“Mom -” Carl took a deep breath and looked at Mrs. Waters, his worried gaze briefly stopping on Jerry’s face. He had finally waited for Nana to agree to marry him and didn’t want this matter to fall apart again.
Tracy came over today and wasn’t happy when she saw Mrs. Waters’ face. She had originally thought that if Nana was willing, then this matter would be resolved, but who knew that she would hear Mrs. Waters say such things? She immediately became unwilling and frowned as she spoke.
“Carl’s mom, what are you saying? This kind of thing has happened, Nana is also very upset about it. If it weren’t for her finding Rory -”
“Mom, please stop talking…” Nana saw that the situation seemed to be getting out of control and was really worried that her hot-tempered mother would argue with Mrs. Waters, so she quickly stepped in to stop them.
“That’s enough,” Jerry said.
Mr. Waters pursed his lips and looked at Mrs. Waters before speaking in a slightly lowered voice, “You should also say less about this matter since both children are willing; we as parents should respect their decision.”
“And Nana is a good child too; you were too harsh on her before,” he continued.
“Tsk.” Hearing her husband speak like this, Mrs. Waters could only make an annoyed sound but seeing Carl’s reaction left her with no choice but to agree, “Okay fine! I promise if Nana marries Carl, I will treat her like my own daughter; I won’t give her any trouble or attitude otherwise you can take her back home anytime.”
Hearing the assurance from Mrs. Waters finally made Jerry and Tracy have no objections anymore so the matter was settled down like this.
Nana breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever happened, as long as they didn’t argue was good news.
…
There were still several days until the design competition officially began so Jane and Patrick stayed in France all along often going out for inspiration trips together.
Jane wanted more design drafts after all there couldn’t just be one piece of clothing submitted for competition.
“Jane, tomorrow let me take you see someone.”
“Who?”
Patrick lay next to Jane on the bed. They had just returned from outside while Jane added many things into fridge. Hearing what he said, Jane turned around looking at him with curiosity.
“It’s someone I used to know here, a prince from royalty. He’s a nice person, his manners are good. I’ll take you meet him tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
The next day at noon, Patrick took Jane out as promised. They drove to a villa in the wealthy area of Paris. Patrick spoke a few words to the security guard outside in fluent French and they were allowed inside.
As they entered the living room, Jane was surprised by how different it looked from what she had imagined. The color scheme was simple black, white and gray but there were many warm and unique decorations that prevented it from looking too dull or rigid.
“Oh, Patrick, we meet again.” A casually dressed man in his fifties came down from upstairs. He didn’t look like a typical middle-aged man with wealth and kept himself fit.
He walked down and gave Patrick a big hug with open arms. After they let go of each other, he saw Jane standing next to Patrick and showed curiosity on his face as he jokingly asked, “Patrick, who is this beautiful lady? You didn’t have such a beautiful girl last time you came to see me.”
Jane smiled shyly while looking down at her feet. When she heard him praise her like that, Patrick’s pride couldn’t be hidden on his face as he naturally held her hand.
“This is my fiancée, Jane,” said Patrick before introducing Prince Duckstein, “This is my good friend I told you about whom I met in France.”
Jane nodded, and after exchanging greetings with Prince Duckstein, the three of them sat on the sofa and began chatting. Before long, the door suddenly opened again, and a stylishly dressed girl rushed in.
“Daddy!”
As she eagerly began to speak, she noticed that there were two other people in the living room besides Prince Duckstein. And when she saw Jane, the girl clearly froze for a moment, but quickly became delighted. “Jane! It’s been so long since we last saw each other. Why are you here today?”
“Do you know each other?” Duckstein was surprised when he heard the girl call out Jane’s name.
Jane was also pleasantly surprised when she saw the girl. “It’s you! It’s been ages!”
Patrick looked at Jane with confusion. “Who is this?”
Prince Duckstein smiled and said, “This is my daughter, Michelle. According to our current title, she is a princess.”
Jane explained to Duckstein and Patrick, “When I used to work at the studio, I met Michelle a couple of times. We got along well, so we became friends.”
Michelle ran up to her, ready to say something, but her attention was immediately drawn to Patrick sitting next to Jane. She couldn’t believe how handsome he was, she had never seen a man like him before, whether in Paris or other counties. She even felt her heart skip a beat and her ears turn red.
“Jane, is this your friend?” Michelle smiled at Patrick and tried to ask while avoiding his gaze.
Jane shook her head and said, “He’s my fiancé, Patrick.”
[Fiancé… ]
Michelle was stunned for a moment. Her smile faded slightly as she didn’t expect that Patrick and Jane were together. As a young girl who fell in love at first sight with someone who already had someone else, it made her feel uncomfortable and even a little sad.
“Dad, I just got back from outside and suddenly feel tired. I want to go upstairs for a while.” Michelle adjusted her mood and told Prince Duckstein.
Seeing Duckstein nodding his head, she went upstairs. Jane looked thoughtful as she watched Michelle leave but quickly turned back around.
Duckstein didn’t think much of it all; they chatted for a while longer until evening approached. He looked at the clock on the wall then asked, “Patrick, this is the first time you’ve brought your girlfriend here; it’s almost dinner time now so why don’t we have dinner together? Let me welcome you both properly.”
“Ah… I think it’s better not to. We have food prepared at home, and we actually came over this afternoon. I’m also a bit tired, so I should go back first.” Jane considered it for a moment, recalling Michelle’s expression earlier, and politely declined Duckstein’s invitation.
Patrick looked worriedly at Jane asking, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“It’s nothing,” Jane shook her head gently then said, “I’m just feeling sleepy now; let’s go home.”