The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 684 A Pretty Difficult Character

"George, how could you do that?" asked Sula. In a fluid and easy manner, she dipped the streaky pork in barbecue sauce, wrapped it in a lettuce leaf and put it in his bowl. George and Sula sat facing each other. She spoke to him in a slightly reproachful tone, "You know what her general health has been like these last few years. But you were so angry with her and spoke such harsh words. After you left her that day, she lay quietly in the hotel the entire day and night without eating anything. If something had happened to her, would it have made you happy?"

"It's all my fault", Holley said in a dramatic tone, sitting next to him. Deep in her heart she hoped that Donna would actually fall sick and never recover. She continued, "They quarreled so fiercely because of me. I am to blame."

"Holley." Sula had a gentle smile on her face, but what she said was not gentle at all. "Whatever happened because of you is not something that is reward worthy. Don't be so anxious to take credit for it. It has nothing to do with you specifically but is a general matter between mother and son."

Sula's words made Holley sulk. At that very moment she knew that Sula was a more tricky character than Donna. It was going to be difficult to handle this woman.

After hearing that Donna was not feeling well, George looked worried. He looked at his mother and asked, "Why didn't you call me?"

"Would it have worked to lessen your anger? Would you have come running to take care of me?" said Donna, with a faint sneer on her face.

When she said this, George remembered that she had made many phone calls to him, but he had ignored them in his anger. He could not help regretting his unbecoming behavior.

Holley gritted her teeth. When Donna and Sula had entered the room, she had been having the upper hand with George. But things had gone wrong when Sula began to talk. Just a few words from her had made George worry about Donna's health. Holley knew she had to sway George soon. What could she do next?

George looked at Donna and said, "Mother, if you hadn't been so unreasonable, I wouldn't have gone so far as not to answer the phone."

He sighed, "If Holley had not arranged this meeting today, I still would not have seen you. I know that you have not liked her ever since I started dating her. But I like her. I am so happy when we are together, and I really want to live with her for the rest of my life."

When Donna heard that, she immediately wanted to laugh and ridicule it, but Sula, sitting beside her, pulled her arm gently to remind her that she should be patient and play her cards right.

They had lost so many times that they just could not continue to lose further.

Donna, reminded by Sula, forced herself not to say a word.

Donna's silence encouraged George to talk more. "Mother, even if you don't like Holley, it does not mean that you can go into the ward and beat her up like that. Just look at her face. It hasn't recovered yet. What kind of hatred do you harbour for her? Is your dislike so strong that you could not control yourself from whacking her?"

"It was..." Donna stammered. 'She deserved it!'

Donna thought but thankfully did not blurt out.

Holley smiled and pretended to be very sensible and understanding. She said to George, "It's all right. What has happened has happened. Don't speak of that any more. That injury is trivial. Don't make a fuss about it. It's OK."

She looked at Donna with a deliberately provocative smile.

Donna thought of Sula's warning. She knew that she must hold back her anger or she would really lose her war with Holley.

She looked steadily at Holley and said with a smile, "I was so impulsive, and it was all my fault. I should have controlled my temper. Holley, I must apologize to you."

"Aunt Donna, you don't have to do this," said Holley, who seemed to be overwhelmed by the unexpected apology. "I have never blamed you. On the contrary, I'm so sorry to see that you and George fight because of me. I... I don't want to be the cause of a conflict between you two."

Donna chuckled, "You can rest assured, Holley. George will remain my son, no matter what happens. I'll never allow things to go out of hand with him. Resentment between mother and son will never last for long. The bond between us is too strong."

"That's right!" Sula exclaimed as soon as Donna has done talking. She went on, "It's so good to see you two get along well again."

George was surprised that Donna, who had always been a dominating person, apologized to Holley. Then he said to his mother in a soft tone,"Mother, in fact, I was wrong too, I shouldn't have lost my temper a you, let alone upset you by saying harsh words."

"That's all right." Donna laughed joyfully. She saw that their plan was working. It was not so hard to pretend to be an understanding mother.

She gazed at her son gently. "You are my son. Of course, I hope you always replace happiness in your life. How can I resent anything that brings you happiness?"

"Mom..." George frowned slightly. "But we still need to discuss Holley and reach an understanding about her."

Donna calmly glanced at him and said no more.

George sighed again and said, "I know that you don't like her, but that's because you don't know what kind of girl she is. In fact this time when you came to Y City, I wanted you to get to know Holley well. I was confident that if you two spent time together, you would like her a lot. But I never expected that..."

George smiled bitterly and continued, "I didn't expect that so many things would go wrong. Now that we have sorted this out, can you give Holley a chance and get to know more about her?"

"Well..." Donna frowned in embarrassment. Gave Holley a chance? That was simply out of the question.

Seeing Donna's hesitation, Sula smiled and said, "Don't worry. Aunt Donna will certainly agree."

She looked straight at Holley and added, "In fact, I didn't know what kind of person you were until today. You were willing to organize this meeting in spite of all that has happened, so I think that you must be a very generous and forgiving person. Aunt Donna, we have to thank her. Otherwise George would still have not forgiven us."

"Sula, you are right. That is true. We must say thank you to her." Donna agreed with Sula.

Getting Donna's verbal approval, Sula turned to look at Holley. "Holley, I want to thank you on behalf of Aunt Donna and George. Without you, they would not have sorted out the issue for a long time. Because of you the family rift has healed."

Sula acted like she was part of the family and an important member therein. She had cleverly turned the tables around. By thanking Holley, she actually turned Holley into an outsider and herself into the family insider.