MTLNOVEL Chapter 560: Do you fear she would end up hating you?
At East Serenity Residence —
Arwen's brows were knitted in a frown when she saw her grandmother. She didn't know if she was being paranoid, but her Granna did look weaker and frailer than before. Like, she had lost weight overnight.
"Granna, how did you fall sick all of a sudden? The weather has not been that bad recently," she asked, without masking away the suspicion she held in her thoughts. "Did you even let the doctor check on you properly?"
Brenda pursed her lips and stared at her granddaughter. "Who do you think I am? Can I manipulate a doctor from checking his patient? Of course, he checked me. And if he didn't do it properly, it should be his fault, not mine."
"Granna, I am being serious," Arwen sighed, truly not in the mood to joke about it. "You are looking weaker than the last time I saw you in the office. It cannot be simple."
"Why can't it be?" Brenda's expression reflected the obviousness of the fact. "After all, I have never been immortal, sweetheart. I was born as a human and have to undergo all the phases of a human life. Since I once enjoyed the time of my youth, now, it's time for me to even live through my old age."
"But Granna, …"
"Wennie, Granna is still with you. You don't have to worry, I will be with you until the end." My end.
Arwen's furrowed brows eased a little. "You are promising me, Granna. You better remember it always and take care of yourself."
"Fine, fine, fine, I will take care of myself. But for now, I think it's getting late," she looked towards the kitchen and motioned to her. "Can you, for once, go and check what's taking so long for them to serve the dinner?"
Arwen looked over her shoulder. It wasn't very late, but close to dinner time. Thinking that Granna had to take her meds, she nodded and stood. "I will go and check. Until then," her gaze trailed to look at Aiden, "You two can talk."
Although there seemed to be nothing unusual, she still somehow felt a weird tension existing in the air.
When her gaze met Aiden's, she saw him smile.
"Go ahead," he said, his calm voice making that feeling of rigidity a myth. "I will sit with Granna."
Arwen looked at him and nodded back.
Maybe she was assuming things that weren't there. After all, what tension could exist between Aiden and Granna? They hardly met each other. The two times they did, she had been around all the while. If there had been something, she would have known better.
She shook away the momentary doubt she had and left to check on the dinner.
While behind, both Aiden and Brenda watched her walk away.
When she was completely out of the vision range, Brenda said, "I didn't expect you to visit me?" She turned her head to look at him. Although she spoke pointedly, her gaze held only warmth. "The way you left that day, I even doubted you would allow her to come anywhere near me."
Aiden glanced at her, and his eyes became piercingly cold. "I won't stop her from meeting the only family she thinks she is remaining with. You don't deserve her, but she very much deserves the love of the grandmother she could only get from you. So, it's for her that I brought her here. Don't mistake it for something else."
"Is it?" Brenda chuckled, and it only made Aiden's brows tighten. "I almost mistook it for your kindness. But anyway, as far as you keep things to yourself and don't reveal it to her, I don't mind if it's kindness or charity."
Aiden knew the old woman was just trying to get on his nerves. But why was she testing his patience? Even knowing what she did, he couldn't bring himself to believe it yet.
The way her gaze held warmth for Arwen and even for him made it all seem false.
Could there be some misunderstanding?
"Why?" Aiden asked, unable to keep himself from asking. "Why did you do that to her?"
Brenda paused and stared at him. His lips curling up in a faint smile, but it wasn't from an achievement. It held some emotion, but the layering felt so subtle that one couldn't understand. "Does the reason matter anymore?" she shook her head. "You said it yourself, no matter whatever the reason was, it was wrong. So, it doesn't matter."
"If that doesn't matter, why do you care if she comes to know your true face?" he gritted. "Do you fear she would end up hating you?"
"I won't be able to bear seeing her hate me, Aiden," Brenda confessed. "She is the granddaughter I groomed. She is precious to me, more than my own daughter. How could I bear her resentment?"
Shaking her head, she continued, "Unlike you, I am selfish. Very selfish. While you are bearing to keep all of it from her for her sake, I am keeping it for mine. At this old age, where I am so close to death —I don't want to see Arwen end up blaming me. I want to die in peace and be remembered in her memories, always."
It sounded as selfish as she mentioned herself to be.
Aiden's fingers clenched into a fist. He had wanted to believe otherwise in the situation, but once again, the old woman gave him the reasons not to.
At this moment, from the corner of his eyes, he caught something. When he turned to look, he saw Margaret standing at a distance.
Although he was not very familiar with her, the expression she wore at that moment was very familiar to him. It was the same look she held the other day when he saw her while exiting the old lady's room.
But before he could understand that gaze, Arwen's voice interrupted them.
"The dinner is served at the table. Let's go."