Chapter 506
Teresa remained calm, unfazed by the question she'd been asked countless times. "Who exactly are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean," she said, holding a shopping bag in one hand and Michael’s hand in the other, ready to leave.
Michael, however, kept glancing back nervously. "Mom, that man is still following us," he said.
Teresa stopped. Michael, sensing her unease, looked up at her nervously.
Sanford, seeing Teresa turn around, laughed. "I heard everything, so there's no point in denying it now. I was watching you the whole time at the wedding. I saw you talking to that kid and carrying him in your arms."
"Too bad Jonathan wasn't there that day. Then Jennifer’s wedding got wrecked, and she broke down. I knew you guys must be hiding something," he said.
"Shut up. It's already eleven at night. Are you stalking me?" Teresa snapped.
Sanford gave her a playful wink. "I wasn't following you. I was just passing by. I didn't expect I would run into you."
Teresa scoffed. "Do you really think I'd believe you? You were supposed to head back to Shaville after Hannah’s wedding. Why are you still here in Nareigh? What do you want?"
Sanford sighed, seeing the disgust on Teresa's face. He then noticed Michael staring at him. He looked at the boy and laughed. "I'm still hoping you'll marry me."
"You're insane. I would never marry you. Stop spouting nonsense, stop following me, and stay out of my life, or I won't hold back next time," Teresa threatened.
"Alright," Sanford said, raising both hands in surrender. His eyes were still fixed on her face, and his tone became more serious. "I told you I would never hurt you or Jennifer. If I wanted to do something, I would—"
Without another word, Teresa spun around and walked away, pulling Michael along. Sanford didn't follow. He just stood there, watching her disappear into the distance.
Questions and Tensions
Once in the car, Michael tilted his head and asked, "Mom, is Dad back?"
Teresa gently shook her head. "Don't listen to that weird man. He's just talking nonsense."
"He said he wants to marry you," Michael pointed out.
"I'm not going to marry him. I don't even like him," Teresa said.
Michael nodded, standing firm. "I don't like him either."
Teresa's heart melted. That one simple sentence from Michael washed away the stress of the night.
The next morning, Teresa called Jennifer and told her what happened. "I've told you a thousand times I'm not interested in Sanford. Did you promise him something? Is that why he won't leave me alone?" she asked.
"I never promised him anything, and I have no idea he was following you," Jennifer said defensively.
"Tell him to stop bothering me. He heard Michael call me Mom. I want you to take care of this," Teresa said coldly before hanging up.
Jennifer immediately called Sanford to her hospital. "Did Teresa say something about me? I didn't do anything; I just wanted to know whether that kid from the wedding was her son," he said with a sigh.
"No, that's Teresa's friend's child. She's been taking care of him lately," Jennifer lied.
Sanford chuckled. "Relax. No point keeping things from me. I know all about it."
"What do you think you know?" Jennifer asked.
"When I arrived, I overheard Lucia from your department gossiping that you weren't actually pregnant," Sanford said slowly. "I knew it. You never liked kids, so there was no way you were pregnant. You faked it to distract everyone from Teresa's son. You lied, right?"
Jennifer fell silent. Then she said, "When did you get so full of crazy ideas? I'm busy and don't want any more crap in my life. Just go back to Shaville. Don't you have a job?"
Sanford idly twirled a pen on her desk. "I'm on vacation. Besides, Nareigh is pretty fun."
"You should really go back. My life is finally getting back on track. I'm on the list for department head at the end of the year. I can't lose this," Jennifer said, her voice trembling with frustration.
"Relax. I won't hurt you or Teresa," Sanford reassured her.
"Good. Teresa and I fought this morning. Can you just back off and let me live in peace?" Jennifer felt like her head was about to explode.
"I just want to know if that kid really is Teresa and Jonathan's son. Just give me a straight answer," Sanford pressed.
"No, he's not. Get out of here," Jennifer said.
Sanford waved his hand. "Alright. See you."
A Message and a Misunderstanding
After Sanford left, Jennifer opened her phone and thought about how tough things had been for Teresa lately. Gordon, who had ruined her wedding, had been taken away by Fiona, and Jennifer wasn't sure when she would return.
During lunch, Jennifer used Donald’s phone to send Teresa a text message.
Jennifer: Don’t worry, I know Sanford well. He won’t do anything reckless. By the way, I was in a bad mood at the wedding and shouldn’t have taken it out on you. It was all Jonathan and his family’s fault. I shouldn’t have blamed you.
After sending the message, Jennifer immediately deleted it and handed the phone back to Donald.
Teresa saw the message two hours later. Not realizing it was Donald’s number, she called back, only to have Donald answer.
"Hi, Teresa. Jennifer went on rounds. Did you want to talk to her about something?" Donald asked.
"She just texted me. I wanted to have a quick word with her," Teresa said.
"You've blocked her, so she sent that from my phone. I don't know what you guys talked about before. Is there a misunderstanding?" Donald asked.
Teresa sneered. She thought, 'There's never been a misunderstanding between me and Jennifer. It's always been a straight-up conflict.'
Noticing Teresa’s silence, Donald said, "I'll pass on whatever you want to say to her. She's fighting for that department head spot at year-end, so she's been quite busy lately."
Teresa was stunned. "What? Is she going for another promotion? Didn't she just get a promotion not long ago?" she asked.
"Mr. Fester has a lot of faith in Jennifer," Donald said.
Teresa scoffed, thinking to herself, 'It's so unbelievable. Not long after Jennifer's wedding, Gordon wrecks her department, and this and...' She skipped lunch and went out for a walk.