Chapter 263: Jealousy
"Mother? What are you doing at my workplace?"
Melody stepped out of the classroom a few minutes later, only to find her mother standing in the corridor, completely frozen in place. For a moment, guilt crept in. She hadn’t expected to run into her here—not like this.
The truth was, she had been avoiding her mother ever since she arrived a couple of weeks ago, silently hoping she would get bored or busy and return to wherever she came from.
Her mother had never stayed in one place for more than two weeks—not once in Melody’s memory. She was always on the move, always working, always somewhere else. But this time, it was different. It had already been two weeks, and she was still here.
And not just here—she was everywhere. When she wasn’t calling Melody to meet her and her newest boyfriend, she was out catching up with old friends or randomly showing up in places like this. It was starting to feel like she had all the time in the world.
Except Melody knew better. Her mother never had "too much time." Which only made her presence now all the more unsettling. Because she wasn’t showing any signs of leaving. And now, here she was, in her workplace, staring unseeingly in the corridor.
Marianne Thomas was jolted out of her thoughts and, for a moment,she looked at Melody in confusion. Her gaze flickered around as if trying to remember where she was or why she had come. Then, as if the fog cleared, she straightened slightly and narrowed her eyes at her daughter, composing her face as she folded her hands in front of her," Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You’ve been avoiding me since I’ve come here. And I want to know why. I hoped that you would come to live with me for a few days but you’ve been hiding in your apartment. Also, what happened to arranging that meeting with your boyfriend?"
Melody blinked, caught off guard not by the accusation-because deep down she had been expecting it- but by the timing of it, the way her mother always had a knack for choosing the most inconvenient moments. She drew in a breath and crossed her arms in return, more out of instinct of self protection than defiance.
"He’s not here. He had to go out on business for a few days and I knew you’d harangue me for it so I was waiting for him to return before we came to see you."