Ian’s grandparents had only asked for Daren’s opinion out of goodwill, and didn’t expect to receive a serious answer.
Ian’s grandmother immediately asked, “What’s wrong with Dr. Camille?”
“What did she do to you to make you feel that she’s a bad person?”
But Daren stopped speaking, and his grandfather became so angry that he started pounding at Daren’s shoulder. “All you know how to do is spout nonsense!”
Daren buried his head and stubbornly replied, “I’m not spouting nonsense!”
“Then tell us what she did! Why do you think that she’s not a good person?”
Daren kept his head down and refused to respond. His grandmother stooped down to look at him, and to her shock, his eyes were red with tears welling up.
She couldn’t help herself from trying to comfort him. “Alright, alright. We’re not blaming you, but if you know something, then you have to tell us. Saying that she’s a bad person out of nowhere … What are we going to think? You know how hard it’s been for your brother to find a girlfriend, and yet you …?”
But before she could finish, Daren had escaped from them and rushed up the stairs.
“Ah, what’s wrong with this child?”
Ian’s grandparents looked at each other, both concerned. With how strange Daren’s behavior was, the two of them really were starting to suspect that something was wrong.
Afterall, even though Daren didn’t speak up very often and was quite timid, he almost never lied. If he said that Amber wasn’t a good person, then it could very well be true that he had found out about something bad that she’d done.
But if he just threw down such a crazy proclamation and then ran away, of course the two of them would feel anxious and worried, all right?!
So, the next day, Ian was summoned back home by his grandparents. But since he didn’t know why, he had brought Amber with him. They had come straight from Amber’s workplace, so she was still wearing her professional work.
Since she had been working on preparing for thesis defenses these last two days, her clothes were very formal and mature. Today, she was dressed in a blazer and casual pants that were the same shade of light purple, giving her a smart and dashing appearance.
Amber had brought some considerate presents for everyone as well, a small bracelet for Ian’s grandmother, an ornate snuff bottle for Ian’s grandfather, tea leaves for his father, and a pair of earphones for Daren. None of the gifts were particularly expensive-she didn’t have much time to pick them out as Ian’s invitation had come at the last minute.
Actually, she had bought them from a shop on the way over. Ian knew nothing about what his family liked, so she even had to call Lawyer Shawn and ask for his advice. Her gifts didn’t look like much, but she had put quite a considerable amount of thought into them.
Ian’s grandparents could tell how thoughtful Amber’s gifts were, and so, despite scrutinizing her carefully from every angle, they couldn’t see anything about her that would make Daren so upset, the woman in front of them smiled gently, was pleasant to listen to, and had a bright gaze and a warm attitude. Could it have been a misunderstanding?
When Amber saw their faces, she thought that they had something to discuss with Ian. As she searched around for an excuse to leave, she conveniently saw that the housekeeper was about to bring the cat outside, so she said, “I’ll go out and take a walk outside with Daggry.”
When Ian first bought this cat, Daggry, it had been thin and small, but by now it was already starting to border on becoming fat and rotund. In consideration of its future health, Ian’s grandparents had decided that it had to be walked around a little once at morning and once at night.
Ian nodded coolly.
And so Amber went out with Daggry and the housekeeper. As she left, Ian and his grandparents stared at her back, all of them a little dazed. Only after quite a while did Ian break the silence, asking, “Alright, what’s the matter?”
Both of his grandparents found it hard to broach the subject. Only after a while did they tactfully ask, “You and Dr. Camille are getting along fine, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“There isn’t anything bad about her, is there?”
Ian looked towards them, his tone a little colder this time as he asked, “What’s wrong with her?”
***
Outside the house, Amber looked at Daggry, who was happily walking along on its small stubby legs, and felt a small urge to laugh. She had never raised a small animal before and thought that this little cat was quite cute. In her mirth, she asked the housekeeper, “Can I lead it along?”
The housekeeper handed the leash over, and Amber walked at the front with the little cat following slightly behind while the housekeeper brought up the rear slowly. They didn’t walk too far, just circling around the Axton family’s backyard.
In the beginning, Daggry was quite happy, but as it kept on walking, it slowed down and eventually refused to move anymore. It had spread its body on Amber’s feet and was pretending to be dead, refusing to move no matter how she prodded it.
Amber poked at it with a finger, and it seemed to think that she was going to rub its fur. In an adorable move, it twisted around and exposed its cute little belly for Amber to poke some more. When she turned it back around, it stuck its little legs up and turned itself back around again.
Amber didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
As she happily played around with the cat, she suddenly heard Ian’s voice drift out of the house from above her. “What’s the meaning of what you said to our grandparents?”
It was from an upstairs bedroom.