Chapter 18
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As soon as Queenie walked in, Archie excitedly handed her a birthday cake. “Mommy, happy birthday!” He had picked it out for her after school.
Linda scoffed, giving Queenie a dirty look and rolling her eyes.
“Mommy, make a wish, Archie urged.
Queenie gazed at the cake, the candles flickering so brightly that they nearly hurt her eyes. “I made a wish yesterday. Thanks for getting the cake for me,” she said, reaching out to take it.
At first, Archie didn’t think much of it, but then Linda added mockingly, “Oh, Archie, it seems your mommy doesn’t even care about the cake you got her.”
Archie looked at Queenie.
“She made a wish yesterday, so why can’t she make one today? Your mommy thinks you brought the cake too late and doesn’t even want to make a wish,” Linda continued, dripping with sarcasm.
That really hurt Archie. “Mommy, I didn’t even remember your birthday was yesterday. I wanted to make it special for you today. I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”
Queenie kept a calm expression, showing no emotion. “I told you. I’m not upset. If you think I am, that’s for you to believe,”
Queenie set the cake down on the table and went upstairs. If someone was already biased, trying to explain anything felt pointless, and even her own son wasn’t an exception.
Archie was still angry. “Grandma, why is Mommy always so mad?”
“Who knows? Your daddy provides for her, and she stays home, but she’s always in a bad mood,” Linda complained.
Archie couldn’t help but agree. ‘Mommy is really unreasonable. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten the cake, he thought.
Not long after Queenie went upstairs, Vincent got home.
As soon as he opened the bedroom door, he confronted her. “Archie said he tried to celebrate your birthday, but you got
upset.
“I was not upset,” Queenie replied.
“But he said you didn’t even touch the birthday cake,” Vincent pressed on.
I don’t eat sweets at night, Queenie answered.
Vincent still wasn’t satisfied. His brow furrowed when he noticed her phone screen. “Is this what’s bothering you?”
Queenie followed his gaze and saw a video about Vincent and Vivian playing on her screen. ‘When did I even open this?’ she wondered.
“Watch less of this useless stuff, Vincent said.
‘Is it really useless?’ Queenie thought, keeping her face neutral. “Yeah, I was just about to delete it,” she replied. Then she closed the page and deleted the entertainment news app altogether,
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Chapter 18
She had only doxenloaded the app to keep tabs on Vincent and Vivian, warning to know what they were up to
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Honestly, it was a be self-destructive. She knew it would only make her feel worse, but she couldn’t help herself from checking, Maybe she hoperi Vincent would finally clear things up,
Now that she had gaven up on that hope, there was no reason to keep the app anymore.
When Vincent saw her delete the app, he felt a surge of anger. “Archie was trying to be nice. Don’t hurt a kid’s feelings. I don’t want to see this again, he said coldly as he strode out of the room.
Queenie watched him leave and said quietly, with a hint of sarcasm, “So my feelings don’t matter, huh?”
Before Queenie realized it, Saturday had arrived. She gave herself a quick check in the mirror and made her way downstairs,
Since it was the weekend, both Vincent and Archie were home.
As Queenie came down, Linda glanced at her with a look of disgust, as if she had just seen something awful.
Queenie chose not to respond.
Are you going out? Vincent asked as he noticed her leaving
“Yeah, Queenie said, not offering any more information as she headed to the underground garage.
Once she was gone, Linda lowered her voice and said, “Vincent, you really need to keep an eye on her. Queenie’s been acting weird lately, always leaving early and coming back late.
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