Chapter 1

My girlfriend's name was Evanna Zeller.

In the three years we'd been together, I'd brought her home for dinner more times than I could count. Every time she met my parents, she was polite, gracious, and totally at ease. They adored her.

They were always nagging me to hurry up and put a ring on her, but there was one big thing we still hadn't done. In those three years, I'd never once met her parents.

Whenever I tried to put it on the agenda, Evanna always found some clever way to change the subject until the whole thing fizzled out. All I knew was that her parents lived in the sticks down in the southern part of the country.

Up to then, I'd simply assumed she was too self-conscious about it. I figured she must've gone through more hardship than most people could imagine to get out of that place and into a top university in the city. Then she'd fought her way up and actually built a life in this city on her own.

Whenever I talked about her, my eyes held nothing but admiration and love; her background never mattered to me.

Both my parents were highly educated, and they'd always hoped I would marry a local woman and settle down. But after they met Evanna, they accepted her, too.

To prove I genuinely loved her, I treated her with all the care in the world and bent over backward for her. She treated me the same way, so our life together was sweet—as long as I didn't bring up meeting her parents.

But this was the 15th time she'd dodged the topic, so I was in no mood to be understanding. "I know you hate talking about your family, but if you really don't wanna take me back to your hometown, then at least have your parents come here so I can meet them. How about that?"

She snapped, "Why are you so desperate to meet them? You can see them at the wedding, can't you?"

I was angry, but I also felt like she had a point. I stopped arguing with her.

It wasn't like we could go our whole lives without ever meeting. One way or another, I'd eventually meet my in-laws.

…

I got back home from a business trip the day before a long stretch of holidays. Evanna had already cooked several simple dishes and was standing there with a bright smile, welcoming me back.

The royal treatment threw me off. I couldn't remember the last time she'd done this for me, and I was over the moon as I sat down at the table, still wondering what was up.

"Damian, pack your stuff. We're going back to my hometown this afternoon so you can meet my parents."

She said that with a smile, but I caught a flash of sadness in her eyes.

At the time, I had no idea what that meant. I was too busy being thrilled that she was finally letting me into this part of her life.

After a happy lunch, I packed my luggage in record time, and we headed for the bus station.

Evanna's hometown really was out in the middle of nowhere. First we had to take a five-hour coach bus to another state. Then we took another three-hour rattling bus to a small town. After that, we had to call someone from the settlement to pick us up on a motorcycle.

We rode along the narrow, muddy mountain roads for another hour. At one point, the bike nearly bounced me right off the back. Even then, I never loosened my grip on the gifts I'd brought for my first meeting with Evanna's parents.