The Housewife's Return To Her Alluring Prime - Chapter 68: Chapter 68

Jared stepped out of his office, dressed in a crisp white shirt with a watch on his left wrist, probably because tonight's dinner was important.
When he saw me standing in the hallway, he came over to talk to me. For a split second, in a daze, I thought I saw a wedding ring on his left ring finger.
I was momentarily stunned, thinking maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.
But when I looked again, there was no mistake. He'd once tossed that diamond wedding ring onto the cabinet in his study, but he'd picked it up and put it back on.
A white shirt and a ring on the fourth finger were all it took to conjure the image of a devoted husband.
So what was Jared trying to silently show me with this baffling move?
Maybe once he got in the car, he'd just slip the ring off and quietly tuck it into his pocket.
"Why aren't you heading home yet? I had Warner pick up Yvonne and take her home. When you go back, pick up a gift for her, cheer her up a bit," Jared told me.
"No. The house is already overflowing with toys," I shot back, turning on my heel and heading for the elevator.
Jared didn't say anything more.
As I stepped into the elevator, Tracy suddenly walked over to talk to him. The two of them standing side by side just looked so perfectly matched, in a way I couldn't quite put into words.
It suddenly struck me that even though I put a lot of thought into my outfits every day, Tracy, standing next to Jared, had that workplace ambition and hunger that just seemed to fit his whole aura even better.
Whatever, there was no point making myself miserable over it. Maybe they looked so right together because they were sharing a bed. I meant people who slept together were bound to start looking alike.
When I got home, Yvonne was out in the garden feeding her miniature pony. The little pony was sparkling clean, thanks to the maid.
As soon as Yvonne saw my car pull in, she immediately called out, "Mom, come keep me company and feed it with me."
I walked over, and Yvonne pointed at the pony's belly. "Look, I've given it so much grass and feed. Its little tummy is all round and chubby."
I nodded. "Don't give it too much, okay? You don't want it to get too stuffed."
But Yvonne just pouted and said, "If it eats itself to death, we'll just buy another one."
"What did you just say?" I thought maybe I'd misheard, but that really was what Yvonne had just muttered.
"Nothing," Yvonne said, realizing she probably shouldn't have said that. She looked at me with wide eyes. "Mom, why are you so grumpy lately? You're kinda scary when you're like this."
"Yvonne, do your teachers at school ever teach you how to behave?" I asked, sitting down on the chair next to her and fixing my gaze on her.
"Like what? I already know everything the teachers teach. I'm always the first to finish my homework," Yvonne said, looking all proud of herself. "The teachers praise me for being smart every day, and I always tell them my dad's super smart too."
Sure, Yvonne was gifted when it came to her studies, but having a degree didn't make one a good person.
In my previous life, Yvonne was the very definition of a sophisticated egoist. Maybe it was because she went abroad, tossing aside Clusian traditional virtues and embracing all that foreign talk about individualism, freedom, and equality.
Thinking about that, I couldn't help but remember the day my mom passed away. Yvonne just stood there, cold and detached, not even a single tear in her eyes. At that moment, I was completely crushed.
"Mom, what are you thinking about now? I'm going to go grab my toy cars from upstairs. Do you want to race with me?" Yvonne suddenly lost interest in feeding the pony and turned to head upstairs.
In no time, she tugged over a little wagon stacked high with her toy race cars.
Yvonne sorted them out one by one and then handed me a remote control. "Mom, let's race."
I looked at her, a swirl of emotions in my chest. I just couldn't bring myself to leave her behind. She was still so little. Whenever she flitted in front of me, I'd always space out for a moment.
"Mom, hurry up. Let's play. The loser has to do whatever the winner says," Yvonne pleaded, pouting at me.
That actually got me interested. "Really? The loser really has to obey?"
Yvonne nodded eagerly. "Promise. No backing out."
That look on her face really fired up my competitive spirit.
No matter how smart Yvonne was, she was still just a kid. In my previous life, whenever we played games, I'd always let her win on purpose, just so she could taste what victory felt like.
Then I'd shower her with praise, using encouragement as my way of teaching her.
"Mom, you're way too fast. Slow down." Yvonne thought I'd go easy on her like I always did, but today, I just zoomed ahead with my car, leaving her far behind.
She got so worked up that she started stomping her feet in frustration.
"Mom, let's go again. I'm definitely going to beat you this time," Yvonne said, her stubborn streak flaring up.
"Alright, bring it on," I replied, nodding calmly.
In the second and third rounds, I won again. Yvonne sat on the grass with her knees tucked under her, lips pouting, and eyes brimming with tears.
In frustration, Yvonne flung the remote control down onto the ground. "It's not fair. You're a grown-up. Of course, you're faster than me. This is so unfair."
I looked at the toys she'd thrown aside and reminded her sternly, "Pick those up and put them back in the toy room."
"I don't want to. Mom, you're bullying me." Yvonne hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face, sulking.
"I'm counting to three." By now, I didn't believe that gentle encouragement would work on Yvonne anymore. Maybe it was time to try some tough love and see if the old ways could actually make her behave.
Yvonne looked up at me, wide-eyed and a little lost. The moment I got to two, she jumped up and scrambled to pick up the toys, yelling, "Mom, stop counting. Can't you see I'm cleaning up already?"
I watched as she packed up all her toys into her trailer and hauled it back to the toy room as fast as she could.
When she came running back out, I didn't waste a second. "You said the loser has to listen, right? Well, I want you to pull up all those weeds over there. No dinner until you finish."
"What? That's way too much." Yvonne scrunched up her face. "Mom, please don't make me do this. You're the best mom ever. I love you so much."
"Go on, get to work," I said, totally unmoved by her sweet talk.
Yvonne pouted, her eyes brimming with tears, but she still shuffled over to the weeds, looking back at me every few steps. It was not that she couldn't do it. She just didn't want to.
Wendy came out, glanced over, and with a big smile, praised Yvonne for her hard work. Yvonne froze for a moment, then perked right up and started yanking out the weeds even faster.
I sat nearby, supervising her. Halfway through, Yvonne suddenly whipped out her smartwatch, pulling weeds with one hand while calling Jared with the other.
It wasn't long before Jared's voice came through. "Yvonne, what's wrong? I'm still having dinner."
"Dad, hurry home and rescue me. Mom's making me pull weeds in the garden, and she says I can't eat until I'm done," Yvonne said, not crying, but sounding as pitiful as could be.
I thought for sure Jared would say a few comforting words to her, and then turn around and criticize my parenting.
But instead, Jared just chuckled warmly on the other end, his voice smooth as whiskey. "Really? Well, then you better listen to your mom. Finish pulling those weeds, and she'll let you eat."