Chapter Ten. Meeting the Inlaws
1605 Words
Chapter 10 Meeting the Inlaws
She really couldn't guarantee it. She coquettishly hugged her mother's arm and diverted the topic of discussion "You go cook, Mum. I'm hungry, I want to eat the sweet and sour pork ribs you make," she punctuated her request with loud yawns.
This caught her mother off-guard because nothing else took precedence over her daughter's nutrition.
"Okay, I'll go make sweet and sour pork ribs for you." She concurred and headed to the kitchen.
"I'm an adult now, don't worry, I promise I won't make a mistake this time," Roslyn turned to her father and vowed.
Owing to his love for her, and the pleading manner in which it was voiced, most of his resentment was dissipated. He took a deep sigh as he stared at her adoringly.
"Rosy, I'm not without conscience. I'm just afraid that you might be fooled again."
"There's no cause for alarm. I have Mom and Dad as my confidence. If I make a mistake again this time, I will never marry and will accompany Mom and Dad for the rest of my life." She hugged his arm and smiled innocently.
"Okay, I will take you up on your word." He sighed and compromised, but he put forward two conditions.
First, Dan could not continue working in the bar, but to start working in his own company, as an assistant manager in the marketing department.
Secondly, he would relocate to be a live-in son-in-law.
* * * * *
Dan entered his grandfather's mansion and hastened towards his study.
The old man of the Panter family stood behind a large desk, his expression solemn, but the joy in his eyes could not be hidden.
"Asshole!" The old man swore as soon as he laid his eyes on Dan.
He slapped the table, his mouth corners raised, and his body leaning forward slightly.
"Why didn't you tell me about such a big thing as your marriage?" He demanded of Dan.
Dan knew that though he could hide it from the media, he could not be able to hide it from his grandfather.
"Even if I don't tell you, you already know it, right?"
"So it's true?"
Grandpa Panter suddenly laughed, his goatee standing up with laughter.
"My grandson has good taste. Although the Brandon family background is much worse than ours, when it comes to marrying a virtuous wife, family background is not important," he commended. "Don't worry, grandpa is not old-fashioned. I won't break you up just because of the disparity in family background. Hurry up and bring her back so I can meet her."
"Not now. You know the situation at home. It's not appropriate now," Dan frowned on the invitation.
The old man put away his smile and sighed heavily.
"Well, it's okay if you don't want to bring her back, but grandpa wants to see her, you arrange it."
"Okay," he agreed and dialed a number on his phone.
* * * * *
Roslyn's mother's sweet and sour pork ribs were ready and waiting to be served when she received a call from Dan.
"Ah? What? What happened... I will be there right away!" She answered the call, sounding alarmed. She hung up the phone and appeared to be in a hurry to leave.
Her mother noticed her horrified face.
"Who called, was it Dan? When will he arrive?"
"Mom and Dad, I have something to do and I'm leaving first..." she grabbed the bag on the sofa and hurried out the door before she finished speaking.
"Why are you in a hurry, kid? You haven't eaten yet," Mr. Brandon asked.
"No, you guys eat."
She left in a hurry because she had received a call from Dan saying that his grandfather was in the hospital and had no money to pay the hospital fees. He hoped that she could go.
She felt guilty.
The dresses that Dan had sent and the clothes he bought in the mall in the morning were not cheap. He must have spent all his savings to buy those things for her, so he had no money to pay his grandfather's hospital fees! She continued blaming herself on the way to hospital.
Moments later, she pushed open the door of the ward, and there was an old man with white beard and white hair lying on the bed. His eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Dan's. To her, he looked energetic and did not look like he was sick.
Dan was sitting beside his bed, peeling an apple. When he saw Roslyn come in, he smiled.
"You're here?"
When the grandfather saw his grandson smile, his eyes almost popped out of his head in shock.
"This kid hasn't smiled for five years, and now he actually smiled?" He almost wondered out aloud. Did it mean that his grandson had gotten over that incident?
Because of his grandson's smile, the old man of the Panter family had an extremely good first impression of Roslyn.
"Are you Miss Brandon? Come, sit here." The old man warmly invited her to sit next to him.
As she approached, she suddenly smelled an unpleasant odor. There was a large snakeskin bag standing next to the bed, and a piece of waste paper shell was sticking out of the bulging bag. It was obvious that the smell was emanating from there.
"Hello Grandpa, my name is Roslyn Brandon, and I'm your granddaughter-in-law." She pretended not to smell the smell and greeted grandpa amiably.
"Good child, this is our first meeting and grandpa has nothing to give you. I have to ask you to pay for my hospital bills. People are useless when they are old..." the old man said meekly. He wiped his tears while observing Roslyn.
He was pretentiously putting up that show because Dan had said that he was an old scavenger who had raised him by picking up scraps. He could only pretend to be like this to meet his grandson's wife.
He too realized that it was a good way that one could quickly judge a person's true thoughts and character.
Surprisingly, she was not irritated by the bad smell in the ward at all, nor did she dislike the old man's shabby appearance. She only made some suggestions for improvement.
"Grandpa, permit us to take good care of you. There's no need to continue living alone outside after you are discharged from the here. Come and live with us," she strongly suggested.
In her considered opinion, the salary of the two of them was enough to take care of the old man and so he did not need to work so hard by picking up trash every day.
"I really appreciate your consideration, but I don't want to burden you with my useless self. This is the only life I know how to live. If you and Dan come home more often to see me, I'll be satisfied..."
"Well, don't you think too much. The most important thing is to take good care of yourself," she comforted him and asked for the hospital bill to pay.
After paying the bill, she found Dan in the corridor waiting for her.
"Let's go, let's go to your parents' house," he said as he hastily ushered her out.
Now that grandpa had seen Roslyn and was very satisfied, it was time for him to meet her parents at their home.
"There's no rush to go to my parents' house. We can't leave grandpa alone in the hospital. It's important to take care of him first," she protested.
"You are absolutely right, but Grandpa is already discharged from the hospital."
"What? When?" She wondered.
Was he discharged from the hospital just when she went out to pay the bill?
He had to explain the hurried departure of the old man.
"Grandpa is not seriously ill. He was picking up paper boxes on the street and fainted due to hypoglycemia. He was sent to the hospital by kind people. He has just received a glucose injection and is now well. He hastily left because he was afraid of bothering you further."
"But that doesn't explain how you can let the old man go back alone? What if something happens on the way?"
"He is used to being alone. He will be fine. Let's go." He took her hand and led the way out.
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at her parents' house and found them wearing indifferent expressions.
"Come and sit down," her mother invited them.
The four of them sat opposite each other on the sofa. Roslyn's father wasted no time in getting to the subject matter of the invite.
"Hoping that Roslyn has briefed you on what we discussed, may I know your stand on my two conditions?"
"What conditions?" Dan asked, curiosity taking the better of him.
It was while Dan was at a loss that Roslyn remembered the two conditions her father had told her. She had been so focused on feeling guilty that she had forgotten such matters of urgency.
"Dad, I haven't told him yet. This kind of thing is not urgent..." She started to explain.
"Why not?" Her father interrupted. "Apparently, she didn't tell you, but let me say it. You are not worthy of my daughter, and your wedding yesterday doesn't count. However, you came out to help and I obviously would like to show you some appreciation," he paused to take out a bank card which he pushed towards Dan.
"Take this card, there is one million in it. Leave my daughter and the wedding never happened."
- Writer
