With both his mother-in-law and sister-in-law backing him up, Thomas couldn’t falter at this critical moment. He turned his head and formally called the two of them, “Mom! Sister-in-law!”
“You all chat first; I’ll be right back.”
Sophia Wood nodded at Thomas, immediately leaving the living room, though she returned shortly after with a big red envelope in hand.
She walked straight to her eldest son-in-law with the red envelope, “Thomas! This is the money Mom prepared for you for changing how you address me. It was all really rushed, so Mom didn’t prepare much; please don’t think it’s too little.”
“Mom! This is…”
“Take it, this is what Mom should give.”
Thomas never expected that simply calling her “Mom” would earn him a big red envelope; it was too much of a surprise. He instinctively wanted to refuse, but his mother-in-law stopped him as soon as he opened his mouth.
Sophia stuffed the red envelope directly into Thomas’s hand. Originally, she planned to give it during dinner. She hadn’t expected Autumn York to visit unexpectedly and stir things up like this.
After thinking it over, she decided to bring out her big red envelope earlier, just to provoke her dear counterpart.
Autumn really was provoked, seeing the big red envelope in Thomas’s hand. A hint of embarrassment quietly crept onto her face, which she quickly hid away.
Though that embarrassment came and went quickly, Sophia caught it, but she didn’t say anything. She merely smiled quietly.
This counterpart seemed fierce but wasn’t as scary inside.
Being a mother herself, Sophia understood the other’s actions, for who doesn’t wish their children to do well, or find a perfect partner?
But there’s no such thing as perfection in the world, as long as the two feel right and love each other, they’ll be happy together.
Whether a pair of shoes fits, only your own feet know. Similarly, whether a marriage is happy, only the two in it know best.
Fake happiness might fool others for a moment, but can’t fool oneself for a lifetime.
Thomas didn’t continue with fashionably refusing, generously accepting it. This act marked his mother-in-law’s best recognition of him as her son-in-law, “Thank you, Mom!”
“Since you’re already calling me Mom, there’s no need to be polite now.” Sophia shifted her gaze to Alice embracing Autumn, “Silly girl! Stop hugging your mother-in-law; Mom is getting jealous.”
This wasn’t entirely a joke; she was indeed a bit jealous. Her eldest daughter hadn’t properly hugged her even once since coming home.
Now her daughter was holding on tightly to her mother-in-law, and right in front of her mom—so heartbroken!
Upon hearing this, Alice immediately freed herself from Autumn’s embrace and turned to snuggle into her own mom’s arms, “I’ll hug you too; not jealous now?”
Her mom is really adorable, Alice deeply loves her mom.
“Alright, quickly invite your mother-in-law and Thomas to sit down; you can get mushy with me later,” Sophia patted Alice’s back with deep meaning, and the clever Alice quickly grasped her mom’s intention.
Swiftly releasing her mom, Alice turned to invite her mother-in-law and husband, primarily her mother-in-law.
Alice faced particularly tricky circumstances today, but luckily she had the support of mom and sister, and her dear husband was especially helpful.
“Mom! Let’s sit down and chat.”
Alice stepped forward, affectionately linking arms with Autumn once again. Without caring about Autumn’s willingness, she led her towards the sofa.