The Beginning Of All Sins

Maisy called Tyler almost half an hour later. Olivia had been trying to drift off to sleep in bed, with Tyler keeping her company for a little while. She opened her eyes and glanced at him when his phone started ringing. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

He had planned to stay until she was asleep. As his phone buzzed, he pulled it out and

checked it.

“Is it work, Tyler?” Olivia asked, curious.

“It’s Grandma,” he replied. “I’ll answer it. Go to sleep.”

She nodded, almost without thinking, and he got up. But he paused as he was about to leave the room.

The outside lights were shining in, making the room brighter. His shadow stretched over

her.

“I’ll just be outside in the hallway,” he said then.

After Olivia replied, Tyler left to answer the call outside the room.

Olivia figured he must be caught up with work stuff, so she didn’t want to bother him.

Outside, Tyler handed his phone to Linda. “Grandma’s calling. Could you talk to her for a

bit?” he asked.

Linda understood and took the phone from him, starting the conversation.

Tyler stepped out to the staircase for a smoke.

The next day, Tyler and Olivia headed back to Tide City.

When they got home, Olivia noticed that Maisy looked upset. She couldn’t guess why.

Since Olivia was still taking it easy because of the pregnancy, Tyler handed off her jacket to a maid and asked for Olivia to be taken upstairs.

The maid approached Olivia, offering, “Let’s go upstairs, ma’am.”

Olivia sneaked a glance at Ana, who seemed just as troubled as Maisy. She had no idea

why, so she paused for a moment before following the maid upstairs.

Meanwhile, Tyler, standing in the living room, caught Maisy’s eye and walked over to her. He asked, “What’s wrong? Who upset you?”

He tried to cheer her up, saying, “I brought back a local favorite from your hometown. Give it a try and see if it’s just as good.”

Maisy didn’t seem pleased. “Home? So, you remember it’s my home?” she said with a

sharp tone.

Naturally, Tyler knew why she was behaving like that. He didn’t want to pick up her call last night because he was worried that she’d do this.

“Tyler, that’s Caleb’s father–in–law, and Caleb is Grandma’s grandnephew,” Ana pointed out.

Tyler didn’t look at Ana; he just kept his eyes on Maisy.

“I wanted to talk about this with you in person. Yes, they’re your relatives, but maybe you’re not aware of the issue with the branch. Because of family ties, they’ve been our company’s supplier for years. We trusted them, but a recent check showed a small but significant problem. It’s about principles,” Tyler explained.

“I understand it’s a minor issue, but the way you’ve dealt with it is too harsh. How can the Reeses and Caleb face anyone after this embarrassment?” Maisy was still quite mad that Tyler embarrassed her.

Tyler leaned in. “So, what would you have me do? Just ignore it, warn them, or pamper them?” he said to Maisy like he was coaxing a child.