"Claire is taking a shower, Mom. I don't want her to wear the clothes she was wearing before, do you have some new clothes? Maybe it will suit Claire, at least for tonight," said Devan.
Hearing that, the corners of Seira's lips twitched, "Even though you two will be getting married soon, are you so impatient like this?" Seira muttered with a sigh as she shook her head.
Devan just smiled, stroking the nape of his neck that didn't itch.
"Okay, I'll bring some clothes for her," said the middle-aged woman and then walked away.
Devan chuckled, then went into his room waiting for his mother and Claire to finish bathing.
Only a few minutes later. Mrs. Seira came with several maids. There were several dresses of various colors in each hand of the maid who was with her.
"Put it there," said Mrs. Seira while pointing at the table in the room.
"Okay, madam."
"If finished, clear the bed," said Mrs. Seira again giving orders.
"Okay, madam," said the two maids.
The middle-aged woman nodded then turned to her son. "What are you doing?" She asked then approached, Devan.
"I'm waiting for Claire..."
"Get down, you brat. How could you frame my future daughter-in-law," said Mrs. Seira interrupting Devan's words, the middle-aged woman then pulled Devan's arm until the man stood up, then pushed his body out of the room.
"Whereas, the toilet is also on the first floor, how can you bring her to your room?" Mrs. Seira muttered again.
"Come down, and wait for us downstairs. Let me take care of Claire," she added.
Hearing that, Devan chuckled and walked away from his room.
Seira turned and went back into Devan's room. A sigh escaped her lips. She wanted to use this opportunity to talk to Claire directly.
"Make some hot tea," said Mrs. Seira giving orders to one of the maids in the room.
"Alright, madam."
"If you're done, you can go out," said Seira again to the other maids.
"Alright, Madam."
"Erm, good job."
Claire had finished bathing. The woman peeked behind the door before opening it wide, wanting to make sure that Devan was gone.
The bathroom door opened, Claire breathed a sigh of relief when no one was in the room.
"I have to hurry, the family must be waiting for me downstairs," Claire muttered.
"Are you done showering?" suddenly a woman's voice came from the walk-in closet.
Claire was surprised, "W-who?" she stammered.
"M-madam?" Claire's body stiffened when her eyes saw Devan's mother coming out of the walk-in closet. Immediately Claire lowered her gaze, not knowing what to do.
Her hands gripped the towel tightly, trying her best to contain her fear. Even though Mrs. Seira started to treat her well in front of everyone, she was still afraid. She didn't know what the middle-aged woman would do if she were with her.
Her memory was still very clear when Mrs. Seira slapped her, even the feeling of pain on her cheek at that moment still lingered in her memory.
"I-I'm sorry, madam. Forgive me. I do not mean …"
"Hmm, what are you doing? if you just stand like this, you'll catch a cold," said Mrs. Seira interrupting Claire's words. The middle-aged woman wrapped a towel around Claire's shoulders, and her actions managed to take Claire by surprise.
"T-thank you, madam," Claire said a little awkwardly.
"Come on..." Mrs. Seira then led Claire into the walk-in closet and sat her on a chair right in front of the very wide mirror.
The woman was silent, did not protest, she chose to obey her future mother-in-law. Not because she didn't have any questions in her head, nor because she was confused by the middle-aged woman's attitude. She just found this too shocking, she thought Mrs. Seira would be angry with her again or do something similar to her, it turned out to be wrong, all of this was very unexpected for her.
"Now look at this, choose one and put it on," said Mrs. Seira as she showed Claire some dresses.
"O-okay madam," replied Claire.
"Hmm.. how long are you going to call me that?" Mrs. Seira sighed. Ever since she was in the hospital, Claire had been calling her by that name, as if she and the woman were someone else.
"What do you mean, Madam?" asked Claire in a slightly small voice.
Hearing that, Madame Seira was silent for a moment. Controlled her feelings, then put down the dress in her hand. Walked up to Claire and dropped her body, kneeling right in front of the woman.
Surprised? Of course, Claire was surprised. "Madam.. what are you doing?" panicked Claire immediately crouched down, leveling her position with the middle-aged woman.
"Wake up, madam. You don't deserve to do this in front of a woman like me. Get up," she added as she grabbed the middle-aged woman's shoulders, trying to get her to stand up.
Seira did not make a sound, the woman was just silent and looked down. It made Claire even more confused.
"Madam, stand up. Why are you doing this? A-are you going to beg me to leave Devan?" stammered Claire.
"If so, you don't have to go this far, madam," added Claire. She didn't know, suddenly she have mixed feelings.
Mrs. Seira shook her head slowly, a sob could be heard from her lips.
"Madam… why are you crying?" asked Claire, feeling even more guilty.
"Madam… Don't kneel like this. Come on, stand up and talk to me. I-I will listen to you, I-I also promise to fulfill all your wishes. Get up, madam. Don't be like this, I'm getting more and more guilty," said Claire, sounding desperate. All negative thoughts filled her mind. She never expected that Mrs. Seira would kneel before her like this.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said Mrs. Seira after a moment of silence.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you, Claire. I'm sorry," she added.
"I realized I was wrong. I'm pushing Devan's relationship with Byanca too much. I'm not a good mother, I realize that everything I did to you and Devan was wrong. I was too stubborn, I was wrong for not wanting to listen to what other people had to say, I was guilty of separating you two. I never even cared about my grandson and only hurt you guys. I-I'm sorry. I know, forgiving me is impossible, even so, I will still say this."
"I-I'm not a good mother. I'm too selfish and only think about what I want without caring about others," she added while holding back tears.. Seira felt so guilty, she didn't even dare to lift her head and look at the woman in front of her.