Facade of Love

Chapter 176 Overnight Doorman

Aunt Mary, whose full name was Mary Jenkers, was a close friend of my mother’s from her younger days. Although they did not live in the same city as adults, they stayed in touch. When my mother took me back to her hometown in Lorell to visit relatives, we often visited Mary. She was a very beautiful woman, and it seemed like beautiful women often had challenging fates.

Mary’s life was just like that. As a teenager, she fell in love with a senior from her school and got pregnant early. Being an unmarried teenage mother was particularly unacceptable thirty years ago, especially in a small town. Moreover, the boy she loved was irresponsible.

In order to have her child, Mary dropped out of school early. After breaking ties with her parents, she gave birth to her daughter alone. Later, to support her child, she never considered marriage again. I used to think she would never marry, but surprisingly, she decided to get married in her fifties or sixties.

I nodded at my mother and said, “Go ahead, I’m fine now. But how many days will you be gone?”

After a moment of thought, my mother said, “At least three or four days. Little Sanchez mentioned his hometown is around there, so I thought we could visit together.”

I was a bit surprised and looked at Maxwell. “Your hometown is in Lorrell?”

Maxwell nodded nonchalantly. “I was over ten when I entered the orphanage, so I still remember some things. My parents died in a landslide accident. At that time, the orphanage in Lorrell was overcrowded, so I had to be sent to Lake City. Aunt Deb said she was going, and I thought it would be a good chance to visit.”

A landslide!

I could not help but feel a sudden jolt in my heart. I did not know much about Maxwell’s past, only that my father had sponsored his education. I never asked about other details.

expect him to

and said, “Don’t look at me with pity. My life has

pouted, pretending to be casual. “Who’s pitying you? I was thinking about the landslide you mentioned. I seem to remember my dad

incident happened over ten years ago. It was all over the newspapers back then. There was a mountain in Lorrell called Snakehead Mountain that partially collapsed overnight due to

the

a bit tight for

due to geological movements, but a mining disaster that claimed over

so strange. I had never imagined that Maxwell

176 Ovemight

victim of that mining disaster or that his parents were among those three hundred people,

him stuffing his mouth with toast, a sense of inexplicable heaviness filled my heart. He could have grown up

like me,

to an orphanage or relying on someone else’s

Maxwell frowned at me, noticing my gaze.

head, diverting my eyes, and forced a smile. “I’m fine. By the way, do you have any

been sent to the orphanage. This trip with Aunt Deb is