Ernest looked at Stanford’s sullen appearance and took a sip of red wine in a very soothing mood.
Back then, when he wanted to marry Florence, he was met with severe opposition from Stanford and the others.
Now it was the turn of the tide.
Ernest revealed a gloating smile that could not be concealed.
“It’s bound to be opposed. If you want to marry Phoebe, first you have to get Roan’s consent.”
After a pause, Ernest smiled, “To put it simply, it’s to curry favour with Roan.”
Stanford was speechless.
He had no experience in this kind of thing at all, nor he had ever thought about it.
A person that he was used to getting along with, why suddenly stopped him? Was he not happy with him?
Then how was he going to please him?
Stanford was in a bad mood.
Ernest was in a much better mood and very patiently said to Stanford.
“Actually, it’s so simple, and there are examples to learn from. Just do it like how I did it back then.”
Stanford was speechless.
He was then in the mood to see the gloating in Ernest’s eyes.
He was actually kicking him when he was down.
Doing it as he did back then. Stanford knew best how much they were against stopping Ernest and Florence from being together back then.
Ernest had to go through a lot of trials and tribulations before he finally got their consent.
It had cost him a lot, and that he had been forced to split up with Florence several times in the middle of their relationship.
Did he have to go through something like that too?
Stanford was not too well instantly.
Florence looked at Ernest’s nasty look, and she knew that he was deliberately trying to get back at Stanford, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge for his difficulty back then.
He was really childish.
Florence nudged him and said in a low voice.
“If you’re screwing my brother like this now, aren’t you afraid he’ll hold a grudge? Making things difficult for you again so that you cannot marry me?”
Ernest continued to smile, reaching out to wrap Florence in his arms.
“I was able to get through it even when it was difficult before. Now it’s just a joke. What am I afraid of?”
He said it uncaringly and with conviction.
In his perception, no matter what happened in his life, there was no way he would give up on Florence.
And now that Stanford was in this situation, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get back at him. How could he live up to his past self if he didn’t give him a taste of what it was like to be embarrassed?
Florence felt helpless when seeing Ernest’s look and expressed her deep sympathy for her brother, too, at the same time.
She said softly.
“Stanford, you don’t have to worry too much. Mr. Jenkins is not an unenlightened person. He will agree if you talk to Phoebe more.”
No matter what, it wouldn’t be such a significant move as she and Ernest had back then.
It was almost like fighting with full forces.
Stanford tightly pursed his thin lips, and his eyes were deep, not finishing his words.
However, a thought gradually became firm in his heart.
Even if Roan opposed it and made things difficult for him, as long as Phoebe was willing, he would stick to the end and be responsible for her.
No matter who it was, no one could stop him.
…
“Dad, what do you want to do?”
When they walked to the garden, Phoebe finally shook Roan’s hand away.
Roan turned back and looked at Phoebe, speaking solemnly with no room for negotiation.
“Break up while you guys just started being together!”
Break up?
Phoebe widened her eyes in shock. She could never have imagined that Roan, who was so intent on finding a man for her to marry off, would be so opposed to her and Stanford’s affair.
Phoebe shouted, “Why? Stanford is really a good man. There is no better man than him in this world.”
“I’m lucky to be with him, and it’s my good fortune. Dad, you should have supported me.”
All parents wanted their daughters to marry the best man in the world.
She had done all that.
She was utterly incomprehensible to Roan’s objections.
Roan sighed and said seriously.
“Phoebe, I don’t deny that Stanford is indeed an exceptionally good man, and I also know that he also has a potent force behind him. Whether it’s his ability, his wealth, or his looks, he’s a man who is one in a million.”
“But, just because he is so good, he is the kind of man who stands on top of the world, while you’re just an ordinary woman from a small town. You can’t afford such a man.”
Only then did Phoebe understand her father’s reason was this.
To put it bluntly, he thought they were unsuitable.
Phoebe said.
“It’s okay, and as long as two people love each other, they will be happy too. Many poor women married into wealthy families, and they are happy too.”
“And I’m not in bad shape either. Look at Flory, she was once a child of a poor family, but Ernest still loves her with all his heart. They are happy together.”
“Can you compare yourself to Florence?”
Roan retorted straight away. His voice was full of disliking, “Florence is beautiful, elegant and has a good personality. Any man would like her like this. And look at yourself, when standing next to Stanford, you are dwarfed by him. People who don’t know might think that you are his maid.”
“Moreover, Stanford is aloof and has a cool personality. As for you, you are always crazy and never look normal. You don’t even know what it means to be a good wife when you are married.”
“How can you get along with Stanford with such a nature? It’s still new to you, but you’ll only be disliked later. He is such a nobleman, and he wouldn’t like a silly girl like you.”
The words were spoken from the bottom of his heart and were entirely true without lying at all.
However, Phoebe didn’t seem quite well.
She looked at her dad dumbfounded for a while before she managed to say out a few words.
“Dad, am I your own child?”
Roan was speechless.
His face was gloomy, and he slammed his fist down on Phoebe’s head.
“What? For the sake of a man, you even don’t want to accept me as your father?”
The corners of Phoebe’s mouth twitched again.
He was really in the heat of the moment and so paranoid that he even had such thoughts.
Phoebe explained in a depressed voice.
“Dad, I’m your daughter. Why did you look down on me like that? I have a beautiful face too, right? After a good dressing up, I can still look good when being next to Stanford.”
“Plus, just because I’m a lively and active person, I was able to chase after this aloof guy.”
“We are such a good combination, complementing each other. And together, we are the perfect match.”
The way Roan looked at Phoebe was even worse, “You mean you chased after Stanford?”
Phoebe blushed.
Afterwards, she admitted frankly, “Yes. Back then, when Stanford came to City N, I fell in love with him the first time I saw him.”
“After that, didn’t I go to Florence’s house? That’s when I started to pursue Stanford.”
Roan looked at his smug daughter, wishing he had never born such a child.
How could she be so absent-minded and dare to mess with such as unattainable man?
“Haven’t you ever heard that woman who throws herself at a man is unworthy?”
“Right now, he might just be new to you. After some time, he will find out that you are actually worthless and will dislike you.”
Roan’s words were like a magic spell, spinning in Phoebe’s mind.
It made her angry.
Perhaps it was confirmed that she wasn’t his child.
How else could he despise her so much?