Chapter 244: Mrs. Hale’s Fury!

Time flies.

Before he knew it, Cecelia had already been living in San Fierro for nearly two weeks.

That afternoon, Luca took Cecelia and Daisy home from San Fierro Kanda Hospital after their follow-up examination.

The moment the villa door opened, Trish came skipping across the living room.

She was practically bouncing with excitement, a small notebook clutched tightly in her hand.

"Bro! Look!" she exclaimed, holding it up proudly. "I got my driver’s license!"

Looking back on the past two weeks, Trish had to admit that learning to drive hadn’t been easy.

Being scolded by her instructor every day was bad enough, but practicing under the sweltering summer sun had been torture.

Thankfully, Vivienne had given her and Rachel some high-end sunscreen.

Otherwise, Trish was convinced she might have ended up looking like one of her African friends.

Still, all that suffering had finally paid off.

And there was another reason she had forced herself to endure it.

Luca had promised to buy her a car.

That promise had been the biggest motivation behind her sudden dedication to driving.

Luca took the freshly issued license from her hand and tapped her lightly on the forehead.

"You actually have the nerve to brag about this? If you weren’t so lazy, you probably would’ve gotten it days ago."

He glanced at the license before continuing.

"Rachel started learning after you, and she got hers three days ago."

Of course, Luca knew Trish wasn’t stupid.

She simply had a terrible habit of procrastinating.

Normally, she was carefree and seemed like she rarely took anything seriously. But whenever she actually focused on something, she could finish it quickly and do an excellent job.

The problem was getting her to focus in the first place.

She was always looking for an excuse to be lazy or some shortcut to make things easier.

’It seems she used all her intelligence to figure out how to avoid working.’

Luca couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

’I’ll have to find someone capable of mentoring her properly in the future. Otherwise, how am I supposed to help this girl become the CEO of the group?’

As her older brother, he naturally had to think about her future.

Trish stuck out her tongue and gave him an innocent smile.

If Rachel hadn’t kept provoking her these past few days, she probably would have taken several more days to finally pass.

In fact, the last three days had been the most intense period of driving practice she had experienced throughout the entire two weeks.

For three consecutive days, the two girls had practically lived inside the training car from morning until night.

"Hey, bro."

Trish suddenly wrapped both hands around Luca’s arm and looked up at him sweetly.

"Don’t worry about the little details. You promised to buy me a car, so you can’t go back on your word."

Luca gave her a helpless look.

"We’ll see."

He reached out and ruffled her fluffy hair.

’Would I really go back on my word after promising this girl?’

He had already mentioned the sports car to Vivienne.

It should be arriving soon.

"Sports car, sports car! How old are you?"

Mrs. Hale’s voice came from the living room.

"Why do you keep pestering your brother for this and that all day?"

She was sitting upright on the sofa, her brows slightly furrowed.

Mrs. Hale had always been against the idea of Luca buying Trish a sports car.

In her opinion, Trish now had her driver’s license. That was enough.

Just buy her a reliable car for getting to and from school. There was no reason to waste money on a sports car.

Luca and his mother had actually discussed the matter before.

They had even used the promise of a sports car to motivate Trish to work hard for her college entrance examination.

Judging from her results, it had worked.

Trish had worked much harder than expected and ended up scoring considerably higher than they had originally predicted.

If they went back on their promise now, the girl would definitely be heartbroken.

After Luca repeatedly pleaded with his mother, Mrs. Hale had reluctantly agreed.

Unfortunately, ever since Trish received her license, she had been talking about the sports car nonstop.

Mrs. Hale’s ears were practically numb from hearing about it.

She crossed her arms.

"Why do you always have to compare yourself to other people? Your father has been driving for more than ten years and has never owned a sports car. Yet somehow, your very first car has to be one?"

Mrs. Hale knew exactly what her daughter was thinking.

She could already imagine Trish arriving at university in designer clothes, stepping out of an expensive sports car as though she owned the entire campus.

"Mom, I admit I’m still young," Trish said seriously. "But saying Dad has never driven a sports car is obviously a lie."

No one knew where she had found the courage to argue with Mrs. Hale.

In the corner of the sofa, Mr. Hale had been quietly scrolling through his phone.

The moment he heard those words, his hand nearly went limp.

His phone almost slipped from his fingers.

’This girl is quite a handful!’

He shot Trish a resentful glance.

Mrs. Hale immediately turned toward him.

"Huh? When did you ever drive a sports car?"

As far as she knew, the best car her husband had ever driven was Luca’s Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

That was the same vehicle he had used when he went to pick Trish and Rachel up from driving school.

Mr. Hale suddenly felt a little guilty under his wife’s stare.

He glanced at Trish again before lowering his head.

"Just these past few days."

He paused.

"I tried out my son’s Pagani."

The living room fell silent.

Mrs. Hale’s eyes widened.

Then she slowly took a deep breath.

"So that’s why."

Her voice became increasingly dangerous.

"I always wondered why you used to drop them off at driving school and come straight home. But these past few days, you’ve been returning around mealtime."

She narrowed her eyes.

"So you’ve been going out for a drive?"

Mr. Hale remained silent.

Mrs. Hale had originally thought he had found some new card-playing friends in San Fierro and had started meeting them in the mornings.

She never imagined he had simply been taking Luca’s sports car out for a spin.

It reminded her of the old days.

Mr. Hale had once driven a BMW to a job that paid him only two hundred dollars a month.

Thinking about it that way, perhaps this wasn’t entirely surprising.

Fortunately, the car Luca had bought for him wasn’t a sports car.

Otherwise, she could already imagine her husband driving a supercar to work as a security guard.

Mr. Hale finally tried to defend himself.

"It’s not like I’ve never seen a sports car before. It’s just hard not to get a little tempted when you finally have one within reach."

"Your hands have been itching for three days?"

Mrs. Hale put both hands on her hips.

Her voice rose.

"Do you realize our daughter learned this from you? She loves showing off just as much!"

"Hey, Mom!"

Trish immediately protested.

"Why did you drag me into this when you were talking about Dad?"

She had finally managed to redirect her mother’s attention toward her father.

Why was she still getting dragged into the punishment?

"You have the nerve to ask?"

Mrs. Hale turned toward her.

"If you hadn’t been pestering your brother for a sports car in the first place..."

She didn’t even need to finish.

With her hands planted firmly on her hips, she stared down both her husband and daughter.

Mr. Hale and Trish immediately lowered their heads.

Neither dared say another word.

Meanwhile, Luca sat comfortably on the sofa, watching the entire scene with great interest.

He even had a handful of nuts in his hand.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

The sound continued.

Mrs. Hale’s expression twitched.

"You’re eating nuts now?"

Crack.

Luca calmly popped another one into his mouth.

Mrs. Hale’s patience finally snapped.

"This is all your fault!"

She pointed at him.

"Don’t think I don’t know you only bought that car because you wanted your father to have the keys."

She then turned toward Trish.

"And you! Look how spoiled you’ve become."

Mrs. Hale’s complaints came one after another.

"Designer clothes, expensive watches, and now a sports car. What’s next?"

She shook her head.

"Your father hasn’t even enjoyed this much luxury in his entire life!"

Luca quietly lowered his bowl of nuts.

Trish did the same.

The two of them sat beside Mr. Hale like students waiting outside the principal’s office.

Not long afterward, Cecelia came downstairs with Daisy.

When the elevator doors opened, she immediately noticed the strange atmosphere.

Three people were sitting on the sofa with their heads lowered.

No one spoke.

The room was unusually quiet.

From the kitchen came the faint sound of Mrs. Hale humming happily while preparing something.

Cecelia blinked.

’What happened here?’

It didn’t take much imagination to figure it out.

The three of them had clearly been thoroughly scolded.

And judging from Mrs. Hale’s cheerful humming, she was probably feeling much better now.

"Celia, you came down at just the right time."

Mrs. Hale walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly cut watermelon.

The moment she saw Cecelia, her expression brightened.

"Come here and try some. I just cut it."

There was a clear difference in treatment.

Apparently, the daughter-in-law and grandchildren were the true treasures of this family.

As for her husband, son, and daughter...

’Who are they?’

’We’re not that close.’

"Thank you, Auntie."

Cecelia smiled and accepted the plate.

Having lived with Luca’s family for nearly two weeks, she had already witnessed scenes like this at least three times.

At first, she had tried to intervene whenever Mrs. Hale scolded the others.

Eventually, though, she realized this was simply how the family interacted.

Luca, Trish, and Mr. Hale would occasionally provoke Mrs. Hale on purpose, knowing full well that she would lecture them afterward.

It gave her something to complain about, and somehow, everyone seemed happier afterward.

Cecelia couldn’t help but smile.

’This family really is warm.’

Despite all the bickering, teasing, and occasional shouting, there was an unmistakable closeness between them.

It was the kind of atmosphere that made the villa feel less like a luxurious mansion and more like a real home.