Chapter 11: Never Good Enough

Actually, it wasn’t anything major. I just didn’t like Aubrey coming to our house. But Aubrey was the one who had saved Caleb and Mason. Mason liked her very much and always begged her to visit.

At the time, seeing Mason so close to Aubrey, I was jealous but didn’t dare say so. I could only quietly ask Caleb to talk to him for me.

When he heard, Caleb blamed me for being unreasonable.

"Mason’s nature—being able to be close to others is a good thing. Why restrict him? Instead of being jealous, you should think about why you can’t connect with Mason the way Aubrey does."

His words back then were like a bucket of cold water poured over my head. I was instantly speechless.

Later, I gradually figured it out.

Why? Simply because I’m just an ordinary woman. But Caleb and Aubrey are both ambitious, driven people.

Mason admired Caleb from a young age. He knew his dad was something special, and hoped to be just like him.

Caleb had high hopes for his son. Father and son often talked shop and worked on projects together.

I wanted to join them too, but the things they talked about—coding, start-ups, IPOs—I truly didn’t understand.

After a while, they spoke less with me. Mason even said, "Normal people are boring, but Mom’s the most boring."

But he was also born of me, a normal person!

I felt sad, so I stopped asking about their work. While they brainstormed, I did laundry, baked bread, made crafts. Life was peaceful enough.

Until one day, Caleb and Mason went out for a hike. Mason accidentally wandered into a dangerous spot. Caleb was hurt protecting him. It was passing Aubrey who saved them.

Aubrey was a nurse. Though she wasn’t as accomplished as Caleb, she was the second person Mason had ever looked up to.

When Aubrey learned Caleb’s background, she wanted to improve her own career, so she stayed in Maple Heights, joining father and son in their projects.

Once, Aubrey came again. I wanted to ask her about nursing. I thought, since tech wasn’t my thing, maybe I could try something else.

Unexpectedly, after hearing me out, Aubrey smiled and looked me up and down with a hint of ridicule.

"Lillian, nursing’s not just something you pick up. It takes the right schooling and experience."

I was a bit angry. I felt she wasn’t as kind as Mason claimed. So I didn’t want Mason to be close to her.

Unexpectedly, because of this, Aubrey left, and both Mason and Caleb blamed me.

Especially Mason, who cried and hit me,

"It’s all your fault! You drove Aunt Aubrey away!"

To comfort him, Caleb drove through the night to bring Aubrey back.

At that time, the two of them were also gathered around Aubrey like this, forming a stark contrast with my solitary figure.

Sometimes, at night, I’d hear their laughter drifting through the thin walls, and I’d press my palm against my heart, trying not to let jealousy turn me bitter. I stitched little felt animals for Mason’s shelf, baked extra cookies for Aubrey, and told myself that being left out was just a phase. But some wounds don’t heal just because you work harder.