208 The Apology 6 (1/2)

”Wait, Sylvia. The time will come when I am going to talk to your father. There's no need for you to get him now. I understand how you must wish to see this work but please give both of us some time to address our own feelings first.” Joann called after her daughter as she saw her move towards the stairs. Joann assumed Sylvia was going to the living room to get Xu Jing and forced them to talk this out right there and then.

Joann had no qualm shutting the door in Xu Jing's face but she hated to do that to her daughter. After all, as she mentioned earlier, their daughter was definitely the most innocent party in this issue. If her daughter decided to side with Xu Jing and forced Joann to initiate a temporary truce with her husband, Joann wasn't sure she would be able to deny her daughter's request. She felt like she owed Sylvia that much but then it would not have been fair to any of the party involved.

However, Joann soon realized her worry had been unfounded.

Sylvia turned around with a frown etched between her brows as if telling her mother, 'Mom, what are you talking about?'

Then it dawned on Sylvia how things must have looked from her mother's perspective. ”No, mom, I'm just going to my room to get some snacks. You haven't had anything to eat since morning, right? Don't worry, I won't even go past the living room in case dad hears me.”

Then, the two women allowed themselves a laugh over Joann's faux pax. God knows they needed a moment of levity considering the things that they were going through.

...

Sylvia opened a pack of cookies and placed it on the table as she sat down next to her mother in her bedroom chaise. She took a piece of the snack out from the packaging and handed it to her mother.

The cookie snapped as Joann munched on it. The packaging said it was a chocolate chip cookie but it just tasted like nothingness in Joann's mouth.

Joann placed the half-eaten cookie down on the table. Sylvia saw but did not comment on it, she understood why her mother's appetite was not feeling so well.

Sylvia didn't know how to begin so she started with the most general and non-intrusive of inquiry, ”Mom, how are you feeling?”

However, Joann wasn't even sure how to answer that question. If she said she was fine, then she'd belying and if she said she was not, then she'd get her daughter to worry about her, she didn't want that. In the end, Joann settled with a somewhat honest answer, ”I don't know.”

On the other hand, Sylvia was caught in the same conundrum as her mother. She pitied her father but she didn't want to excuse what he did either. She wanted to side with her mother but it would break her heart if they opted for a divorce. None of the options seemed valid to her and thus Sylvia just sat there and said nothing.