Chapter 12

The next moment, she heard the excited voice of a young boy.

"Mom, next time I want a limited edition, it's not expensive, just over 200 thousand dollars."

It was her younger brother, Alan Sanders.

Mandy responded indulgently, "Okay, if you like it, I'll buy it for you."

"Thank you, Mom! I knew you’re the best."

"You're my son. Everything I have is yours. If I don't treat you well, who else would I treat well?"

"Mom, I love you."

Alan clung to Mandy's arm, starting to act coquettishly.

Emily quietly observed the interaction between the mother and son, feeling no surprise.

From childhood to now, Mandy had been very kind to her, so much so that Emily once thought her mother favored her over her brother, and she often stood up for her brother.

That was until their father had an accident, and all the family matters, including the company, fell onto Mandy's shoulders.

After that, Mandy became distant towards her, and now it seemed that the so-called favoring her over her brother was just an illusion.

Mandy noticed Emily sitting in the living room, her face showing some surprise, but she quickly masked it.

"Emily, how come you’re here?"

Emily stood up. Before she could say anything, Alan ran over to her excitedly and gave her a big hug.

"Sis, you're finally back! I missed you so much."

Emily stood there stunned, allowing Alan to hug her.

To be honest, her relationship with Alan was quite good. Even though she hadn't returned home in recent years, she still met with him privately.

She reached out and ruffled Alan's hair, saying, "You're almost 18 now, and you're still doing this. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Alan didn't care at all. "I'm just clingy with my sister. What's embarrassing about it? Sis, why don't you stay at home this time?"

Mandy calmly watched the interaction between the siblings and said, "Alright, Alan, you can take your things back to your room. I need to talk to your sister."

Only then did Alan remember what he had just bought.

He was about to show Emily, but his mother gave him a look that stopped him, so he could only dejectedly carry his shopping bags upstairs.

Mandy smiled and walked over, casually instructing the maid in the kitchen, "Lynsey, take the grapes we bought from the Royal Garden and wash them."

While saying this, she pulled Emily over to chat.

"How did things go? Did they say anything when you went to the Phantom family?"

Mandy still wore a kind motherly expression, reaching out to take Emily's hand.

Emily subtly avoided her touch.

Mandy looked hurt and said, "Emily, are you still mad at me?"

Emily avoided the topic and said lightly, "Mom, I went to the hospital today."

Mandy paused for a moment.

She already guessed what Emily was about to say.

Her voice choked, "I couldn't help it, the company is struggling, and your brother will be taking university entrance exams next year. We have a lot of expenses. But even so, you shouldn't have arranged for Dad to go to the Summit Sanatorium. People who are there are those who have no more hope."

"What can I do? I'm just a woman. It’s not easy for me to keep the family going all these years."

At that point, Mandy grabbed Emily's hand, her voice choking as she spoke, "Your dad dotes on your brother so much. He definitely understands me. The family can't afford to pay your dad's medical expenses every month."

When she heard this, Emily's face didn't show much emotion, but in her heart, everything was crystal clear.

No money? But just now, she had seen that every bag Alan was carrying had a price tag above six figures. How could they be out of money?

At that moment, Emily felt very powerless.

She felt a little sorry for her father.

Ever since Emily could remember, she knew her parents had a great relationship, they loved each other deeply.

But why, in just over 10 years, had Mandy become indifferent to her husband's fate?

Did love also have an expiration date?

If her father were awake, knowing how his wife, whom he had loved for decades, treated him like this, how would he feel?

At this moment, the maid came over with the freshly washed fruit.

Mandy smiled and pushed the plate towards Emily. "Emily, eat, I remember you love these grapes."

Emily gently shook her head without speaking.

Mandy froze for a moment, awkwardly placing the fruit plate on the coffee table.

Then, with a smile, she changed the topic. "Tonight, we're having seafood. Stay and eat with us. It's been a long time since our family has had a meal together."

In the end, Emily did not stay for dinner.

Before leaving, she said to Mandy, "Mom, you can ignore Dad, but I can't. Also, I don't like grapes, and I'm allergic to seafood."

Walking out of the Sanders family home, Emily took out her phone and found Linda's number in the contacts.

She edited a message and sent it.

"Mrs. Phantom, I agree with your suggestion."

After seeing that the message had been read, Emily put her phone away.

"Emily? Is that you?"

A familiar voice came from behind her.

Emily turned around, and saw Luke's grandmother, her nose tingled with a slight sense of emotion. "It's me."

The elderly woman came forward, affectionately taking her hand. "It's been four or five years. I thought I had become old and my eyes were failing."

Emily shook her head.

"You haven't eaten yet, right? Come, let's go to my place."

Emily wanted to refuse, but thinking she hadn't seen the elderly lady in so many years, she decided to agree.

"Luke, look who's here."

As soon as they entered the house, the elderly lady excitedly called into the living room.

Emily froze for a moment. She hadn't expected Luke to be there with his grandmother.

Emily awkwardly planted her feet on the ground.

Had she known Luke was here, she wouldn't have come.

Luke walked over and took the basket of vegetables from his grandmother. "I told you I'd go buy them, but you insisted on going yourself."

"You don't know how to pick fresh ones."

"If I don't, I can just bring May along to the market. Why do you insist on going yourself with your old arms and legs?"

May was the servant who had been taking care of the elderly lady for over 20 years. Emily was also familiar with her.

She stood quietly in the hallway, watching the two of them.

Suddenly, she felt that Luke had changed quite a bit over the years.

"Emily, why are you in a daze?"

Luke walked over and took a pair of slippers from the shoe rack, placing them in front of Emily.

They were exactly like the ones she wore six years ago—hers were pink, and his were blue.

The elderly lady looked at Emily, smiling gently. "Emily, don't you recognize him? This is Luke. When you were in school, you always followed him around. Have you forgotten?"

Emily felt a little awkward. "No, I haven't forgotten."

"Well, that's good. Come in, it's been so many years. Let the old lady show you a thing or two today."

Hearing this, Emily's expression stiffened.

She hadn't forgotten the time when she ate the food made by the elderly lady and ended up in the hospital.

Clearly, Luke hadn't forgotten either.

His grandmother was wonderful in many ways, but her cooking? Not so much.

He quickly spoke up. "Grandma, you're getting old. Sit and rest. I'll do the cooking."

The elderly lady looked at Luke in disbelief. "You can cook?"

"I can. I've been cooking for myself while abroad these past few years."

"Look at you, you’re all grown up. And now you can cook," the elderly lady said happily, pulling Emily's hand. "Emily, let's go chat while this brat cooks. I've never eaten the food he made."

Before Emily could say anything, the elderly lady had already dragged her to the living room.

Although it had been years since they last met, the elderly lady still liked Emily a lot, so she sat her on the sofa and asked questions non-stop.

"Emily, how have you been these years? Is school too tiring?"

Emily's nose tingled, and she smiled as she replied, "I'm doing well. I'll be graduating soon, so it's not too tiring."

"Have you thought about what kind of job you want?"

Emily shook her head.

Over the years, she had just been drifting along, not having any hope for the future.

The elderly lady looked at her this way and felt a bit heartbroken. She sighed and said softly, "I've heard about your dad. It's not your fault, so don't dwell on it."

Emily lowered her eyes and nodded.

The elderly lady could tell that she didn't want to talk about her father, so she changed the subject. "By the way, now that your Luke is back, you can talk to him about work. Let him help you more."

Emily instinctively looked towards the kitchen.

At that moment, Luke, wearing a checkered apron, stood by the stove, preparing the vegetables that the elderly lady had bought.

He looked a bit more natural, and somehow, this felt more real than the version of him she had seen at the Phantom family.

The next second, Luke suddenly turned around.

Emily was caught off guard and met his gaze. She quickly lowered her head, feeling a bit guilty.

"Emily, come over here." Luke's voice sounded.