342 Oedipus Would Like a Word 2 in 1 (2/2)
After giving that order, Madam Grace appeared to stop caring about the details, and she did not worry whether her people would find out the truth or not. Instead, she breathed out a long sigh, and a deep frown was etched on her face as she tried to move her body. 'Tess' moved forward silently to help nudge Madam Grace's body and to massage her taut muscles.
The frown on Madam Grace's face slowly started to unwind. After she felt much better, she opened her mouth slowly. The first thing out of her mouth was not about Ye Shuang, whom she had been caring about, but about Cedrick who surprised her greatly during this incident. ”That thief… who do you think he really is?”
Cedrick's earlier performance was too surprising. At the time, due to the dangerous situation, Madam Grace did not have the time to distract herself with thinking, but now that the danger had passed, the problems from before naturally resurfaced in her mind.
”The anger and hatred that he showed when he accused me were real; I can discern that much, but if that was the case, why did he choose to help me?” Instead of asking a question, it was more like Madam Grace was talking to herself. She did not expect her expressionless underling to be able to provide her with the answer, so she was merely subconsciously rearranging the information in her mind. ”Purposely getting close to Ye and then becoming angry once I openly threatened him… At the time, I thought his reaction was extremely weird like he was insulted or greatly disappointed…”
An answer seemed to threaten to appear in her mind. Madam Grace frowned, and her voice gradually softened. She repeated the many things that she thought were conflicting in her mind again and again.
”Getting close to Ye Shuang but not to steal anything…
”Has the intention to communicate with me and currently I have no idea why…
”Treat me with both hatred and selflessness…
”Wanting to get close but at the same time, push away…”
Madam Grace mumbled to herself for a long time, and she suddenly frowned after a momentary silence and blurted out, ”Could it be that he's in love with me?”
'Tess' was startled, and his action froze for a second. The lips under the cover of his mask could not help but twitch. The prediction and analysis at the beginning were correct, but what is going on with the sudden conclusion?
”Yes, it must be love!” Madam Grace seemed to have landed on an answer that she was satisfied with, but at the same time, she had a hard time believing it. ”Other than this reason, I don't think there is other reason for him to be acting so conflicted around me.”
There is also the possibility of a heartless mother and a conflicted son.
Ye Shuang held her hand over the door for half a second and was unsure whether she should knock on the door to make a visit or not. She happened to walk by and wanted to see if Edward was free or not. If Madam Grace was still unconscious, then she could openly call the man out and try to get more information using the pretext that she wanted to ask him about Madam Grace's injury.
But the plot suddenly developed so fast.
It was not that big of a deal that Madam Grace had woken up, but the scary thing was, the woman had managed to come up with such an impossible conclusion from Cedrick's contradictory performance…
No, wait! If just reviewing this from the pure angle of 'love', actually love between family could be considered a type of love.
Ye Shuang was hesitating when Cedrick, who walked out from his room to get a glass of whiskey for himself, walked past her. He poked his head her way and asked, ”What are you doing here? Let's go for a drink.”
He was in a very foul mood, his brain was a horrible mess, and he desperately needed alcohol to help salvage his fragile nerves. Madam Grace was very sensitive. Once she heard the commotion outside the door, she raised her eyes to look at 'Tess'.
Even though the latter was hesitant, he could not go against his persona. So, he used a lack of expression to show his obedience and walked to the door to open it. Therefore, Ye Shuang and Cedrick, who crowded the door, fell into Madam Grace's eyes.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
It was fine for Ye Shuang—she showed simple concern and politeness—but Cedrick was not that good at acting. Madam Grace could see discern the flaws in his reaction. After the initial shock, the man started to become uncomfortable. His brows were locked in a show of disgust and hatred, but subconsciously, he kept trying to inspect Madam Grace's injury. Therefore, the status that he showed once again silently approved of Madam Grace's suspicion.
Is it due to jealousy?
Because she was in love with another handsome man, he was so dastardly toward her, but since he could not help but love her, did he subconsciously care about her injury?
Madam Grace had been through many things in her life, and she naturally had a good understanding of other people's emotional reactions. Furthermore, she had crossed paths with different types of people before, and even though she could not say that she had absolute confidence that she could guess other people's personality and inner thoughts, it was not an exaggeration to say that she would be eighty percent correct.
Even though she was surprised that Cedrick would be so loyally in love with such an old lady, it did not take long for Madam Grace to accept this preset.
She looked at Cedrick with complicated emotions. From her lovers or her former four ex-husbands, she had not experienced this kind of selfless love before, and Madam Grace was caught in a conundrum.
The man's face is at most only normal, even though I guess I can get used to it.
Without ambition means no future, but just focusing on the ability, he is not so bad. But to give up a whole forest for a tree is a bit of waste, but then again, nowadays, everything is the same after turning off the light. The difference in age is an issue though because if the man desires a next generation, I might not be able to provide that…
Without realizing it, Madam Grace had allowed her mind to wander too far. It was not until 'Tess' took the seat again next to her and massaged her shoulders that Madam Grace tuned back to real life. She signaled for 'Tess' to help her get up, and after having two pillows placed behind her back, she nodded at Ye Shuang and Cedrick. ”Did you come to visit me? There's no need to worry about me. I'm fine. Please take a seat.”
”Humph! I just came out to grab some alcohol to drink!” Cedrick shot back on reflex. He thought that this would lead to another argument, but this time, Madam Grace did not rise to take his bait. In reality, the woman only looked at him calmly and used a type of gaze that seemed to say ”I've seen through everything” to scan the man before turning to her side and telling 'Tess' like this was a casual order, ”I remember there are several bottles of aged red win in the wine closet. Why don't you take it out to serve Mr. Cedrick during dinner?”
'Tess' hesitated for a moment before hurriedly standing up, nodding, and leaving… The wine mentioned by Madam Grace was not the bottles that were placed outside for show. The bottles that she mentioned were locked inside a wooden cupboard inside the cellar.
Cedrick was stunned and looked at 'Tess' walk past him with dumb blankness. He had a hard time getting used to this peaceful atmosphere. Where was the promised love and war? Weren't they supposed to hate each other? Was it because he had saved her life earlier and that was why she was being so polite toward him? But that did not seem likely. With someone as arrogant as Madam Grace, she did not look like the type who would be nice to others simply because they had done her a favor, even if the favor was as big as saving her life…
Cedrick was instantly caught in a conflict, but Ye Shuang understood everything easily. This was probably the kind of tolerance a female would give someone 'who would give up his life and soul in the name of love'. All negative attitudes had a reason behind them—every scowl and every frown was hiding the hidden love.
Since you love me that much, then I shall be kind enough to tolerate your unreasonable temper…
That was probably what Madam Grace was thinking.
Ye Shuang's facial features were scrunched together. She did not dare to imagine how Cedrick would react once he found out Madam Grace's real thought… No, if Madam Grace stated it openly to Cedrick, what would Cedrick think?
Madam Grace did intend to lay it open with Cedrick, but since the man did not bring it up, she would not dare to start the conversation lest she made the man uncomfortable.
Furthermore, there was the incredibly handsome Brother Shuang standing right there. As true as Cedrick's love was, Madam Grace thought that she needed to give it a second thought. No one said that she had to surrender her body to repay someone who saved her life, right? Furthermore, for someone who loved her so deeply and purely, she knew that he would not be able to accept her current relationship… So, if she really accepted it, then did that mean that she would have to close down her harem?
That was a very big problem!
Therefore, Madam Grace cleared her throat and used a casual tone to maintain the current atmosphere. ”Cedrick, I thank you deeply for your help today. If you need any help from me in the future, I will be willing to provide the support in any way that I can.”
Brother Shuang's brows rose; this meant that she intended to keep things ambiguous between them.
Cedrick flashed a fake smile and said, ”What kind of situation will I run into where I will need Madam's help? I know the type of person you are, and you know the type of person I am—I think it is for the best that we do not meet each other in the future anymore.”
This meeting was the worst decision that he had ever made. After his initial urge was cut off by the assassination, Cedrick had lost all intention to reveal his real identity to Madam Grace. So what if he did? The woman did not seem to care at all, and she did not even realize that she might have a son out there in the world. Even if he came back with a DNA report to prove his validity, Madam Grace probably would not have cared much about a son that seemed to pop up from nowhere.
Thinking about that, Cedrick felt so stupid for the thoughts that he had earlier. Why did he insist on staying back for closure? He had known about Madam Grace's cold-bloodedness from the beginning, so why did he insist on running himself into the wall?
Instantly, Cedrick was gripped by devastation. He put the wine glass down, losing the will to even drink. He turned to walk back to his room, to drown in his misery.
Madam Grace frowned and called after him subconsciously. ”Wait.”