Sweet Sorrow

As Nicole walked down the street with her suitcase in hand, her phone suddenly rang. It was Austin's mother, Selina Zhang. For
a while, Nicole deliberated whether or not she should pick up. With a sigh, she answered the call and put the phone to her ear.
"Blanche said you just came back. Is this true?" Selina Zhang asked in an angry voice.
"Yes," Nicole replied in low spirits.
"Well, you'd better come here right this instant. Tom came by yesterday and gave me some delicious pork ribs. I need you to
make some soup,"
Selina Zhang ordered in her usual, bossy tone.
"I..." Nicole stammered, getting all flustered, "I don't think I--"
But before she could finish her words, Selina Zhang said on the phone, "The doctor told me to drink more soup to supplement
nutrition when I went to the hospital yesterday. You can come later. I'll take out the spareribs from the frozen room."
The phone was directly hung up, and Nicole didn't have a chance to express her will.
She hesitated for a while and decided to go to her mother-in-law's home.
"How was Blanche feeling?" Selina Zhang asked upon Nicole's arrival.
"She's fine!" Nicole bit her lip and answered indifferently, "She and her baby are doing pretty good."
"I'm going to give her a call. You should start cooking dinner now. The ribs are on the table."
Then Selina Zhang impatiently waved her hand, and entered her bedroom with her phone in her hand.
Nicole clenched her teeth, trying her best not to snap back at Selina Zhang.
For over a month, Nicole had been taking care of Selina Zhang's daughter wholeheartedly. Despite this, Selina Zhang didn't
even really care about how Nicole was nor did she even mutter any words of thanks.
There was no warmth or love here for Nicole.
After stewing the sparerib soup, Nicole cooked some rice and prepared some other dishes. She put them on the table and went
to Selina's bedroom to tell her that dinner was ready.

As Selina chatted away on the phone, her face was full of smiles. She had never smiled at Nicole that way when she was talking
to Blanche Liang.
Ten minutes later, Selina finally hung up the phone and walked out the bedroom.
Selina ate the meal Nicole had prepared. When she had finished eating, she looked up at Nicole.
"Austin won't be back until tomorrow. You can stay here tonight. Wash my clothes while you're at it," Selina said with a half-smile.
Nicole was surprised. 'Business trip?
That can't be right. Did Austin lie to his mother?'
Even though Nicole knew that Austin was definitely not on a business trip, she decided not to expose his lie to Selina. After
cleaning up the dishes, she then proceeded to wash Selina's clothes as instructed.
It was a rather big pile of laundry. What's worse, Nicole had to wash it all by hand since Selina did not own a washing machine.
Judging from the amount of dirty clothes here, it looked as if Selina had not washed a single article of clothing ever since Nicole
went to the countryside to look after Blanche Liang.
As Nicole was about to start on the laundry, Selina happened to walk by. "I'm still feeling a bit weak," Selina explained as she
gently rubbed her hands. "That's why I waited for you to do the laundry. I'm old and incapable now, you know." With a sigh,
Selina went on her way.
Deep in her heart, Nicole had a feeling that Selina was just acting. But when Nicole thought of her own mother, who was old and
incapable to do any hard work, she suddenly became sympathetic.
It was already midnight when Nicole had finished washing everything. Feeling so exhausted, she slumped on the sofa and fell
fast asleep.
Early the next morning, Selina woke Nicole up. "There are so many things in this house that need some decent cleaning," Selina
said to her. "Oh, and when you're done with that, I need you to go to the supermarket and buy some things."
All day long, Nicole had worked nonstop. It was not until she had finished making dinner that she was finally able to put her feet
up.
"I'm sure that Austin hasn't eaten enough outside. Don't just sit here quietly. Go and boil an egg custard for him."

Seeing that Nicole was doing nothing, Selina asked her again.
Hearing Selina's mentioning of Austin, Nicole became angry and retorted, "He eats very well outside!"
Selina's face instantly pulled. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Nicole gritted her teeth and said nothing.
"What are you talking about! My son works so hard to earn money outside. Why do you still feel wronged to cook an egg custard
for him? Don't act like you are suffering from some injustice! It is my son who suffers a lot, raising you up for nothing, supporting
your whole family..."
"I won't let him raise any more in the future!" Nicole couldn't bear it any more. She cried.
It was the first time she had spoken to Selina in such a loud voice.
Selina was completely shocked and dumbfounded. At that moment, the front door opened with a creak.
"Well, let's wait and see. I will not spare you today!"
Selina rushed to the door and opened it. She grabbed Austin's arm and began to blame Nicole.
Nicole lowered her head, crying heavily.
She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it.
"Mom, you go inside and have a rest. I'll talk with Nicole," Austin said in a soft, comforting voice.
"She ought to get a better education!" Selina said with a snort, "Otherwise, she might become even more arrogant and
aggressive!"
"Nicole..." Austin came over and reached out to hold Nicole's hand.
Nicole quickly moved her hand away.
"You know what my mom is like. Don't make her angry. After all, she's already very old..."
Nicole raised her head abruptly and her face was covered with tears. "I made her angry? How could I make her angry? I have
been bossed around her like a servant. How is this still my fault?"

Austin swallowed and looked at Nicole with guilt.
There wasn't an ounce of doubt in his heart that Nicole had been doing so much for his family. He knew very well how hard
Nicole had been working to make everyone happy.
Despite this, he kept turning a blind eye.
Nicole knew that Austin was well-aware of her situation, and that was why she was so upset.
"Never mind!" Nicole said, wiping the tears away from her face. "You don't have to worry about me. This will all be over when we
get our divorce tomorrow."
Austin's face fell flat upon hearing Nicole say 'divorce'.
"Divorce? What?!" All of a sudden, the bedroom's door was opened and Selina rushed out.
Now that Nicole had said it, she didn't want to hide anymore. She looked straight at Selina. "Yes. Your son and I will be getting a
divorce. You don't have to worry about him anymore."
Selina couldn't believe it and turned to look at Austin. "Austin, what happened?"
"Mom... Please just stay out of it," Austin said softly.
Then Austin glared at Nicole. "Don't you know when to shut up? My mother is already in poor health!" he said through his teeth.
"Maybe you should have thought twice before cheating on me if you didn't want things to end up like this! Don't try to blame me
for something that you know was your fault to begin with!"
Selina then understood what was going on between Nicole and Austin.
She glanced at the look on Austin's face and rolled her eyes. Then she shouted at Nicole, "Now that I think about it, maybe a
divorce is the best! My son is an excellent, young man. He's good looking and very successful. There are a lot of other women
who would want to be his wife. If only he hadn't so sure about you in the beginning, I would have asked him to stay away from
you! You are a very stupid girl, just like your mother!"
Selina's words were so harsh that Austin flinched, as if the insult was directed towards him.
Even so, he didn't stop his mother from beating down Nicole.

Nicole looked at the two of them with a sneer.
How stupid she was in the past year that she didn't notice that this family had such an awful character!
With a sarcastic smile, she turned to look at Austin. "I'll meet you at the Bureau of Civil Affairs tomorrow morning."
She quickly grabbed her suitcase and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.
Now, she knew where she had to be, and that was as far away from these people as possible.