ENCHANTED LOVE, VOLUME 2 - Season 9 Episode 57

“Stay where you are!” Peggy roared angrily at Sue. Sue was about to leave when she heard Peggy’s loud voice stopping her in her tracks and demanding her to stay. Peggy then said, “Look at yourself. What are you doing now? Is this how we should treat our guest?”

“Guest? I mean, ‘our guest’? Have I heard it right?” Sue immediately countered in a jeering manner. Then in a mocking tone, Sue continued to refute, “Mom, don’t you remember? Well, let me remind you of something. The people residing in this house now, are you and Allen, not me.

You just said that Anthony has come to visit you. What have I got to do with it? I am neither the host nor the person that this man wants to meet. He is your guest, not mine. I have no time to waste here.”

“You really are rude, you…” Peggy stammered as her voice trailed off. Now she was utterly embarrassed. She knew, she could not rebut the fact that she had forcefully taken over the house which was owned by Sue. This was precisely the reason behind those words Sue deliberately said. And this was also that same reason which angered Sue. Peggy could find no words to defend herself; she was at a loss.

“Sue, it is not right for you to say that,” Doris interjected defending Peggy. Doris, being a person who was good at twisting stories around, took side with Peggy. She said, “Though you don’t live here, this is where your family currently stays. Yes, Anthony said that he has come to visit us, but that doesn’t mean he is definitely here to see us. The reason he went here is to see you. He would not be here if he doesn’t know you, am I right? In other words, you are a host at this place and he is your guest. Now, you are going to leave us alone to attend to your visitor. Don’t you think it’s too much? It is quite improper for you to do so, isn’t it?

Moreover…” Doris took a pause and then hurled taunting remarks at Sue, “Anyone who is not blind can see his affection for you. Sue, do you think you are still young? If I were you, I would wait no more to get married to a man who cares so much for me so that my mother does not have to worry about me all the time. Does that make sense?”

“Let me see who is barking here?” Sue scoffed at Doris as her eyes were burning fiercely with loathing and hatred. She knew that all this going on in her life started with Doris. It was because of Doris that Allen and Peggy eagerly came to Ylanbu to stake a claim over her house, so Sue showed no remorse in flaunting her anger and disgust towards Doris.

Then she continued to goad Doris on contemptuously, “Don’t forget you are not part of the family yet. Who are you to say all these? What has the business of our family got to do with you?”

“You…” Doris was stunned and rendered speechless. Propriety was not on her side, either, so she was also defeated, just like Peggy. She then resorted to the last person on their side, Allen, and said in a whining tone of voice, “Allen, you see… I was only trying to speak for your Mom. How can she say that to me? Why is she being so mean to me?”

Feeling provoked, Doris threatened Allen, “Alright, since I am not part of the family, it must be certainly inappropriate for me to continue my stay here, so, I’ll take my leave right away then.”

“Doris, my dear, please don’t be angry. Think about our baby. You have to be careful. Don’t stress yourself, okay?” Allen hurriedly stepped over to immediately pacify his dear Doris. He was too scared that the baby would get hurt by her angry emotions.

“Now, all you care about is the baby,” Doris stated vehemently. She was looking at Allen with a sorrowful expression on her face and continued whining, “You promised me that I would be the most important person to you. We aren’t even married yet, but you are already showing that you care more about the baby than me. Do you know that it hurts? Are you going to hurt me more even after our marriage? I think it is better for me to reconsider the marriage now.”

“Doris…” Allen frowned and tried again to calm her down, “Please stop your tantrum. I am just…”

“Tantrum?” Doris’ voice was brimming with disbelief as she glared at Allen. He had never spoken anything harsh to her. But hearing him dare to use the word “tantrum” on her, she was shocked. “Allen, did you just say ‘tantrum’?” she asked in a fit of rage.

“I… I didn’t mean that…” Allen stammered. He could barely gather some words to ease his way out of the trap that he had set for himself.

“Very well Allen, now, you have become a real man, haven’t you?” Doris continued to speak in a scornful manner, “I was only trying to help in solving the issue and persuading Sue to treat our guest nicely. But what did I get out of it? She mocked and blamed me. And you, instead of giving me your sympathy and standing by my side, even hurt me more. Now, I can see how important I am to you. Thank you really for showing me that. I will take my leave now.”

“Doris,” Peggy instantly called on her to stop her in her tracks. It was supposed to be a nice family meal together, as she had planned, but it turned into a nonsense bickering instead. Darting a glare at Sue who had caused all the trouble for her, Peggy ordered, “You stay here. I will talk to you later.”

As the matriarch, she wanted to exercise her power in the family by scolding the person who disobeyed her and who kept on making a mess for her to clean up. At that moment, Peggy knew that her priority was Doris and not Anthony and Sue. She was more than willing to do anything to make Doris stay so that she could see her long-awaited grandson.

Afraid that Doris would leave the house, she coaxingly pulled Doris into the room to soothe her and Allen followed suit, who was aware that his words had turned Doris’ fury a notch higher. He did not dare say a word; he remained silent.

Peggy looked at Doris affectionately as she held Doris’ hands and in a soothing voice, she stated, “Doris, I know that you mean well. Of course, you are! You are such a nice and kind girl. I know Allen is a man who doesn’t even know how to express his love or to say anything nice to hear. But he always tries his best to care for you, am I right? His actions speak much louder than his words. I believe his love for you. Please forgive him for what he just said. He didn’t mean it.”

“That’s right, Doris,” Allen interjected. After Peggy set the play up, Allen instinctively felt it was his turn now, so he said, “I was just… feeling that it is not worth it for you to be distressed, which is going to harm your body. That was why…”

Peggy felt annoyed at him and yelled, interrupting him, “Shut your mouth up!” Peggy reprimanded him, “You are very aware that Doris is now pregnant, yet you still had the audacity to talk with her in such an uncaring manner. Don’t you have a brain? Don’t you know that what you said would hurt Doris more?”

Allen just sheepishly stood aside without uttering a word.

Peggy then turned to Doris and spoke in a motherly tone, “Doris, I do understand you. And I know Sue was not nice to you at all. I also like to chase that woman out.” Pausing for a moment, she then concluded, “But I didn’t, because I want a better life for you two. I’m sure that you have noticed, that Anthony looks like he is somebody. If Sue can be married to him, we could possibly benefit from this and have a better life if he ‘helps’ us a little bit.”

There was no response from Doris, but Peggy could make out, based on her knowledge about Doris, that she agreed with what she had said. Feeling contented and assured Peggy said, “Alright if you are unwilling to see her face, then I won’t force you. You can stay here and take a good rest. I will cook some nice dishes for you and bring them into your room. How about that?”

“Okay, then.” Doris nodded with a sigh, and she reminded Peggy, “Mrs. Garcia, I seriously think that there is something between Sue and that Anthony. You should better…”

“Rest assured. I know what to do,” Peggy promptly assured Doris. Then she turned to Allen with a darkened face and demanded, “Did you hear that? Stay here and be good to Doris. I’ll come back with the food later.”

“Okay! Okay!” Allen nodded in defeat. Meanwhile, Anthony frowned at Sue and asked, “Sue, do you really have to do this to me? We can’t even have a chance to have a meal together?”

Sue just looked down and refused to say anything. She stood there, silently.

“I know you hate me.” Anthony forced a wry smile and continued, “But what I do not know, is that your hatred for me is way too much beyond my expectation.” Honestly, Anthony felt deeply hurt by Sue’s reaction. But he knew that he was being blamed and that he had it coming. It was entirely his fault after all.

He glanced at Sue dejectedly. Heaving a deep sigh, he weakly said, “I see. You really hate me. I fully understand that. All right, I’ll disappear from you.”

Sue’s heart suddenly tightened in her chest when she heard the disappointment in Anthony’s words. She wanted to say something but said nothing in the end. She steeled herself to endure the pain because she must — there was no other way.

Just as Anthony stood up to leave, Peggy finished pacifying her future daughter-in-law. Seeing that the person who might be her future source of money was ready to leave, she turned anxious and asked, “What happened? Anthony, are you leaving now?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Garcia,” replied Anthony. He smiled warmly to her and said, “I am sorry that I just remembered I still have some work to do now. Mrs. Garcia, thank you so much for your invitation. We can eat together next time, my treat.”

“Please stay for a while,” Peggy said as she dragged Anthony back. She was not letting her future money bag go. She insisted, “The dishes are now ready. Let’s not wait for the next time. I am aware that you are such a busy man and you have a lot of work to do, but you must eat first, right? You must take good care of your body. Listen to me. Just stay here and dine with us. Just have a few bites.”

“Mrs. Garcia, thank you but I really have to leave now,” Anthony gracefully declined.

Annoyed by Peggy’s repeated invitation, Sue stared hard at her and inquired, “Don’t you hear his words? He said he needs to go. I didn’t know you are deaf. Why are you not letting him go?”