By this time, Flora had returned home.
Flora's mother has a small flower garden. Her mother and she relied on the profits earned from the flower garden and on each other to live.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw the scent of flowers filling the air.
Roses are in full bloom, red in the corner of the garden.
Her mother was busy all the time, cutting each beautiful rose, folding it up, and preparing to bring it to the flower shop.
"Mommy."
Her mother heard her daughter's voice, only turned her head to look, then resumed her busy work.
“The roses are blooming beautifully, and I cut this one-off. The next one that blooms will probably be in time to decorate your engagement… But I thought you would pick up Patrick. Why didn't he come back now?”
Flora stepped forward to lend her mother a hand.
Her mother frowned as she watched her daughter clumsily cut a flower stem and begin to nag.
“You messed up again, and only Patrick can handle you… Stand aside, don't entangle my hand. And I haven't told you yet, you two are about to get married, but I'm a girl, you have to know how to keep your virginity. You have spent the night with a boy..."
Flora stood to one side, watching her quickly with her working. She was a little alarmed when she heard her mother scolding her for spending the night outside, whispering:
"Patrick hasn't come back yet, and we're… nothing, Mom."
She carefully observed her mother's expression, took a deep breath, and mustered up the courage to say:
“Mom, can I temporarily… unmarried Patrick? I think I'm too young… Your daughter just graduated and got married, do you regret, and wanting to keep me at home for a few more years?"
Mrs. Smith breathed a sigh of relief. It's good not to spend the night together… But right after that, she heard her daughter say she didn't want to get married yet. It is not the first time Flora has said these words to her mother.
In her eyes, her relationship with Patrick is relatively stable, but she still doesn't want to get married too soon.
“I can go to work for a few years, bump into the outside world, help you with the work in the flower garden, do whatever I want, then it's not too late to get married...! Okay, mom?"
Besides, yesterday… thinking about getting married to Patrick, she suddenly wasn't so sure.
Will he be able to accept a fiancée who is no longer chaste? Her mother turned, gently stroking her daughter's hair.
Without waiting to say anything more, she pushed her daughter into the house again.
"Enter home first, and mom will work a bit more and then come in. The Jones family holds a wine party to celebrate Patrick's return, we'll go there to say hello later."
Just now, Patrick also mentioned the party and invited her mother, but she still doesn't know anything. Flora's heart suddenly arose a feeling of suspense, like a premonition… something big was about to happen.
"But…"
Her mother laughed, gently pushing her shoulder.
"But what else? Don't you like Patrick very much? Every day, you run after the boy's butt and calls him. When he goes to school, you also cling to him and won't let him go. What is there to be embarrassed about now."
Her mother tease at her, so she understood she couldn't change everything. Then she pursed her lips, didn't say a word, and went into the room.
Initially, she was also looking forward to it, but what happened last night left her at a loss for what to do. She felt that marrying into the Jones family was unfair to Patrick.
The party took place in the evening, but by early afternoon Patrick was at Flora's house.
Flora's mother, Mrs. Smith, saw him and smiled happily.
"Patrick is back? You're getting more and more handsome every day."
Patrick scratched his head, smiling at her too. The mother-in-law looked at her son-in-law. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became, in her eyes, this son had no bad points to criticize.
"Yes, auntie, I see you as the same as a few years ago, still as young and beautiful."
Mrs. Smith pointed straight into the house.
"Don't be flatter me, and your little girlfriend is in the house. Those beautiful compliments bring in and compliment her."
For Patrick, Mrs. Smith is a perfect mother-in-law who understands her son-in-law very well. He stepped into the house, remembering to leave a sentence.
"I'm complimenting her indirectly. She is like her mother, my mother-in-law is beautiful, and her wife and children are wonderful."
Not yet engaged, Patrick called 'wife', and 'mother-in-law' was very comfortable. It is only a matter of time, and soon he will truly become the person's family. He felt comfortable thinking about this.
The person he loved was sitting alone in the living room, dumbfounded. Not understanding what she was thinking, he crept right behind her. She didn't notice.
"Flora… Can you guess who I am?"
Flora was startled, realizing the person, coming from extremely happy. But the joy of being apart for a long time, seeing each other again, could not cover the insecurity in my heart. She tried to force a smile.
"You are… not a prince, then an evil?"
Patrick happily turned around, sat beside her, and wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders again.
"If an evil, and I am coming to catch you."
After joking for two sentences, he couldn't help but feel the pain of love and tightly squeezed the person in his chest: "I miss you so much."
The person in his arms buried his head in his chest, like a small bird finding its nest.
"Patrick…"
The soft voice was almost coy, like a kitten's claws gently scratching at Patrick' heart. He squeezed her hand tighter, not forgetting to ask her:
"What happens? Is there something wrong with my lover?"
He felt it very clearly. The person he was holding in his arms trembled slightly. She shook her head ruefully.
"It's okay, and it's just… yesterday was your birthday. I wanted to celebrate it with you, just the two of us. So that…"
The unplanned cancellation of the flight disrupted the plan she had worked so hard to prepare, and Patrick didn't even know what he had missed because of that unintended incident.
Hearing her say that, he felt even more guilty. The feeling of uneasiness in the bottom of his heart was eased a bit by him, and she heard him softly say in his ear:
"Aren't I already back? I'm already with you, from now on we won't be apart again... You don't know how much I've missed you in the past three years. Looking forward to seeing you… Also looking forward to the party tonight."
Flora suddenly looked up at him: "I haven't known about the party yet..."
Thinking of tonight's party, Patrick couldn't help but smile even more. He gently kissed her forehead.
"I'll give you a big surprise tonight."
After talking a few more words, it was soon evening. Patrick had just brought Flora to where the party was about to start,. Patrick was called away by someone else. The person standing next to Flora changed to his mother.
Patrick's mother smiled at her, seemingly very gently, but why did she feel that smile of his mother didn't seem real… maybe it was just because she was so sensitive.
"That little Eirlys Sarah is wearing the latest LV model and knows how to play with designer clothes. You're going to be the daughter-in-law of the Jones family, hang out with people like that a bit, learn a little how to dress and talk..."
Flora forced a smile. Patrick's mother talked to her for ten minutes, it took her about eight minutes to compliment her on that girl named Eirlys Sarah, plus two more minutes to remind her to try her best. She won't embarrass the Jones family.
She silently cried in her heart. When will Patrick come to save her? Receiving his girlfriend's eyes for help, Patrick responded with a comforting smile.
Patrick's mother saw her future daughter-in-law begging her son for help and sighed.
"You go find Patrick to play, and I'll talk to you later."
A party like this is also not suitable for teaching a daughter-in-law. Finally released, Flora found a table, sat down, and took off her heels.
She's not used to this, and her legs are sore…
“The pearls on the dress are so beautiful!” Matthew brimmed with delight, his smile twinkling as he turned to the person beside him: "The pearls are locally harvested by the islanders, they're all natural... As for this wedding dress, it's a heartfelt gift from them to us." Despite being not the creation of skilled artisans or renowned designers, the dress bore the love and blessings of the island's inhabitants. He believed that once Flora donned this gown, she would be the happiest bride on their big day. Standing aside, Grace rolled her eyes: "I never imagined you could be this sentimental, big brother!" Turning to Flora, she teased: "Sister-in-law, remember to keep him on a tight leash, don't let his sentimentalism make others feel queasy." Grace had long forgotten her once earnest desire to marry Matthew. Now, she genuinely wished him and Flora a life of shared happiness. Matthew chuckled: "My dear sister, no need to feel jealous of your sister-in-law. Perhaps you should seiz
Matthew, spotting his son, asked: "Don't you want to bid Anna farewell? You two had such fun together, I bet you can't bear to see her go, right?" To his surprise, Charlie shook his head: "No, Dad, I don't want to say goodbye to that liar." The boy lowered his head, his voice steady: "She said she would stay here with Paul and me, but then she just left without a word. She really is a liar!" The boy slowly walked back to his room. Flora watched her son's retreating figure, unable to hold back a sigh: "He must be really upset." "We can't do anything about it. She's their child after all, we can't force her to stay. I know you worry about our son being upset, but don't worry, our boy is strong." And, if the children truly cherish this hard-earned relationship, they can always reconnect when they grow up. "You don't seem worried about him at all." "What else can we do? If it were Paul or our boy staying at someone else's home, I'd certainly rush to bring them back too, I wouldn'
Flora waited until they were away from their daughter's room to give Matthew a playful tug on the ear: "What's this about the wedding? You told me it was in two weeks, how did it suddenly become three days?” It was now that she finally began to question him. Earlier, when Matthew didn't see her react, he thought he had managed to escape unscathed. Little did he expect that she had noted down his wrongdoings, only to bring it up when they were away from their daughter's room. "I was wrong! I was wrong! Oh, my dear wife, please forgive me!" He cried out: "But it's really for you!" "What? How is it for me?" Flora's voice was filled with shock. Why would he move the wedding closer because of her, without her even knowing anything? Matthew rubbed his ear that was still tingling, explaining: "When I was massaging you, you said that two weeks was too long, that you wanted to get married sooner. I thought that since we were almost prepared anyway, it wouldn’t matter if we did it a bit so
Flora, with drowsy eyes, suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, I spoke with Grace yesterday, and she told me a lot about you. She said most of the houses on the island were built with your money, even the public facilities. I wasn't aware of this before. Seems like I've landed an immensely rich husband, a man of vast wealth?" The cost of construction, let alone the transportation of materials from the mainland, was astronomical. "I knew S.E.I Corporation was huge, but I had no idea you'd also invested in this..." "That's not true." Matthew chuckled: "S.E.I's profit is indeed enormous, but the money used for the island's development didn't come from the corporation. It's a personal endeavor of mine, not part of the corporation's philanthropy." So, the funds for this island's construction, are they Matthew's private money? Such a thought might not be entirely appropriate, yet upon hearing his words, Flora immediately wondered, could he have used money earned from the underworld to
Once they had settled in, they brought up serious matters. "I heard from him that there is a spy in the organization, but we don't know who." Flora had only heard about this from Matthew. The person opposite her nodded: "I asked our brother about it last time, but he didn't say anything. His demeanor seemed... rather upset." He sighed after speaking, then quickly changed his tone: "But don't worry sister-in-law, once your and brother's happy event is over, we'll investigate the organization. Sooner or later, that spy will expose himself." This matter nagged at Flora's heart. She couldn't understand how Selena had the capacity to manipulate Matthew's subordinates. According to Matthew, she was merely a pawn in Daniel's game. Who was Selena leveraging? Or rather... who was secretly assisting her against Matthew? "Ah... It hurts so much!" A sudden scream from outside in the flower garden startled Flora. She hastily ran out to see Matthew's two brothers, whom she knew, fighting.
Grace asked anxiously: "Sister-in-law, still no word from my brother?" Flora shook her head in despair. The rescue team had commenced operations, initiating a wide-scale search at sea. There were no updates so far, and Flora was forced to believe that no news sometimes can be good news. "Is there no way to contact him?" Grace furrowed her brows: "Isn't he a tech whiz? Isn't there another way..." Grace's words caused a light to shine in Flora's eyes: "Yes! There is a way!" After a few long dial tones, the call connected successfully and a lazy voice dripped with familiar sarcasm: "Ah, beautiful lady, you finally called me. Didn't you know how much I've missed you..." "Hubert, cut the crap." Flora interrupted Hubert's grandiloquent remarks: "I need you to locate Matthew, can you do that?" "I can track him down, yes..." On the other end, keyboard clattering sounded: "But for what purpose? Are you trying to catch him cheating?" Hubert clicked his tongue, completely exaggerating.