Chapter 76
Fiona looked at Tommy and frowned slightly. "It’s this hot out—why did you make the poor girl travel all the way here?"
Vanessa lowered her eyes and gave a shy smile.
"It’s not Tommy’s fault," she said softly. "I just missed him too much, so I insisted on coming..."
The syrupy sweetness of her words made everyone at the table break out in goosebumps.
But Tommy clearly loved it.
He tightened his arm around Vanessa’s shoulders, pulling her closer.
At that distance, however, he quickly caught a faint sour smell coming from her.
Tommy frowned and instinctively leaned back a little.
Vanessa hadn’t bathed for several days. Her home had lost electricity, and even sitting still all day meant sweating nonstop in the oppressive heat.
The accumulated sweat from several days carried a rather pungent odor.
Before coming over, she had tried to freshen up as best she could and sprayed perfume, but at close range the sour scent still lingered.
Tommy didn’t seem too bothered, though. Vanessa had already warned him about the situation beforehand.
At that moment, Tommy remembered what they had discussed earlier.
"Oh, Mom, stop asking so many questions!" he snapped impatiently at Fiona.
He grabbed Vanessa’s hand and stood up.
"Come on, Vanessa, let’s go upstairs first. Didn’t you say you wanted a shower? Go take a nice hot bath."
Without caring about the reactions of anyone else in the room, Tommy pulled Vanessa toward the stairs.
George and Fiona’s expressions were... complicated.
Their precious son had already shocked them by bringing some random woman home.
But now—at a time like this?
Water was becoming incredibly scarce.
And yet he wanted to let this woman take a bath in their house.
Had he gone mad?
Water was precious now.
The Kale family had indeed stored quite a lot of it, but certainly not enough to waste so casually.
Over the past few days, they themselves had only bathed once every few days, usually just wiping themselves down with a little water.
"Dear, you should say something to him!" Fiona pleaded, looking at George for help.
George glanced at his beloved son’s face. The reprimand already on his lips slowly faded away.
"Ah, forget it," he sighed. "It’s only a little water. If Tommy likes her, let him use it."
In the end, George simply couldn’t bring himself to scold his treasured son.
Across the room, Wendy’s nails dug deep into her palm.
Her face still held a perfectly composed smile, but her eyes had turned icy.
To maintain her image, Wendy said nothing.
Even though she was now extremely dissatisfied with Tommy.
After all, she had been the one who arranged for those water supplies in the first place.
And Tommy was now letting some woman off the street use them—without even consulting anyone else in the family.
Wendy had never thought highly of her younger brother to begin with. Until now, there had simply been no conflict of interest.
But things were different now.
George seemed to notice the tension in Wendy’s expression and quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Wendy, don’t be angry," he said gently. "Tommy is still your little brother. You’re siblings. Even if he’s immature, you should be more tolerant."
Wendy smiled—but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
"Of course."
Through the crystal-clear surveillance feed, both Suzy and Leonard could see the stiffness in Wendy’s expression.
It was obvious she was furious.
And honestly—who wouldn’t be?
Anyone faced with Tommy’s sudden decision would be annoyed.
"Suzy, do you think that woman will stay?" Leonard asked with amusement.
Suzy didn’t hesitate. "Of course she will."
Compared to the outside world, the Kale household was practically paradise right now.
They had water, food, and air conditioning.
Why would Vanessa ever want to leave after seeing that?
Leonard chuckled.
"You’re right."
The two of them continued watching the surveillance footage.
Suzy even switched camera angles.
The camera on the second floor captured Tommy leading Vanessa back to his bedroom.
Unfortunately, there were no cameras inside the bedrooms.
Whatever happened in there remained unseen.
Suzy switched the screen back to the living room.
The Kales were still talking.
"We should send that girl home later," Fiona said.
George glanced at her. "Then you tell Tommy."
Fiona’s expression changed immediately. "Ah... me? Maybe you should say it, dear. Tommy listens to you the most."
George simply lit a cigarette and shook his head.
There was no way Fiona dared to say it. If she brought it up, Tommy would definitely hold a grudge.
As his mother, she knew her precious son better than anyone.
In the end, Fiona’s gaze slowly shifted toward Wendy.
"Wendy, why don’t you say something? You’re Tommy’s sister—he listens to you," she suggested.
Wendy looked uncomfortable.
"Mom... how could I possibly say something like that?"
She truly didn’t dare.
Tommy was extremely volatile. The slightest irritation could send him into a violent rage.
And when he lost his temper, everything in the house would suffer.
Even George and Fiona, his own parents, didn’t dare discipline him.
How could Wendy possibly risk it?
More importantly, Tommy was the apple of their parents’ eyes.
Wendy couldn’t even touch him.
It was a completely unsolvable problem.
"So Tommy’s basically the tyrant of that household," Leonard remarked with a click of his tongue.
"Pretty much," Suzy replied.
She had personally witnessed Tommy’s outbursts before.
When he exploded, it was absolute chaos—George and Fiona would end up trembling like servants in their own home.
About half an hour later, Tommy finally came downstairs with Vanessa.
Vanessa had changed into a fresh dress. She looked clean, refreshed, and radiant after her bath.
The moment Wendy saw the dress, she shot to her feet.
"That’s my dress!" Wendy snapped, her face turning ugly. "Why are you wearing it?!"
And not just any dress. It was Wendy’s favorite one. She hadn’t even worn it yet.
Vanessa shrank back like a startled rabbit, hiding behind Tommy with watery eyes.
"T-Tommy..."
Seeing her like that made Tommy’s heart ache immediately.
"It’s fine," he said, patting her shoulder soothingly. Then he turned toward Wendy. "I gave it to Vanessa. Her clothes were ruined—what was I supposed to do, leave her without anything to wear?"
His tone was completely matter-of-fact.
"Then why didn’t you take something from Suzy’s room?" Wendy shot back angrily.
Taking her clothes without even asking was bad enough.
But he had chosen her favorite dress.
Suzy’s closet was full of clothes—and she wasn’t even living here anymore.
Why hadn’t Tommy touched those?
"You and Vanessa are about the same size. She can only fit your clothes," Tommy replied dismissively. "Anyway, stop making a big deal out of it."
He led Vanessa back into the living room and made a blunt announcement.
"Starting today, Vanessa will be living here with us."
George and Fiona exchanged uneasy glances.
Neither of them liked the idea—but neither dared to object.
Only Wendy, still burning with anger, let out a cold laugh.
"Living here? Doesn’t she have a home?"
Vanessa’s face instantly turned pale. Her fingers tightened nervously around the hem of Tommy’s shirt.