The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 454 Lisa Became Indifferent

"No! Don't do this to me, Mom! Please, I beg of you!" Brent said as he grabbed his mother's hands. He was trying with all his might to make Nancy change her mind. "I admit my mistake. And I said I'm sorry. I will never do it again. Mom, I swear!"

"Huh, it's too late now, Brent," Nancy said, her voice echoing disappointment. Her lips curved in a smile that brought out her heart's sore more than anything else as she shook off her son's hands. "I can't allow you to stay in this house any more or I will have to face ridicule and shame because of your behavior sooner or later. Brent, listen to me. You go home. I'll give you all the money I earn from my job. But if you continue to be like this, I am afraid, you will soon be arrested and sent behind the bars one day. Being a mother, I can't see this happening to you in front of my eyes. Whatever I am doing, is for your good."

"No, there won't be any such situation ever again. Mom, trust me." Brent pleaded," Give me one last chance, Mom. I will never let you down. I promise!"

"You... don't make it so difficult for me, Brent. You're my son and I know you better than anybody else." Nancy shook her head gently, and continued," I've asked you so many times earlier, but you kept denying If I didn't replace these things here, you would have kept on lying to me. Isn't it?"

Brent stole his eyes from Nancy's gaze that was fixed on him. He would have never confessed his crimes to his mother on his own, nor did he have the courage to answer back to her. However, his only concern was to somehow stop his mother from sending him home. And he was ready to do anything make her change her mind.

"I... I was under an evil spell. This stuff look inconspicuous, so I thought that they were worthless and that it didn't matter if I took and played with them. Just think about it, Mom, if I really wanted to steal them, I'd have sold them by now. Why would I keep them in my room for you to replace them out?" retorted Brent, trying to mislead his mother. The reality was that he had been trying to sell the stuff ever since he picked them. But because of his work, he could neither make time to sneak out on his own nor the time to investigate the market value of the loot, which led him to hide them in his room. To his surprise, it turned out to be a good excuse to justify the crime.

"I'm your son, please trust me, Mom. How could a thief hide stolen goods in his room and wait for the crime to be revealed?" Brent persisted incessantly and it finally worked. Nancy became hesitant. Taking the opportunity, Brent took his mother's hand in his own once again. The firmness in her face had softened. "Mom, I really just wanted to play with them. I intended to put them all back in two days. I wasn't expecting you to replace them today."

He then forced a smile and went on explaining," I didn't mean to lie to you when you asked me, but I was scared to admit it to you."

"You really mean it?" Nancy asked in a doubtful voice. Brent managed to prove himself free of guilt. Nancy finally trusted his words and said," Well, I'll believe you this time." She then gave a sigh wearily. "How could you do such a silly thing? Do you know that any such frivolous act can put you behind the bars for a decade or more? If you had sold these things, I would have had to see you in jail."

"Now I know how silly I was." Brent shook Nancy's hand and repented," Mom, forgive me. I won't do anything to let you down again."

"You promise?" Nancy demanded coldly.

"Yes, I promise," Brent answered immediately and nodded. "I'll put everything back in its place tomorrow. And I swear I will never take anything from this house ever again. If I break my oath, you can put me at Mr. Lu's disposal, and I won't utter a word of complaint," he assured Nancy.

"Remember what you said" Nancy warned him, looking into his eyes. With that, she pulled her son to the bed and sat down. "Brent, poor as we are, we must not lose our dignity. The Lu family is so kind to us. We have to be grateful to them. If you ever do anything wrong to them again, I'll never bail you out again, keep this in mind," she admonished him seriously.

"I got it, Mom," Brent replied obediently.

"Put these things back as soon as possible, and remember, make sure no one watches you when you do this, okay?" Nancy bade her son with a solemn look, and was relieved a bit after Brent gave her a nod. Brent secretly put all these things back in their places as he promised that night. Finally, Nancy felt relieved to see them in the morning.

"Hey, isn't this the string of prayer beads I lost? How come it is lying on the tea table now?" Gary was taken aback seeing the prayer beads. It just seemed to pop out of nowhere. He remembered very well that it had not been on the tea table even the day before.

"How strange!" he said to himself. He stood there scratching his head.

"Mr. Lu," Nancy called out as she heard Gary's words. "I found this string of prayer beads under this tea table when I was cleaning today. And I've cleaned it up already," she explained.

"Oh, I see." Gary smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. "That's very kind of you, Nancy. I thought it had got lost. Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Nancy replied, and then asked Gary to have breakfast. "Oh, Mr. Lu, breakfast is ready; come and have before it gets cold."

"Okay," Gary said and walked to the table. "By the way, Nancy," he asked, sitting down," how's your son? Has he adjusted himself in his new job as a driver?"

Nancy froze for a moment at Gary's concern for Brent, and she was overwhelmed with mixed emotions of guilt and warmth at the same time. "He's good, thanks for asking," Nancy answered with deep gratitude. "He told me yesterday that your family was his savior and that he couldn't imagine what he would have been doing now without your help."

Gary laughed and said," Well, that's good then. Make sure to let me know if he doesn't like the job. I'll arrange another job for him that suits him better." "I'll remember that. Thank you so very much," Nancy replied with a smile.

However, she dared not look at Gary's eyes. The family had been so thoughtful for Brent, but he was ungrateful and had done such a humiliating thing. Fortunately, Brent had returned everything back to where it belonged. It felt like a lot of weight taken off from Nancy's shoulders.

It was the day of Autumn's pregnancy test. Ever since Brent became her chauffeur, he would talk to Autumn every time he drove. However, on the way to the hospital today, he remained quiet and seemed not in a good mood. Even Autumn didn't break the silence in the car.

When the car was well parked at the gate of the hospital, Autumn got out and walked into the hospital all by herself. Upon reaching close to Anthony's office, she happened to see Lisa on the same floor. However, to her bewilderment, Lisa was not as warm to her as she used to be. Lisa cast Autumn a brief glance and quickly looked away.

Autumn could only awkwardly lower the hand she had just raised to greet Lisa.

She had no idea what had happened to Lisa. She could only see that Lisa had suddenly become indifferent to her.