Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Other People’s Business
"And you are...?" Mika Summers asked with a confused nod.
The woman acted like an old friend, stepping forward and linking her arm through Mika’s. "I’m your brother’s fiancée. We’re getting married soon."
"Fiancée?" ’Oh my god, what is going on? My head is spinning!’
’Just coming to a place like this was disorienting enough. Now there’s a fiancée. What’s next? Are they going to tell me I’ll have a nephew soon?’
"That’s right. Your brother and I will get married after the baby is born," the woman said, letting go of Mika’s arm. She smiled blissfully as she cradled her slightly bulging stomach.
At her words, Mika glanced down. Sure enough, the woman’s stomach was slightly rounded, looking as if she were three or four months pregnant.
Seeing the awful look on Mika’s face, Archie Summers strode forward and pulled back the woman who was giving him a headache. "Eleanor Bishop, go upstairs and rest right now!"
"Archie, don’t be like that. I just met Mika, and there’s so much I want to talk to her about."
"Are you and Mika that close? What could you possibly have to say to her?"
Eleanor Bishop’s eyes welled with tears. She pouted, her voice thick with grievance. "Archie, how can you talk to me like that?" ’Even if we’re not close, getting along with family is crucial.’
"Eleanor Bishop, don’t push your luck. Don’t forget, we’re not married yet."
Hearing Archie Summers’s words, Eleanor Bishop looked as if she’d been struck. "Okay..." she stammered. "Archie, don’t be angry... I’ll go upstairs and rest right now..."
Archie Summers watched the woman before him, a headache brewing. Only after she had gone upstairs did the anger finally begin to fade from his face.
Mika’s expression was grim. "Brother, weren’t you a little too harsh just now?" ’After all, she’s your fiancée, and she’s pregnant. How could you treat her like that?’
Ever since she married Tristan Grayson, she couldn’t stand to see men bully their wives.
"Let’s not talk about her. I’ll take you to see Mom and Dad."
"Okay." ’Since my brother doesn’t want to talk about it, what else can I do? It’s their business as a couple, after all. As his sister, it’s better if I don’t meddle.’
Archie Summers led her down the hall to a large living room. There, she saw her parents sitting on the sofa watching TV, bickering with each other as they watched.
The familiar, long-missed scene made Mika’s eyes well up.
"Mom, Dad, I brought Mika home." Seeing her hesitate at the entrance, Archie Summers took her by the arm and pulled her in front of their parents.
Hearing Archie’s words, her mother, Una Sullivan, was the first to react. "Mika, if your brother hadn’t gone to pick you up, were you just not planning on coming back to see your old parents?"
"Mom, of course not," Mika replied, her voice trembling as she forced a smile.
Her father, Joseph Summers, couldn’t help but chime in with a complaint. "Is work really that important? So important that we don’t get to see you even once all year?"
"Mom, Dad, in a few days, I’m quitting my job. Then I can be with you every day. You’d better not get tired of me hanging around." A bitter feeling washed over her. ’Thinking about my dark thoughts from before, I feel so sorry for them. But if they find out about the divorce... I really don’t know how I’d face them, or how I could go on living without shame.’