Chapter 209: Married Off to Make Room for Her Brother
Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Married Off to Make Room for Her Brother
Renee wasn’t quite sure if she had misheard. She looked at Chocolate and asked, "Were you just cursing at someone?"
"Cursing?" FriedIceCream’s eyes flew open. She looked down at the blue cat in her arms. "Chocolate, I asked you to wish Renee well. How could you curse at someone?"
"I’m not cursing at Renee!" Chocolate tilted his head back, meowing. "I’m cursing at your heartless mom, Kiki."
Hearing this, Renee explained to FriedIceCream, "Kiki, Chocolate isn’t cursing at me."
"Oh, that’s good, that’s good!" FriedIceCream breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned in confusion. "Then who is Chocolate cursing at?"
Chocolate meowed again. "Your despicable mom!"
"Chocolate, can you tell me why?" A hint of curiosity flickered in Renee’s eyes. "Why do you say she’s heartless and despicable?"
[Huh? Is something going on?]
[Yes! This is the kind of drama I live for~~~]
[So who is the blue cat cursing at?]
When Chocolate realized the person on the screen could understand him, he meowed urgently, "Can you stop Kiki from going on that blind date?"
Renee raised an eyebrow. "Chocolate, you have to tell me why first."
FriedIceCream blinked, her face a mask of confusion. She wanted to ask what was going on but was afraid to interrupt the conversation between Renee and Chocolate, so she held her tongue.
"Kiki’s mom..." Chocolate recounted everything he had discovered.
Renee’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. A grave expression crept over her fair, clear face, and her lips pressed into a thin line. ’This is outrageous,’ she thought.
’How could a mother treat her own daughter this way? So blatantly favoring a son?’
[The streamer’s expression is so serious. Something big must be happening!]
[So what did Chocolate say?]
FriedIceCream grew a little nervous as well. She had seen enough of Renee’s streams to know that this kind of situation usually meant something bad had happened.
At that thought, her chest tightened. It felt as if an invisible hand had gripped her heart, which now began to pound with anxiety.
"Renee, Chocolate..." FriedIceCream asked cautiously, "Who was Chocolate cursing at?"
Renee’s expression softened slightly. "It’s a member of your family," she said gently. "Someone very important to you."
"Is it my dad?" FriedIceCream guessed.
Renee shook her head. "It’s your mother."
"My mom?" FriedIceCream’s eyes widened in surprise. "How is that possible? My mom is so good to me."
Hearing this, Chocolate shook his fluffy head and sighed. "You idiot, Kiki. It’s all fake. She’s been tricking you!"
Renee met the girl’s incredulous gaze and said slowly, "Kiki, did you go back to your hometown in the last couple of days to prepare for a blind date?"
"Yes." FriedIceCream nodded. "I haven’t been in a relationship, and this is my zodiac year, so my parents started to get anxious. They’ve been pushing me to find someone, especially my mom. She’s been working really hard on this, and she’s the one who arranged this blind date."
Renee’s expression didn’t change as she raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever wondered why your mother is working so hard to arrange a blind date for you?"
"My mother explained it to me." FriedIceCream’s mood seemed to lighten, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "She said a girl should take her time and be picky while she’s young. Otherwise, once you hit thirty, you’re the one who gets chosen by men, not the other way around."
[Uh, as a thirty-two-year-old single woman, I feel personally attacked!]
[Honey, your mother is both right and wrong. A relationship is a two-way street. It’s not like you lose your right to choose someone just because you turn thirty.]
[Your mom is gaslighting you.]
[Her mom definitely doesn’t have her best interests at heart. Otherwise, Chocolate wouldn’t be cursing her.]
Renee noticed that whenever FriedIceCream mentioned her mother, her expression was filled with dependence and trust.
She pursed her lips. "Kiki, you seem to really depend on your mother, don’t you?"
"Yes." A cheerful look appeared on FriedIceCream’s face. "My mom is great to me—even better than my dad!"
Renee found it a little strange that she would use her father as a point of comparison for how good her mother was to her.
She thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "You feel your mother is better to you, but isn’t it possible that your father just keeps his concern for you in his heart and doesn’t express it as openly?"
"Renee," FriedIceCream said earnestly, "actually, she’s not my biological mother. My birth mother ran off with someone when I was two. My dad didn’t marry my current mom until I was five."
[For a stepmom to leave that good of an impression on you, that’s pretty amazing.]
[Don’t be so quick to praise her. I have a feeling something’s fishy. Chocolate must have discovered her dark side, which is why he’s cursing her.]
’So she’s a stepmother.’
’That would explain why she’s treating FriedIceCream this way.’
Suddenly, Renee felt a weight lift from her shoulders.
She looked at the girl on the screen and said gently, "Kiki, your mother isn’t pushing you to get married because she’s concerned about you."
"Huh?" FriedIceCream was stunned. "Not because she’s concerned? That’s impossible. My mom is really good to me. Every time I head back to work after a visit, she packs tons of food for me to take with me. She even calls to remind me to eat on time and always wants to mail me snacks."
[Maybe there’s a misunderstanding... This stepmom actually sounds pretty great.]
[I’m sticking with my original theory: the stepmom is no good.]
Renee said, a little exasperated, "Kiki, you send a good portion of your salary home, don’t you?"
FriedIceCream explained, "I used to send five thousand a month home. But last year I bought a car and have car payments, so I cut it down to two thousand a month."
Renee said, "Here’s what happened. Chocolate overheard your stepmom talking to her side of the family. She was saying that you’re not willing to send money home anymore and you’re still taking up a room in the house. She wants to marry you off to free up that room for your brother."
FriedIceCream’s eyelashes fluttered, and a look of stunned disbelief spread across her face. She whispered unconsciously, "What..."
[So the stepmom was only nice to FriedIceCream for the money.]
[Now that the money’s less, she can’t stand her anymore and wants to marry her off to free up a room for her own son.]
[It’s the ones who hide a knife behind a smile that are the scariest!]
[See? I told you the stepmom was no good.]
FriedIceCream looked at the comments, completely at a loss. Her eyes started to turn red and her voice caught in a sob. "Maybe... maybe Chocolate misheard?"
All the fur on Chocolate’s body instantly stood on end. His whiskers trembled with rage and his round, amber eyes were wide with fury. "Kiki, you’re an idiot! I didn’t mishear! I heard everything perfectly clear!"
"Chocolate didn’t mishear," Renee said, her tone level. "Your stepmom said she was nice to you for the sake of her reputation, to save face. That, and the five thousand you sent home every month. Now that it’s only two thousand, she doesn’t think it’s worth it. Besides, her two sons are older now and want their own rooms. Since there are only three bedrooms in the house, her solution is to marry you off."