MTLNOVEL Chapter 565: Wait to lose it all.
Arwen's lips curled up in a knowing smirk, which only further infuriated Catrin.
"I asked you something, Arwen. Don't give me that smile. I haven't studied to decode it."
'Of course,' Arwen said in her heart. 'How could she study to decode her expressions? She never had time to be the mother to her.'
She once craved it, but now the thought only disappointed her.
"There is no need for you to decode my smirk, Mrs. Quinn," she said, shaking her head at her. "For you should have already known who was actually responsible for it. As far as I heard, the management of the mall had sent you a detailed email, explaining it all."
"Really? You want me to believe that?" she asked, her voice rising, carrying the hint of irritation.
But it had zero effect on Arwen. She simply sat unfazed, looking at her with her eye. "I don't want anything with you. It no longer matters to me what you think or believe."
"Arwen, I know Emily might have provoked you, but you should have known to deal with it in a better way."
Arwen listened to her, and the corners of her lips lifted up. "I must have dealt with it properly, or you might not have appeared here. But anyway, that's something already done, and I don't owe you any explanation for my action or decision. If there is anything else, please continue with that. Or else," Her hand already reached for the switch on the side of her desk. "I will call someone to escort you out."
"Are you going to simply turn a blind eye?" Catrin almost slapped her hand on the desk in anger. "Is it not yet clear to you that from the very start you have been plotted around?"
Arwen's gaze turned still. Her expression became unreadable.
"What?" Catrin mistook it for confusion. "You think how I came to know about it?" she scoffed lightly before saying. "The Sky Luxe Mall was transferred to your name the day you were supposed to get the certificate with Ryan, and the notary was the magistrate of the Civil Affairs Bureau. It is not hard to tell that the property was nothing but a wedding gift to you."
"But the question is," she paused, only to give a disdainful look at Arwen, "why would he give something so valuable to you? It's no simple mall but Sky Luxe Mall —one of the topmost malls in the country that shelters almost every luxury international brand that has got business here."
"Don't tell me you did think it was weird."
Arwen didn't respond. She just kept watching her, listening to her. And silence was something Catrin believed in her favour. She thought finally she was making Arwen see through every trick, making her realize the mistake she had committed.
"Arwen, it was a trap, he led you —it's so obvious. But being a fool, you have easily walked into it, you easily walk into it as if it were a valley of flowers." She shook her head as if she still couldn't believe it. "All he ever wanted was to make you leave us. And you actually did it on his cue. You left your parents for him. How could you, Arwen?"
Arwen still didn't respond. On the surface, she seemed to be listening, but under the table, her fingers were clenched into a fist. Her patience wasn't thinning, but she was feeling her control slipping.
Not because she was realizing the mistake Catrin was talking about, but because she realized how impossible it was what she had kept on craving for years.
She was hoping for her mother to see her, only to realize now that Catrin Quinn was morally blind.
"Not just that, he also used you to humiliate us, and you, being a fool again, did exactly that yesterday. Did you for once hesitate?" Catrin asked as if she could still believe what Arwen did.
Arwen watched her before blinking and tugging her brows in confusion. "Hesitate?" she echoed, "Why would I hesitate, Mrs. Quinn?"
Catrin frowned. "Why wouldn't you?" she asked if the reason for her hesitation was very obvious. "You carry the name Quinn after your name. Shouldn't you hesitate before discrediting the family?"
"No, I shouldn't," Arwen replied without any hesitation. "I might carry the Quinn in my name, but it has nothing to do with your family. I have nothing to do with your family. The one who has an interest and should actually care is not me, but Emily, the daughter you will soon be adopting."
"Arwen —"
"Mrs. Quinn," she interrupted almost immediately, no longer caring to hold the basic politeness anymore. "You might hold the shares in Davies International, but unfortunately, you don't hold any part in my life. I am just the CEO of the company you have some shares in. It would sound better if you addressed me appropriately because I am not very liking the way you are addressing me now."
"You …, you are still not ready to admit your mistake?" Catrin asked, losing her calm. "Are you yet not ready to accept and rectify it?"
Arwen closed her eyes. The mere sight of Catrin burned her gaze. She didn't wait anymore. Pressing the switch at the side of her desk, she asked Mia to enter.
The door opened almost immediately.
"Ma'am?"
"Mia, Mrs. Quinn seems ready to leave. Please escort her out," she instructed, and Mia stepped in to follow the instruction.
"Mrs. Quinn, this way, please."
Catrin's expression turned ugly. Her gaze turned cold, staring at Arwen. But the latter, not at all looked even slightly fazed by it.
"Arwen, if this is what you want," she stood up, her tone threatening, warning Arwen for the last time. "Then don't blame me for not caring at all. I tried being the mother, but you hold no appreciation."
Arwen wanted to ask 'when'. However, she realized it no longer mattered.
"Wait to lose it all. Maybe then you will learn your lesson." With that said, Catrin turned and left, the clicks of her heels resounding against the marble floor.
***
Meanwhile, at Cralens First Hospital,
Jason finally heard the knock he had been waiting for. He checked the time on his watch before permitting.
"Come in."