The Jones family.

When Gary finally appeared, everyone was shocked to see him soaking wet.

His relatives, who had been waiting for him to come back, couldn't remain calm upon seeing his current state.

"Gary, what's the matter?" Grace was his mother, after all, so her heart ached naturally. She quickly rushed over with a towel with a face filled with worry. "What happened?" Alice rushed over as well.

"Nothing," Gary said matter-of-factly, "I just got caught in the rain as I rushed home. No need to worry, Mommy."

His words of comfort, gentle tone and relaxed expression made it difficult for Grace to tell what was wrong.

Therefore, she could only look at her son with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"Then quickly go upstairs and change. Everyone is still waiting for you to start eating," Alice rushed him, "Your suit is in your room."

"Okay, Little Aunt," Gary went upstairs quickly.

Grace wanted to follow him as well, but Alice stopped her.

Grace looked back at Alice and whispered, "I have to go upstairs and ask what was going on with him. He made all of us wait for so long."

"Grace, I think you shouldn't do anything for now," Alice said seriously, "Gary is grown up already. For him to come back now shows that he still cares about us. Since he's aware of these boundaries, it'll be awkward for him if you insist on replaceing out what happened."

Grace was shocked at how much sense Alice's words made.

Naturally, she understood that.

However, she was just too worried.

She looked towards where Gary went and nodded, "You're right. Let him change into his suit first."

"Come, let's go back and entertain everyone else," Alice grabbed her hand and walked back to the hall.

Although William was already more than ninety years old, he wasn't muddleheaded. As soon as he saw Grace, he asked, "What's wrong with that brat?" "Grandpa, it's nothing."

Grace comforted

him quickly, "He just happened to go out for a while, and he was delayed by the rain."

"It sure doesn't look like it." William's eyes were still very clear, "Gary has something on his mind. Heinz, Grace, you two should pay more attention to him."

"Yes, grandpa," Grace nodded quickly.

Heinz glanced at his grandfather and said, "He doesn't need me to care for him."

"Tsk tsk..." William sighed and said, "You still haven't changed your bad attitude."

Heinz walked up to his grandfather, leaned over, and whispered in his ear, "Grandpa, I am a father of four children now, and they are so big already. Can you stop mocking me so often?" William's lips curled into a smile when he heard this, "Alright, I'll stop mocking you then."

His voice was so loud that almost everyone in the hall could hear him.

Heinz's face froze as he looked at his grandfather mournfully.

William smiled and said, "You are a grown man with four children, after all. It's really shameful for me to mock your inability to care for them properly."

William burst out laughing as he spoke.

Everyone else in the hall laughed along with him.

Everyone who had come were all close friends or relatives. Even Lawrence was present as well.

He was much quieter now. He sat at a corner rather silently. He no longer looked as fierce as he was ten years ago. In fact, he looked calmer than before. He looked pretty good in general.

After all, one would look well when his heart was calm.

Now, Lawrence was more like a passerby who wasn't eye-catching as he sat at a corner.

Now that ten years had passed, Jensen and Zachary had become more mature, and subsequently looked more charming as well.

All the children were playing together. Maria and Ernest stayed together while the younger ones played.

Sebastian, on the other hand, merely sat on the couch on his own quietly as he watched everyone play.

On the balcony, Maria was wearing a white princess dress, which made her look really cute.

Her gaze swept across the hall sneakily. Then, she lowered her voice and said to Ernest, "Ernest, where do you think Gary went just now?"

Ernest wasn't too curious about it. He shrugged and said, "He has his own freedom, okay?"

"I'm guessing that he probably went to meet someone important," Maria said pointedly and looked at Ernest with a meaningful gaze. Ernest merely smiled in return.

"Hey, Ernest Jones, can you stop wearing a mask all the time?" Maria complained, "Look at you, you always have the same expression. To put it nicely, you have a good temper. To put it badly, you're like a smiling tiger. To be honest, I prefer Gary's coy appearance; it feels real at the very least. While you, on the other hand, always have the same expression. You sure are boring."

Ernest shrugged again and looked at Maria, "Is it wrong for me to have a good temper?"

Maria nodded, "If it's too good, yeah."

"What's there for me to lose my temper over?" Ernest asked in return.

Maria opened her mouth and fixed her eyes on him. Finally, she pursed her lips and said, "Are you always so calm because there's nothing important enough for you to care about?"

"Just because I'm calm doesn't mean I don't have a temper," Ernest fixed his gaze on Maria and said word- by- word, "So, Maria, don't try to probe me. I'm also not someone you should mess with."

Maria blinked out of confusion.

"You... Don't tell me you know something?"

She racked her brain, and something suddenly crossed her mind.

"You heard what Celeste and I were talking about in school yesterday, didn't you?"

Ernest looked at her with a serious expression and remained silent.

His silence meant a tacit admission.

Maria frowned and pursed her lips, "Ernest, eavesdropping isn't a good behaviour."

"Did I really need to eavesdrop?" Ernest asked in return, "It wasn't as if you were speaking softly in public either, so is it really strange for me to be able to hear your entire conversation?" "You mean to say that you deliberately walked over to eavesdrop on us."

"So what if I did?" Ernest changed the topic without shifting his gaze away from Maria. He continued to look at her and smile.

Maria couldn't help but shiver; his smile felt bonechilling.

She suddenly didn't know what to do; it seemed that he was holding a grudge against her.

Maria immediately asked suspiciously, "Ernest, are you holding a grudge on me for encouraging

Celeste to go to the United States?"

"What do you think?" Ernest asked while smiling.

"Sh*t," Maria exclaimed. "Do you really hate me now? You can't blame it on me though. I really think it's better for her to go to the United States. Don't you agree with me?"

Maria explained anxiously. Her eyes seemed worried, as she didn't want to be hated.

Her dad told her to always be a good person.

She had tried really hard to work toward that, but she couldn't believe that she had ruined all her effort now. Years of effort had gone to waste.

In that case, forget it. There was no point for her to pretend any longer.

Maria pursed her lips and said, "Ernest, can't you see it? Celeste isn't mature enough in some aspects, so she isn't very clear on what to do about certain things. You have to understand how much she would regret after she realizes what she has done."

Ernest remained silent with a nonchalant expression and a faint smile.

Maria tried to persuade him again, "Didn't you cast lots to go to England? Since you were already destined to lose from the beginning, why don't you give up? Forced relationships will never turn out well." Ernest looked at her calmly, "Looks like you really think it would be better for Celeste to go to the United States with Gary."

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you replace any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report