Chapter 339

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Jonathan heard Teresa’s voice . “ Your son is pathetic . I am disgusted by him . I hate him – your son . ”
Jonathan finished the recording , his face unreadable , eyes cold . He soon called Irene .
He said , “ That’s impossible . She’d never say something like that . ”
“ How well do you really know her , son ? It’s been over three years . There are plenty of women out there : She said she hated you . What do you still want from her ? ”
Jonathan was silent for a few seconds and then suddenly changed the subject . “ Are you the reason why Teresa won’t come back to Nareigh ? ”
Irene became angry . “ So she’s badmouthing me again ? I only talked to her once or twice and she’s already holding a grudge against me ? She promised me she wouldn’t come back to Nareigh . ”
“ Stop . ” Jonathan cut her off . “ So you were the one who told her not to come back ? That’s why she refused to come back . Is that it ? ”
Irene was momentarily speechless . “ Yeah , I did ask her not to come back . She’d just end up tangled up with you anyway . What’s the point ? ”
“ You have no right to say that . ” Jonathan said , enunciating every word , “ Even if you’re my mom , you have no right to ask her not to come back . ”
Irene said angrily , “ She doesn’t want to come back ! What does that have to do with me ? ”
Jonathan said , “ She has her reasons for not coming back to Nareigh . I think I finally know why she won’t come back . As long as she’s willing to return , I’ll stop contacting her . ”
Irene was silent .
She said , “ Jonathan , why are you doing this ? You’ve been divorced for so long . Why are you still caring about your ex – wife ? ”
Jonathan said , “ I’ve told you . If she goes back to Nareigh , I won’t contact her anymore . That’s it . ”
After that , Jonathan hung up .
Irene could hear the difference in Jonathan’s tone . This time , if Teresa did go back to Nareigh , maybe he’d finally let her go .
As a mom , Irene always hoped her kids would go far , especially her son . She never wanted a limit for Jonathan’s career .
But it turned out Teresa had tied Jonathan down .
Irene texted Jonathan : [ If Teresa goes back to Nareigh , it’s out of my hands . As long as you don’t contact her , I won’t either . ]
At the same time , at Jadeleaf Apartment , after Teresa went upstairs , Michael caught up with her and grabbed her hand .
He said , “ Mom ! Mom ! I saw Mr. Lime arguing with you ! Why were you two fighting ? ”
“ We weren’t fighting , sweetheart .” Teresa ruffled his hair . “ Be a good boy and go back to your room , okay ? I need to talk to Miriam . ”
While Michael was leaving , Miriam kept silent .
Then Miriam said knowingly , “ Mike and I were out on the balcony . We saw you and Jonathan , and then Jonathan left . Mike wanted to go downstairs , but luckily , I saw Irene’s car , so I stopped him . ”
She paused for a moment and then added , “ I saw trene making a call right after you went upstairs . No idea who she was calling . ”
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Teresa frowned , a little self mockingly , “ She can call whoever she wants . It has nothing to do with me . ”
Then Teresa asked Miriam for a favor . She asked if Miriam would like to help list this apartment for sale . Teresa wanted to sell it and move to another dẫn . with Michael .
Miriam’s heart ached for her . She said , “ Teresa , go back to Nareigh . You cannot keep drifting and you don’t have anyone to rely on in another city . If your sister dares to mess with you , I’ll be the first to step in . ”
Teresa said , “ I promised Irene I wouldn’t go back … ”
Before Teresa could finish , her phone buzzed twice – a message from an unknown number . The number was saved under Irene .
They were just talking about Irene .
Irene’s message basically meant that it had nothing to do with her if Teresa went back to Nareigh or not .
Irene : [ Jonathan said if you go back to Nareigh , he’ll never contact you again . He’s moving on . ]
That was the last sentence that Irene wrote .
Teresa’s grip on her phone tightened as she stepped aside .
The message showed as “ read , ” so Irene knew Teresa had seen it . She immediately sent another message .
Irene : [ This should’ve happened a long time ago . I can’t stand a daughter – in – law who’s always badmouthing me behind my back . ]
Teresa came to herself and replied : [ If you’re sick , go get help . ]
She could count on one hand the number of times she’d ever mentioned Irene to Jonathan – even when they got married .
All in all , she couldn’t even be bothered to argue with Irene that she didn’t make sense when she accused her of badmouthing .
Miriam said , walking over just as Teresa was putting down her phone , “ Alright , alright , let me talk to her . ”
She said to Teresa , “ Benny just invited us to go check out South Mountain . It’s close by and he said he would drive . The scenic area there is pretty famous . Want to join ? ”
Teresa replied , “ You go ahead . I’m going to sit this one out . ”
Miriam said , “ Come on , it’ll be good for you to get out and clear your head . It might be good for your luck . ”
Teresa was quiet for a few seconds . Finally , she agreed . People only started believing in luck when things weren’t going their way . When everything was going well , no one cared about that stuff .
She couldn’t leave Michael behind . Last time she left him with a coworker , the poor kid was terrified . She wouldn’t make the same mistake – Michael was coming with her too .
But Benny was there .
Miriam knew Teresa’s hesitation and grinned , “ Don’t worry . I’ve got your back . If anything happens , I’ll help you . It’ll be fine , ”
They decided to head out in the morning , before it got too hot at noon.
Benny drove his car . When he saw Teresa holding Michael’s hand, a sly and satisfied smile flickered across his face . He just m the car .
Benny said , “ Looks like the kid is still with Teresa . ”
Through the rearview mirror , Benny stared at Michael , who was holding Teresa’s hand tightly .
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Miriam said , “ What can we do ? My cousin and Teresa are so close . ”
Benny simply said , “ Is that so ? ”
The day when Miriam faked the “ car accident “ , Teresa and Jonathan rushed off in the middle of it . Benny and Miriam left soon after .
But on his way back , Benny saw Jonathan’s car .
After Jonathan parked his car in the community , Benny saw Jonathan carrying Michael and noticed that Teresa watched her son with such a gentle , caring look .
Benny had actually lost interest in the little guy .
But based on the way Teresa looked at the kid and how much the kid seemed to trust Jonathan when Jonathan held him , Benny was curious again
After they arrived at South Mountain , Teresa walked slowly – she was pregnant , so she couldn’t move any faster .
Miriam figured Teresa must be tired , so she told her to take a break .
“ Why don’t you take a break ? ” Benny said , scooping up Michael , who was walking beside them . “ Hey , buddy , need to use the bathroom ? Come on , I wil come with you . ”
Teresa said , “ Ben … ” But all of a sudden , a sharp pain hit her belly .
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