Sweet Divorce novel Chapter 43

"Charlotte, why do you care so much about Rita's relationship with Liam?" Mason didn't understand.

Recently, because the goods wouldn't sell, everyone of the Brown family was worried. Especially Mason.

He was in charge of the clothing business with which something went wrong.

Mason grabbed Charlotte and said with reddened eyes, "Charlotte, forget about Rita. Think of a way to help me sell those clothes."

"You useless man! You are begging our daughter? Do you have no shame? If you had not offended the wholesalers, we wouldn't have been in such a position!" Grace Davis, who had been sitting at the bedside, pushed Mason hard.

"Mom, don't do this to Dad!"

Charlotte glared at Grace and went to help Mason up.

"Dad, don't worry, I've figured out a way to help you with this mess."

"What are you going to do?" Mason's eyes were full of expectations.

"You'll know later," Charlotte replied mysteriously.

The last few times, she had been so careless as to give Rita chances to please their grandma.

This time, she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Not just that, she would beat Rita!

"Charlotte, you keep secrets from me? Tell me." Mason was curious.

Charlotte patted him on the shoulder confidently. "Dad, I can only tell you not to worry. I will help you."

After all, what she was going to do this time was her strong suit!

***

Meanwhile, in Rita's room, as soon as Mason left, the flattering smile on her face disappeared, and she threw the fruit platter onto the table.

Phew! Mason was finally gone. Her smile would freeze if he had stayed any longer.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she wiped her hands. "Now you can rest. I'm going to see my parents. I'll be back when the meal is ready."

After that, Rita turned and walked towards the door.

"Rita, do you think that's appropriate?" Liam asked. Confused, Rita turned around. "What do you mean?"

Talking to him was torture. It was hard to keep pace with his thinking. That was how she felt right now.

"Do I get nothing in return for playing along?" He raised his eyebrows. "Not even a thank you?"

Rita finally understood. She shook her head. "No." Liam was lost for words.

"It's a mutually beneficial relationship. Helping me is helping you. Am I right, Mr. Wilson?" Rita put on a fake smile again.

***

Liam ignored her rhetorical question and walked to the sofa. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room was icy. Rita didn't think it weird, though; she was used to it.

"Mr. Wilson, is there anything else?" she asked with an insincere smile.

"Water!" Liam said as he read a magazine.

"There's no water."

Liam paused and glared at her, demanding, "I dare you say it again!"

Rita felt a chill run down her spine. After all, he still scared her, though not as much as before.

In this situation, she used to compromise at once and begin to please him. But not anymore.

She hid the last trace of fear inside her and said, "Mr. Wilson, solve the problem yourself. If you're thirsty, there’s water downstairs. If you don’t want to go, you can eat grapes to quench your thirst."

With that, Rita left and went to her parents' room. Looking at her retreating figure, Liam frowned.

Her attitude had changed as soon as their act ended. He felt she was unpredictable.

Sitting on the sofa, Liam thought of the aloof look in her eyes. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and smoked. Inexplicably, he felt upset.

It seemed that a lot of things had gotten out of his control lately. That feeling sucked.

During lunch, Rita and Liam came to the living room one after another.

He sat down first. The others didn't take a seat until Amelia said so.

The mood in the dining room was depressing. Everyone was smiling, but everyone was up to something.

"Liam, a backlog of clothes didn't sell recently. It has been bothering me," Amelia said at the end of the meal. "Would you like to help us?"

Except for Rita, all the people turned to Liam. He put down his chopsticks gracefully but did not rush to answer Amelia's question.

He glanced at Rita who was having her meal quietly beside him, and asked, "Do you think I should help?"

"Ahem, you're asking me?" Rita looked at him in surprise.

"It's up to you to decide." Liam nodded. For a moment, Rita was in a daze.

'What is he doing? How could he decide something so important so haphazardly?'

Not only Rita but also the Browns were surprised. But soon, her family accepted the fact. They all looked at her joyfully.

They thought that Rita was family after all; so of course she would help them.

Suddenly, Mason's heart skipped a beat.

"Rita, this is your favorite, the poached spicy slices of pork." Mason picked up some food for her flatteringly. "When you were five years old, you wanted to eat poached spicy slices of pork. I went to buy it for you in heavy rain."

Mason's eyes even reddened. "Rita, I count on you this time!"

Charlotte looked at her father, her face livid. But since her grandma had acquiesced to Mason fawning on Rita, she had to put up with it.

Under the table, she pinched herself so hard her nails pierced her flesh.

Noticing Charlotte's pale face, Grace whispered to her, "Charlotte, you said you came up with an idea to help solve the problem with clothing business. Tell us, or Rita's family will take all the credit."

"Rest assured, that won't happen." Charlotte looked at Rita, confident. "The backlog of clothes is in large numbers. Liam is a businessman. Getting involved in this will not do him any good. He will not take care of it."

"Well, didn't he just let Rita decide?" Grace asked.

"If Liam really wanted to help, he wouldn't have left things to Rita," Charlotte analyzed. Grace eventually got it.

Yes, Liam was shrewd. He wouldn't have let Rita make a decision involving such a large sum of money.

If that idiot, Rita, didn't understand that the Brown family ...

She would suffer humiliation. Huh!

The more she thought about it, the more Grace looked forward to knowing what Rita would say.