Chapter 381 To forgive her

“It’s just that I can’t bring myself to forgive her.”

Grandma sighed again. “But you’re mother and daughter...”

She simply couldn’t bear to see her daughter and granddaughter in this state.

They were mother and daughter... the closest of kin... yet they were more distant from one another than strangers.

It was heartbreaking.

Alana fell silent for a moment, then stepped forward and smoothed out the quilt for her grandmother. “Grandma, it’s getting late. You should get some rest.”

Grandma looked at Alana for a long moment, then nodded helplessly. “All right.”

Only after seeing that her grandmother had fallen asleep did Alana leave the hospital.

Stephan had just finished work and came to the hospital entrance to pick her up. After getting into the car, Alana said nothing; she remained in a low mood.

Stephan fastened her seatbelt, then reached out and gently tickled the tip of her nose to get her attention.

“What’s wrong? You seem troubled.”

Alana looked at Stephan’s chiseled, handsome face and, deciding not to hide anything from him, naturally told him everything that had just happened.

Stephan frowned. “That little brat... he’s actually the child your mother had with another man?”

Alana nodded. “Life is full of surprises. And besides, he and Darla are actually siblings.”

Stephan frowned. “That’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“Yeah, it really is a coincidence.”

Stephan’s dark eyes fixed on Alana for several seconds. Then he raised his hand, cupped the back of her head, and pressed his thin lips firmly against her forehead.

Only then did he say to her, “It’s no big deal. They’re all just insignificant people.”

Alana gave a soft “Mm-hmm.”

Stephan said gently, “Let’s go home. I’ll cook you something delicious.”

Alana pouted, “Then I want spicy crayfish and sweet-and-sour spare ribs.”

Stephan smiled. “Alright, let’s go to the supermarket to buy crayfish and pork ribs. I’ll make them all for you.”

Alana’s previously gloomy mood instantly brightened.

She leaned in close to the man and planted a kiss on his handsome face. “A reward for the kiss.”

Stephan couldn’t help but curve his lips, she’d successfully teased him into smiling.

The two went to the supermarket, pushed a cart, and wandered over to the fresh produce section, where they picked out crayfish and pork ribs, and bought a few portions of steak as well.

Stephan spotted some chicken wings and asked, “Do you like Coca-Cola chicken wings?”

Alana blinked. “Can you make them?”

“I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve seen it online. We could give it a shot.”

Alana smiled. “Let’s give it a try, then. It doesn’t look too hard.”

Stephan grabbed two more servings of chicken wings.

After that, Stephan mentioned a few more dish names and asked Alana if she wanted to try them.

Alana laughed, “As long as you’re the one cooking, I’d love to try anything.”

Those words made the man’s heart swell with joy.

“Alright, I’ll cook them all for you.”

Alana mused to herself: It’s true... women who know how to be a little spoiled have the best luck.

At first, she’d been too shy to act coy with Stephan, thinking it seemed a bit pretentious.

But now, what’s wrong with a woman being a little dramatic in front of the man she loves? Men love that sort of thing.

And if you don’t act a little silly for him, he’ll actually be disappointed.

After buying the groceries, Alana dragged Stephan over to the snack aisle to pick up some treats to take home.

Stephan launched into a lecture: “Eating too many snacks isn’t good for you.”

Despite this, when Alana put the snacks into the cart, he didn’t stop her.

Alana picked up a few bags of potato chips and vegetable crisps and said, sounding a bit unsure, “I don’t eat them often, so a little won’t hurt.”

Stephan chuckled, neither confirming nor denying her claim.

They bought snacks, candy, bread, and yogurt.

The shopping cart was piled high.

As they wandered to the knitting yarn section, an idea suddenly popped into Alana’s head.

“It’s getting colder now. I want to buy a few skeins of yarn to knit some scarves...one for you, one for me, and one each for your parents and my grandmother.”

After all, she hadn’t been working lately; aside from spending time with her grandmother, she didn’t have much else to do, so finding something to occupy herself with wouldn’t hurt.

Stephan raised an eyebrow. “You know how to knit scarves?”

Alana nodded. “Yeah, Grandma taught me. I even knitted one for Cole before...”

Realizing she’d mentioned someone she shouldn’t have, Alana immediately clamped her mouth shut.

Oh no, she really has a big mouth!

Stephan stared at her with a smirk, “Go on, why did you stop?”

Alana glanced at him guiltily. “I told you before... I once gave him a scarf as a gift. I knitted it myself.”

After all, she hadn’t had much money to buy a scarf back then, so she’d just taken some of Grandma’s yarn and stayed up two or three late night to knit one for Cole.

Stephan suddenly adopted a sarcastic tone, “Oh, hand-knitted, no less. How touching.”

“I’ll knit one for you by hand too. It’ll be prettier than his.”

Stephan snorted. “I want matching ones.”

Alana smiled and took his hand in a conciliatory gesture.

“Okay, okay, matching ones.”

Stephan took her small hand in his, and the matching sandalwood beads on their wrists gently brushed against each other.

They were almost done shopping.

They went to the checkout line together to pay.

The supermarket was quite crowded today, and the line had formed a long queue.

Just as it was almost Alana and Stephan’s turn, Stephan’s gaze fell on a row of colorful packages of condoms on the counter.

He reached out, grabbed a dozen or so packages, and placed them directly on the counter.

The cashier was stunned.

The people waiting in line behind them were also stunned.

Alana stood beside Stephan, her face flushing crimson; she wished the ground would open up so she could crawl right in.

Stephan , however, looked completely unfazed. “Ring me up,” he said.

A dozen or so extra-large packs... no need to hide his true capabilities; there was nothing to be shy about.

The cashier and the bystanders blinked.

Why did this feel like such a blatant show-off?!

After paying, the two returned to the car together, and Alana’s face was still flushed.

Stephan looked at her with amusement and asked deliberately, “What’s wrong?”

Alana blushed, “It’s so embarrassing... with all those people around.”

And he went and pulled that thing out in front of all those people.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You have a man as amazing as me... you should be proud.”

She was at a loss for words.

Stephan gripped the steering wheel as he drove, asking casually, “Do you have plans for this weekend?”

Alana thought for a moment and shook her head. “No.”

She wasn’t working right now and had plenty of free time, so naturally she had nothing planned.

Every day, she simply visited her grandmother and chatted with her.

She also planned to start applying for jobs once her grandmother was able to walk again and had regained some independence.

She planned to secretly apply to Hudson Group, but didn’t intend to tell him.

After all, she wanted to get into his company on her own merits, not through back channels.

Stephan, of course, had no idea about her little scheme; otherwise, he would have been over the moon.

He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have any plans for the weekend, so I’m letting you know.”

Alana blinked, sensing the hidden meaning in his words.

She looked at him and asked cleverly, “Do you want me to plan your schedule for you?”

Stephan nodded, coaxing her gently, “Hmm, I think you could arrange a little more ‘alone time’ for the two of us.”

In fact, he planned to use the weekend to propose to her.

However, he didn’t plan to tell her; he wanted to catch her off guard and give her a surprise.

Alana’s cheeks flushed. “Alone time is fine, but I don’t want to stay at home.”

Stephan’s raised an eyebrow. “Then where do you want to go? I’m game for anything, I’d do anything for a beauty.”

“How about going on a date?”

It had been a long time since their last movie date.

Stephan seemed to have guessed Alana’s thoughts. “Want to go see a movie?”

Alana shook her head. “We could do something else, too.”

Stephan smiled slightly. “Whatever you want to do, I’m game.”