"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore!" Evie protested.
"Not a kid? You're in your twenties. When I was your age, I already had your sister." Amelia shot back.
"..."
Evie was speechless.
She wanted to say times had changed. But saying that would only get her lectured harder.
"Fine, you young people do what you want. Just take care of yourself. If you get pregnant, you can't just take any medicine!" Amelia sighed.
"I know, Mom," Evie mumbled.
She just wanted to ask about cooking fish head soup. How did this turn into a lecture on pregnancy and medicine?
She made up an excuse and hung up quickly.
Evie breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, her mother would keep preaching.
She missed the days when her mom was too busy playing mahjong to bother her.
Soup took a long time to cook. Evie prepped the ingredients, set it to simmer, and went to eat dinner.
Alexander wasn't home for dinner. She ate alone.
When she got back, she told the maid to just cook some porridge with vegetables.
Now, the porridge was perfect. With fried eggs and veggies, life was simple and good.
As she ate, she wondered if Alexander was still working overtime or at a dinner party.
Was he drinking a lot?
She was really worried.
After dinner, Evie took some fruit she bought at the market and brought some to her sister-in-law.
She didn't expect to run into Scarlett in the garden.
"Scarlett!" Evie called out.
"Evie, out for a walk?" Scarlett looked up and smiled.
"No, I'm going to see my sister-in-law," Evie replied.
Scarlett glanced at the bag Evie was carrying. "Bringing something for her?"
Evie suddenly remembered she was carrying fruit. She only gave some to her sister-in-law, not to Scarlett. That seemed rude.
She felt awkward. "I heard my sister-in-law likes peaches. I saw some and bought them back. Do you like them, Scarlett? If you do, I'll send some to you later!"
"No, no, I don't eat much fruit. It's rare for you to be so thoughtful. Your sister-in-law must be very happy," Scarlett waved her hand.
"You're too kind," Evie replied, embarrassed.
"Go on, deliver it. We'll talk later," Scarlett said with a smile.
"Okay, I'll go first."
Scarlett nodded.
Evie walked toward Rose Garden Villa. Scarlett watched her for a moment, then her smile faded.
Scarlett didn't go back to her place. Instead, she walked toward Audrey's villa.
"What brings you here?" Audrey asked, pouring water for Scarlett.
"Seems like we haven't seen each other in a while," Scarlett said.
"We see each other at work all the time. That doesn't count," Audrey smiled.
"No matter how often I come, it's been a while. Audrey, has Evie ever been to your house?"
"No, why?" Audrey shook her head.
"Just asking."
"Speaking of which, I haven't invited her over yet. I'll ask her to come one day."
"If she wanted to come, she would have come uninvited. You know what? I just met Evie in the garden. Guess what she was doing?"
"What?" Audrey asked.
"Bringing fruit to our sister-in-law. She heard she likes peaches and bought them specially. Do you think she has an ulterior motive? Our sister-in-law is crazy. She hasn't accepted that our brother is gone. Why is Evie getting so close to her?" Scarlett lowered her voice.
Audrey looked at Scarlett in surprise. "You're right. I hadn't noticed. I heard Evie gets along well with her. And at those dinners, our sister-in-law treated Evie like her own daughter-in-law. That's strange," Audrey nodded.
"Yes, I don't know if our sister-in-law is really crazy or just pretending. She knows Alexander is in charge now. As soon as Evie came in, she started fawning over her. That makes Evie smarter than all of us," Scarlett sneered.
"But our sister-in-law is sometimes lucid. Maybe that's why she gets close to Evie."
"Whatever their relationship is, I don't think Evie is as simple as she seems. Audrey, we need to be careful," Scarlett said seriously.
"How do we be careful?" Audrey asked blankly. "No matter what she does, she won't hurt us."
"Are you really that naive? Don't you remember? We're the daughters of the chairman of Sterling Group. We hold important positions. But those positions are empty. Mom insisted we not split the family. She said we should stay together. But really, she just doesn't want to give us any property. Now Evie is playing dumb. If we don't make plans soon, we'll be worse off later."
"How do we make plans?" Audrey asked anxiously.
"If our sister-in-law can get close to Evie by being friendly, why can't we? We can bring Evie to our side. Think about it. No matter how smart she is, she's just a crazy woman. Can't we two normal people beat a crazy person?" Scarlett said.
"You have a point," Audrey nodded. "But what do we do?"
"It's easy. Let's invite her shopping, eating, and buy her some expensive gifts. She's from a small family. She hasn't seen much. If we're generous enough, she won't be able to resist," Scarlett suggested.
"What kind of gifts are expensive enough? Don't forget, she's Alexander's wife now. She's the lady of the house. She might run the household one day. If we give her something cheap, she'll look down on us. It's better not to give anything," Audrey sighed.
"You're right. We can't do that. Let's invite her out a few times. We'll find out what she likes. Then we'll give her what she wants," Scarlett looked at her sister.
Audrey thought Scarlett's plan was feasible. She agreed and nodded.