Chapter 14: Secret Boyfriend

The sudden scream stunned both Mrs. Xu and Joann. Both women stopped right in their tracks.

Making use of this opportunity, Sylvia first turned to Mrs. Xu and said, "Grandma, I am sorry for what I did and I promise to be more careful in the future."

Mrs. Xu nodded more from reflex than actual acknowledgement.

Before either of the women could recover from their shock, Sylvia ushered Joann out of the living room and disappeared up the stairs.

If Xu Jing was bomb diffuser number one in the Xu household, then Sylvia was definitely bomb diffuser number two. However, while Xu Jing relied on his charm and self-debasing pleas, Sylvia depended more on shock tactic as evidenced by what she did that night.

Back in the safe refuge of Joann's room, Sylvia thought things would just blow over then but one glance at her mother's face told her it was not over yet.

"Mom, why the long face? You should not take what grandma had to say to heart. You know how it is. People say things they do not mean when things got heated. At the end of the day, I know that she means well." Sylvia curled her arm around her mother's waist as they both sat down on Joann's bed.

Joann sighed and said, "I know, I know…"

Then she turned to look at this spirited daughter of hers and a frown appeared on her face. As the fire from the argument left her, some details that were revealed during the fight now cropped up in her mind. There was one that specifically concerned her daughter.

"What did your grandmother say earlier? Something about you lying to her about your whereabouts when you were staying late outside? Young lady, is there anything you want to tell me?" Joann began.

This time it was Sylvia's turn to sigh, "Mom, I was hoping you would have forgotten about that already…"

Knowing she was not going to get out of this one without giving up some information, Sylvia admitted, "Grandma saw a male friend of mine sent me home in his car earlier and that was the reason of the lecture.

"What I told grandma was the truth, or well, partial truth. He is indeed just a friend... at least from how I see it but I do know he wants to be more than friends."

Joann turned into Chinese mother mode instantly and bombarded her daughter with a series of questions, "What is the boy's occupation? What is his family background? How much is his monthly salary? When are you going to bring him home for your parents to see?"

Joann did not ask what the boy's name was because to be honest, that was not that important to a Chinese mother who was selecting her future son-in-law.

"Mom… If you are going to be like that, I'd rather go back downstairs and face grandma's lecture…"

"Alright, fine. You win, but I only have one question." Joann took Sylvia's silence as the permission to carry on, "Have you been using protection?"

"Mom!" Sylvia looked at Joann with something akin to terror on her face.

Joann could not help but laugh. She added, "Come on, Sylvia. You have to give me something. You know you will need to let us see the boy sooner or later right? At least tell me what his job is."

A frown appeared on Sylvia's face as if she was contemplating whether to come clean or not before a wicked grin appeared on her face and she said, "Mom, that is for me to know and for you to find out."

"You cheeky little thing!" Joann said as she swiped jokingly at Sylvia.

Sylvia leaned back to evade and raised both her arms up in a defensive posture, adding, "Mom, no domestic abuse please! Either way, you are not going to break me! This mouth is zipped!"

The pair of mother and daughter had quite a laugh after that.

As the night started to wind down, Sylvia suddenly asked Joann, "By the way, mom, how is Auntie Xiu Ling doing? If I am not mistaken, doesn't her due date fall on this month?"

"You are right… I think I shall schedule a meet-up with her within these next few days then, I have not seen her for a while already," Joann reached for her phone before asking Sylvia, "Would you like to come along? Auntie Xiu Ling would love to see you."

"Thanks but I have work to do for the rest of this week. Maybe next time but do send Auntie Xiu Ling my best regards. Her baby boy will definitely the cutest thing ever."

…

'Will Lin Kang be there for the birth?'

'Is Auntie Sun an ally or a foe?'

'Will they give me the chance to even name my child?'

'How is mother handling the situation back home without me?'

Myriad questions were flooding Xiu Ling's mind when she received a message notification on her phone. She reached across the bed to grab her phone. It was message from Joann.

"Xiu Ling, it is almost time for our Three-month Club meeting already. Can you believe it has almost been three months? Time flies. Since you might be having the baby any day now, I believe it will be much more convenient if you have the meeting at your house. What do you think about that?"

Before Xiu Ling could fire back a reply, another message came. It was also from Joann.

"And also, Sylvia says hi."

Xiu Ling could not help but smile. Talking to her best friend would probably do her some good because the distraction might help her get her mind off things.

"Of course, I would love to have you, Joann. How about tomorrow? And if possible, bring Sylvia with you."

"Tomorrow afternoon sounds perfect. Sylvia sent her thanks for the invitation but she will not be able to make it due to work complications."

"Such a shame. I will see you tomorrow then, Joann."

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