"Be careful not to bring home a wild child."
Eva persisted, but Lena couldn't be bothered to deal with someone so uncouth.
What a sharp tongue!
After finishing her chores, Lena washed her hands and went out. After lunch, she spread out her drawing paper and prepared to design.
Her phone rang, displaying "Grayson." Lena slowly walked to the pantry to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Why did you answer so late?"
He sounded displeased, clearly unhappy.
"Why didn't you come up for lunch?"
"Avoiding suspicion."
Just two words, but they seemed to infuriate Grayson. Other women did everything to climb into his bed, but this woman dared to refuse.
"I'll be late tonight; I have an engagement. Warm the bed for me."
Lena only heard the first half of the sentence before hanging up and realizing what he said later.
Lena stared at the darkened phone screen. They had just been together last night; she didn't even know how she fell asleep.
Grayson had been restrained for four years, and now that he finally had a chance, he wouldn't let it slip away.
Just as she hung up the phone and hadn't left the pantry, it rang again. "Mom" was displayed on the screen.
"Hello, Mom, is little Helen misbehaving again?"
"No. Lena, today is your dad's memorial day."
Only then did Lena remember and sensed that something was off in her mother's voice.
"Okay, I'll go in a while!" Lena hung up the phone and sniffled.
She remembered how much her dad loved her. From childhood to adulthood, anything Lena liked, her dad would try to fulfill. Her dad was never in good health, and four years ago, Lena got pregnant before marriage, which angered her dad and landed him in the hospital. Not long after, her dad passed away from a heart attack. Although her mom never blamed her, it remained a knot in Lena's heart. She could only take care of her mom as much as possible and fulfill her filial duty to her mom.
Leaving the pantry, Lena asked for leave from her supervisor. After two hours of driving, she arrived at the West Mountain Cemetery.
The cemetery was located in the sparsely populated western suburbs. After getting out of the car, Lena walked along a muddy path, bought a bouquet of lilies, her dad's favorite, and held it carefully. She walked unsteadily towards the cemetery on the hill.
Standing in front of her dad's tombstone, his photo still looked young and handsome, with a resemblance to Lena in his features.
Lena took out tissue paper and wiped the tombstone clean, carefully cleaning her dad's photo. She placed the lilies down and gently touched the photo. "Dad, I've come to see you."
"Dad, are you okay over there? Are you still mad at Lena? I'll take good care of Mom; our little Helen is also growing up. Next time, I'll bring her along, okay..."
Lena chattered with her dad for a while, then sat on the ground hugging her knees. Gradually, tears welled up in her eyes.
Every year on this day was her mom's saddest day and Lena's most uncomfortable day.
After sitting for a long time, Lena slowly got up, stumbled, and almost fell. She walked down the mountain slowly, and when she got back to her car, she remembered to check her phone. That's when she realized her phone had died and shut down.