Gasps came from the women's mouth. They immediately turned their eyes into a glare toward AiLin, ready for a fight as she had called them out in the public space. They clenched their jaws, "You don't seem to understand that all we want is the best for our nice. Vicky, you haven't came home for a long time to China so you might not understand this. We might sound harsh but all we want is for your own best interest," said the aunt again, her eyes narrowing as she tried to intimidate Vicky by directing her eyes to her and warning Vicky in an underlying message, "You wouldn't like it if this reach to your mother's ears don't you?"
Indeed, the warning was very effective as Vicky became more and more worried. AiLin felt the girl's hand around her cream blouse, holding to it tightly as if it was her lifeline.
