Rosalie's hands clenched tightly at her sides. She couldn't possibly tell them what had happened yesterday—it was all Celia's fault!
Celia had set her up to offend Mrs. Fu on purpose!
But what exactly was the relationship between Celia and Mrs. Fu? That was Nathaniel Fu's mother—and she actually liked Celia?
What if Celia really ended up with Nathaniel?
The thought made Rosalie feel restless. She had never suffered such a blow before.
"Mrs. Song, Mom," Rosalie said with teary eyes, putting on her most aggrieved tone, "I don't know what happened. But Celia seems really close to Mrs. Fu. Maybe… maybe she said something bad about me? She's always resented our Su family, and she's jealous of everything I have. She tries to take away anything that belongs to me…"
Mrs. Song frowned. "That Celia… she's just a relative you took in from the countryside. She should be grateful, not greedy."
Li Lan was furious. "I'll call her later and get to the bottom of this!"
At the Fu family's old estate—
Celia washed her hands and was making dumplings with Mrs. Fu in the kitchen.
"Mom," Celia said gently, "I want to ask you something."
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"When I got married two years ago, I brought a jade pendant with me. Do you know what happened to it?"
Now that Sylvia was out of the picture, Celia had to find the pendant herself—and she had a strong feeling Mrs. Fu might know.
"Oh, didn't Nathaniel tell you? He took the pendant. He's had it all this time."
What?
Nathaniel has the pendant?
Celia froze for a moment. What now?
"Oh, by the way, Celia, who was that Mrs. Su just now?"
Celia paused, then gave a faint, bitter smile. "That's… my mother. But she's always disliked me for being from the countryside. She never really accepted me."
"Well, that's perfect," Mrs. Fu said with a loving smile. "Then from now on, you only need me as your mother. I'm grateful to her—because she won't be competing with me for your affection."
A soft warmth bloomed in Celia's chest. She really did… fall in love with Mrs. Fu. What was she supposed to do with this feeling?
The dumplings were soon wrapped. Zhou Ma took them into the kitchen to boil. Later, each of them enjoyed a big steaming bowl—satisfied and full.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Emily arrived, skipping in and hugging Mrs. Fu.
"Second Grandma, I'm starving! Can I eat here tonight?"
"Of course, sweetheart. I'll have Zhou Ma cook some more dumplings for you."
Mrs. Fu headed into the kitchen.
Emily collapsed onto the sofa, clearly exhausted.
Celia noticed the dark circles under her eyes and asked with concern, "Emily, have you been busy lately? You've been coming back really late every night."
Emily leaned in close, whispering like she was revealing a huge secret. "Celia… I'm in love."
Celia wasn't surprised—she had suspected as much.
"My boyfriend's amazing," Emily gushed. "He passed both the postgraduate entrance exam and the civil service exam! He just got hired… and he even joined CC!"
Celia took a calm sip of water. "What's his name?"
"Sun Yiming. He's brilliant, but his family's not well-off. His parents are farmers, and they couldn't support him through all those exams, so I…"
"So you've been helping him financially?"
"It's not like I'm supporting him," Emily said defensively. "I just lent him some money. Yiming has a lot of pride—he'd never take it if he thought I was just handing it over."
Celia raised her brows slightly. "I see."
Emily seemed like she wanted to say more, but at that moment, her phone rang. It was a call from her father, Fu Tianlin.
She answered, and his stern voice came through the receiver:
"Emily, I heard you went to the old estate again to see that woman?"