Chapter 402: Learned to Resist
Lana looked at Ryan and said, "I’ve realized recently that you don’t treat me well at all. You’re always hitting me! To be honest, I’m actually doing pretty well without you."
’Every day at the Linden residence has been wonderful.’
’She was just now realizing that Ryan wasn’t her everything!’
’Not seeing him actually made her feel more relaxed.’
’Even though Nathan had forced her to stay, she was now starting to feel like she didn’t want to go home with Ryan!’
"What did you say?" Ryan’s face darkened when he heard her, and his fists clenched.
Lana looked at him. "You... you’re not thinking of hitting me again, are you? If you do, you’ll be in for it! Everyone is watching today!"
"Just you wait until I get you home!" Ryan was so furious he stormed off.
Someone called out to Ryan, asking if he wanted to stay for dinner, but he didn’t stick around.
’When Anne saw Lana, she recalled how she used to be. Lana had always been completely subservient to Ryan, even protecting him no matter how badly he beat her. Anne never expected that after just a few days at the Linden residence, she would grow a backbone and learn to fight back!’
Lana noticed Anne staring at her, so she picked up some sunflower seeds from a nearby bowl and started cracking them open.
She walked over to Anne and looked at her. "You’re back? I thought you weren’t coming back."
Anne said, "Next time you see Ryan, you should act just like you did now. Don’t enable him!"
Lana: "..."
She looked at Anne, surprised that Anne was actually complimenting her. She wasn’t used to it.
She stared at Anne, studying her for a long moment before saying, "What’s wrong with you? I’m always giving you such a hard time, yet you’re taking my side."
’To think she actually thought I did the right thing!’
Anne replied, "You can be a real pain, I’ll admit. But I don’t want to see you get beaten to death by your husband. A scumbag like him doesn’t deserve a wife. Understand?"
Lana fell silent. Hearing Anne’s words, she looked at her, and for some reason, suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
She looked at Anne and said, "It’s easy for you to say. You’re smart, beautiful, and you have Nathan to dote on you. But me? If I leave him, what do I have? I can’t even support my own son!"
Anne looked at Lana. "You managed to marry into the Linden family. Your own background can’t be that bad, right?"
’Judging by how critical Master Linden was of her, she knew the Lindens were very particular about this sort of thing.’
’If Lana were truly good for nothing, how would she have ended up with Ryan?’
’Even though Ryan himself was a scumbag, he didn’t have low standards.’
Lana said, "What background? What’s the use of being well-educated? I haven’t worked in years, not since my son was born. If I tried to find a job now, who would want a fat woman like me?"
She had a good education and used to have a job.
But after she had her son, she figured Ryan had a job, so she became a stay-at-home mom.
She didn’t like going out, getting judged by others who thought she was fat. She didn’t want to be a laughingstock.
She admitted she had body image issues. The more she felt that way, the more afraid she was to step outside, and the more she felt she couldn’t leave Ryan.
Anne looked at Lana and said, "You are capable. Don’t worry about what other people think of you. The important thing is, if you give up on yourself, do you really think Ryan will ever take you seriously? What a piece of work he is! I’ve seen how he’s always hitting and cursing at you. You’ve been brainwashed by him, don’t you see? He’s made you think no one else would ever want you!"
"You really think someone would want me?" Lana looked at Anne, her voice full of skepticism.
Anne stared at the other woman. "How will you know if you don’t try? You have nothing but time on your hands right now anyway. Use this time at the Linden residence to really think about your future!"
’The Linden family couldn’t support her forever.’
’Nathan had kept Lana here to teach Ryan a lesson—to get him to stop hitting his wife and venting all his frustrations on her over every little thing. Nathan couldn’t stand to see it.’
’But Lana would have to leave sooner or later. She needed to think clearly about the future of her marriage to Ryan.’
’She couldn’t just stay here all this time only to go back to being beaten by Ryan again!’
Lana looked at Anne and said, "Okay, I’ll try."
Anne said, "I’m going to go find Ian."
"He’s in his room with my son."
Anne went upstairs and saw Ian and Donna playing a game of Gomoku.
Donna didn’t know how to play Go, so Ian had taught him Gomoku instead, and he seemed to really like it.
Anne stood to the side, watching her son, not wanting to disturb him.
Lana went upstairs and entered Master Linden’s room. "Granduncle."
Master Linden looked at her and asked, "What do you want?"
"Anne Sutton just arrived," Lana reported.
Master Linden glanced at her. Anna had already told him this morning that Anne would be coming over. Today was Anna’s birthday, and she had warned him not to say anything critical to Anne, lest he upset her.
For Anna’s birthday, Master Linden had already agreed.
’He hadn’t expected Lana to come running to tattle the moment she saw Anne.’
Lana said to Master Linden, "Um, she hasn’t been here for a while. She must have been angry about what you said to her last time, Granduncle. I can see Nathan really likes her. Granduncle, maybe you should be a little nicer to her from now on? I think she’s actually a decent person!"
Master Linden, who had been silent, looked at Lana with an expression of pure disbelief. "What did you just say?"
’Were those words really coming out of Lana’s mouth?’
’She was never like this before!’
’Every time Anne showed up, he’d have to listen to Lana badmouth her.’
’He’d heard it so much his ears were about to grow calluses!’
’And now, today, had Lana taken the wrong medicine or something? Running here to speak up for Anne?’
’The woman must be crazy!’
Master Linden asked, "What did she give you? Did you run up here just to sing her praises?"
Lana looked at Master Linden. "I just think that even if you find another woman for Nathan, he won’t like her. The two of them might end up fighting. Anne is pretty good. His aunt likes her, and Ian likes her too! Even if it’s just for Ian’s sake, it’s better for a child to have his mom and dad with him. You see how much Ian adores her!"
Master Linden looked at Lana, so exasperated he almost laughed. "Alright, alright, just get out! As if I need you to put in a good word for her!"
’In his heart, he looked down on Anne.’
’He felt the woman had no manners whatsoever!’
’Especially when they first met. Good grief, Nathan introduced him, and she didn’t even call him Grandfather. She just called him Mr. Linden. She had no understanding of basic courtesy.’
’He didn’t like that kind of woman!’
’After that, he found fault with everything she did.’
’After Nathan’s lecture last time, he had restrained himself, afraid that Nathan might actually come demanding that he compensate him for a lost wife.’
’He just never imagined that Lana would now be taking Anne’s side too!’
...
After sending Lana away, Master Linden picked up his glass of water.
Butler Shepherd, standing to one side, remarked, "I never thought Lana would speak up for Anne Sutton!"
Master Linden said, "Who knows what’s going on with that woman. This morning, Anna comes running to warn me not to make her angry, and now Lana is here singing her praises! What is it with her, is she poisonous or something?"