ENCHANTED LOVE, VOLUME 2 - Season 9 Episode 45

“It’s all right,” Sue replied in haste and turned back. There was distinct anxiousness on her face that could not evade Sheryl’s eyes. She marked the change in Sue’s behavior as she turned around repeatedly taking quick glances at the entry gate. Then as she suddenly glanced upon Sheryl’s face that was filled with questions, she tried to calm down and pretend to be normal. She tried to explain, “I thought I’d be late.”

“Sue…” Sheryl stared at her with a stern frown set on her face. She did not need Sue to tell her that something was wrong with her. Then she asked in a concerned voice, “What is wrong with you?”

Sue looked terribly nervous. Sheryl patted her and assured her that she could confide in her. Sue still took a few moments to get over her hesitation, Then she pulled Sheryl aside and almost hushed into her ears so that nobody could hear, “When I arrived, Doris and Peggy were waiting for me at the gate.”

“What?” Sheryl blurted with creased brows. Sheryl was stunned to hear that they had even followed Sue up to the office. She asked Sue, “What did they come here for?”

“For money,” Sue answered, letting out a heavy sigh. Then she added, “They said that Doris needs to go for a check up in the hospital. So they need money. I remember they just asked for 500 thousand from you, right?”

“Now, they are really crossing the limits!” A stern frown settled on Sheryl’s face. She hoped that Sue hadn’t given the money they’d asked for and asked in a serious voice, “So? Did you give them the money?”

“Yes, I had to.” Sue nodded her head, helpless. Then she added, “How could I refuse them. Peggy always threatens me to extort more and more money from me. She said if I refused to fulfill their demands, she would humiliate me right here in front of all my colleagues in this company. She used to treat me very badly at home, which I could tolerate because it happened behind the closed doors, but I couldn’t tolerate her in my workplace!”

Sheryl looked Sue in her eyes and really felt sorry for her. Whoever had family and relatives like them, could only understand how helpless and exhausting it could be.

She remembered her own situation in the past. Even she had experienced what Sue was going through right now. All the bitter memories flashed in front of her eyes when she was wronged by her mother. How much she hated her! And yet she tried to bear with it instead of getting back at her. Because after all, she was her mother. Even if her mother had ended up in a miserable state, she had nothing to do with that.

“That’s so not right, Sue,” Sheryl commented, and almost immediately, she had another question that just sprang up in her mind. She gathered her thoughts and asked, “They would leave after you gave them the money, but why are you so nervous?”

“Because…” Sue felt a little awkward while answering the question. She swallowed and closed her eyes as if she was trying to fight a dilemma in her mind and then said heaving a sigh, “Because Anthony came up, when they were at the gateway.”

Now the matter was clear to Sheryl. ‘Sue did not want her family to know about Anthony. She feared that if they learn about their relationship, Anthony would also get involved in her trouble. And more importantly, she could not even risk Anthony to know that she has such bad family like them. It would mean a lot of humiliation for her.”

“Sher, what do you think will happen? Will they ask him for money?” Sue was scared like a little girl. Unsure and trembling, she grabbed Sheryl’s hands for support.

Having to see Anthony and Peggy on the same spot filled her mind with tension. All she wanted was to just run away so that she didn’t even have to face him. How could she reveal her awkward family background to him.

So many questions filled her brain. ‘Did Peggy hear when Anthony called out my name? It is unlikely that it would evade her ears,’ Sue thought to herself. She prayed and wished that they never found out about her relationship with Anthony. Sue was nervous and confused about how to deal with the situation if her wildest fears came true.

“Don’t be so scared, Sue. You are a brave girl!” Sheryl tried to assure her, “Nothing bad is going to happen. Why scare so much about something that has not happened yet? Come on, show me a brave face now. Give me a smile.”

“No, that is not possible,” Sue spoke expressing her inhibitions. No matter how much Sheryl tried to pep her up, she could not put her mind to rest. She said, “You know my mother, Sher. She is so greedy for money. She even had the nerve to ask you for money when she met you for the first time. If she knows about my relationship with Anthony, she won’t…”

“I understand that.” Sheryl kept persuading Sue and continued, “Don’t be so stupid to think like that. Let’s figure out a way to solve it. It’s no use to just think without taking any action.” .

Sue reflected over Sheryl’s words and felt assured. She calmed herself down. In the meantime, Peggy and Doris were just about to leave.

Hearing Anthony calling out Sue’s name, both of them turned towards him. Peggy eyed him from top to bottom out of curiosity and was quiet impressed by his handsome look and demeanor. She couldn’t stop herself from having a look again. More to Peggy’s amazement, he wore such seemingly expensive clothes. She thought how come Sue had such a young and rich male friend that she did not hear about.

Even Doris’ eyes popped out in the first sight of Anthony.

In fact, she was blown over to see such a successful and charming man that she even felt that Allen was absolutely not a match for him. She really wanted to approach him and say hello, but she stopped thinking of her pregnancy.

Anthony glanced at them casually as he noticed them gazing at him and then turned to stare through the entrance of Sue’s workplace from where she had just disappeared the moment she caught a glance of him approaching her.

He stood there brooding, ‘Why does Sue always hide from me every time I come up to her? Am I that bad?’

“Let’s go,” Peggy said as she gave Doris a pull to draw her attention back. Peggy planned to find a chance to ask about this man next time when she came to Sue. After all, he might be of some use for her. But before that she needed to find out his identity.

However, Doris didn’t make any move. She kept her eyes fixed on Anthony and grabbed Peggy’s hand as she asked, “Don’t you want to know who this man really is? What is his relationship with Sue?”

“Just being curious will not help us get to know him.” Peggy looked towards Anthony once again, then turned to her and told, “We should find it out on our own when we get back to her next time.”
Then she reminded Doris that they must go to the hospital right away. “We will be late. Let’s hurry up,” she said.

“But…” Doris had no intention to go to the hospital, but Peggy insisted that Doris must go and said that under no circumstances, she would leave Doris go unchecked. Doris had tried her best to keep the secret in her belly only to herself, but she felt it really hard to hide the secret from Peggy.

But now, she felt she found a way. She just needed to take advantage of this man who seemed to be related to Sue, in order to distract Peggy’s attention.

“Do you really think she will tell you the truth?” Doris harped on Peggy’s suspicious mind once again.

Peggy’s suspicion rose as Doris kept harping again and again. She felt Doris was right. If Sue refused to tell her the truth, how would she come to know about him?

Gradually, Peggy was falling into Doris’ trap. She asked her, “What should we do? Do you have any idea?”

“Go to him right away and ask. It is just as simple,” Doris answered as she gestured Peggy to look towards Anthony with her mouth pouting. She knew her trick worked. Peggy’s focus had already shifted from the hospital. In order to further drive her mind towards Anthony, she walked towards him alone, and asked, “Excuse me, are you Sue’s friend?”

“Who are you?” Anthony turned towards her and asked.

“Don’t be nervous. I’m just curious.” She gave him a big smile and introduced herself, “I’m Sue’s sister. I was just talking to her. We just felt weird when she just walked away the moment she saw you. Is it because she owned you money?”

“You are Sue’s sister?” Anthony asked with his brows creased. He became suspicious as he had never heard Sue mentioning that she had a sister.

“I am…” Before Doris could say more, Peggy just came up and also introduced herself with a smile, “Sue is my daughter and she is my daughter-in-law. Really nice to meet you.”

With her eyes full of expectation and greed, Peggy thought she would definitely be lucky if Sue had a rich friend like this. She might get a great deal of money out of all the rich friends Sue had and eventually purchase an apartment in Ylanbu for Allen out of that money.

With a smirk on her face, Peggy looked at Anthony, tried to chill herself down. Then she asked, “Do you have anything to talk to her?”

“Does she really owe you a lot of money?” She stared at his face to read his expressions but could not make anything out of it. Then she said blatantly, “If that is true, go to ask her for money. We don’t have any.”

“No,” Anthony said. He was surprised to meet Sue’s mother for the first time.