Chapter 247
“Madam, are you going out?”
“Yes, James said he wanted to take me out to dine at the Regent Hotel, so I thought I’d come back and get dressed up a bit.”
Calla heard the words “Regent Hotel,” and a spark of excitement briefly lit up in her eyes.
Sophie, observing Calla’s reaction, couldn’t help but smile slightly before saying, “Well, you go ahead with your plans. I’ll be heading upstairs.”
“Alright.”
As soon as Sophie ascended the stairs, Calla hurriedly untied her apron and made her way to the living room on the first floor.
From the second floor, Sophie saw this, and her lips curved into a small smile.
She didn’t expect Calla to be so eager. But, it was just as well, sparing her the effort of finding another way to get Calla to show up.
Sophie returned to her room to choose her evening gown. She was naturally beautiful and didn’t need much adornment, but tonight, she wanted to look exceptionally grand. It was time for her to assert her status as Mrs. Burke and make a statement.
An hour later, Sophie came downstairs, only to find that Calla was no longer there.
Bea was sitting on the couch, eyeing her current attire with a hint of dissatisfaction. “It’s so late. Who are you going out with? And you are dressed up like this.”
“Bea, I’m going to discuss business with James. It’s almost time. I must be going,” Sophie replied, losing her previous patience for playing along with Bea’s act.
ཏྱཾ Õཋ རོ ཕ ཕ གཽ ནིཏྟཾ ན ཝཿཨཽ ༄ཋ ཝཿ༅ ༀ ཉོཏྲྰཾ འཇོ ༤ ༈ ྃ ཧཱུཾཿ ཇོརྗ ྃ
Bea’s expression darkened. “What kind of attitude is that, Sophie?” She snapped, “Have you forgotten how you begged me when you
wanted to marry James?”
Sophie paused. It seemed Bea was really showing her age, with her threats being so predictably cliché.
Sophie turned around, smiling at Bea, “How could I forget, Bea? But lately, Burke International has been struggling, and James has been busy negotiating business deals. I’m just trying to help him.”
“Don’t sweet–talk me. If you really loved James and wanted what’s best for him, why on earth would you have sold that land to what’s–his–name, Blake?”
At this, Sophie frowned.
James hadn’t mentioned this to Bea. Who could have let it slip?
Soon enough, Sophie had her answer. How could she forget? Another person in the house was eager to become Mrs. Burke.
“Bea, I’m really pressed for time. Let’s talk when I get back,” Sophie said before turning to leave, leaving Bea, who was clearly not used to being dismissed so easily, with a sour expression.
After Sophie left, Calla emerged from her room. She was dressed in a simple yet clean dress, not as grand as Sophie’s but radiating a pure and charming vibe.
“Grandma Bea…”
Bea glanced at Calla and frowned. “Are you going out?”
“Yes, I just wanted to take a walk,” Calla said, her cheeks blushing as she spoke.
“To take a walk dressed like that?” Bea was no fool and quickly guessed Calla’s intention.
Watching Bea’s smile fade, Calla bit her lip and said, “…”
“I know you like James, but you must understand that becoming a Burke family daughter–in–law requires more than obedience and understanding. Remember your place.” Bea’s tone was full of warnings.
Calla understood all too well. The Devins family was of modest means, and with her background, marrying into the Burke family seemed like an impossible dream.