It was only through Mother Cathrina’s insistence that Corinne was allowed to stay in the convent. After that, during
all the years Corinne was living in the convent, Mother Kalista would always gripe about her existence to Mother
Cathrina and, from time to time, would suggest sending her to the orphanage instead.
However, Mother Cathrina never wavered in her decision. She kept Corinne close by her side, causing the other
nuns to resent her and take Mother Kalista’s side. Seeing Mother Cathrina getting ostracized because of her,
Corinne did what she could to make her life easier. She took up most of the chores in the convent and ate as little
as possible to burden anyone.
As time passed, the other nuns slowly accepted her. No longer did they threaten to send her to the orphanage. That
was until, not caring about the other nuns’ objections, Mother Cathrina borrowed money from the convent’s fund to
pay for Corinne’s education. Not surprisingly, the bullying started again after that.
Corinne witnessed it all, so she vowed to herself she would not spend a single penny from the convent after getting
into high school. She pushed herself to win scholarships after scholarships, as well as to start a business while she
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtwas still in school. When her business started making money, she returned all the money Mother Cathrina borrowed
from the convent to silence the other nuns.
From then on, Mother Kalista and the other nuns had a 180-degree change in attitude toward her. They became
friendlier to her, but it only made Corinne dislike them even more for their hypocrisy.
‘They might be dressed in a nun’s clothing, but they surely don’t behave like one. In fact, the only person who really
behaves like one in the whole convent is Mother Cathrina. She only cares about doing good instead of other worldly
matters,’ thought Corinne.
Mother Kalista realized she must have been too sudden with Corinne when she saw her quickly withdrawing her
hands. Thus, she smiled awkwardly and said, “Sorry if I frightened you, Corinne. I was just so happy to see you that
I forgot you never liked other people touching you since you were young.”
Corinne smiled. “It’s okay, Mother Kalista. How have you all been well these years?”
Mother Kalista smiled at her. “Oh, we’ve been very well! We’ve used some of the money you sent us to repair
several of the halls and statues in the convent while Sister Cathrina donated the rest of it to the needy villagers
around the area.”
Corinne could tell Mother Kalista was making an indirect complaint about Mother Cathrina to her. Though, it was
nothing new to her since the nuns there—with Mother Cathrina being the exception—saw money as more important
than many things.
Even after Corinne finished paying back the money Mother Cathrina borrowed to pay for her education, she did not
stop giving to the convent. Nonetheless, she made sure only Mother Cathrina had the sole discretion as to how the
extra money should be used as Corinne did not trust the other nuns. She believed there were not many honest
people in the world, and this belief extended to the convent too.
Corinne frowned and turned to ask Mother Cathrina, “Why did you donate all the money to the villagers? I sent you
money because I want you all to eat better.”
Mother Cathrina stood up and said serenely, “We cannot be choosy about what we eat or use. Keeping the money
will only bring trouble for the convent.”
Corinne sighed helplessly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“You’ve not only grown taller, Corinne, but thinner too!” said Mother Kalista. “How are you doing in the big city? You
must be rolling in cash, right?”
Corinne gave her a faint smile. “Is that so? I must be losing weight due to the stress I’ve been feeling.”
She deliberately ignored Mother Kalista’s question about money as she knew that was her way of hinting to her to
donate more money to the convent. In fact, she had donated quite a large amount of money to the convent over
the years, yet that did not seem to satisfy the nuns there at all.
‘I don’t get why they’re so obsessed about money. It’s not like they can go on a shopping spree…’ thought Corinne
with a sigh.
At that moment, Mother Cathrina must have felt annoyed by Mother Kalista’s presence too because she said,
“Sister Kalista, why don’t you go prepare some of Corinne’s favorite dishes for her? It’s not every day that she
visits. As for the cleaning of the hall, I’ll help you do it later.”
“Sure thing. I’ll go whip up something for her now,” said Mother Kalista with a bright smile. After that, she turned to
Corinne and said, “I know you’re used to all the fancy food outside, but I hope you won’t be too put off by my
cooking.”