”I know marrying me could put you in the way of unpredictable dangers, but I will do my best to keep you safe and not let anyone bully you or harm you, not even a single bit.”Julian was the heir of the Buchams and as its future head, if he could not even protect his wife, he had no business taking that position.Quinn replied on instinct. “It’s not like I’m afraid that you’ll endanger me.”She could protect herself.“As long as you and your family don’t do anything illegal, the power you have is all due to your competence.”Julian hurriedly said, “We won’t do anything illegal like murder, arson, smuggling, or anything like that. We always consider the long-term, so how could we possibly be so stupid to do illegal things? Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble?”“Grandma May said before that if we Buchams dared to do anything illegal, she would be the first to hold us accountable because we’ve gained connections from her.”The Buchams and the Yorks had such a good relationship
“Sure. I-I won’t rush you or force you. Think carefully about it. Even if you can’t accept my feelings right now, I can wait. It just means that I haven’t done enough to move your heart and satisfy you.“I’ll keep striving my best to make you fall for me and make you happy.”Quinn smiled and said, “It’s not that you haven’t done enough. It’s just—I saw you as a friend but you saw me as a wife. It’s too sudden. I need some time to digest this since this is a major life decision and does concern my happily ever after. I have to think carefully about this.“Julian, this is between the two of us. Don’t tell my parents about this before I’ve given you an answer. If they knew I didn’t immediately say yes, they’d probably yell my head off. Unfortunately, I am that person who’s been stood up countless times by my blind dates.“My dad doesn’t really care. It’s not like I’m that old either—I’m only in my twenties. But my mom’s anxious and keeps thinking that I might be able to defend myself
Before Julian could respond, Quinn’s voice traveled from the top of the stairs.“Food’s ready!”Zoey called from the kitchen.Everyone immediately entered the kitchen and clambered over each other to carry out the ingredients Zoey had prepared for the meat fondue.Apart from Dave, who was not around, everyone sat around the table and dug into the piping-hot fondue.Will even grabbed a bottle of good liquor from his dad’s collection and four small cups, asking Zoey, “Mom, is it okay if we have a bit to drink tonight?”“If you don’t plan on going out after this, I’ll allow you to have a small glass each. Any more than that is a no-go.”If they had too much and got drunk, their work tomorrow would be affected.Will hummed in acknowledgment and said, “Okay, just a small glass then.”A little was better than nothing.“Quinn is a girl, so you should drink less.”Will only poured half a glass for his little sister.Quinn was very dissatisfied with this. “Yeah, I’m a girl, but my a
After dinner, Quinn and Julian went out for a walk.After the two left, Mark asked, “Will, do you feel like Quinn was a little weird tonight? Like she was unnatural and kept blushing at the drop of a hat. It seemed like she didn’t quite dare to look at Julian either. She was really different from usual.“This is the first time I’ve seen Quinn embarrassed ever since she was born. So it turns out that even she gets embarrassed. That’s the only time she looks like a girl. Normally, she’s just like a boy—carefree and shameless.”Will poured a cup of tea for himself, not responding to his brother immediately.Zoey was in the kitchen doing the dishes.When she heard her younger son’s remarks, she suddenly came out of the kitchen and said to them both, “Come here, you two. I want to talk to you guys about something while Julian isn’t here.”“What is it? You’re being so mysterious, Mom. And your expression is really serious. Is it something bad?” Mark asked as he walked over to her curio
After a moment of thought, Zoey said, “You guys do have a point, but when Julian comes back, I still think you’d better ask to be sure and to ease my worries. Also, Julian might like Quinn and the two are a good match, but Julian is the heir of a rich family and there is still a gap between our family and theirs.“Who knows if his parents can accept her? Once your dad’s back, I’ll talk to him. Will, you should make a trip to Wiltspoon with him and see if you can find anything about Julian’s parents and their characters.”Will nodded. “I can go by myself. I’ll book the flight tickets tonight and head to Wiltspoon first thing tomorrow morning.”“Go with your dad. You’re still young and still lack a keen eye for people. Your dad’s old enough and has decades of experience in the industry. His eye for people is still pretty good and it’s his daughter’s marriage at stake. He should help his daughter find out if her future in-laws are alright and if they’re dependable.”Zoey would have go
Julian said indulgently, “If you like them, I’ll give you flowers every day from now on.“Why don’t I go to the gym with you now to grab the flowers?”Quinn said, “Let’s go and get them. You don’t have to give me flowers every day. Just occasionally as a surprise will do. It’ll lose its novelty if I get flowers every day.”Julian chuckled. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”He gave her flowers, but she thought of flower pancakes instead.Julian was afraid too that if he gave her a bouquet every day, she would only have flower pancakes on her mind and not think of how much he loved her.Women liked two things the most—having money and the freedom to spend it at will.He could give her money folded into flowers so that she had money to spend.“Let’s go shopping for clothes first. I want to buy an outfit for you.”Quinn felt that she had to give him something in return for the bouquet of flowers he had given her.Thus, she decided to give him a thick coat.“You want to buy an outfit f
Mark glanced at Quinn. Seeing that she seemed normal, he lamented to himself that no matter how he looked at it, the two of them did not seem like lovers. Quinn still saw Julian as a buddy, did she not?And what on earth was Julian afflicted with?Zoey had cut some fruit. When she saw the two come in, she called, “I’ve just finished cutting some fruits. Come have some since you guys are back.”“Quinn bought me some clothes.”Julian was all smiles as he walked over to his future brothers-in-law with the bags in hand and sat beside them before starting to show off the clothes Quinn bought for him.Quinn felt her face heat up as she watched him show off and knew without looking in a mirror that she was blushing. She did not even sit down and said to her family, “Mom, Will, Mark, I’m heading upstairs to rest first.”Then she went upstairs with the bouquet of flowers in her arms.She did not want her family to see her blushing shyly.Quinn’s brothers were very accommodating to Julia
Walter checked the time and said, “We are a little bit early. If this was summertime, most people would be up by now. Why don’t we wait in the car for a while before knocking on the door?”Stacy said, “I’ll call Julian to wake him up first.”Then she proceeded to do just that.Julian had just started kissing Quinn in his dream and had not gotten a deeper taste of it yet when he was woken by the piercing sound of his ringing phone. When he woke up, he touched his lips, reminiscing about the kiss in his dream, and then realized it had been a dream.It was not real.Although Quinn had not run away and graciously faced his confession head-on, she had said she needed to think about it.She had not given an immediate response to his feelings.It was just that the dream had been so sweet. Damn the phone call. Who was the insensible person who called him so early in the morning and interrupted his sweet dream?Julian instantly felt irritated.Grabbing his phone, he picked up the call