Contract Marriage: The Replacement Groom

418 Looking beyond their facade

"You just woke up?" the butler asked with a frown.

Rossa nodded and said in a low yet cute voice, "Yes, Grandpa."

The man wanted to rage, but seeing how cute she was, he held back his tongue; "I'm not your grandpa," he glared at her.

"Ok, I'll call you grandpa butler, how does that sound?" she beamed.

The old man wanted to chastise her again for acting like his spoiled granddaughter but couldn't bring himself to, so he sighed and pointed towards the kitchen, "Make sure your dishes are ready in one hour thirty minutes."

"Yes, sir!" she giggled and ran off.

Other servants were fuming and calling her ugly names in their minds, but there was nothing they could do right now, so they had to endure until they got a chance.

Rossa finished cooking at exactly one hour-thirty minutes, but after serving the dishes, Brian came around and told her Nancy wasn't home.

"My mom isn't here, so have a seat."

"I didn't make her portion anyway. Hope she didn't travel?" Rossa sat on one of the chairs with a scowling face.

"I'm not sure. By the way, how's your plan coming around?" he asked softly.

"I told you we can't talk about such things. Aren't there CCTV cameras all around here?" she almost glared at him but controlled herself.

"Ah, true, I'm sorry about that..." The atmosphere became awkward.

"I haven't seen your father since I was employed, where did he go?"

Brian shook his head, "Not sure."

Meanwhile, Nancy had left Nanny Xie's place and was heading home. Looking out the car window in silence, she thought about the advice her Nanny gave her. After a while, she shifted her gaze to the two guys in the front seats.

"Have you found who burnt down the hospital?" she asked out of the blue.

"Yes, ma'am, it was one of Sir's men." a

Nancy slowly nodded, "Where's the person?"

"He's being punished."

A long silence filled the car for a while before Death asked, "Ma'am, why do you take the blame for everything and make people believe you did things you are innocent of?"

Like when Brian accused her of setting fire to the hospital and pointed a gun at her, Nancy didn't deny the accusation, nor fight back, making Brian believe she really did.

"Whether I accept or not, no one will believe, so what's the point?... But this time, I hope Jeslyn is intelligent enough to know right from wrong."

Nancy didn't speak anymore after that. The car drove steadily until it got to the Hwang Resident.

Nancy met Brian eating and 'a maid' sitting at the dining table, talking with her son. She pretended like she didn't see that disrespectful action. The maid stood up, probably to explain what didn't need explanation, but before she could speak, Nancy raised her hand to stop her.

"You two, meet me in the garden in the next two hours!" She went away after that.

Rossa felt her breath hitched in her throat all this while, which is why she still couldn't react after Nancy left.

"It's fine now, she might probably think we were dating."

"And you think that's a great thing?"

"At this point, there's really nothing we can do."

"I can't go to the garden empty-handed, let me go and make some cake." Rossa left the dining room after that.

In the garden...

The smell of fresh flowers permeated the place, selling tranquility and serenity that people like Nancy couldn't buy, no matter the money they had. She was wearing a white gown and was sitting on a plain white cloth that was spread on the grass. From afar, the woman looked lonely and sad.

Rossa frowned slightly at the weird feeling of sadness that engulfed her for a moment but immediately killed it before her conscience would be awoken. She walked forward with Brian and knelt in front of Nancy while placing the tray she was holding down, she said;

"Ma'am, I brought you another type of cake," she tried to sound like she was happy, but the sadness around Nancy could not be ignored.

Brian sat beside her and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Nancy felt a slight joy. This was the first time Brian noticed something was off about her. Her demeanor changed to the facade of a powerful woman, "Do I look unwell?"

"Quite." He replied and turned away. She was still acting bitchy, so there was no need to care about her anymore, he thought.

The woman's lips curled down in slight unhappiness, an action that went unnoticed by the two.

Feeling the cold treatment the two were giving each other, Rossa cleared her throat and said;

"I know I'm not in the right position to say this, but ma'am, your skin is getting paler and..." she lowered her head.

"Are you suddenly scared?" Nancy asked in a cold voice.

"No," Rossa shook her head.

Nancy raised a brow, "Everyone is scared of me. You're the first to say this to my face."

Rossa was caught off guard, and so was Brian, but she immediately beamed, concealing her nervousness again.

"It's not their fault they're scared... You look frightening, but I'm not scared of you because I used to have an aunt who was like you, but she was extremely kind at heart." Nancy shifted her gaze to scrutinize her lying lips before she asked, "Where is that aunt of yours

now?"

Rossa sighed and let her shoulders slump, "she died five years ago."

"Hm," she replied and picked a piece of cake with chopsticks.

"You said these aren't Moon cakes?"

"Yes, Rossa nodded fervently.

"What are these called?"

"It's an osmanthus cake."

"What are the ingredients?" she asked.

"Glutinous rice, osmanthus, and sugar"

"Why did you decide to make this even though moon cakes are sweeter?"

"Because of the health benefits... My grandmother used to say that osmanthus cake helps against depression and eases mental stress. The leaves are also medicinal when brewed as tea.” Nancy glanced at her, "Do I look depressed?"

Rossa watched her for a moment before she slowly nodded.

"And you

feel you can cure me?"

This time, Rossa shook her head, "Only a depressed person can help themselves heal. External help is just to render support."

Nancy rested her back on the tree trunk behind her, "You are intelligent. No wonder he likes you." She took a bite from the cake with her chopstick before she put it down and moved her gaze to the blue sky.

Brian and Rossa were left in a daze. The two thought Nancy was referring to their relationship but had no idea Nancy was looking beyond their facade.