Chapter 3

My father's face fell. "But you don't even come home for Christmas. Is that acceptable? That's the time when our family should be together. What's the point of giving us money when your mother and I have enough money from our pensions? We don't need your money."

"Don't be mad, Harold." Harry quickly went to my father and gently tugged on his arm. He smiled gently, "It's not easy for Charlie to be working in the capital on his own. He's in higher management now, and it's only normal that he can't make much time. I'm sure he misses both of you a lot."

However, my father only got angrier after hearing Harry's words. "What's so great about being in higher management? He's a man, and he needs to take care of his family sooner or later. It doesn't matter how high he climbs up the career ladder. He would still need to take care of his family in the end."

My mother agreed. "You're not getting any younger, Charlie. It's time you considered getting married. My colleague's daughter is about the same age as you are. She's soft-spoken and understanding, and she works around this area. She comes from a good family, and I think it'd be nice for you to meet her. You can get engaged if you're a suitable match."

I did not even hesitate to reject my mother. "I don't want to go on a blind date, and I don't want to get married."

"You don't want to get married?" My father's face fell. "Do you plan to spend the rest of your life just working?"

"Why not?" I looked right into his eyes.

"You…" My father was heaving with anger. "Your mother and I are getting old, and we need someone by our side. If you get married, we will have someone with us to depend on and take care of us. Why do you refuse to consider our well-being?"

I frowned. "Didn't I already hire Harry to take care of you?"

My father slammed the table and gave me an ultimatum. "If you refuse to get married, quit your job and come back there to take care of us! Otherwise, don't call us your parents, and we'll take Harry in as our son instead!"

I laughed angrily. "I planned to come home and work after graduation, so that I could take care of you." I looked at them as I spoke calmly. "But you felt that it would be embarrassing for me to find work in a small town when I graduated from a top university. You thought it was beneath me, and you forced me to find a job in the capital.

"It wasn't easy for me to finally find my footing in the city after years of hard work, and I'm finally leading the life I want, but you want me to give up everything by resigning and coming home just because you said so?"

I shook my head and said with conviction, "I won't be able to do that."

My father frowned, and he raised his voice, "Why not? We brought you up, but you're trying to shirk responsibility when we're asking you to take care of us?"

"I'm not shirking any responsibility," I tried to explain patiently. "I got to where I am right now by working hard all these years in the capital. If I give up my life just like that, all my hard work would be for nothing."

"So, you're turning your back on us?" My mother chimed in with a disapproving look. "We only have one son. Who can we depend on if not you?"

"I never said I was turning my back on you." I took a deep breath, trying to find a solution to this. "I can take care of you if you move to the capital with me. I'll be able to work while caring for both of you."

My father waved no with his hands, looking annoyed with me. "Move to the capital? We've been living here for decades, and all our friends and family are here. We won't be able to fit in at a strange, new place."

That was when my mother nodded in agreement. "Your father is right. You're still renting in the capital, and it's not as comfortable as staying in our own home. We don't want to move there."

I frowned. "You don't want to be there, and I can't resign. I don't think there's anything else I can do about this."