novelraw Chapter 359 - 360: The Troublesome Mother-in-law
Chapter 359 - 360: The Troublesome Mother-in-law
Chapter 359: Chapter 360: The Troublesome Mother-in-law
Yvette Harris continued to cook, looking at her disheveled daughter with disgust. Yvette placed great importance on beauty, so she would always put on delicate makeup even when just taking out the garbage. She couldn’t stand seeing Sabrina Johnson looking like this.
"Are you trying to scare people to death with that ghostly appearance? Go upstairs, wash up, and get ready. Master Leland will be coming down later."
"How could you let a man old enough to be my grandfather sleep with me? Are you crazy? Are you crazy?" Sabrina Johnson felt like she was going to lose it. When she thought of that man with age spots on his face, she felt like she had fallen into a manure pit.
"It seems you didn’t listen to my words yesterday. For men, money and power are what matters, not good looks. In this society, good-looking but penniless men are useless. Take your sister, for example. She married a handsome cripple. What good did that do?"
Yvette Harris didn’t know the extent of Adrian Desmond’s wealth and power; she only saw him as a handsome cripple.
"You’re being unreasonable, and I can’t reason with you!"
"Master Leland knows people in both legitimate and criminal circles, and he’s much more powerful than Frederick Stewart. If you secure him, you’ll have everything you could ever want," Yvette urged.
"..."
"Don’t be like your foolish adoptive mother and become foolish yourself! Remember, you are not Pauline Briggs, and you will never have her good fortune! If you don’t use your youth to scheme and plan, by the time you’re old and your looks have faded, you’ll be in a miserable situation!"
"Yes, I’m not as fortunate as Pauline Briggs, I’m not as fortunate as Sienna Johnson... all because I have a mother like you! Why isn’t Pauline Briggs my mother? Why am I not the true Miss Briggs? Why do I have a mother like you? Why..."
Yvette Harris hadn’t expected her daughter to despise her so much. Her voice laced with anger, she said, "As the old saying goes, a child doesn’t despise its mother for being ugly. I never thought you’d despise me this much."
"I’m telling you, I may not come from a family as good as Pauline Briggs’s, but I truly love you. I switched you and Sienna Johnson back then to give you a better life. If it weren’t for me, do you think you could have become Miss Johnson or married Frederick Stewart?"
Sabrina Johnson was no fool. She laughed coldly. "For my own good? Do you take me for a three-year-old, so easily deceived?"
"..."
"I think you just saw me as a burden and wanted to get rid of me. If you hadn’t switched us back then, I would have been the one thrown into the orphanage, right?"
"If that’s what you want to think, I can’t stop you. But I am genuinely planning for your future. Master Leland might be old, but he’s incredibly powerful. If you secure him, forget Sissi; even the entire Stewart family would be nothing in comparison."
"Yvette Harris, I can’t reason with you! I never want to see you again!"
Hearing this, Yvette Harris wasn’t worried. She continued preparing breakfast and said dismissively, without looking up, "You’ll come back begging to see me soon enough."
"Nonsense!" Sabrina Johnson stormed out.
「...」
At the Johnson residence, Sienna Johnson would bring Curly home for dinner every Saturday night. Sienna and Adrian Desmond had originally planned to go to Abyanabad for their honeymoon, but Kiki and Samuel Palmer had taken Curly to the beach, so Sienna hadn’t been able to go.
Now married, Sienna Johnson brought her husband home with her.
Pauline Briggs, crying, tried to persuade her, "Adrian Desmond may be handsome, but don’t be fooled by his looks. A man who can divorce his first wife isn’t faithful. If he could abandon his first wife, he can abandon you too!"
Admittedly, Pauline Briggs’s words held some truth.
"I won’t abandon Sienna!" Adrian Desmond couldn’t bear it any longer. Dealing with such a woman, Adrian found it difficult to voice his exasperation. Pauline Briggs was his mother-in-law, the biological mother of the woman he loved. Even though their mother-daughter relationship wasn’t great, she was still Sienna’s biological mother, so he could neither strike nor scold her. Yet, this woman kept urging them to divorce, and Adrian really wanted to teach her a lesson.
Pauline Briggs stared at Adrian Desmond with red eyes. "Mr. Desmond, you probably said the same thing to your ex-wife, didn’t you?"
Adrian Desmond was rendered speechless and could only suppress his anger.
Pauline Briggs pressed on, "Sienna, a good man should be like your father. Even if I were to die, your father would never love anyone else, and I feel the same way. He’s not like those fickle men whose love changes over time."
"My feelings for Sienna will never change!"
Strangely, many people were afraid of Adrian Desmond. Pauline Briggs wasn’t a bold woman, yet she showed no fear of him. She scolded, "You shut up! You have a record; you have no right to say such things!"
"..."
"Sienna, say something, won’t you?"
Throughout it all, Sienna Johnson maintained a smile. No matter what Pauline Briggs said, she remained silent. It was Adrian Desmond who couldn’t help but keep arguing.
Sienna finally spoke, "Anyway, the marriage has happened. Madam Johnson, why not give him a chance? If he truly does abandon her in the end, then you can just drive him away."
"No matter what I say, you won’t believe me, Sienna Johnson! You’ll regret this sooner or later!"
"Sienna won’t have a chance to regret it! I won’t give her that chance!" Every time Pauline Briggs spoke, Adrian Desmond would counter, fearing that Sienna Johnson might actually listen and want to divorce him.
"Words like that might fool Sienna, but don’t even think about fooling me!"
Adrian Desmond was at a loss for words.
Pauline Briggs seemed to be made of tears. Seeing that no one was listening to her, she simply sat there, crying in front of her daughter and son-in-law, until Adrian Desmond’s ears ached from the sound.
Adrian Desmond thought Sienna Johnson’s resilience was actually a good thing. If Sienna cried like this in front of him every day, he’d probably go mad.
"Madam, Mrs. Stewart is here to see you," a servant came to report.
Pauline Briggs stopped crying and asked, her voice choked, "Mrs. Stewart?"
"It’s the Second Miss, Sabrina Johnson."
"What does she want with me?" Since the old lady had forbidden Sabrina Johnson from visiting, they had lost contact. This sudden appearance startled Pauline Briggs.
Pauline Briggs carefully glanced at her daughter’s face before saying, "Send her away. I don’t want to see her."
Sienna Johnson said, "Since Madam Johnson has a visitor, we should take our leave."
Adrian Desmond, eager to leave, said, "Madam Johnson, we’ll come to see you again next time." He stood up and took Sienna’s hand.
Pauline Briggs stopped Sienna Johnson. "Don’t worry, I meant what I said; I won’t see her. Stay a little longer. It’s not often you come home."
"Sabrina Johnson isn’t as simple as she appears. Don’t be deceived by her." Sienna Johnson wasn’t sure if her mother would listen, but she felt she had to say it.
Because the battle between Sienna Johnson and the Stewart family had begun, Pauline Briggs would soon learn that the adopted daughter she had once cherished had caused the death of the man she loved most.