It was already the end of the day by the time, Bethany returned home.
Bethany was in hurry to go home and prepared time since it was 6:00 pm.
When the car came to a stop in front of
the condominium only then did Bethany realize that Jenna had fallen asleep during the car ride back home.
Her sleeping face looks so tender, pure, and innocent. This beautiful scene in front of her made her heart well up with joy.
she looks so innocent while sleeping but in reality, she's a big bag of trouble
With the help of Erica, Bethany stepped out of the car and slowly moved Jenna to her room to sleep while she prepare dinner for them.
After settling her on the bed in her bedroom on the second floor of the house, Bethany glanced at.t her lovingly for a while before slamming the door behind her and walking out of the room.
While walking out of the room, she quietly tied up her hair into a ponytail, then she walked into the kitchen to look for the apron, as soon as she stepped in, her gaze fell on Erica, who was busy staring into the refrigerator raised her head and met Bethany looking at her.
“What are you doing right there?”
Bethany asked while passing the apron over her head.
“I'm about to die from hunger, so I decided to grab a pack of ice cream first while waiting for dinner to be prepared”.
She made a sad face and clutch her stomach lightly.
“There is no time you're not hungry. just hurry up and help out with the vegetables ”.
After saying that, she went to the washbasin to clean up.
By the time, she came back Erica was washing a bowl of tomatoes by the sink.
Erica placed two freshly washed tomatoes on the chopping board while waiting for Bethany to start cooking.
Bethany went in front of the gas and lit up the fire, then she place a pot on it.
After chopping off all the vegetables on the chopping board, Erica was left with nothing to do as she glanced occasionally at Bethany. She is not going to be cooking anything today since Bethany had taken up the responsibility to do that for them today.
Erica stood beside her and decided to strike up a conversation to keep her conversation.“Bethany, aren't you going to teach me how to make food as you did? I don't seem to get it right each time, and Jenna wouldn't eat it if it doesn't taste like yours. So what are we making?”.
Bethany was stunned by what she said – This is because many people know Erica as a great cook, how can Jenna reject her meals because it doesn't taste like Bethany's? this might be the reason why she was so happy earlier when Erica had promised to cook them dinner tonight.
“Don't forget you had offered to teach me how to make this meal before, but you ended up going back on your words after you got busy, so there's no excuse today.”
Bethany had so much gone through her mind at the moment so she has forgotten all about her previous promises, and now she can't escape teaching her as Erica is such an adamant person.
Without arguing with her any longer, Bethany set to work.
She was going to make braised chicken wings now.
Bethany took the glass container which has the marinated chicken wings and signaled to Erica to pay attention .“You must have already seen the process of marinating a chicken but I'm going to show you how I did mine, do you understand?”.
Erica nodded while beaming with her eyes fixed on Bethany.
“You can make three light openings with a knife on the front and backside, splash some soy sauce and drop some wine on it as well as some ginger and make sure that the ingredients are spread evenly by mixing in some flour, After that, you turn and toss it. use plastic wrap to seal it and let the whole chicken in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then, this is the result that we are expected to have after everything is done” done”.
“Oh is that so? I didn't know this is how it's done, it's no wonder Jenna doesn't like my braised chicken wings”.
“Now, pour some oil into the pot and let it heat up first. Next, sprinkle some freshly sliced condiments first to create some aroma by frying...”.
As she said that, Bethany tossed the onions, ginger, and garlic into the hot oil, and with a sizzling sound, the oil started to boil and react.
They both subconsciously took a few steps backward to avoid the hot oil smashing on them. Just as they did, they suddenly bumped into each other, and Erica quickly grabbed hold of Bethany– The situation was so awkward that Erica burst into laughter.
“Hey are you okay, Giselle?”.
She was not okay, of course as her heart almost jump out of her chest. However, when she heard the latter calling her by the old name, she quickly composed herself as she shun the other woman warningly before resuming cooking.
“I have warned you to stop calling me webby that name, haven't I? I'm not Giselle, She was a lazy bone that everyone could easily trample upon on her naivety, they used and dumped her like the piece of rag that she was and she was sent to her death. I'm Bethany Burnett, she is a strong and independent woman who would never let anyone take advantage of her, instead, she would crush everyone that dares to go against her– Giselle was weak, and Bethany is strong. Giselle was naive and innocent, Band Bethany is sophisticated and wise. I'm nothing like Giselle. Get that into your thick skull and stop making trouble for me”.
Bethany said with a warning tone. Her voice was firm, and she sounded very serious as she seems to recall events from the past while comparing both women–Giselle and Bethany.
Although Erica knows the truth, she was still afraid that the fire of revenge burning in Bethany's heart was going to graze everyone one after the other.
Not only that, she was afraid that Bethany might hurt herself while taking her revenge on others but Bethany didn't care to think about herself.
Rendered speechless by her words, Erica didn't dare to say any more words as she only stared at Bethany strangely.
Unable to hold back the urge to speak some sense into her, Erica decided to say whatever was in her mind.“You're hurting yourself as well while trying to seek revenge on others, Giselle. You've become a shadow of your old life. You don't care about yourself nor the little girl with you”.
“What old life are you talking about? Do I have every identity from my past? I'm only Bethany Burnett from the beginning, and that's who I am now. I don't have anything from my past nor do I want to go back to the past”.
“But You don't seem to understand, Giselle. You're hurting.....”
“Bethany! Are you tired of staying by my side? I'll get someone to arrange for your return documents. You can leave as soon as possible, I have no reason to stop you if you want to leave”.
“That's not what I meant, Bethany. I'm just worried that by the time you're done with your revenge games, Jenna would have distanced herself from you. Give out some time for her”.
When Bethany heard what Erica had to say, she kept mute and reminisced on it for a while without raising her views to look at her.
Erica is right. Jenna needs my time as well as the time I'm spending on my plans. from now on, I'm going to give her enough time as well.
After a couple of minutes had passed, Erica heaved a loud sigh, and Bethany hopped out of her thoughts.
“Next, slowly put all the chicken wings in the pot, but since the hot oil would splash, you should better get ready to take a few steps back”
These were the next words that she said after the brawl.
After making sure that, she had reminded Erica to move away, she slowly poured the washed plate of chicken wings into the pot.
The moment, the chicken wings came in contact with the hot oil, a huge sizzling sound could be heard, and droplets of oil were jumping around the kitchen.
“Careful, you...” Erica exclaimed as she suddenly pulls Bethany backward.
“I can handle myself, you don't have to act like I'm on my way to the burning furnace. This is just a droplet of oil, it won't burn my soul to death again”.
Bethany said, directing her words to an entirely different thing while her eyes remained fixed on the hot pot oil as she tossed the spoon around the pot.
Astonished by her words, Erica slightly moved her hands away and stared at Bethany intently without attempting to move her eyes away from her body.
it's been five years already but the pain in her heart remained as fresh as a bunch of butcher meat. The wounds in her heart have refused to heal, and on top of that, she has to be reminded of them every single day, neither by the newsletters, magazines, radio, and television shows. how was she to forget such events when they come in front of her each time, she wanted to heal from her past.
Erica turned her back to her as she let her mind roam around, and wondered how Bethany has been able to keep a strong and distinct personality over the years.
if I were in her place, I would have had them killed a long time ago, those animals don't deserve to leave after what they did to Giselle and her child. They came after her even with her pregnancy, and because of them, she ended up this way without emotions. Her emotions are only reserved for the little girl with her, other than that, she doesn't care about other people anymore. her heart is now stoned with hatred and anger.
“You're tired of learning about looking now?” Bethany asked from the back without turning to look at her. When Erica heard her question, she instantly pursed her lips and was about to say something when they heard a sweet familiar voice from the back.
“Isn't dinner ready yet, godmother? I'm starving. why is it taking so long?”
The little girl was kneading her sleepy eyes to clear off the sleep as she walked toward the kitchen.