Chapter 526: Suspecting a Mental Illness
Dinner at the Hawthorne residence was a grand affair, and Clayton Xavier had stayed as well. It wasn’t that he was craving the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, but rather that he loved listening to Old Master Tate hold forth at the dinner table. He never tired of the old man’s discourse on the classics or his stories about foreign lands and customs.
"This sweet rice cake is delicious. Jim, when you go back, please thank your mother and grandmother for me."
Old Master Tate couldn’t stop praising the sweet rice cake. He ate two pieces and barely touched his rice or the other dishes.
"We have more at home. I’ll bring you some tomorrow," Jim Thorne offered generously.
Phoebe Huxley had recently come into a bit of money, and it had made her even more generous. She had been quite lavish with this batch of sweet rice cakes, sending a good portion to her own family and having Frederick Thorne take a large amount back to town for his in-laws. At school, the brothers Howard and Jim Thorne often received help from Lana Steiner’s parents, and Phoebe Huxley had been wanting to thank them for a long time.
"Excellent. I can have these for breakfast. Two pieces are enough to fill you up."
The old master happily accepted. He had a sweet tooth and loved all sorts of pastries, as long as they were sweet. He wasn’t a fan of savory snacks. Yet, for zongzi, he insisted on the savory kind and couldn’t stand the sweet ones. It was the same with soy milk—he found sweet soy milk unpalatable.
After dinner, Adrian Hawthorne planned to visit the Thorne family. He was leaving on a long trip the next day and needed to ask Phoebe Huxley to look after Rosalind Green. He was still unaware of his mother’s... heroic exploits from the other day.
"Don’t trouble Aunt Aurelia. I’ll be fine at home by myself. Besides, I have Dollar with me," Rosalind Green said, stopping her son.
Adrian Hawthorne froze for a moment, looking at his mother in surprise. It was only then that he noticed something was different about her. But he was still worried. ’What if something happens?’
"I’ll be fine, really. If any hooligans dare to show up, I’ll grab a knife and hack them to pieces!" Rosalind Green uttered the bloody threat with perfect calm.
Adrian Hawthorne’s normally unflappable expression, which wouldn’t crack even if a mountain crumbled before him, finally wavered. ’Hacking people with a knife?’
His mother was afraid to even kill a chicken.
"Mr. Hawthorne, Aunt Green is incredible!" Tang Xiao’nan quickly interjected to set the record straight. "Last time, she slashed a hooligan until his head was bleeding and he was so scared he wet his pants! She also gave Aunt Mandy a beating." With so much happening lately, she had forgotten to mention it.
Rosalind Green smiled shyly, pressing her lips together. Seeing the disbelief on Adrian Hawthorne’s face made her heart ache a little, but what she felt most was shame. ’Phoebe Huxley was right to scold me. I used to be so useless... I’ve let my son down.’
"I... I haven’t been a good mother. I’ve made you suffer so much. In the future... I won’t drag you down anymore."
Though Rosalind Green’s voice was soft, her tone was resolute. ’I absolutely will not be a burden to my son ever again. I need to learn how to hack people like Phoebe Huxley.’
Adrian Hawthorne, however, was far from calm. His mind was a mess. His mother’s transformation had come too suddenly, and he couldn’t process it.
It was like watching a frail, delicate heroine suddenly throw down her embroidery and start hauling buckets of manure. The change in scene was just too bizarre. ’What on earth happened to her? What could have provoked this?’
’Could this be the prelude to a mental breakdown?’
Adrian Hawthorne felt no relief, only a growing worry. He was afraid his mother had been so traumatized that she was losing her mind. ’Don’t some people act bizarrely right before a complete breakdown?’
"I’m not going to Capria tomorrow. I’m taking you to the hospital for a check-up."
Adrian Hawthorne had changed his mind. ’Making money is secondary; my mother’s health is what’s most important.’
Everyone stared, stunned. What kind of reaction was that?
Why go to the hospital when there was nothing wrong with her?
"I’m not sick. I don’t need to go to the hospital," Rosalind Green said gently.
But Adrian Hawthorne was resolute, leaving no room for refusal. "We’re going to the hospital just to be safe."
’All the patients in the psychiatric hospital claim they aren’t sick.’ The more she insisted, the more convinced he became that something was wrong with his mother’s mind.