Chapter 646: Mother is Mighty (2)

Chapter 646: Chapter 646: Mother is Mighty (2)

Susan Caldwell knew she was powerless to stop Winter Sullivan, so she shot a desperate, pleading look at Sheldon Caldwell.

But Sheldon Caldwell didn’t even glance at Susan Caldwell. He simply turned away silently. To outsiders, his mother was a cold beauty, an iron lady. He, however, knew better than anyone that she was often quite spontaneous—so spontaneous it bordered on erratic.

’His mother’s carefully constructed image must be in ruins in Vera Xavier’s eyes,’ he thought.

But even so, he didn’t intervene. He had his own selfish reasons. His mother had been completely absorbed in weapons research for years. The only people she ever interacted with were from the institute; she didn’t have any close friends, especially not the kind you could confide in.

She rarely smiled, but she had already smiled several times today after meeting Vera Xavier.

Although Sheldon Caldwell found the idea of Vera Xavier becoming friends with Winter Sullivan a bit odd—it felt like it was blurring generational lines—he believed nothing was more important than his mother’s happiness.

Vera Xavier was a little surprised by Winter Sullivan’s proposal. She instinctively glanced at Sheldon Caldwell, but he remained perfectly composed, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Seeing her hesitation, Winter Sullivan said coolly, "This is between us. It has nothing to do with them."

’Even though we can’t acknowledge each other as mother and daughter yet,’ she thought, ’getting to know Winter Sullivan like this first seems like an excellent idea.’

So she smiled and said, "I was worried you’d look down on me for being from the countryside, that I wouldn’t be worthy of being your friend."

As she spoke, she shot a sidelong glance at Susan Caldwell, whose face turned pale with rage. ’That damn Vera Xavier!’ Susan fumed inwardly. ’Even now, she can’t resist taking a jab at me!’

Winter Sullivan, of course, knew that Susan Caldwell carried herself like a pampered heiress and, like many city dwellers of her generation, looked down on people from the countryside.

That sort of thinking was completely foreign to Winter Sullivan. She said with detached coolness, "The people who invented those labels were only fooling themselves. City folk, country folk... drawing lines between people based on such ideas is simply laughable."

Vera Xavier grinned and extended her hand to Winter Sullivan. "Well, since you don’t look down on me for coming from the countryside, I suppose we can be friends."

A small smile touched Winter Sullivan’s lips as she took Vera Xavier’s hand. "Come over to my house when you’re free."

Vera Xavier nodded, then picked up a pen and paper to jot down an address and a phone number. "This is my address and phone. I’m at school most of the time, but if you need to find me and I’m not there, you can come to this address."

Winter Sullivan glanced at the paper and then looked back at Vera, her curiosity piqued. The address was in a luxury villa district where homes were among the most expensive in Veridia. Winter Sullivan was surprised to learn she owned a place like that in the capital.

Winter Sullivan commented wryly, "With an address like this, you still have the nerve to call yourself a country girl? Are you just messing with me?"

"I am indeed from the countryside. That’s an objective fact," Vera Xavier said with a faint smile. "Who knows, maybe I’ll go back to farming one day. My principle is to be honest. I’m from a rural area, so just because I bought a house in the city, I should pretend I’m a city person? How would that be fair to the good people back home?"