Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Charlotte only coldly told her, "I call the shots in the family. Kelly will not marry Jackson if I say she can't."
That was, unless Kelly wanted to completely ruin her relationship with Charlotte.
The smile on Rosemi's face faded after Charlotte said that, but she still was amiable when she said, "Mrs. Parker, our families are on par with one another. A wedding between our families will only be advantageous for us both."
"You don't have to persuade me anymore, Mrs. Whittle. Please leave."
With a disappointed face, Rosemi sighed. "I really want us to be in-laws, Mrs. Parker. I will leave the gifts here for now. Give this a proper thought. There aren't many young lads in Orapolis that are better than Jackson. Can your daughter marry someone better if she misses the chance to marry Jackson? See, the sons from the Colemans, the Zorns and the Mendelsons may be a little more brilliant than my son, but they are on a different, higher level! My family and your family aren't all that. Let's not be over- achievers. Those families are far out of our reach."
After she threw out words of mockery, Rosemi added, "Oh—I forgot. You had the chance to climb higher. Didn't the Coleman Family propose to Kendall on Master Dylan's behalf? It was Kendall herself who insisted on marrying Jackson that she burned bridges with the Colemans. Mrs. Parker, I was truly touched when Kendall refused to marry Master Dylan for Jackson. I thought that Jackson had finally found the right one. Can you tell me why you rejected the proposal out of nowhere when everything was going well?"
Instead, Charlotte scoffed and asked in return, "I am curious too, Mrs. Whittle. Why are you suddenly
proposing on your son's behalf? Are they already infatuated with each other, or are you doing this as a revenge toward Kendall?"
Rosemi didn't say anything for a second there, but she soon stood up and blurted out, "Remember what I said about giving it a thought, Mrs. Parker. I will be leaving now."
After saying that, she was just about to leave when Charlotte pointed at the gifts that had somehow filled up most of the hallway. "Please bring the gifts with you," she demanded, wanting the dowry out of her house. "I will have them thrown away otherwise. I am not the one making a loss from this, anyway."
An embarrassed and troubled look appeared on Rosemi's face then, but still she got her workers to move everything out.
She had achieved what she came here for, anyway.
She took light steps out of the main house and looked up into the clear blue sky. What a great day this was!
Kendall had coincidentally returned right when Rosemi was leaving with her little army of workers and cars.
What is Mrs. Whittle doing here with so many people? Kendall wondered as she made haste into her home.
Right when she entered, she saw her mother smashing a glass out of anger. "Mommy? What is wrong?" she caringly asked after hurrying to Charlotte's side. "What was Mrs. Whittle doing here? I
happened to see her car leave when I came back."
"Oh—I am so angry I could have a heart attack!" Charlotte's fist landed heavily on the couch. "She was here to bring the wedding dowry!"
"Haven't you rejected the Whittles for me, Mommy? That darned Jackson! I made it so clear to him. How dare he get his mother to bring the dowry over?!"
Kendall thought that it was Jackson's idea.
"Kendall, Mrs. Whittle is proposing to Kelly on Jackson's behalf. She is trying to take her revenge on you."
Charlotte was glad that Kendall had returned home late, and had avoided bumping into Rosemi. She could only imagine how angry her daughter would be if she had seen that annoying look on Rosemi's face.
Kendall paused for a moment before asking, "How did you reply to her, Mommy?"
"I rejected her. I have said that I will not let them get together. There is no way I will allow it unless Kelly severs ties with us."
After hearing that, Kendall held Charlotte as they sat down on the couch, and she wrapped her arms around her mothers shoulders.
Both Adam and Charlotte had started getting suspicious of Kelly, but their ways of handling her were very different.
Adam had hoped that Kendall would try to get along with Kelly because she had a firm standing in the company.
Charlotte, on the other hand, was trying everything she could to stop Kelly from moving forward.
"Mommy," Kendall softly called Charlotte. "Thank you for unconditionally doing things for me."
As soon as she said that, Charlotte reached out and pulled her ear while complaining, "I can do certain things for you without condition, but there are things I can't. But you! You are doing things behind my back, and you don't even tell me after you have done it. Tell me, Kendall Parker—do you even treat me like your mother?"
Kendall knew Charlotte was enraged about the fact that she had married Dylan. Hence, she could only continue to let her mother continue punishing her ear.
"I am sorry, Mommy. I was wrong."
"You were wrong? You still don't look like you know where your fault lies!"
Charlotte couldn't help but feel bad when Kendall's ear started turning red, so she let go of it before pushing Kendall away from her, not allowing her daughter to get too close to her.
She then stood up and barked, "Come upstairs with me."
And that was what Kendall obediently did.
When they arrived at the study room on the second floor, Charlotte walked straight to the bookshelf and opened it before she brandished a feather duster.
Upon seeing that, Kendall immediately called out sweetly, "Mommy… I really know where I went wrong, but I am already an adult. You shouldn't use violence to educate me anymore. Using violence can easily traumatize children!"
Charlotte let out a chuckle at that. "Oh—so this scares you? Kendall Parker, you better give me a reason that can convince me."
Charlotte forcefully hit the feather duster on the table, making a loud noise that made Kendall jump at the same time.
"I went to talk to Master Dylan, and he told me that you were the one who forced him to marry you. Tell me, Kendall Parker—why did you do something like that?"
The feather duster in Charlotte's hand never stopped flailing in the air and landing on the table. The intimidating noise, too, never ceased.
It seemed like she was really mad this time.
Still, despite how angry she was, she never hit Kendall with the feather duster.
Kendall didn't think that her mother would personally go to Dylan.
She didn't even need to ask Charlotte to know why the older woman went to him.
Unspoken gratitude began to fill Kendall's heart then.
On top of that, recalling the tragedy that had happened to her whole family brought tears to Kendall's eyes too, and they gradually turned red.
"You are already crying even though I haven't hit you!" She hit the table one more time before she tossed the feather duster on the table. She then walked around the table and brought Kendall to the couch as Charlotte, with a heavy heart, wiped away her daughter's tears.
"Kendall, you are my daughter. Even though you didn't grow up with me by your side, blood will always be thicker than water. I am doing this for your own good. Can you tell me what made you change your mind about marrying Jackson, who you were so enthralled with?"
"Mommy," Kendall uttered one word, and her tears began to fall.
Seeing this, Charlotte quickly wiped them away.
"Don't cry, Kendall. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I will stop asking. But Kendall, you are still too young to spend a lifetime with a man with a condition like Master Dylan's. Your life ahead will only get tougher." She sighed while drying Kendall's eyes. Charlotte's own eyes began to turn red too after she let out another sigh.
"I'll tell you, Mommy." Kendall eventually wiped her own tears and started telling Charlotte about her past life, but she made it sound like it was all a dream she had.
After listening to the story, Charlotte stared at her daughter with a confused expression. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry about this, but her daughter's story filled her heart with pain.
"Dear Kendall!" She then poked Kendall's forehead as she commented, "It was only a dream! It wasn't reality. Just because of a dream you had, you actually forced Master Dylan to marry you, had a fallout with Kelly, and also stayed away from Jackson? Don't you think this is ridiculous?"