It wasn't a sophisticated gift. But to an average household, it was an expensive gift. Those were pure gold accessories. They could easily cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even though I could easily afford those accessories, it was the thought that mattered.Colin was here, so I was obliged to accept them."Mom, when did you buy these things? Why didn't you tell me?" Colin wiped his face and asked.Aunt Mel smiled smugly. "You never come back, so why would you know about this? Dad and I visited so many jewelry shops to pick them. The owner said these were the latest and trendiest choices. Do you like them, Lulu?"Aunt Mel looked at me expectantly with a bright smile. How should I answer her question? Truth be told, I much preferred gem accessories as opposed to gold ones. I thought gold accessories were too gaudy. But I couldn't say that because it would hurt Aunt Mel's feelings.Should I say I liked them? But I didn't like them. Mom told me that only bad kids lied. "A
The whole dining room fell silent once I ended my sentence. Dad's and Mom's mouths fell on the floor; Hannah and Felix froze; Uncle Austin and Aunt Mel exchanged looks, surprised by what they heard. I was just as shocked as them. I didn't mean to do that, but those words somehow left my mouth.Aunt Mel stammered, "O-Oh! So this is what you want, Lulu. Harper, Gerald, is this your intention too? You'd prefer we marry off Colin to Lulu?"My mind went blank. Could I take back what I said? I covered my face, too embarrassed to look at anyone now. What was I saying? Would Colin punish me because of this?Uncle Austin added, "Gerald, you want me to marry Colin into your family? I mean… But…"Dad and Mom saw that the whole thing had taken a surprising turn and had to say something. "Well, Austin, we…"As they explained, their expressions told me that they were very happy with my suggestion. Dad had told me many times that he was worried I might get bullied when I moved in with my in-laws
Felix saw Hannah laughing out loud and enjoying the spectacle. Then, he ruffled her hair so that she would tone it down. Then, he teased Colin, "So, when are you marrying Lulu? I must prepare your dowry. What do you want? Tell me. I need time to prepare it. I wouldn't want to ruin your big day now."Colin pretended that he was embarrassed and swung his fist at Felix. Felix screamed dramatically and dodged away. The brothers began to brawl playfully. Worried that Felix would get injured, Hannah tried to stop them. She was of no help in a physical fight, so she could only ask them to stop from the side.I wasn't too bothered by the chaos. Colin defeated three thugs on his own. There was no way he would lose when he fought a weakling like Felix."Stop them, Luna. You wouldn't want Colin to get injured before he marries you, would you?"Oh, that little girl. She wasn't married to Felix, yet she was already taking his side. It was time to humble her. "Don't worry, Colin is strong. He ca
I was shocked. Was Dad doing this on purpose? He didn't even notice the adult man that was Colin by the entrance? Dad turned around and looked at the living room. Then, he said wryly, "We only have two bedrooms here. The couch is too small for you. Perhaps you can…"Judging from the glint in Dad's eyes, he was certainly doing this on purpose. He was trying to assert his dominance before Colin as his father-in-law. What he said was no different from "bugger off", and I was left wondering what the insistent Colin would do.They always said that mothers and daughters-in-law were mortal enemies, and so were fathers and sons-in-law. Today, I witnessed firsthand the veracity of this statement. Right when I thought Colin would bid farewell to my dad politely and left, he uttered, "It's okay, Uncle Gerald. I can sleep on the couch.""I can't do this to you. You must be tired from the flight. If you don't sleep well, you'll be exhausted tomorrow." Dad pursed his lips, annoyed that Colin insi
I got up sneakily and opened the door slightly to create a small crack. In the pitch-black living room, there was only one tiny illuminated corner. I could vaguely make out Colin's face. His fingers danced on his phone screen as the light from the screen made his face look extra eerie.Sick of his incessant messages, I replied to him, "I know you don't like where you're sleeping. You still can go home, you know."I didn't mean to kick him out, but I had to do something. What if he wanted to text me for two or three hours? I was exhausted and sleepy. Everyone was already asleep at this hour. We shouldn't stay up."No, I don't want to go home. Open the door, babe. Let me sneak in."What the heck? My dad already hated the fact that he was staying. He also said that we shouldn't do anything. Did Colin not get the message? Was he trying to challenge my dad's authority? That wasn't nice, was it?Colin wanted to spend a night with me right under my parents' noses. Plus, my dad already wa
Whatever. I should just call Felix. The call went through. After more than 40 seconds of monotonous beeping, someone finally picked it up and asked in a tired voice, "Who is this?"It was a cute female voice. Was it Hannah? Were they living together? I wasn't in the mood to gossip. Otherwise, I'd have loved to ask them about their relationship status. Wasn't it too fast to live together?I couldn't care less about Felix, but Hannah was a kind girl. I didn't want her to get hurt. "It's me, Luna. Is Felix there?" I knew I was asking a redundant question, but I couldn't just ask for Felix right away. Hannah would be too abashed.Another voice sounded, asking who called. Hannah said my name, and all of a sudden, I heard Felix's panicked and laborious breathing. "Lulu, don't have the wrong idea. Nothing happened between us."I was stunned. What did I have anything to do with them? Did he have to give me an explanation? They were staying together, but nothing happened? There had to be so
"Where did you go? Come clean now." When I saw that Colin wasn't on the couch and I couldn't reach him via phone, I was so scared that I woke my parents up.For the first time in my life, I behaved like a strict wife. I folded my arms before my chest and gave Colin a look that said, "I won't let this slide unless you give me a valid explanation."Colin's face twitched, and he pursed his lips. He was visibly uncomfortable with the question. As I glared at him and my parents shot him a quizzical look, he confessed, knowing full well that if he did not explain himself, no one would let things slide."I went back to the house opposite us. Our house.""What house? What's going on, Colin? Explain properly now. You won't be able to lie your way out," warned my dad sternly. He was already pissed about the sudden engagement, and he needed to vent all the pent-up frustration.As Colin's future father-in-law, he had to assert his dominance by kicking up a fuss about Colin's late-night disa
Colin couldn't hold it back anymore and barked, "I told you not to move. You—"Before I could hear the rest of the sentence, my hand was seized by his. When I knew it, it was already touching something hard and throbbing. My cheeks turned scarlet right away, burning up."Let go of me. I don't want to touch it! Hey!" I tried to withdraw my hand and pull away. However, Colin's grip was tight. No matter how hard I tried to yank my hand, it refused to budge. "Let go!" I cried out in desperation.He pulled my head onto his chest with his other hand to hide his face of forbearance from me. Then, he uttered huskily, "Be a good girl, baby. Just hold it like this. I won't move or do anything. I swear."I quieted down. Indeed, he didn't do anything. The temperature of his tense body slowly cooled down, but the thing in my palm was still as huge as before. When I woke up, it was already morning. I heard people walking in the living room.My body felt sore, and I wanted to move. However, my m