Chapter 442 Difficult Relationship
That night was one destined to be filled with wild thoughts. As Amelia lay on the bed and rested her head on Oscar’s head, she closed her eyes. However, her mind was overrun with messy thoughts.
She tossed around slightly, finding it hard to fall asleep.
She opened her eyes and closed them again repeatedly. However, the more she did that, the more awake she became. There was not a hint of sleepiness within her.
Oscar turned around, held the back of Amelia’s head and forced her to lean closer to him.
“You can’t fall asleep?” asked Oscar softly.
Raising her head from his arms, Amelia asked apologetically, “Did I wake you up?”
Oscar opened his eyes and replied, “No. If you can’t sleep, let’s talk.”
Smiling, Amelia said, “Go to sleep. You still have work tomorrow! I just can’t fall asleep because of some issues weighing on my mind. Since you’re planning to stay awake because of me, I’ve figured everything out. Sleep now!”
“You silly girl,” mumbled Oscar with a sigh, though his eyes were filled with affection. “You always choose to shoulder all your burdens alone. Don’t forget that I’m your man! I can split the load and bear it with you.”
Amelia hugged his waist and whispered, “I know.”
“You do, but even when something happens, you still choose to face it alone. Sometimes, I wish that you can rely on me more. It’ll make me feel more accomplished too.” Oscar sighed, but his tone was filled with affection. “When I married you, I was really satisfied with how untroublesome and independent you were. You had never made me worry. However, my attitude is now different. I wish that you’d rely on me more. This is probably the difference between loving and not loving someone.”
Amelia’s heart skipped a beat. She did not realize that Oscar had so many thoughts on his mind.
“I’m sorry.”
Sighing, Oscar stroked her forehead and said, “I’m not trying to blame you. I just want you to rely on me willingly when you’re tired, instead of shouldering everything on your own.”
“Okay,” promised Amelia solemnly after a long time.
Oscar kissed her forehead and said, “Get some sleep.”
Burying her head against his chest, Amelia felt relieved and quickly fell asleep. While Oscar gazed at her sleeping face, a smile formed on his lips. He hugged her tightly and fell asleep too.
After eating breakfast the next morning, Oscar planted a kiss on Amelia’s lips and said, “Go to work and I’ll send Tony to the Clinton residence. Don’t worry, I’ll settle this properly.”
Amelia was slightly hesitant. “Why don’t I go with you?”
“It’s fine.”
“Are you sure that you can do it on your own?”
“Trust me.”
Amelia had no choice but to agree.
The family of three went downstairs. Still worried, Amelia reminded Tony, “Tony, listen to Daddy and don’t kick up a fuss, okay? Otherwise, I’ll be really sad.”
Tony raised his head and glanced at Oscar.
“Okay, Mommy,” replied Tony as he pouted.
“I’m going to work now. We’ll bring you to the amusement park on Saturday,” promised Amelia.
Tony grabbed her pinky. As if he was afraid that she would be angry, he whispered, “Mommy, can we ask Daddy to come too? I haven’t seen him for so many days and I miss him a lot.”
Amelia was stunned. People often said that kids were playful and forgetful, but she did not expect Tony to be so reliant on Kurt. Even though they were not biologically related, their relationship was very intimate.
Amelia glanced at Oscar. Understanding the look in her eyes, he spoke up on her behalf, “Tony, your godfather is away to help me with work. He’ll come back a few days later. I promise you that I’ll ask him to take you to the amusement park after he returns, okay? It’ll just be the two of you and you can enjoy yourself to your heart’s content! How’s that?”
“Mommy too!” Tony tried to negotiate.
Oscar hugged Amelia and replied, “Your mommy’s mine, so she can’t go. If you continue negotiating, I’ll make sure that you won’t see your godfather ever again.”
Tony stared back at Oscar. Eventually succumbing to his threats, then he entered the car with his head drooped.
Amelia glanced at him worriedly and asked, “Oscar, are we too harsh on Tony? He’s just a child.”
“Don’t worry. This is something that he has to go through. Since I’ve been missing for two years of his childhood, it’s reasonable that he’s not close to me. However, blood is thicker than water. One day, he’ll see me as his hero,” reassured Oscar confidently.
Amelia chuckled.
“Oscar, I’ve never realized how shameless you can be.”
“If I’m not shameless, would you have fallen in love with me?”
Amelia found herself at a loss for words.
“Go to work! I’ll send Tony over. After attending a meeting on one of the company’s projects, I’ll be done with work. I’ll take you and Tony out to a new restaurant for dinner tonight. The dishes are pretty authentic, so both of you will probably like it,” said Oscar.
“Be careful on your way there. I’m going now. “
After Amelia left, Oscar drove away too.
During the drive, Tony leaned forward to the front seats and said sulkily, “Big Meanie, I’m only listening to you because I don’t want Mommy to be angry or sad. Don’t think that I like you!”
“That’s what I thought too. As expected of father and son! Even our thoughts are the same.”
Pouting, Tony snorted and asked, “Why don’t you like me, Big Meanie? Mommy said that you like me a lot.”
Oscar chuckled. It was the first time someone dared to talk to him like that, and it was his two-year-old son.
As expected of my son! He’s bold enough.
“Since you hate me, why should I like you? Liking someone should be mutual.”
“But I’m your son!”
“I thought that you don’t acknowledge me as your father?”
Tony panicked. “Big Meanie, I’m the only one who’s allowed to dislike you. You can’t do that to me, or I’ll tell Mommy.”
Oscar teased mockingly, “Tony, why are you being so naggy like a girl? You only know how to make complaints. That’s not like my son.”
Furious, Tony puffed out his cheeks and rebuked indignantly, “I’m a little masculine man, not a girl!”
Oscar could not help but marvel at how smart his son was. Despite only being two years old, he knew a lot of words. Sometimes, he was so smart that others would forget that he was only two. However, when he acted up stubbornly, Oscar would still feel an urge to beat him up.
“If you’re a small man, you wouldn’t have been unable to appease your grandma. You even needed me to intervene! Not only that, but you also made your mommy sad. I look down on you, Tony,” Oscar provoked him on purpose.
As expected, his provocation worked. Tony sat up and declared, “That’s not true! I just don’t want to get closer to Grandma because I hate it when she talks bad about Mommy!”
“In that case, you should try to be closer to your grandma. As long as you make her happy, she’ll like your mommy.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I love your mommy! Have I ever hurt her?”
After thinking about it carefully, Tony said in a child-like voice, “I’ll believe you this time. However, will Mommy be sad if she sees that I’m on good terms with Grandma?”
“As long as you don’t forget her, she won’t be sad.”
With that, Tony felt relieved.
Oscar drove to the Clinton residence and parked the car.
He brought Tony to the main building, where Olivia and Owen were already waiting. After retiring from Clinton Corporations, Owen had nothing else to do except to keep Olivia company. As he had been too busy when he was younger, he gave in to all of her wishes now that he was free. He could not bear to oppose her at all.
“Grandma!” greeted Tony affectionately as he dashed over to Olivia upon spotting her.
When Olivia squatted down, Tony pounced into her arms and kissed her cheeks. Even she was stunned by his actions.
In a daze, she let Tony kiss her continuously.
One had to admit that Tony was extremely sweet when he was trying to appease someone. Olivia was completely taken in by him.
“I miss you so much, Grandma!”
Olivia was shocked by his sudden affection when she heard that.
Even though Tony had returned for a long time, he was still not close to his grandmother. When he was sent over yesterday, he would rather play alone than go near her. To be honest, she felt a bit upset and disliked Amelia even more. If she had not snatched Tony away so recklessly, he would not have been so distant toward Olivia like a stranger.
Since Olivia felt upset, she could not help but tell Tony lies about Amelia to defame her.
“I miss you too, my dear grandson. You’re so sweet today! I love you so much when you’re like this!”
“Grandma, since I’m so nice to you, don’t you have to like Mommy too?” Tony brought that up during the most inappropriate time.
The smile on Olivia’s face faded slightly.
She glanced at Oscar and asked, “Aren’t you going to work, Oscar?”
“Mom, I sent Tony over today because I wanted to talk to you.”
“Come in, then.”
Carrying Tony, Olivia and Owen entered the house first.
After instructing a maid to play with Tony, Olivia asked, “Are you here to speak up on behalf of that woman?”
“Mom, she’s the woman I love and your daughter-in-law. I hope that you can respect her more,” said Oscar solemnly.
Olivia scoffed in fury.
“I’m really curious what kind of spell Amelia has cast on you and Tony. Both of you are so obsessed with her! You don’t even listen to your mother anymore. Tony’s learned how to appease me just for the sake of his mother! I really don’t know what kind of nonsense she’s been saying to you,” mocked Olivia as she took the cup of tea from the maid.
A hint of exasperation flashed across Oscar’s eyes.
“Mom, I’m here to talk to you today. Can you stop saying bad things about Amelia in front of Tony? He’s a young child who hasn’t developed a clear sense of right and wrong yet. If you keep saying things like that, he might believe you and alienate himself from his mother. It might even traumatize him! You don’t want him to think that he’s a child abandoned by his mother, right?” Oscar sat up straight, looking like he was there for negotiation.
Olivia felt hurt when she saw that.
“Are you blaming me, Oscar?” Olivia did not want her relationship with Oscar to worsen just because of this. However, she was upset that Amelia’s influence on her son was so great that he was starting to disobey her.
The more biased Oscar was, the more displeased Olivia was with Amelia.
In other words, she was jealous that Amelia could win all of Oscar’s love and trust.
This was why it was always difficult to tackle the relationship between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. Meanwhile, Oscar was stuck in the middle, trying to navigate between being a mediator and a traitor.
