His Coy Lover

Anna said coldly, “When I’m talking to you, you only have the right to listen, not to refute me.”

“Anna, if what you say makes sense, I won’t argue with you. But if it’s unreasonable, I will definitely argue back.”

“Zelda, have you not recognized your identity yet? Charles brought you back not to let you enjoy a life of luxury, but to make amends. You are equivalent to a maid, a free maid.”

“Charles has never told me I’m his maid.”

Zelda didn’t want to back down. In their first confrontation, if she admitted defeat, it would only make Anna think she was easy to bully. Yes, her suicide attempt to reject the marriage was a disgraceful act, but it was something she did before her rebirth. Now that she acknowledged her mistake and married Charles as his wife, she was willing to stay by his side for a lifetime. However, this couldn’t be a reason for her to bow down to Anna.

“You!”

Anna glared at Zelda. Zelda faced her anger calmly, without a trace of fear or retreat.

After a while, Anna suppressed her disgust for Zelda and said in a calm tone, “Some of my clothes got dirty, but I need to wear them tomorrow. Those clothes shouldn’t be machine-washed. If sent to dry cleaning, they might not be back by tomorrow.”

“Go find Penny; she’s in charge of managing my dressing room. She’ll hand over those clothes to you. Take them and hand-wash them for me. Be careful, don’t ruin them, and make sure they are clean.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Zelda pursed her lips. She knew Anna had something unpleasant in mind. Without scolding or hitting her, Anna was assigning her servant’s tasks, a way for the mother-in-law to demand justice on behalf of Charles.

“You have many servants in your house; that’s their job.”

“Anna’s words made Zelda understand that even without her rejection incident, Anna would still look down on her.”

“What’s wrong with being a country girl? I grew up in the countryside, so what?”

“Don’t want to be seen? Have I eaten the rice from your family? Used your money?”

“Is my rural background bothering you? If you despise country people so much, then don’t eat rice and vegetables grown by country folks! Can you guarantee that your ancestors for eighteen generations were all wealthy?”

Zelda’s series of retorts left Anna with a darkened face and speechless. Who could guarantee that their ancestors for eighteen generations had never been poor?

“A high-class madam is no better than the aunties in our village. At least, our aunties understand basic manners.”

Zelda’s words were ironic. Being a wealthy madam was not meant to belittle rural people but to elevate her own status.

“I’ll say it again; Charles brought me back, not to be your maid. I won’t do the work a maid does. I’m sorry, I have something to do, so I’ll leave. I won’t stand here to dirty your eyes, in case you say I, a country girl, have made a mess of your place.”

After saying this, Zelda turned and left without giving Anna a chance to speak.

Anna was left enraged, and she shouted after Zelda’s retreating figure, “Zelda, come back here!”

Zelda ignored her, not even turning her head.

Anna was furious but couldn’t find an opportunity to speak. When she vented her anger on Zelda, she not only insulted Zelda but also included all rural people in her disdain.

Zack observed the whole scene without interfering.

“Zelda, come back to me!”

Anna regained her composure and stood up, shouting after Zelda’s back.

Zelda paid no attention to her, not even turning her head.

Anna was infuriated to the point of exploding. She turned to Zack and said, “Zack, look at this. Who gave her the courage to talk to me like that? I said she grew up in the countryside; so what? Is she not from the countryside?”

Zack hesitated for a moment before saying, “Do you want me to tell the truth or lie?”

“Do you still want to deceive me?”

“I dare not. Your attitude just now not only insulted Zelda, but also brought all rural people into it.”

Anna: “… I just hate the way she treated my Charles.”

“Madam, I dare to say, for Young Master’s private matters, Madam is better off not intervening. Even if you are his mother, he does not allow you to meddle in his private affairs. His matters with Zelda are best observed from the sidelines, Madam.”

Anna had a black line on her face. “As a mother, can’t I speak up for my son?”

“If it weren’t for my son’s accident, someone like Zelda, is she worthy of my son?”

Thinking about her eldest son, whom she was once so proud of but now confined to a wheelchair and unable to live a humane life, and how the prestigious young ladies she had once considered for him were now avoiding him, forcing the old lady to look at Zelda, this kind of person, Anna’s heart was in turmoil.

Zack silently complained in his heart: It’s precisely someone like Zelda who has officially become Young Master’s wife.

“Zack, go back. When Charles comes back, I’ll talk to him about it.”

I won’t let Zelda off easily!

“Alright.”

Zack exited the central main house’s hall.

Outside, he didn’t see Zelda and hurriedly walked back.

Instead of going directly to Charles’s residence, Zelda sat in the pavilion where Charles usually dined.

The sun was starting to tilt westward.

The sunlight became soft, losing the midday’s sharpness, warming the body.

The cool breeze blew gently.

It blew away the anger in Zelda’s heart.

She remembered her previous life when she married Burton at Lowell. Even as the young madam, she didn’t receive much respect. Burton’s mother, her mother-in-law, was polite when her parents were alive. Still, she imposed rules on her, restricting frequent visits to her family, prohibiting casual outings, and disallowing her to make friends. Her daily activity was limited to Lowell

.

After her parents passed away, Burton’s mother treated her unkindly. She was subjected to various forms of disdain, blame, scolding, and harassment, living worse than a servant.

In those days, she endured it all because she deeply loved Burton.

And what was the result…

Thinking of her deceased daughter in the past, Zelda blinked away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Her heart felt like it was being cut with a knife, painful.

In this life, she and her baby probably wouldn’t have the fate to be mother and daughter again.

May the baby be reborn into a good family.

Thinking about her beloved daughter from her previous life, Zelda suddenly understood Anna’s hatred towards her. However, Anna shouldn’t always bring up her rural background, and she shouldn’t generalize all country people.