Chapter 55: old fox
PA!
Due to her tossing around on the bed and her bad sleeping posture, she didn’t know when she fell off the bed early in the morning.
"The worst way to wake up in the morning."
Kathe murmured as she stood up from the ground. Her eyes quickly scanned the bedroom, but she could not find any trace of Jark in the room, not even his unique scent.
It was already dawn, and he hadn’t even called her. Weird thoughts began to fly through her mind.
She shook the thoughts away with a splash of cold water on her face. After freshening up, she made her way downstairs.
The old lady was sipping her tea as she watched the news. Her sharp eyes scanned the three people shown in the video. They seemed oddly familiar to her, but because they were wearing masks, she couldn’t see their faces well enough to confirm her suspicion.
She heard light footsteps coming from the stairs. Slowly, she raised her eyes above her teacup and found Kathe walking down like someone who had been tortured all night.
Kathe could feel the old lady staring at her. It was normal for the old lady to stare, but her expression said otherwise.
She couldn’t help but ask, "Grandma, why are you staring at me like that?"
"With the amount of dark circles under your eyes and how tired your face looks, it won’t take a day for you to become older than me."
Feeling embarrassed by the old lady’s words, Kathe lowered her head. She couldn’t bring herself to tell the old lady that she hadn’t slept all night because Jark didn’t come back home and she had been going crazy with wild thoughts. If she said it now, it would seem like all the old lady’s advice had been wasted.
"I had a bad dream, so I couldn’t sleep peacefully all through the night."
The old lady nodded in understanding.
"I understand, but we need to fix you before the evening party."
Kathe lifted her eyes to the old lady. She had forgotten about the evening party. Also, Jark had promised to take her out for a movie, but he hadn’t kept his promise. Instead, he had spent the whole night with the beautiful Seline.
The old lady noticed Kathe lost in thought, with different emotions flashing across her face every second. She suddenly became worried and walked over, gently tapping her.
"What is wrong? Don’t you want to attend the party? If you don’t want to, you won’t be forced."
Feeling overwhelmed by the old lady’s concern, Kathe chuckled lightly and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.
"No, I want to attend the party. I was just thinking about how I’ll change my look in half a day."
The old lady raised her chin proudly while gently stroking Kathe’s hair.
"You don’t have to worry about that. Leave it all to me. First, you need to have your breakfast."
The old lady gently pushed Kathe toward the dining table.
Within seconds, the table was filled with different meals.
Under the old lady’s watchful eyes, Kathe could only eat a little.
The old lady smiled knowingly. She knew Kathe couldn’t eat much while being watched, and she didn’t want to make things difficult for her.
"You don’t have to be shy around me."
The old lady looked around to make sure no one else was in the dining room. Seeing that they were alone, she leaned closer and spoke in a low voice that only Kathe could hear.
"I’m not really well-mannered when it comes to meals. When I’m alone, I eat without remembering my elegant nature."
Kathe chuckled.
The old lady returned to her seat with an innocent smile.
"Then I hope you won’t mind me embarrassing myself a little."
Without waiting for the old lady’s response, Kathe dug into her meal.
Within seconds, half of the food on the table was gone.
The old lady’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Kathe’s stomach, but there was no sign of where all the food had gone.
Kathe followed the old lady’s gaze and smiled sheepishly.
"I have a big appetite."
The old lady smiled in satisfaction.
"I’m pleased."
The old lady dragged Kathe back to her room.
Within seconds, the room was filled with skincare products.
Kathe was sure the products weren’t newly ordered but belonged to one of the house members. But how could one person own so many skincare products?
Seeing the confusion on her face, the old lady scoffed.
"Do you think poorly of my skincare?"
If there was anything that surprised Kathe the most, it was finding out that the old lady owned all the skincare products.
"Huh? Your skincare?"
"Of course, they’re all mine," the old lady replied as she sliced some cucumbers onto a flat plate.
It suddenly dawned on Kathe that although the old lady was old and already a grandmother, her hair was still dark, with only a few strands of gray at the front. Her skin was still smooth, without deep wrinkles, and her face had aged gracefully.
Since Jark and Jacklyn were both handsome, Kathe had thought it was all because of the old lady’s good genes. She never imagined for once that the old lady still took such good care of herself.
Unfazed by Kathe’s expression, the old lady instructed the maids on how to arrange everything properly.
After making sure the arrangement met her satisfaction, she sent some of the maids out of the room.
The remaining three began preparing Kathe’s face.
After they were done with her face, they moved on to her nails.
They spent a whole two hours on Kathe’s beauty treatment.
When they were done, they all bowed to the old lady and left the room.
The old lady noticed Kathe’s amused stare.
"What are you staring at?"
"Do you use all..."
"Yes, I use all of them."
The old lady seemed to realize something and turned to Kathe with a glare.
"Or do you think I’m too old to take care of my skin?"
"No, I didn’t mean that."
"I’m glad."
"Can I ask something?"
"What’s that?"
"Why do you take such good care of your skin?"
The room fell quiet for a moment, but not in an awkward way. Instead, it was peaceful.
The old lady smiled to herself as her thoughts drifted back to how beautiful she had been in her younger days and how the Quinn brothers had fallen in love with her at first sight.
Most of them had been attracted by her beauty, but she had been interested in Jark’s grandfather because of his intelligence and foresight.
Even after they got married, he made it his personal duty to take care of her beauty until he passed away in the tragic accident.
Kathe noticed the old lady had become lost in thought, so she patiently waited without interrupting her.
After a while, the old lady turned back to her.
"You know, Jark’s grandfather used to be so obsessed with my beauty. I was considered one of the most beautiful women in the capital, and that cunning old fox took advantage of how naïve I was and married me quickly.
Being fascinated by my beauty, he made sure my skin was always well cared for, getting me addicted to expensive skincare products.
Till today, I’m still addicted to them."
Although the old lady spoke badly about the old man, Kathe could hear the affection in her voice, showing how much she still missed him.
Kathe was really curious about how the old lady had met the old man.
"Grandma, how did you meet Grandpa?"
"Oh, you mean that cunning fox?"
"Grandpa," Kathe teased her a little.
The old lady raised her eyebrow at Kathe in displeasure and scoffed.
"I came with my father to the Quinn Mansion for business. I was highly skilled when it came to business, so I accompanied my dad to seal the deal and discuss the terms and conditions.
That cunning fox kept following me around, and I kept chasing him away. Hmph! I wasn’t that easy to please.He tried every trick he had up his sleeve. At some point, he became so pitiful that I finally gave in to him. I didn’t want him crying over a girl who had broken his heart."
Her eyes were filled with pride.
But Kathe could tell that the story the old lady was telling was actually the complete opposite of what had happened.
"Grandma, are you sure you weren’t smitten by Grandpa’s handsomeness?" Kathe teased.
The old lady realized that Kathe had seen through her well-crafted story. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly placed the cucumber slices over Kathe’s eyes and changed the topic.
"You need to rest now. Don’t remove the cucumber slices. Sleep with them on."
Seeing the smile still tugging at Kathe’s lips, the old lady picked up her walking stick and hurried toward the door.
But just as she reached it, Kathe called her back.
"Grandma, I think Grandpa didn’t make any mistake in choosing you."
The old lady smiled but didn’t say anything before walking out of the room.