Exposing the Charade of Deep Affection - Season 3 Episode 18

Her words sounded unpleasant, but they did make some sense. I didn’t retort, but it was Emma who

slightly furrowed her brows and said to her. “Gianna, don’t talk nonsense.”

Gianna retorted defiantly, “I didn’t talk nonsense.” After saying that, she glanced at me, squinting her

eyes and sizing me up, “What are you so proud of? You should look at whether you’re worthy or not.”

I frowned, somewhat displeased. This young girl had been at odds with me since our first encounter. I

didn’t mean to provoke her. I pursed my lips and turned to Emma, “Sister-in-law, I heard that the

wintersweet in grandma’s backyard has bloomed. Shall we go take a look?”

Emma didn’t want to chat like this with Gianna either, she nodded and said, “Hermosa just told me she

wanted to go see it, perfect, let’s go together.”

Saying this, she led Hermosa and me out of the hall. Gianna tried to follow, but Olivia stopped her,

saying, “Not everyone is privileged to see the wintersweet in the backyard. Carley doesn’t like

strangers bouncing around in her yard. Gianna, I advise you to stay put here.”

“You…” Gianna’s exasperated voice came from behind me, but I didn’t look back. I just went straight to

the backyard with Emma.

The Hinton family’s mansion was large, with the backyard area adorned with artificial hills and ponds. A

few elegant wintersweet trees had bloomed partially, appearing cold and lonely under the dim street

lights.

They said it was to see the winter sweet, but actually, I called Emma here because there were some

things I wanted to talk to her about.

I glanced at her still flat belly, and said to Emma, “Sister-in-law, haven’t you told my brother yet?”

Emma paused slightly, pushing Hermosa aside to play elsewhere, and looked at me with a smile, “It’s

less than two months away, I think after a while, your elder brother has been busy recently, after he

finishes. this period, I will tell him this news.”

I nodded, thinking of Rachel, and couldn’t help but want to ask about William’s recent activities. After

hesitating for a few seconds, I asked, “What has big brother been busy with lately? I heard from Dale

before that big brother mainly manages the Hinton family’s overseas companies, so why is he back in

the country and still so busy?”

Emma gave a helpless smile and said, “I’m not quite sure either. But he’s always been like this. You

know about the company affairs, I rarely interfere.”

I pursed my lips, pulled a smile, and didn’t ask any more. Many things, if overly concerned, would

become strange.

I chatted with Emma about some trivial matters and mentioned Jacob’s family. Emma looked at me

apologetically and said, “Tabatha, I heard that Gianna was rude to you before. I talked to her and my

cousin about it later. Don’t take it to heart. My aunt only has one daughter, Gianna, and the whole

family has spoiled her a bit. My uncle is also reluctant to scold her. She’s used to being arrogant

outside and doesn’t take people seriously.”

After thinking carefully, I realized she was referring to the time I accidentally bumped into Gianna when

I was meeting Daniel for dinner. I smiled slightly, I didn’t really mind, and said casually, “It’s okay, I

didn’t take it to heart.”

She smiled, hesitated for a few seconds, and said, “I know, you’ve always been magnanimous,

naturally you wouldn’t take this matter to

heart. But Walter is protective, I can tell. He cares about you, he probably took this matter to heart.”

Hearing this, I finally realized that there was more to her words. I glanced at her for a moment and then

said, “Sister-in-law, is there something you want to tell me?”

If she simply wanted to apologize, there was no need to bring up Walter afterwards. It seems that she

was beating around the bush with this.

Pierced directly by me, she laughed a bit awkwardly and nodded, somewhat embarrassed, “I do have

something I need your help with, Tabatha. We are both daughters-in-law of the Hinton family, and we

both understand the intricate relationships the Hinton family has in River City. When I married into the

Hinton family, if I purely said it was because of my feelings for William, outsiders wouldn’t believe it.

After all, William is handsome and charming, and there are plenty of women who like him. To some

extent, you and I are both surviving on the power of the Hinton family. Although it’s not direct, the

families. behind us also have an influence.”

After a lot of preamble, she finally took a slight breath and said, “Although the Hinton family is a

merchant family, their influence in River City over the years has been significant. They have had a say

in the appointment and transfer of many officials. The day Gianna bumped into you, my uncle was

supposed to discuss something with Walter. However, Gianna’s recklessness caused a rift between

you two. Walter is protective of his own, so he didn’t inquire about my uncle’s matter afterwards.”

After hearing so much from her, I was actually quite calm. After all,

Walter had already mentioned these things to me to some extent. Walter also explained the specific

reasons why he didn’t want to get involved, which naturally wasn’t simply because of the discord

between Gianna and me.

Looking at Emma, I smiled faintly and said, “Sister-in-law, I understand what you mean, but Walter and

I are not as close as you think, and he doesn’t care about me as much as you think. The little incident

between Gianna and me is not enough to affect him. There might be other reasons between him and

Jacob, so I can’t help you persuade Walter. In fact, I might not even be able to speak to Walter.”