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CH 60
Natalie looked coldly at Pam and flexed her wrist. She put so much effort into the slap that her hand was aching. Cheryl shouted,
“You witch! How dare you hit her? That was completely unprovoked.”
Pam, losing her composure, glared furiously at Natalie. No one had dared to hit her before, not ever. How could she stand for this? She was about to hit Natalie; her hands waved wildly. Natalie dodged Pam’s flailing hands and grabbed her wrists. She pushed her back, and Pam stumbled back. Natalie warned her to back off. If it wasn’t for the fact that there were people watching, she would definitely have taught Pam a lesson. She turned away from Pam and led Liam away. The people watching all felt that Natalie was extremely strong. Even the few people who were biased towards Pam did not dare to say anything as they watched her leave. Cheryl was furious. After comforting Pam, she ran in Natalie’s direction.
“Hey, Natalie,”
she called out.
“Next week is Grandma’s birthday. Remember to be there.”
Natalie stopped and turned around to look at Cheryl, puzzled. Cheryl didn’t have a living grandmother of her own, so she must be referring to Natalie’s grandmother. And hadn’t she gone away to the countryside? Natalie asked coldly,
“What’s that about my grandma?”
Cheryl said,
“I was worried that she was lonely out there on her own, so I brought her back to take care of her. After all, as the family’s eldest daughter isn’t there, we all have to do our best to fill in for her, don’t you think?”
Even though Cheryl was pretending to be sincere, Natalie recognized the cruelty behind her words.
Natalie approached Cheryl, her eyes filled with a stony glint, and said,
“If anything happens to my grandmother, I won’t let you get away with it.”
Cheryl chuckled,
“Ha ha ha. Don’t worry, the old lady is still in good health. That’s why she asked you to attend her birthday party next week.”
She seems in good shape, but if you decide not to come, well, I don’t know what could happen. The corners of her mouth curled up in satisfaction.
“How dare you?”
shouted Natalie. She stretched out a hand and grabbed Cheryl’s collar, glaring at her.
“My god, Cheryl, are you really so low that you’ll even threaten an old woman to manipulate her?”
Cheryl said coolly,
“I’m just saying that grandma is doing well right now. But whether that continues could depend on what you do, on how you behave. That’s all.”
Cheryl’s eyes were filled with determination, showing no sign of fear.
Natalie decided to let it go, but she warned Cheryl,
“Cheryl, if a single hair of my grandma’s head comes to harm, you’d better watch out.”
Even so, Natalie still felt a pang of guilt. Even though her grandmother was fine, now there was a chance she could be treated badly by the Davidson family. How could she accept that risk then? Natalie left with Liam, but she was still upset about everything that had happened.
Watching Natalie go, Cheryl felt pleased with herself, thinking,
“Oh, poor Natalie, if you want to fight with me, you’ve got a lot to learn.”
Cheryl knew that her hold over the old woman gave her an advantage over Natalie in the car on the way home. Natalie’s frown deepened as she thought about the kind of treatment her grandmother might receive from the Davidson family, making her heart ache.
Grandma used to be a proud woman, but when she reached middle age, she had seen her child, Natalie’s mother, die. Grandma had an unquenchable pain in her heart, and it wouldn’t take much for the Davidsons to reopen those old wounds. Grandma was getting old. Natalie had often seen her crying secretly when looking at photos of Natalie’s mother. How could her grandma, an emotional woman, stand up to any kind of mistreatment?
The more Natalie thought about it, the more anxious she became. She felt that it was because of her that her grandma was in trouble, and she felt guilty for leaving her open to suffering. Liam saw her expression and asked worriedly,
“Mommy, will my great grandma be alright?”
Natalie let out a sigh, rubbed Liam’s hand to comfort him, and said,
“Don’t worry, Liam. Great granny will be fine.”
Liam nodded, but although his mother’s assurances made him feel better, he was still worried about his great grandmother. However, he didn’t dare to say anything else when he saw his mother’s worried expression; he knew it would only make her feel worse.