Ice and Fire novel Chapter 349

Lucia walked into the living room wearing a black coat, black leather gloves. On her stiff shoulder the latest designer black handbag to complete her ensemble. Her entrance reminded Joe of a villain from one of his Disney animated movies, only this one was a real person.

Behind her, Edwin and John followed. The two men who just entered brought a ray of brightness and cheerfulness into the room. Their happy smiles on their eyes had the opposite effect from that of Lucia's entrance.

Lucia's unsmiling eyes landed on Jackson and Cherry and said nothing. Then her gaze fastened on Andrew. She smiled, walked towards the old man and said, "Hello, Grandpa! I've come to visit you. We haven't seen each other for a long time. I really miss you!" She embraced Andrew and kissed his cheek as she finished her greeting.

While this dramatic scene was unfolding, Joe freed himself from Andrew's arms and ran to his mother's side. Joe couldn't hide the displeasure he felt on his face. He thought, 'Why did this nasty person had to come to this home?'

Andrew, happy to see Lucia, laughed and said, "Ha, ha! Lucia, I miss you, too. Glad to see you are doing fine."

After Lucia's greeting, Edwin and John also walked towards Andrew. Edwin looked at Andrew, politely greeted and shook his hand.

Andrew happily nodded his head and accepted the hugs and the greetings.

John, on the other hand, gave a quick kiss to Andrew's cheek and said, "Great-Grandpa, are you feeling good these days?"

Andrew carefully scanned John's face and smiled. "Ha, ha! Yes, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. How's your work these days?" asked Andrew

John replied, "Work is fine, not much excitement there. No problems."

After greeting Andrew, Edwin looked at Jackson and Cherry with a smile. He approached the standing couple and gave both of them a warm hug and said, "Jackson, Cherry!"

Jackson smiled and nodded his head as his returned Edwin's greeting.

Cherry returned Edwin's hug and smiled and calmly replied, "Hello, Edwin." She had no bad feelings towards John's father. Actually, John's father was a quiet man. From what Cherry had observed, Edwin was the type who liked to stay at the background and to observe people silently. He was the kind of person who did not seek nor want attention. Aside from this, Cherry didn't really know much about him, so she decided that it was best to be polite.

John then greeted Jackson and Cherry. Just like his father, he smiled and greeted the couple with a warm hug and said, "Uncle Jackson, Aunt." John wanted to call Cherry "Aunt Cherry", but hesitated. In the past, Cherry had been the woman he was once in love with. Even though Cherry had been a part of the family for quite some time and now she was his uncle's wife, John still felt awkward and weird to call her "Aunt". It was very difficult for him to call her "Aunt Cherry". But he couldn't call her by the former nickname, a name they only used between them, "Cherr", either. John now faced a dilemma. By what name should he call Cherry and when would he be able to accept her as an Aunt?

Lucia's sharp ear noticed that her son didn't call Cherry "Aunt Cherry". To break the delicate moment, Lucia quickly seized John's attention and said. "John, don't just stand there. Please, get our presents for your Great-Grandpa from the car."

Lucia's order was the icebreaker from the tension-filled situation John found himself in. John gave a curt excuse to Jackson and Cherry. Glad to have a short reprieve, he hurriedly turned around, walked to the door and retrieved the gifts from the car as Lucia had asked him to.

Cherry lowered her head and was preparing herself for the incoming embarrassment that she was about to receive from Lucia's sharp tongue. She had forgiven what Lucia had done to her the last time that they met. However, she could not guarantee that if the same thing happened again, she would be able to control her temper again. As a person, she too had her pride to keep and even saints had their sins. She was not a saint. Unfortunately, Lucia had a gift of finding the right words to raffle her feathers. And at the end of the day, it was very hard for Cherry not to push Lucia off a cliff.

Andrew smiled as he was happy that all the people he cared for were together in his home. So he said, "Everyone, please, don't just stand there. Hurry come in and take a seat, please. Butler, ask Lily to bring some fruits here."

"Yes sir, " responded Bill, and smiled as he walked away towards the direction of the Kitchen.

Everyone chose a seat and sat down, they started talking to each other. Lucia was aware that she should behave and not stir up any trouble that might ruin the peaceful atmosphere. The last time she was here, she remembered that she caused an unnecessary commotion. The disturbance that she created almost made Jackson ban her from the whole Chu Family. If Andrew hadn't persuaded Jackson to overlook her misbehavior, she wouldn't be able to step foot in this house. So if she continued to harass Cherry, she didn't know what Jackson might do to her next. Now she understood that Cherry is more powerful than her in the Chu Family. She had to accept that being Jackson's wife Cherry held a lot of influence and Jackson loved her very much.

Lucia sat next to Andrew and talked to him about Edwin and John. Lucia made sure that in their cheerful conversation Jackson and Cheery's names were never mentioned.

Jackson and Cherry sat next to them, unintentionally overhearing their conversation. Joe was busy playing with his iPad, he was comfortably sitting within his mother's arms. Though his hands were busy with the game, his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking of how evil their female visitor was. Joe couldn't fathom in his young mind, 'How could this nasty woman sit next to my Great-Grandpa? Why is my Great-Grandpa allowing this woman to grab all his attention? How awful!'

Edwin suddenly broke the silence and said, "Jackson, I've heard that Cherry doesn't work for the JS Group anymore. Is that true?" he asked.

Edwin's words surprised Jackson because Jackson's knew Edwin was not one who liked to start conversations or to ask questions. Jackson suspected that Edwin asked him this question to stop Lucia from her nonsensical chatter to Andrew. Maybe he was tired of listening to her voice dominating the sound of the room.

Jackson replied, "Yes, she and I thought that it would do more sense for her to stay at home and spend more time with Joe and Grandpa. Joe is growing up so fast and needs closer supervision."

Edwin nodded his head, smiled and said, "You're right. You're so busy every day, so it's a good thing that Cherry could take some time off and take care of our Grandpa at home and also guide Joe."

Cherry noticed that Edwin looked at her while saying those words. Not wanting to make an issue out of the topic, slightly laughed and changed the topic, "Edwin, Jackson told me that you went for a hike on the mountains several days ago. So how was it?"

Edwin politely answered, "Yes, I was pretty bored at home. I thought I needed to have some change in the environment. I decided to step outside and do some hiking, do some exercise. I'm not getting young; I need more fresh air."

Cherry then continued the light discussion and said, "I think that's a wonderful idea. You should do some hiking more often. You have a lot of good hiking trails in your area, don't you?"