just much too pampered. Don’t you see Esther is enjoying the meal greatly?”

Gill was furious. Being unable to give birth to a child had always been a sensitive nerve for her, but Amanda always deliberately touched it.

Anne used to be very interested in listening to their sarcasm, but today she was really not in the mood for it. So she had to stand up from the chair. “Enjoy the meal, everyone. I’m full.”

“Are you full?” Amanda looked at her up and down. “You haven’t eaten enough. It’ll be bad for the baby.”

“Mom, I ate a lot in the afternoon. I’m really full.” Anne tried to restrain herself and replied patiently. Then she glanced at Esther and happened to meet her gaze.

Esther ignored her. After getting Terence a piece of beef, she lowered her head and continued eating.

“Look, what a good appetite Esther has, which means her baby deserves less care than Anne’s.” Since Clark was not present, Amanda became bold enough to say whatever she wanted to indicate that Esther’s baby was an illegitimate child, just like Terence.

“Mom, stop it.” Anne reminded Amanda, “Auntie hasn’t reached the stage of morning sickness. That’s why her situation isn’t as bad as mine.”

She didn’t want Amanda to annoy Esther, which would possibly make Esther expose her scandal.

Amanda was stunned and did not expect Anne to be on Esther’s side even though she used to hate Esther so much. But since even Anne had said so, Amanda could only resentfully shut her mouth.

But tolerating being embarrassed like this by the younger generation wasn’t her way, so after dinner, she went straight into Anne’s bedroom.

When she entered, Anne was curling on the sofa and staring at the TV screen in a daze. When she saw Amanda come in, she sat up and called politely, “Mom, are you full?”

Amanda grunted and stared at her. “Anne, what’s wrong with you?”

“I’m fine.” Anne shook her head.

“Nothing? If so, how could you be on Esther’s side just now?”

Anne felt a little guilty, but she tried not to show that and remained innocent. “Mom, I just don’t want Gill and James to think that I always bully Esther, especially James. There seems to be something wrong with him recently since he tends to be angry every time I speak ill of Esther.”

Then she paused for a while and continued, “Mom, please forgive me for my bluntness. I think you shouldn’t be too arrogant in front of Gill. After all, Gill is now the mistress of the family. It’s no good for us to provoke her, right?”

“What? She doesn’t deserve such a title.” Amanda curled her lips. “She’s just been smug about Terence treating her as his mother by bringing him up. That’s why she’s always putting on airs. But now even whether Terence is one of the Gibsons remains a question. I’m afraid she must be extremely uneasy about it.”

Anne bit her lips and unconsciously rested her palm on her belly since her baby also wasn’t one of the Gibsons.

“Anyway, we haven’t gotten the results yet. We should not count our chickens before they are hatched, especially in front of Terence and Esther, in case it turns out that we were wrong,” Anne said softly.

“Anne, what happened to you?” Amanda looked at her again. “You didn’t say so before, and you used to be even more confident that Terence was not Clark’s child. Is there anything wrong with you tonight?”

Anne was stunned. Afraid that Amanda would see through her thoughts, she quickly smiled and said, “Mom, didn’t I just say that it was just a change of tactic? I have to pretend to treat Esther better to avoid fighting with James. This is what you taught me, right? I should tolerate James at any time. After all, harmony matters the most.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course.” Anne held Amanda’s hand. “Mom, from now on, I will be a generous and decent daughter-in-law to set a good example to my baby.”

“I can’t agree more.” Amanda smiled with relief and reached out her hand to stroke Anne’s belly. “Our baby is too young for so many intrigues. Otherwise, he won’t be adorable when he grows up.”

Anne continued to force a smile. “That’s right. That’s what I think. The antenatal parenting is very important.”