It wasn't that Mary didn't want to get tangled up with Hannah, but Hannah's identity made it impossible for her to get anything out of her no matter what she said. Hannah was the mistress of the villa, and the servants all listened to her. Mary wanted to sow discord between the husband and wife, but Hannah wasn't fooled!
Why was she still wasting her time here!
Hannah stood at the door and watched Mary leave. For the first time, she was curious about Albert. An old man who was almost forty years old and there was still a woman came rushing to his door? Just because he had a lot of money? But if it was just money, there was no need to waste so many years, right?
(Meanwhile Albert hiding in a corner: "But I am only 35, I am still considered young TToTT")
It was said that Mary kept coming to the villa after Ms. Chen and Albert divorced. She was so persistent, was it really just for money? It didn't seem like it.
When they returned to the villa, Hannah noticed that the maid was looking at her strangely. She was probably shocked.
The servants' impression of Hannah was that she was taciturn and easy to serve. Now that she had angered the person who came to provoke her with a few words, it might be that she could not bear it anymore.
However, Hannah did not think of hiding her true personality. She was good at judging the situation and talking nonsense to others, but that did not mean that she liked to be ridden on by others. To a provocateur like Mary, she had to fight back fiercely.
As for thinking that her personality had changed drastically? So what? They did not know her in the very first place.
During dinner time, Hannah specially ordered the kitchen to make Kadhai Paneer and Naan.
(Kadhai Paneer = Cottage Cheese in a Frying Pan which are cooked with lots of fragrant spices)
"Madam do you also like to eat Indian Food? I did not reckon that you can also like Indian Food since generally you eat food with less spices."
Hannah's eyes flickered dangerously for a second, scaring the cook out of his mind but when he blinked again she looked as gentle as ever.
With a soft smile on her face Hannah said "I went to India a few years back, the food was amazing. I love it. It's just that it takes more time to make so I do not always want to burden the kitchen with my request and make me seem like a cruel mistress of the house."
The cook broke out in cold sweat.
"Absolutely no madam, if you like it we will cook it for you anytime you want." The cook stammered out.
Hannah's smile widened, but she looked more like a smiling tiger than a soft and gentle woman.
"Is that so, I will have to thank you then." She said ever so politely.
The cook fled from the room after a flurry of jumbled words.
This incident passed by in a breeze like it never happened. But only the cook realized that the madam they are serving is not as simple as she looks. But he didn't share it with anyone as it felt like his life will be on line if he even said a word.
Sitting here in the home leisurely, Hannah herself did not realize how well she has adapted to the life over here. After she came her, she found out that the chefs of the rich families were not just one or two. Instead, it was like a five-star restaurant, with Chefs knowing almost all types culinary skills that she knew of, as well as chefs specialized in making desserts. Each chef also had an assistant, which guaranteed that they could cook as soon as the owner wanted to eat.
How wasteful. This was the only thought Hannah had when she learnt about it. Yet she wholeheartedly indulged herself in this world of delicacies.
What made Hannah the happiest was that these chefs not only knew how to cook big meals, but also street food. Take these hotdogs for example. Hannah had always thought that the one's from the roadside stalls were good, but after trying this family's chef's cooking, she finally knew the difference between a chef and a roadside stall owner!
It turned out that the even those 2 dollars Hotdogs could be made into something that she could that she could eat and cry!
It was delicious and beautiful!
When the food arrived, Hannah took a deep breath and took out the naan from the basket. Just as she was about to stuff it into her mouth, Adam came back.
Hannah looked at the time and guessed that this child had skipped the evening self-study session again. She looked at the delicious food on the table and then at Adam who was changing his shoes at the door. She hesitated whether she should invite him to finish the meal together.
But before she could say anything, she saw Adam fly upstairs like a gust of wind. He did not give her a chance to ask.
Hannah: "..."
She shrugged her shoulders. Alright, then don't blame her for eating alone.
Adam was already a big boy. He would not let himself go hungry. Besides, there were so many chefs in the villa. He would not be able to go hungry anyways. Thinking of this, Hannah started eating without any psychological burden.
After filling her stomach to the brim, Hannah let out a satisfied burp.
Rubbing her belly, Hannah felt that the calories she had consumed tonight were a little high. She remembered that there seemed to be a dedicated gym upstairs with a lot of fitness facilities, so she went over to run and do yoga.
Thinking of this, she went to the master bedroom to change into light clothes.
What she did not know was that today was also Adam's fitness day.
Both of them wanted to work out, but Adam was a step behind Hannah. When he changed into shorts and walked to the gym, he just happened to see Hannah push the door open and enter.
Adam: "..."
It seemed that today's fitness plan had to be put on hold.
This gym, to a certain extent, belonged to Adam alone. Albert was busy with work and often didn't come home. In addition, Adam was a bit of a neat freak, so this gym belonged to Albert who had specially built it for Adam. It was just that he didn't expect that there would be another person now.
It had been more than a month since Albert got married. This was the first time Adam realized that there was an additional person in the family, a person who was nominally his stepmother and whom he would often see.
In a way, Adam and Hannah had something in common. They were both very peace-loving. Therefore, even after realizing that many things in the family were no longer exclusive to him, Adam did not feel too sad. He also did not want to do anything to announce his possessiveness to Hannah.
Or in essence, he did not seem to mind living with Hannah, because this stepmother was really tactful.
He did not hate her, but that was all.
The next day, Hannah got out of bed very early to dress up.
This was her first parent-teacher conference, and she was uncertain about her style of dressing. She remembered that her mother used to dress casually when she went to her parent-teacher conferences. Now that it was her turn to be a mother, the situation was very different.
In the TV series, the parent-teacher conferences for the rich were equivalent to a different kind of dinner party. She could not dress too simply. If she dressed too simply, she would be ridiculed. She could not dress too formally or too flamboyantly. If she did so, she would also be ridiculed.
After choosing for more than an hour, she changed clothes one after another, but she still could not find the most suitable one. Helpless, she could only pull the maid over to ask for help whose name she now came to know as Julie. She has worked as Adam's nanny for sometime as well. Under Julie's suggestion, she tried on the Knitted dress that was placed in the corner.
Since Hannah generally did not wear dresses she was very less confident about this one. It was not that she was not confident in her figure as there was nothing wrong with her figure. Instead, she felt that a woman who wore a dress should be gentle, which she definitely knew was not her.
But maybe it's time to try new styles, determined Hannah.
The maid did not know what clothes to choose for Hannah. When she saw the pretty dress, she pointed at it casually. However, she did not expect that the mistress would look so good in it!
The maid looked at Hannah who walked out from behind the curtain with her mouth agape.
(Now she is not the image of my Hannah in this book, I am just portraying that the dress will be something like this in my mind)
"You look so good, Madam!"
The maid was so excited that she did not know how to praise her. It was as if no matter how much she praised her, she could not describe how stunning she looked in the dress.
Hannah looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction and nodded. "Okay, I'll wear this then."
Just as Hannah was packed up and sent to school by the driver who was out of town on business, received a call from Albert.
"What time is Adam's parent-teacher conference?"
The driver quivered. "10:30 in the morning. Boss, you're back?"
Albert hummed.
"Young Master will be very happy to know that you're going to a parent-teacher conference for him." He told Albert everything about Adam's class, but as he spoke, he kept feeling like he had forgotten something... what was it?
It wasn't until Albert hung up the phone that he slapped his forehead. He had forgotten to tell Boss that his wife was going to the school to hold a parent-teacher conference for Young Master today!
When Hannah arrived at the school, it was just in time for class to end. Before she came, she had already gotten all the information about Adam from the driver, Murphy. She knew that his class was on the fourth floor of the second teaching building. He was in Grade Two, Class Four.
Murphy was very efficient. He had already informed the school a long time ago that Mrs. Black would be attending Adam's parent-teacher conference. The school had sent people to wait in front of the second teaching building.
Therefore, as soon as Hannah got out of the car, she saw a female teacher wearing a white dress with a gentle smile.
"Hello, Mrs. Black. I'm the new math teacher this semester. My surname is Hugh. Director Johansson asked me to come and pick you up in the conference room. This way, please."
Hannah was slightly surprised. "Math teacher?"
At first glance, she thought she was an art teacher.
Miss Melissa seemed to be questioned often, as she walked, she said, "Very surprised, right? Many people who met me for the first time thought that I should be teaching art or language like French." She pointed to her skirt. "Do you think if I change my skirt into a black suit and wear black-framed glasses, I'll look more like a math teacher?"
Hannah could not help but smile. "It's my bad, it's a stereotype."
In her impression, math teachers were all serious and stiff, and most of them were male teachers. There were really not many like Miss Melissa.
Melissa did not expect Hannah to be so approachable.
When Director Johansson arranged for her to receive Albert's new wife, Melissa was very uneasy. A woman who could make a rich man like Albert marry her must be very capable. If she said something wrong, she might get herself into trouble.
Now that she had come into contact with Hannah, she realized that she did not have an attitude at all. Except for her face that was so beautiful that she did not look like an ordinary person. When she spoke to her, she was no different from an ordinary person.
"Mrs. Black, you are very different from the rest."
Melissa accidentally said what she was thinking.
Hannah was stunned for a moment before she continued to laugh. "What's different about me? We all have eyes, one mouth, one nose, and two legs." She blinked cheekily, and Melissa looked at her and laughed as well. "Yes, you are right."
It feels like she has gained a new friend.
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