Raina’s face fell. "So Linden’s mother really did it on purpose?"

"Nine times out of ten, it was deliberate," Goldie Thorne cursed. "She used you to harm my second brother and his wife. Son of a bitch, I’m going to kill that old hag!"

Raina flew into a rage, rolling up her sleeves to go settle the score. "I’m not letting that old bitch get away with this!"

"What are you going to do, storming over there with no proof? You need to use your head more! Someone says something and you treat it like gospel. I told you ages ago to stay away from that family, but you just wouldn’t listen. See? Now you’ve learned your lesson. If it weren’t for that girl, you would’ve nearly killed your own grandson!"

Byron Thorne stopped Raina and gave her a good scolding. Raina remained silent, but her expression grew even darker. She stopped shouting about teaching someone a lesson, but inside, she was already plotting her revenge on the old woman. ’Any excuse will do,’ she thought. ’I’m not the type to just swallow a loss.’

Phoebe Huxley hurried over, and Phoebe Thorne explained what had happened. Phoebe Huxley was first shocked, then enraged. "Why would that old hag want to hurt our sister-in-law? Lana has nothing to do with her. Has she got nothing better to do with her time?"

"Who knows? What kind of grudge could Linden’s mother possibly have against our family? Could it be because of what Felix did back in the day...?" Phoebe Thorne cut herself off, glancing sheepishly at Phoebe Huxley without another word.

Felix Thorne shot her a glare. ’Why bring up a sore subject? His affair with Phoenix Golding was nearly twenty years ago. If she brought it up out of the blue like this, Phoebe Huxley was bound to have a fit.’

Phoebe Huxley just snorted and shot Felix Thorne a glare, but she didn’t say anything. Felix Thorne breathed a sigh of relief. ’As long as she doesn’t lose it, we’re fine. I’m really terrified of that tigress when she goes on a rampage.’

"How come Lana didn’t come back?" Phoebe Huxley asked, concerned. She and Lana, her sister-in-law, got along quite well.

"The doctor said Lana’s pregnancy is unstable," Frederick Thorne explained. "She can’t handle any bumpy travel for the first three months, so she’s not coming back for now."

"There’s nothing for her to do here anyway. She should stay home. And tell your wife to stop going to work, too. The baby is the most important thing right now," Raina urged.

"That won’t be necessary," Frederick Thorne said with a small smile. "The doctor said she can still work. A little walking is actually good for the baby, as long as she doesn’t overdo it. Lana is only teaching two seventh-grade math classes this semester, so it’s much less stressful than last term." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Taking a leave of absence was completely out of the question. The school was short-staffed, and every teacher had to handle one or two electives in addition to their main subject. Last semester, Lana had also been teaching music. Only having two classes now was a huge relief. Besides, Lana was currently staying with her own parents, so her commute to and from work was very convenient.

Frederick Thorne’s parents-in-law lived on the school grounds. His father-in-law was a retired teacher, and his brother-in-law worked for the town’s education bureau. Even though the young couple had their own house, his in-laws would be thrilled if he and Lana moved in with them.

"Even so, you have to be careful. Grab two chickens before you go. Have your mother-in-law butcher them and make a nice stew for Lana. Your wife eats like a bird normally; now is the time she needs to eat more."

Raina, for once, set aside her usual stinginess and generously offered up two chickens. Whenever one of her daughters-in-law was pregnant, Raina would become incredibly magnanimous. She never slacked in this regard. The extra weight Phoebe Huxley carried was a direct result of the four postpartum recovery periods she’d gone through, and Raina was largely to thank for that.

Frederick Thorne nodded and pulled a packet of herbs from his bag—the very ones from Mystic Liu. His normally gentle expression turned menacing as he looked at them. Through gritted teeth, he said, "I had someone look into these herbs. They contain pokeweed, peach kernel, safflower, centipede, and monkshood. There’s even five-pace snake venom in here."