Chapter 988: I Care (part one)

"Mom, don't be mad at Claire. She is right. It's true that my brother and his wife work for companies." Leena said as a realization hit her. Gradually, she became hypocritical. She pretended to be calm despite being irritated by Claire's words. Her friendliness was suddenly so fake that it made her feel sick.

"I know you're very kind, Leena. But you may suffer if you're too nice to others," sighed Shannon. In her opinion, there was nothing wrong about being nice to the family, but then people outside of the family would still intend to bully a nice person. Leena might come to grief if she would continue being such.

"Mom, thank you for reminding me. I'll be careful." Leena didn't think that her kindness would make her suffer at all. As a matter of fact, she had never suffered from someone doing her wrong. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and everything had been catered to her. Her family loved her dearly, and she had never experienced working hard for even just a day. She had been protected all her life that the word suffering was almost a foreign word.

"Leena, what are you talking about with my mom?" Kevin walked over slowly and whispered to Leena. One of his arms automatically wrapped her waist as he looked at her tenderly and lovingly.

"Nothing important. Just a casual talk. Have you finished talking with your dad?" Leena looked up to Kevin with twinkling eyes. She didn't intend for her expression to be that way but her heart unconsciously made her do so. She was nothing but charming!

"Yeah. If I'm not wrong, my mom must have asked you something about your family." Kevin glanced at his mother as he spoke to Leena. It was only seconds ago when his father had a conversation with him inside the study. Nathan asked him about his work and Leena's family background. Nonetheless, he told Nathan all he knew without any reservations. Nathan had a wide range of contacts. It would be pointless to hide anything from his dad as he would eventually find things out anyway. Thus, he thought that he'd better tell Nathan everything frankly. Moreover, Leena was from a decent family. There was no need to hide anything in connection to his wife. Nathan might not like Leena right now. Kevin had decided he would do everything just to make his father like her.

"Kevin, can't Mom ask these things? Look at you. You're nervous." Claire pouted after saying those words. She couldn't bear the affection that her brother was showing to his wife. She was jealous because Kevin had never treated her in such a way.

"I didn't mean that. I was worried that Mom would ask too many questions. It's Leena's first visit here and everything is new to her. She needs some time to find her feet." Worry wrinkled Kevin's forehead. He was usually careless but he had sensed that his sister was unfriendly to Leena. However, he couldn't do anything but silently pray for Claire to change her attitude after knowing his wife.

"Don't worry, Kevin. Mom didn't make detailed inquiries. We just talked about some ordinary subjects. Don't get her wrong." Leena was embarrassed. She felt that she was a stranger in this family. Claire's rude remarks hurt her feelings and put her on a defensive mood. The relation between Claire and her reached deadlock on the very first day. It would be unbearable for her to live under the same roof with Claire in the next few days.

"See? I didn't make any excuse for myself. It's your wife who said that. You should trust her, right?" Shannon gave Leena an approving look. She was quite satisfied with her sensible daughter-in-law. Kevin would have blamed her if Leena didn't speak for her.

"Mom, what are you talking about? I trust both of you. Are you guys done talking? If you are, we'll go upstairs." Kevin had always been poker-faced in front of his family. The tenderness he was giving to his wife wasn't something they saw every day. His father was always strict with his children. It was probably what influenced Kevin to be stiff as that was what he was usually exposed to at home.

"Relax," Shannon joked at Kevin, "We won't make things difficult for your wife." Reputedly, a man would ignore his mother and have eyes only for his wife after he got married. Kevin was a huge breathing proof of that. Shannon wouldn't make a fuss about it though because she sincerely liked her sensible daughter-in-law. Moreover, it would be useless to feel down about her son's changes since they were staying inside the same house. It would just stress her if she took everything to heart.

"Mom is right," Claire ironically said as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Kevin, who cares?" She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. Her disdainful face was clearly displaying how much she hated Leena. She was from a family of officials while Leena was just from a regular family. She was simply out of her league. Their families weren't of equal status and it was embarrassing. She would never want to accept Leena as a member of her family as it would be humiliating once her friends and classmates found out that she was just a cheap nobody.

"I care. Leena is my wife. She makes my heart smile. Every day without her is like a book without pages. As the saying goes, she who has never loved has never lived. Claire, you should try to love someone hard." Kevin stared at his sister intently. Although Claire didn't like Leena, Leena occupied a very important space in his heart. He cared for his wife dearly and there was no way that he would leave her in the future.