Chapter 332: I Am Serious About You

When Anne Sutton heard what Nathan Fawcett said, she thought for a moment. "Didn’t you say your grandfather is coming back? I’m afraid he won’t like me."

Hearing this, Nathan Fawcett said, "You’re still worried about that? It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. All that matters is that I like you. As long as I’m by your side, I’ll do my best to make sure you’re never treated unfairly. Since I’ve decided to be with you, I’ll find a way to take care of everything else."

Anne Sutton looked at Nathan Fawcett. "Nathan, I think relationships should be simple. When two people get together, they shouldn’t make each other’s lives harder than they were before. You were pretty happy living with the Linden family. I’m afraid that if I stay by your side, I’ll just cause you trouble. If that’s the case, then there’s really no point."

Hearing this, Nathan Fawcett said, "I’m happier with you than I ever was before. Is that reason enough?"

"Really? Then how come I haven’t seen it?" Anne Sutton said. "I’m not so sure I believe you."

Nathan Fawcett took advantage of a red light to free one hand and take hers. "Stop overthinking things. My grandfather’s actually a pretty good guy. It’s not a given that he’ll dislike you. What if he ends up liking you?"

"Do you think he’d let Ethan’s widow marry you? He probably doesn’t even know that Ethan passed away, does he?"

Nathan Fawcett looked at Anne Sutton and said, "Let’s worry about that later. Aren’t you exhausted? You work so hard all day, and you still have to think about so much after you get off."

Anne Sutton smiled. "I’m not tired. I’m worried about you."

"I’m not tired," Nathan Fawcett said. "If you’re skeptical, I don’t mind proving it when we get home."

The moment he said he’d prove it, she immediately understood what he meant and quickly said, "No, don’t! I know you’re incredible. You win, I’m scared of you!"

Nathan Fawcett looked at her and smiled.

When they got home, Anne Sutton quickly went to take a shower.

...

"Ma’am, would you like to get some dinner?" Chloe Chase asked from the driver’s seat. Anna Linden was sitting in the back of the car.

Anna Linden, sitting in the back seat, gazed at a restaurant that had just opened on the side of the street. "Is that place new?"

Chloe Chase glanced over. "I believe so."

The number of customers in the restaurant had started to dwindle.

It wasn’t as bustling as it had been during the day.

"Let’s eat there," Anna Linden said.

Chloe Chase looked at her, a little surprised. "But, Ma’am... don’t you dislike Westhaven Cuisine?"

Ever since her divorce from Arthur Fawcett, she’d had a strong aversion to Westhaven Cuisine and usually made a point to avoid it.

"I just haven’t had it in a long time," Anna Linden said.

Hearing this, Chloe Chase nodded, found a place to park, and the two of them went inside.

Mrs. Sutton was just about to close for the night, but when she saw customers come in, she hurried to greet them.

She stood by their table, introducing the restaurant’s specialties to Anna Linden, who then said, "We’ll have what you just mentioned."

Mrs. Sutton nodded. "Alright."

About half an hour later, the food arrived.

Mrs. Sutton brought the dishes over herself.

She placed them in front of Anna Linden.

Anna Linden, sitting at the table, picked up her spoon and took a sip of the soup. She looked up at Mrs. Sutton and said, "This is delicious."

’Anne Sutton’s cooking has spoiled me recently. I rarely have an appetite when I eat out.’

’But these dishes from Mrs. Sutton are surprisingly good.’

"Thank you for the compliment," said Mrs. Sutton.

She didn’t leave right away, instead staying to explain the little details of how to eat the dishes to enhance their flavor.

As Anna Linden listened to Mrs. Sutton’s explanation, she was reminded of Arthur Fawcett. ’He used to explain things to me just like this...’

’He was a true Westhaven native and would tell me all about his favorite Westhaven dishes.’

’But over time, the Westhaven Cuisine you’d find in restaurants just didn’t taste the same as it used to.’

After Nathan Fawcett’s talk with her last time, Anna Linden had been thinking a lot about Arthur Fawcett. ’Maybe I’ve been too stubborn,’ she thought, ’unwilling to forgive him, and unwilling to forgive myself.’

’It’s gotten to the point where whenever I see Nathan, even though he’s my own son, I sometimes take out my anger toward his father on him.’

Anna Linden looked at Mrs. Sutton and asked, "Are you from Westhaven?"

"Yes," Mrs. Sutton said. "I’ve lived in Westhaven for decades. I’ve hardly ever left."

"Then what made you decide to come all the way out here?"

"My daughter works out here," Mrs. Sutton replied.

"Oh, I see." Anna Linden smiled.

After the meal, as they were leaving, Mrs. Sutton walked them out, seeing them all the way to their car.

The two divorced women had, surprisingly, hit it off.

...

Anne Sutton lay in bed. She had slept for a little while before waking up again.

She’d been exhausted during the day, but now, having gone to bed so early, she found she couldn’t fall back asleep.

She picked up her phone and spent some time scrolling through the material she needed to memorize for an upcoming exam.

Seeing Nathan Fawcett beside her, she asked, "Oh, by the way, how has your mom been lately? I’ve been so busy at the hospital the last couple of days that I haven’t seen her. Has her appetite improved at all?"

Anne Sutton had been so busy with work lately that she hadn’t been able to keep up.

"I haven’t asked," Nathan Fawcett said.

"Why not?" Anne Sutton looked at him. "You should ask her."

"I never ask her about things like that."

"Why not?" Anne Sutton asked, confused.

"She’s not a child. She knows how to eat," Nathan Fawcett said. "Asking might just bother her."

"You silly man." Anne Sutton looked at Nathan Fawcett. "Let me ask you this: if it were Ethan Linden, do you think he’d be afraid to ask your mother about something like this? Knowing her appetite was poor, wouldn’t he have checked in on her from time to time? But you? You’re so afraid of bothering her. You might see it as not wanting to be a bother, but in her eyes, it just looks like her son is completely indifferent."

"Ethan Linden grew up with her. She liked him more. So he could ask anything he wanted."

"Oh, Nathan!" Hearing him say that, Anne Sutton put down her phone and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned into his embrace, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "How can you be so dense? Your mother preferred Ethan simply because she thought he was so sweet and attentive. The truth is, you care about her just as much as he did, don’t you? But if you keep things like that hidden in your heart and never express them, how is anyone supposed to know? It’s like how you feel about me. If you never said it, how would I know? I might have even thought you didn’t care about me, or that you hated me. Just ask her how she’s doing from time to time. You’re her son, too. What’s wrong with a son showing his mother some concern? If you do it more often, she’ll slowly start to see your good side!"

’If he didn’t actually care about his mother, then it would be a different story; Anne wouldn’t push him to do something so troublesome.’

’But he clearly longed for his mother’s affection, just like Ethan had received.’

So Anne couldn’t help but give him a little nudge.

That’s how relationships worked. If you didn’t take the initiative, the other person would never understand.

Nathan Fawcett looked at her. "But you were the one who told me not to get too hung up on it before."

"My point was that you don’t have to invest so much of your heart into it," Anne Sutton said. "But you can still make the effort, can’t you?"

Nathan Fawcett looked at her. "So, is that what you’re doing with me? Just making the effort? No wonder you have me wrapped around your little finger."

"How could you say that?" Seeing him accuse her so unfairly, Anne Sutton immediately protested, "I’m completely serious about you! Everything I tell you is the truth."