Chapter 324 Well matched
“There. Do you see it now?”
When Cynthia saw Alana in Stephan’s arms, her eyes widened in shock. “You... you two...”
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A few minutes later, Cynthia sat on the sofa, squinting at the couple standing about two meters away from her.
Standing side by side, the handsome man and beautiful woman looked quite well-matched.
Cynthia felt an indescribable sense of surprise. She never would have guessed that Alana was actually her son’s girlfriend.
No wonder, the last time she’d visited her son, she’d seen Alana, and every time they met, Alana had been so nervous.
In fact, during their meeting at that restaurant, when Alana saw her, she had even called out “Mom.”
Cynthia had thought it was a mistake or that she’d misheard, but she never imagined...
It turns out there were clues all along.
Cynthia asked bluntly, “Come clean... when did you two start dating?”
Alana lowered her head and nervously tugged at Stephan’s pant leg.
It had to be said that when Dr. Cynthia turned serious, she felt even more intimidating than Stephan.
The pressure was palpable.
Stephan immediately took Alana’s hand.
Her palm was sweaty and clammy; he could tell she was extremely nervous at that moment.
He gently rubbed her soft hand to comfort her. Only then did he speak up to answer Cynthia’s question.
“We’ve been together for a while.”
“How long is ‘a while’?”
“About four months.”
“About four months?”
Cynthia stroked her chin, suddenly remembering that it had been six months ago when she’d given Alana a physical exam.
Back then, Alana still had a boyfriend...
And then she remembered that her son had personally performed a private area examination on Alana back then. He was such a neat freak, yet...
Cynthia speculated, “Son, you didn’t happen to take a liking to Alana the day she made an appointment with me, and then steal her away from her boyfriend, did you? You didn’t behave like a home wrecker, did you?”
Surely her son wouldn’t do something so shameful and embarrassing?
Stephan blinked.
Memories of the past suddenly flooded his mind.
Fearing Cynthia might misunderstand, Alana nervously explained, “Auntie, that’s not it. I wasn’t seeing anyone then.”
Cynthia was taken aback, confused. “No boyfriend? Then how did you get hurt like that?”
Alana didn’t say anything, but she shot a glance at Stephan, the culprit behind it all.
Stephan paused for a moment, then decided to come clean. “Mom, I’m the one who caused her injury back then.”
She clearly remembered thinking at the time that Alana’s boyfriend had caused the injury.
She had even scolded him for being too rough, for not knowing how to treat a lady with tenderness, and for only caring about his own pleasure while disregarding his girlfriend’s feelings.
She had even urged Alana to break up with him.
She never would have imagined that the person who injured Alana was actually her own son?!
The problem was, her son had been there at the time.
Cynthia instantly felt like she’d been played, and by her own son, no less.
“You little brat, you dare to play games with your own mother? Just wait until I kill you!” Cynthia suddenly jumped up and kicked Stephan in the calf.
Stephan winced in pain but didn’t utter a sound.
Once his mother got angry, violence was a common occurrence. The more you resisted, the harder she’d hit you.
Alana watched in terror, fearing that her mother-in-law’s next kick might land on her. How terrifying!
Just yesterday, when she saw Cynthia in the elevator, she had thought she was kind and easygoing.
Stephan couldn’t guarantee his own mother wouldn’t lay a hand on Alana either, so he stepped slightly in front of her, wrapping his large arms tightly around her in protection.
What if he couldn’t even protect his wife? What if she ran away?
Stephan’s handsome face hardened as he said, “Mom, this was all my own doing. It has nothing to do with Alana. If you’re angry, just blame me for everything!”
Cynthia, furious, slapped Stephan across the face. “Of course it’s your fault!”
“You good-for-nothing brat, why did you try to ruin her?! You dragged the poor girl to the gynecologist and won’t even admit it was all your fault, you scum! I’ll beat you to a pulp!”
Damn it, just thinking about it made her feel ashamed!
She’d been ranting to that girl about the man who’d hurt her, never imagining that man was actually her own son, and he’d been right there in front of her the whole time, yet he hadn’t admitted it.
How was that any different from a scumbag who wipes his mouth after eating and denies it?!
What a disgrace!
Alana couldn’t bear to see Stephan facing this alone, so she stepped in to defuse the situation. “Auntie, you can’t blame him entirely for this. I’m partly to blame for this, too.”
Cynthia retorted immediately, “What could you possibly have done wrong? In a situation like this, it’s the girl who gets the short end of the stick.”
“Mom, keep your voice down. You’re scaring her.”
Cynthia choked on her words, only then noticing that Alana’s eyes had turned red with fear and anxiety.
It suddenly dawned on her that she’d been acting too aggressively just now, yelling and hitting her son. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was an unreasonable mother-in-law.
Cynthia cleared her throat and reined in her temper. But the look she gave Stephan still carried a warning. As if to say: I’ll settle the score with you later!
Alana cautiously glanced at Cynthia and decided to come clean. “Auntie, I’m sorry. Actually, when we met a while back, I should have told you the truth sooner, but I didn’t. I even lied to you, I’m the cleaning lady Stephan hired...”
“This was my idea...” Before she could finish, Stephan cut her off. “It was my decision not to let Alana tell you. I mainly wanted to surprise you and Dad when I brought her home, but I didn’t expect you two to have met beforehand. So, if you’re going to blame anyone, blame me. It was my decision that Alana didn’t tell you the truth.”
Alana choked on her words and couldn’t help but look at Stephan with a mix of emotions.
It wasn’t like that at all. It was her own fault, she was too timid and cowardly to admit it. But Stephan still took the blame upon himself.
No matter what, he was always the first to stand up for her and give her a sense of security.
Even in front of his own mother.
His promises and assurances to her were never just empty words.
How could this not move her deeply?
Cynthia shot Stephan a glance. “I don’t need to guess, I know it was your idea. You’ve got a thousand tricks up your sleeve, and you’re using every single one on your old mom here.”
Stephan swallowed.
He paused for a moment, then spoke earnestly, “Mom, you can be mean to me, but don’t be mean to my girlfriend. She’s the one your son fought tooth and nail to win over. I love her dearly. If you treat her badly and scare her away, your son here is doomed to spend the rest of his life single and lonely. Anyway, it’s up to you!” He made his stance clear first.
He knew his mother liked Darla and wanted her to be her daughter-in-law.
But he didn’t like Darla, and he had already clearly rejected her.
No matter how much his mother liked Darla, he wouldn’t compromise and marry her.
Upon hearing this, Cynthia couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him. “Who said I’m going to be mean to her? Do you think I’m the kind of evil mother-in-law who’d easily break up a couple?”
“You sure looked like one just now.”
Cynthia was so furious she wanted to kick him again.
She asked, “Did you just say you were the one who pestered Alana relentlessly?”
“Yeah.”