The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1000 The Meal (Part Three)

"I promised you that I will do whatever you say as long as it is within my capacity. But Aunt Donna, if what you want is for me to leave George, then I will have to politely refuse." Holley stared into Donna's eyes fearlessly and stayed awefully calm in the tensed room.

"Hmph!" Donna scoffed. She smiled sarcastically and said in an ironic tone, "I know that you won't let go of my son that easily."

After watching Donna look down on Holley, George couldn't stay silent anymore. He finally said in a serious tone, "Mom, Holley is my fiancee. I wish you would show her some respect."

Holley reached out to touch his hand and shook her head, asking him to stop. She forced a half smile and reassured him, "It doesn't matter, George. We came here today to solve our problems. So I don't mind her attitude towards me."

Her kind words melted away George's anger. Satisfied with his reaction, she turned around to face Donna. "Aunt Donna, you are his mother. So it's understandable that you are being protective of your son. Bu my relationship with George is our business. We can't break our lives apart just because of some disagreements between us."

Holley put on a soft smile. "I invite you to dinner today because I want to apologize to you. After all, we will soon be a family. I don't want to see George fall into a dilemma because of the issues between you and me.

I don't care how much you humiliate me, but I will not give up on my love for George," Holley stood erect and said in an aggressive voice.

"Stop dreaming!" Donna growled. She was now seething in anger. "You insulted me in front of my staff. And now, you want me to forgive you. Did you really think that a simple apology would suffice to win me over?"

"I..." Holley was dumbfounded by her sudden question. She tried to explain, "Aunt Donna, I recognize that I made a grave mistake. I lost my temper and I said something out of line. But I...I was having a difficult time yesterday. It was an extremely important day for me. I was in a bad mood all day. I apologize for my outburst. I forgot my place and I let you and the company down. I'm very sorry." "No one cares about your personal problems and difficulties," Donna scoffed at her without showing any pity.

"And I don't need your apology. All I want is for you to leave my son alone. And you better listen to me while I'm still asking politely. If not..." Donna glared at Holley and let her words trail on a threatening note. Since George had fallen so hardly in love with Holley, Donna didn't want him to know what kind of person she truly was unless it was necessary. But if Holley planned on keeping up this farce, then she would be forced to expose her true identity to George.

"Mom, that's enough!" George exclaimed out of indignation. George couldn't believe that such words were spoken by his own mother. He was devastated by her behavior towards his fiancee. He asked in despair, "When did you become so cruel? Why can't you just understand her? Don't you know that yesterday was her mother's death anniversary? It is understandable that she was having a bad day."

George stared at Donna with a wronged expression as he continued admonishing her, "I really don't understand what's going on in your mind. I've already proposed to Holley and we invited you here today hoping that we could solve our differences. But now that things have gotten worse, I'm making myself clear to you right now... whether you agree or not, I will marry Holley."

George had his eyes fixed on Donna. "I did not expect this from you, Mom. I truly don't understand when you turned into such a narrow minded woman. I agree that Holley made a mistake. But there's no need to torture her all the time just because she acted inappropriately once. It was her mother's death anniversary, for God's sake. It is completely normal for her to be disoriented on such a day."

"So, you're saying that she yelled at me because she was sad over her mother's death anniversary?" Donna was astonished by George's blind trust in the woman.

"Of course! Why else would she do such a thing?" George asked. "I know that you don't want to accept her into the family, but please think it over. Since the very moment we came into the room, Holley has been apologizing to you. Her sincerity is beyond question. But you on the other hand, have only been replaceing faults with Holley all this time. What benefit do you get from insulting her like this? Why do you insist on treating her this way?"

"George, that's enough. Just stop." Holley pulled the hem of his coat and cut into their conversation. Holley pretended to be the sensible one after letting George quarrel with Donna for a while. She intentionally gave a wry smile and said to him, "It's all right. I understand her anger."

She then glanced at Donna and continued, "Aunt Donna, no matter what kind of difficulties I was facing, I shouldn't have blown up at you in front of all those people. Please try to forgive me."

She held George's hand and articulated in pretended sincerity, "George and I have decided to get married. You are his mother. We sincerely hope that you will grace us with your presence for the wedding ceremony. It would be a pity if you aren't there to bless our union. Aunt Donna, I promise you that I will take good care of George and I will support him every day. I will give birth to your grandchildren and we will prove to you that our love is sincere and pure."

Throughout their conversation, Sula had kept her silence. But after hearing what Holley had just said, she looked at her and said in a low voice, "You can make all kinds of promises now. After all, no one knows what's going to happen in the future."

"Sula..." George frowned as he heard her words clearly. He wasn't expecting Sula to meddle at a crucial moment like this. He expressed his discontent, "Excuse me, what do you mean?"

She had promised him that she would take his side during the dinner. But now, she was siding with Donna and humiliating Holley. George was angrier than before.

Sula glimpsed at George and replied in a faint voice, "Mr. Han, there's no need for you to glare at me like that. There might be many people in the world who might want to deliberately cause you harm, but please bear in mind that your mother would never be one of them. You keep saying that you love Holley. But do you really know what kind of person she is? Do you even know how her mother died?"

Sula smiled sarcastically when she saw the expression on Holley's face change drastically. "If you don't know the answer to that question, you don't know much about the person you love. Don't you think it's ridiculous to marry someone you know nothing about?"

"I know what kind of person Holley is better than both of you," George said in an arrogant and angry voice. He glowered at Sula and said in a sombre tone, "But I'm not so sure about you anymore." George kept his eyes fixed on Sula. But she was staring at a fixed point on the floor since his gaze was making her feel uneasy.

It was true that she had agreed to do him a favor. But now that she knew Holley's true colors, she couldn't stay silent. George's happiness was at stake and his life might be in danger too. She was in no position to keep her promise to him.

She raised her head to look at George and said in a faint voice, "People don't remain the same at all times."