Just as Ye Jie walked inside his family house, he could hear the loud argument between his younger brother, Ye Jun and his father, Ye Kang. He sighed as he shook his head a little prior to strutting inside the opulent Chinese villa.
When Ye Jie came back from Ming Qu's wedding 6 months ago, he tried to contact Lu Yuhan plenty of times but she ignored him and finally, moved to Country E without even informing him.
Ye Jie decided to come clean to his family and as expected, everyone was worried for him but they understood his pain and didn't push him for details. For that, he was really thankful to everyone. His mother, Zhou Ning even said, "I'll find a much better girl for my precious son."
Their love was overwhelming for him because they always embraced his short-comings with open arms. The thought of their warmth caused a soft smile to appear on his face.
"I'm not going to marry her and that's my final decision, dad," Ye Jun bellowed at his father while throwing daggers with his glare.
"You were fine with the arranged marriage before. What's the problem now?" Father Ye, asked while he held his head. Mother Ye held Father Ye's arm and brought him to sit on the sofa as she offered him water. He took the water with gratitude in his eyes.
Seeing his father's deteriorating health, Ye Jun softened his voice, "Dad, I agreed before because the marriage was going to be with Xu Liqing, the younger daughter of the Xu family. But now, they want me to marry Xu Mey, the eldest daughter. That Xu Mey is infamous because of how cowardly and timid she is. I can't spend my life with someone like that. She's a useless wretch."
Father Kang patted his son's head as he said, "I heard about that son. But Xu Liqing fell in love with someone else. This marriage between Ye's and Xu's was decided by your grandfather, if you'll say no then how'll I face your grandfather in death?"
Ye Jie listened to the entire conversation and he understood the gist. "If they are replacing the younger daughter with the eldest one then we can do the same," Ye Jie suggested while giving a hug to his mother.
"Brother, you want to take my place?" Ye Jun asked unsurely. He was most familiar with his brother's nature and knowing him, it was inevitable to not know how much he loved his last girlfriend.
"Xiao Jie, you don't have to do this," Mother Ye said while looking at her son lovingly.
"Mom, I'm already 30. I have to marry someone. So, why not Xu Mey or whatever her name is."
"Thank you, son! Father will always be grateful for saving my face," Father Ye hugged his eldest son with a warm smile on his elderly face.
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"You agreed for the wedding?" Li Qiao was the first one to ask. Xu Mey was having a group-call with her best friends. When she told them about getting married, at first, they didn't believe her and then gave her an expression like she had gone crazy.
"Yes, I agreed." She replied while unpacking her clothes. She came back to her family house because his grandfather called her. The news of the day was she's getting married to a person she had never met before.
"Why?" All of them screeched simultaneously piercing her ears making her wince.
"Aish. Shut up!" Her shouting made them close their mouths. "It's not that I want to get married but this marriage is actually a blessing in disguise. Right now, the only way to separate me from Xu family is marrying into the Ye family."
After a pause, she added, "You know very well that I'm a strong believer of the saying, 'There is always hope, even in the bleakest moments.'* And I know very well, how to hold onto that hope."
"You have other ways to accomplish your goals with Xu family. I don't think you need to use Ye's for that," Lin Shen's words were right as expected of him being the smartest of them.
"I can do that but boys, it's not wise to lay all your cards open at once." Her reply left them with their own thoughts.
"But what's the guarantee that your future husband will take your side in destroying the Xu's? After all, Ye's and Xu's are not only establishing a personal relationship, they are also establishing a business one as well." Wu Wang's worry was not far-fetched. It was the reality.
"And that's why I'm marrying into that family," Xu Mey replied in her calm voice again making them confused. "Right now, if I play my cards, Xu Corporations will get Ye Enterprises to help stable themselves and the only way to stop Ye's from helping is infiltrating from the inside. And what better way is to creep in than being a part of them?"
Understanding her plan, all of them broke into a fit of laughter. "Gosh, it's a good thing, I'm your friend. You're a very scary person, Mey." Everyone agreed with Lin Shen's comment.
"I'm more cunning than scary, boys," She smiled looking out the window observing the orange rays painting the sky. The sunset seemed rather beautiful today.
"Goodbye, boys! I have to get my beauty sleep. After all, I'm meeting my future husband tomorrow," The way she said 'husband' made them cringe.
They all felt sorry for her future husband. But they'll never say it out loud. No matter if she's scary, cunning or a complete devil, for them, she'd always be their precious little girl.
*(It's a dialogue from Korean Show, 'It's Okay, That's Love')