chapter 7 Good intentions are like donkey liver and lungs

Aaron didn't like others touching his belongings, especially his underwear.
He never let the maids wash his underwear, always putting them in a separate washing machine that would disinfect his intimate clothing and dry them automatically after washing.
Even after his underwear was dry and needed to be placed in the dressing room, Aaron still refused to let the maids touch his clothing.
Siran turned around and said, "I noticed that you didn't wash them, so I did it for you."
She specifically added, "Don't worry, I took a separate unused basin and washed it by hand, separating them from the socks."
Even so, Aaron was still a little unhappy.
He snatched the underwear with a dark face, saying, "I don't need you to wash my underwear for me. Don't touch them in the future."
"He regarded my goodwill as a malice," Siran muttered in a low voice.
But she wasn't angry.
Siran just wouldn't touch Aaron's belongings in the future.
"There's some steamed sweet potatoes and yams in the pot, and I've boiled some eggs too. There is milk in the fridge. You can have them. I'm heading to the office now."
Although Siran's conversation with Aaron ended on an unpleasant note, nothing was as important to her as going to work and earning money.
Siran went to the company in high spirits.
Just as she was about to go out to do errands around ten o'clock in the morning, Cara called Siran and said she wanted to see her. And so, they arranged for a meeting at Starbucks.
Cara didn't respond to Siran's messages or calls for two days, but now she decided to meet Siran outside.
Siran felt like something was amiss. "Cara, what's wrong with you?"
"Siran, let's meet and talk. I'll be waiting for you in the Starbucks at Hongtian Mall."
Siran rushed over only to see Cara present.
"Why isn't Hayden with you?" Siran sat down.
"I asked my mom to keep an eye on him for a while." Cara pushed the coffee before her toward Siran. "I ordered your favourite latte for you."
Siran was surprised. "Did you put on makeup today?"
She hadn't seen Cara wearing makeup in years.
What an unprecedented move!
Cara smiled bitterly. "Does the makeup do nothing to hide my sallow complexion?"
"No. You are naturally beautiful." Siran stared at Cara.
It was hard for her to tell Cara that her makeup looked terrible.
Maybe it was because of the ravages of time; Cara's skin was no longer youthful-looking, and she seemed aged even after putting on makeup.
After all, she was already the mother of two children.
But Cara was a natural beauty. "What is the makeup brand that you're using? It seems a bit cakey."
Cara had no idea what makeup brand she had used.
In the past two years, after giving birth to her first and second child, she had focused all her attention on her husband and children.
During the day, she sent Hunter to school. After her classes finished in the afternoon, she had to accompany Hunter to various tuition classes. Then, at night, Cara had to breastfeed Hayden several times. To her, sleeping through the night was a wild wish, let alone applying makeup on herself.
She thought about Musa's prosperous career, Hunter's many talents, and Hayden's cuteness.
With them in mind, Cara thought everything she went through was worth the pain and exhaustion.
It wasn't until the day before yesterday when she heard Musa utter those words to Siran, that she realized how unworthy her life was.
He complained that Cara didn't put on makeup, take care of her hair, had no motivation to improve, could not keep up with society's pace, and was a plain old housewife. Musa confessed he had no interest in Cara and only had eyes for Siran.
Every sentence and every word Musa spoke were like crumbling stones that hurled toward Cara rapidly, smashing her internal organs into tiny pieces.
In the past two days, Cara had a brief moment of resenting Siran.
Out of so many people, why did Musa have to fall in love with Siran? Why did it have to be Cara's best friend?
Therefore, she did not reply to Siran's WeChat messages or pick up Siran's calls during the past two days.
But after some reflection and introspection, Cara regained her rationality and became clear-headed.
How could she blame Siran?
It was Musa who had betrayed her. Even without Siran, he would have fallen in love with other women.
Cara almost ended her friendship with Siran due to her feelings of pain and anger.
Maybe Siran sudden marriage had something to do with Musa harassing her.
Otherwise, Siran, who had been single for seven years and had always rejected the idea of love and marriage, would get married suddenly even though she didn't have a boyfriend.
Siran had entered a marriage more or less because of Cara.
And Cara almost lost a friend who treated her sincerely.
"Siran, I'm sorry. I was exhausted from taking care of the kids these past two days and I felt a little unwell, so I didn't reply to your message. I didn't even properly congratulate you on your marriage yet." Cara apologized from the heart.
She asked a few questions about Siran's marriage with concern in her voice.
Siran stated a few casual remarks regarding her marriage, focusing on her concern for Cara. "What's wrong with you? Have you seen a doctor?"
Cara told Siran she was okay before saying, "Siran, it's the blessings that I cultivated from my past life to have a wonderful friend like you."
Otherwise, if Cara's best friend was someone else, the friend would have definitely cheated and betrayed Cara when facing a man like Musa, who was handsome and flirtatious.
"Cara, why are you talking about this suddenly? Is there something weighing on your mind?"
"No. I just feel lucky to have a good friend like you!"
The two women stared at each other. They both had something on their minds but did not speak of it.
"Siran," Cara said suddenly, "I want to go back to work in the company."
"I thought you are going to focus on your family and children. Aren't you quite resistant to my advice to you to come back to work or find work in another company?" Siran felt like something was amiss.
"I just suddenly feel like going back to work."
"Did Musa quarrel with you?"
"No."
Cara didn't even have the energy to fight with Musa.
Even without his confession to Siran, the couple had long run out of common topics to talk about.
Whenever Musa returned home daily, he would say he was exhausted from work. Then, he would plop onto the couch, take out his phone, and would rather play with his phone happily than help Cara take care of the children, let alone share the household duties.
If she dared to make any comment about Musa's behavior, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would join Musa in attacking her verbally, saying that Cara was not sensible and inconsiderate.
She argued and fought, and nothing changed other than making herself more tired.
So, instead of using her energy to quarrel with Musa and his family and irritate herself, Cara might as well finish her household duties quietly and find some time to rest.
The considerate way Musa coaxed Cara and followed her words before their marriage had long disappeared in this piecemeal married life.
Cara would never tell Siran these things, let alone her family.
Therefore, no one knew that her marriage had been a mess for quite some time.
She concealed her sadness and smiled lightly. "Siran, you are right. A woman should still have her own career and social life. She must first be an economically independent individual before she play other roles well."
She came to her senses after so many years of persuasion?
What a suspicious change of behavior.
Did Cara find out that Musa confessed to Siran?
But Siran didn't dare ask the question.
If Siran were to ask the question outright, she would hurt Cara's feelings again.
Realization dawned on the clever Siran, but she kept her silence.
Siran looked at Cara with sympathy and relief. "Cara, I know you can find yourself again."
"Actually, I'm a little afraid of returning to the workplace. After all, I haven't worked in seven years and I have long been out of touch with the society."
Cara's fear was genuine, but she was also dauntless in executing her plan. "But I still have to take this step."
Otherwise, if Musa dumped her one day, Cara would lose her only source of income, and there was no way she could provide a stable and happy life for her kids that way.
In the past two days, Cara also realized the truth.
One must awaken the mighty and strong self if one has an unreliable partner.
Thinking of something, Cara added, "Siran, when the three of us established the company, the legal person and equity beneficiary should not have been given to Musa."
It was not the time to end things with Musa yet.
If they did, Cara was terrified that she and Siran would not get a penny in the end.
Siran seemed to see through Cara's thoughts. "Are you afraid of breaking up with Musa and having an dispute of interests with him?"
Cara felt that they had to consider this matter carefully. "It was just an off-the-cut remark. You don't have to take it to heart. Don't worry, Siran. If that day comes, I would rather suffer a loss than allow you to be treated shabbily."
Siran had been worried about this matter since two days ago.
She became increasingly confident that Cara had found out about Musa's confession to her.
"Cara!"
"Yes? What's the matter?"
"Did you..." Siran, who was always straightforward and decisive, couldn't bring herself to ask the question...