Remaining Days, Please Advise

"Are You Going to Keep Testing My Limits?"

"You i***t, what are you snooping around for!" Jones' parents had probably been scolded by Mr. Jones beforehand, so they showed no change in expression and calmly changed the subject.

"Since you've already gotten the application, when do you plan to hold the wedding?"

Elena: "On the 27th of next month."

Mrs. Jones was slightly surprised: "It's already decided?"

Elena nodded.

Anna smirked and said, "Sis, you're getting more and more considerate. You didn't tell Mom and Dad about getting married, and now you're not even letting them worry about the wedding. They sure have it easy, sending you off."

In the past, Elena would always silently endure Anna's sarcastic comments without responding.

But this time, she didn't feel like holding back.

Elena calmly served Chris a bowl of soup and then said, "I've always been considerate. I've never dared to trouble Mom and Dad, since you know that isn't new."

Chris looked at the soup in his bowl, his gaze unreadable.

The atmosphere at the dining table noticeably cooled down.

It was Mr. Jones who first spoke up: "Where do you plan to live after the wedding?"

"I'll be living at Greenwood Heights."

Mrs. Jones curled her lips, her tone slightly sharp, "It seems like you’ve got everything planned out and don’t need us anymore?"

Elena politely responded, "I wouldn't dare trouble Mom and Dad."

This family spoke with not a trace of warmth, only formality and estrangement.

Mrs. Jones said in a deep voice, "If you don't want to trouble us, as your parents, we can't do nothing."

She was a strong-willed woman, always prioritizing reason over emotion.

Noticing the distance in her daughter’s polite demeanor, she couldn’t bring herself to speak kindly, so she coldly said, "Back when we were preparing for your wedding with Brian, we had already bought a gift for you. Now that it's someone else, we don’t need to make new preparations. I’ll have it sent to Greenwood Heights."

"And don’t say we're being biased. When your sister gets married, she'll receive the same gift as you."

Elena didn’t refuse and simply said, "Thank you, Mom."

The polite conversation between mother and daughter made the atmosphere at the meal grow colder.

"These things don't need to be discussed now. Let’s eat first!" Mr. Jones quickly changed the topic and pushed a plate of shrimp in front of Elena. "The chef just learned this dish; you should try it."

"Thank you, Dad." Elena lowered her eyes and slowly picked up her chopsticks.

Anna couldn’t stand the way her father was trying to please Elena. "Sis, both the Jones and Nelson families are considered prestigious. Don't you think you were a bit rash in calling off the engagement with the Nelson family? The family still doesn’t know how to explain it to them."

Elena nodded: "You're right."

Anna was slightly surprised.

Then she heard Elena calmly say, "Calling off the engagement indeed harms the relationship between the two families. Why don’t you fulfill your responsibility as a Jones daughter and get engaged to Brian to maintain the relationship?"

Anna immediately became furious: "What nonsense are you talking about?!"

Mrs. Jones sternly said, "Elena, how could you say such a thing? Your sister may have her flaws, but she would never settle for Brian!"

"Besides, it's hardly respectable for two sisters to be engaged to the same man, don’t you think?"

Elena slightly curled her lips, her tone a bit mocking: "So you do know what kind of person Brian is?"

Elena looked at the shrimp on her plate and said softly, "In your eyes, someone who isn’t good enough for Anna is good enough for me?"

Elena’s voice was calm, without a hint of sharpness, but it still made Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ faces change.

"What do you mean by that?"

Mrs. Jones coldly said, "Are you blaming us for introducing Brian to you? You were the one who chose Brian, and now it’s our fault?"

Elena smiled faintly: "Mom, you're not wrong. I’m just curious why you hid the truth about Brian and Zara?"

Mrs. Jones' tone immediately softened a bit, "What man doesn't have a bit of a past? As long as Brian is sincerely willing to change, why hold on to it?"

"So, Mom thinks Brian has sincerely changed?"

Elena lowered her eyes and chuckled, with a hint of sarcasm, "If you think he’s changed, then why say he isn’t good enough for Anna?"

Mrs. Jones' words were full of contradictions.

She claimed to be fair, but her actions were full of bias.

But Elena had long since grown used to it.

Suddenly, a fork appeared in front of her, placing a drumstick into her bowl.

When Elena looked up, she saw Chris’s calm and steady face.

Elena belatedly realized that arguing with the Jones family about Brian was disrespectful to Chris.

She suddenly looked up at Mrs. Jones, her eyes bright and clear, "Mom, you’re wrong."

Wrong about what?

Everyone turned their attention to Elena.

Elena's smile was a bit more genuine, and her gentle voice carried a hint of pride, "My husband doesn’t have a past!"

Chris’ hand, which was picking up food, trembled slightly, but he quickly suppressed the surge of emotions.

He continued to calmly serve Elena more food.

Suddenly, Anna stood up, "I need to use the restroom."

Ignoring the reactions of the others, she got up and walked out. After taking a couple of steps, she suddenly said, "Sis, why don't you come with me?"

Mr. Jones awkwardly tried to smooth things over, "Maybe Anna has something to say to her sister. Go ahead."

Elena didn’t refuse, placing down her utensils and saying to Chris, "I’ll be right back."

"Don’t stay too long."

"Alright."

As soon as they entered the restroom, Anna’s expression changed. She sneered and threatened Elena.

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell your new husband about what you did in the past? I bet he doesn’t know that the gentle and dignified woman he married is actually a cruel person who hurt her own sister!"

Elena slapped Anna across the face.

The crisp sound echoed in the restroom.

Elena rubbed her slightly sore palm, her expression unchanged, "If you have the guts, go tell him."

Anna held her face, unable to believe it: "You hit me? Are you crazy?!"

"I'm not crazy, just tired of putting up with you." Elena said seriously, "Ever since you started gloating over my situation with Brian, I’ve wanted to hit you."

Anna rubbed her face, "You’ve pretended to be gentle and obedient for so long, and now you can’t keep it up anymore?"

"Pretend?" Elena calmly looked at her, "I just didn’t care to argue with you before. Now..."

Elena thought it might be better to learn how to lash out than to keep enduring.

"Aren’t you afraid your new husband will find out your true nature and reject you?"

Elena turned and washed her hands at the sink, "Mom and Dad probably don’t know that you’re keeping a man on the side, do they?"

Anna's arrogant demeanor immediately vanished. She covered her face and looked around nervously, "What nonsense are you spouting? What man? You’re just trying to set me up!"

After washing her hands, Elena turned off the faucet and slowly dried her hands.

Her green eyes quietly fixed on Anna, "Anna, are you still going to keep testing my limits?"

This question immediately brought back old memories for Anna, and she couldn't help but shiver.

She had almost forgotten the nightmares of years past during these years of peace.

By this time, Elena had already turned and left.

When Elena returned, she found her bowl piled high with food, stacked like a small mountain.

The shrimp and eggs Mr. Jones had given her were gone.

Elena gave Chris a deep look.

Not long after, Anna came back. If you looked closely, you could see the red mark on her face.

But no one at the table said a word about it.

The meal finished quickly, and after they were done, Elena and Chris left.

Chris’s driver came to pick them up.

In the black Bentley, Elena turned to look out the window at the scenery.

The shadows of the trees stood quietly by the roadside, and the moonlight overhead was like a thin veil covering the ground.

Elena was silent for a long time before suddenly turning to look at Chris and asking, "You seem to know me very well?"

Elena then listed one by one: "I’m allergic to shrimp and eggs, and I don’t eat carrots..."

Later, all the dishes Chris served her avoided these ingredients.

Even the shrimp and eggs that Mr. Jones had given her were taken care of by Chris.