Kapitel 106: Ch 106 - Meeting the Family
Her mother frowned as she said to Kelly, "I don't know why you're becoming so disobedient." Kelly was hurt, but she knew that her mother had only said that because she had seen Alex wearing scruffy clothes. Her family didn't understand that she wanted a boyfriend that she really liked, not just someone with a lot of money.
"How could you talk back to Grandma like that?" her mother continued.
Another relative asked Kelly, "How could you bring a boyfriend who dresses so badly home to meet your family?"
Alice said, "Kelly, Grandma dotes on you. You have to be more reasonable."
Kelly had been told what to do by her relatives for years. They all had their own perspectives on her life and didn't consider her wishes at all.
Some of her relatives started to try to smooth things over. One uncle said, "We shouldn't judge a person by his appearance. Perhaps his family has money but he just doesn't want to show off. I don't believe that Kelly would do anything to harm the family—" He walked up to Alex and said, "Alex, right? Where do you live? What does your family do?"
Witnessing Kelly arguing with her family like this, Alex felt awful. He was contemplating telling them that he was from Justin's side of the Ambrose family and that they owned Warrior Enterprises. Perhaps this would appease them without him having to reveal his true identity.
But before he could say anything, Kelly stepped forward and spoke up for him. "He's just an ordinary student from Preston University, and he comes from an ordinary family," she said. As far as she knew, Alex was not even from an averagely wealthy family, but she didn't want him to be mocked by her family anymore.
"What?" One of Kelly's uncles was surprised. He had been expecting Kelly to tell them all that Alex was actually from a much better family than they had all feared. But the reverse was true. He really was a nobody.
Margaret heaved a sigh. Kelly really is being so disobedient today, she thought.
At that moment, another person's voice came from the driveway. It was saying, "This is our villa." Because the courtyard was very quiet, this person's voice could be heard very clearly.
The others looked over and saw that it was Simon. He was accompanied by a beautiful girl. To Alex's horror, it was Cathy.
"Hey, what's going on?" Simon asked as he approached. His sister, Yvonne, rushed over to him and, in a whisper, told him everything that had happened earlier.
Only then did Simon notice that everyone's eyes were focused on Kelly and Alex. The corner of his mouth curled up into a sinister smile.
Simon walked over to Alex and said proudly, "So you guys didn't know about my cousin's boyfriend? Then let me fill you in. I know all about him."
Kelly said quickly, "Simon, shut up." She knew that anything he said wasn't going to help. Alex had already made a bad impression on her grandmother and the rest of her family, and she didn't want Simon to make it worse.
"Don't worry, I won't say any more. I can see that if I do, my cousin is going to hit me." Simon covered his mouth in mock fear.
"Speak," Margaret said to Simon. She was becoming increasingly frustrated with Kelly that day.
"Okay," Simon replied obediently. He looked at his sister. He knew that she was already uncomfortable, but he decided to wind her up a little more. He said provocatively, "Remember Kelly, it's not my fault—Grandma asked me. Even if you're angry, don't hit me."
Kelly looked at him with pure hatred in her eyes. This only made him laugh.
Simon cleared his throat, then looked at Alex with a wicked grin on his face. He said, "He's a poor student from Preston University. He never eats in restaurants, not even once a year."
Simon had obtained quite a lot of juicy information from Cathy.
"He eats the same thing for his breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day. His breakfast is always grits, his lunch is bread, and his dinner is some kind of tinned soup.
"He only buys two new items of clothes a year. Sometimes he doesn't even have enough money for shampoo, so he just uses detergent to wash his hair.
"He's been using the same basic cellphone since high school. Even when the screen broke, he didn't have the money to get a new phone.
"He often takes his girlfriend out to the street vendor for hotdogs, because he can't afford to eat out anywhere else."
Simon continued on with defamatory information about Alex. No one in Kelly's family could believe what they were hearing, or that she would want to date such a person. Each time Simon said something new, they would gasp. They couldn't believe that someone could be so poor and live such a basic life in 2019.
Cathy, who watching everything, felt very smug when she saw Simon criticizing Alex to the whole Phillips family. She had been sure that Kelly would ditch Alex after what had happened at Simon's party, but here he was. He must have used some kind of trick to change her mind.
But now, even if Kelly had fallen for Alex, he didn't stand any chance with her. The Phillipses would definitely not let a poor bastard like him marry into the family, especially after what he had done.
Cathy thought that Alex looked extremely pitiful standing in the middle of the crowd, and she laughed to herself. She didn't have a shred of pity for him and only felt better as she took her revenge on him.
She thought, Alex, oh Alex, do you really think that just because Kelly seems to like you, everything will go smoothly for you now?
Margaret's chest rose and fell slightly as she listened to Simon speak. Her face looked sinister and scary, and a silent pressure seemed to emanate from her body.
If it had been any family member other than Kelly that she had been glaring at, that person would have been kneeling on the ground at her feet begging for her forgiveness.
"I really didn't expect him to be so poor," said one of Simon's cousins.
Another replied, "He's not even moderately wealthy. What made him think he could be with Kelly?"
Someone asked, "Simon, how do you know him so well?"
"Because his ex-girlfriend is now my girlfriend," Simon smiled proudly toward Cathy, who obediently walked over to him. He put his arm around her shoulder.
Simon introduced her to Margaret. "Grandma, her name is Cathy, and she's my girlfriend."
"Hello, Mrs. Phillips. I'm very pleased to meet you," Cathy said sweetly.
"She's so beautiful," said one of the cousins.
"Yeah, like she looks like a model. Simon has good taste," agreed another.
Several relatives praised Cathy's exquisite looks.
Alex was standing beside her, and Cathy knew he must feel extremely uncomfortable. While the Phillips family had criticized and rejected him, they were welcoming her with open arms.
This had proved the best way of getting revenge on Alex. Her situation could only improve as part of this family, while his humiliation would grow.
Margaret glanced indifferently at Cathy as she asked Simon, "You said she was this person's ex-girlfriend?"
"That's right." Simon didn't understand why she was asking, but Cathy did, and she became anxious.
The others also understood what Margaret meant.
One said, "She used to be with this guy. If he's a poor loser, then she must be—"
"What does her family do? Are they poor like him? I bet she just wants to marry into our family for the money," concluded another.
Someone else advised Simon, "It's easy to find a good-looking girl. You really have to worry about her character. Is it just your money she wants?"
As he listened to the warnings from his family, Simon finally understood the meaning behind his grandmother's words. He hadn't even considered marrying Cathy into his family. All he wanted to do was have a good time with her. He had never expected that dating her would cause such a ruckus.
"Grandma, actually—" he tried to explain the situation to his grandmother, but her gaze suddenly became sharp as if she was shooting an arrow right through him. Simon was scared. He had to say the right thing now so that he wouldn't lose the love of his grandmother.
He said, "Grandma, I was careless. Now I understand that if she is the kind of woman who is willing to be with this kind of man, it means that she's no good for me. I haven't known her very long, so I didn't really know what she was like. Don't worry, she will never be part of our family." Simon became more confident as he spoke. He was sure that his explanation would get him back into his family's good books.
Cathy was stunned. "Simon—" she gasped. She was already uneasy about the situation, but she had never expected Simon to abandon her so decisively. Over the past days, Simon's sweet words had convinced her that he was going to propose and that she was going to become part of a wealthy family as she had always dreamed of. Now his words were like a dagger slashing her beautiful dreams into pieces.
"Cathy, it's over. We have nothing more to say to each other. Please leave and don't bother me again," Simon said to her resolutely. He was actually quite reluctant to let her go because he wasn't quite bored with her yet. However, his family had made it clear that he had to dump her.
Cathy held his hand and pleaded, "Simon, you can't treat me like this. You said you wanted to marry me." Simon couldn't shake her off, no matter how hard he tried. With so many people watching, he felt humiliated that he couldn't even handle a single woman.
"Get lost." Simon kicked Cathy to the ground. He yelled at her, "Don't blame me for this. If you have to blame anyone, blame yourself for being so beautiful. Of course, men want to sleep with you. Since I've had some fun with you, I'm willing to compensate you with twenty thousand dollars. Take this card. The PIN is 4624. Now hurry up and get out of my sight."
Simon took out a bank card from his wallet and threw it on the ground.
Cathy knew there was no hope. If she stayed, she would only have to endure further humiliation. She stood up, picked up the card from the ground, turned around, and ran out of the courtyard through the fancy iron gate.
"Grandma, I was wrong. Please accept my apology." Simon lowered his head and walked over to Margaret.
"It's good that you've admitted your mistakes. Everything will be okay now," Margaret told him kindly. Simon nodded and stood to the side. He was relieved.
"Kelly, what about you?" Margaret's gaze once again landed on Kelly. She hoped that she would admit her mistakes like Simon did. As long as she did, Margaret would forgive her too.
Kelly didn't dare to meet her grandmother's eyes, but she still said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Grandmother." She didn't want to give up Alex because of her family.
Margaret's body started to tremble. Kelly kept disobeying her, and she was getting really angry. A few people quickly rushed over to support her, but she pushed them away.
That moment, Simon walked over to Alex and shoved him. He said angrily, "Just get lost. How dare you upset my grandmother like this? Stupid loser."
Alex's body felt weak, and he almost fell to the ground.
"Why are you pushing him? Leave him alone," Kelly scolded Simon. She hugged Alex, asking with concern, "Are you okay?"
"Why are you protecting him?" one of Kelly's cousins asked her.
An aunt said, "Now you've really upset Grandma."
"You should show more respect," said another.
Kelly's family was really unhappy with her.
She knew that if she stayed, her relatives would continue to berate her, so she decided to leave with Alex. She said, "Grandmother, I understand that you don't like him very much. Since you're so upset with us, we will leave now." Kelly supported Alex as they walked towards the fancy metal gate.
"Stop!" Margaret bellowed. "You came here for a family gathering, and now you think you can leave so soon? If you leave now, you are no longer part of our family."
If it was anyone else, Margaret wouldn't care so much, but Kelly was too important to her to let her go. She knew that she had to do something to shock her into staying.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein