After a brief silence, Ava asked again, “Do you often meet with Asher’s father?”
“Yes,” Isabella answered honestly.
“He hasn’t taken advantage of you, has he?” Ava continued.
“Not yet,” Isabella said.
Ava nodded, perhaps not paying much attention to the word “yet” that Isabella added before “not.”
She sighed in resignation. “Between men and women, once a child is involved, it’s hard to cleanly sever ties. You’ve been together for so long, what kind of person is he?”
Ava thought Isabella was too young and only judged people by their appearances. Moreover, when Asher was born, she only met Asher’s father once, and he was quite handsome. Men like him could easily charm young girls. Ava wasn’t entirely convinced and decided she needed to meet him personally.
“Arrange a meeting with Asher’s father someday. I need to have a talk with him.”
“What?” Isabella was taken aback. Ava wasn’t someone easily persuaded. Isabella was genuinely worried if Andrew could handle her.
“He’s really a good person. Uncle has met him, and with him overseeing, you shouldn’t worry. Besides, he’s been busy with work these days. Let me arrange it after this period,” Ava said.
Isabella hoped Ava would forget about this idea during this period.
Ava reluctantly agreed and then asked, “Have you inquired about his family background? Who is in his family, and what do they do?”
“I’m not doing a census. Why ask so much?” Isabella said nonchalantly while eating.
“You silly girl.” Ava sighed and lightly tapped her forehead. Isabella winced in pain.
“Ava, please be gentler.” Isabella rubbed her forehead, looking aggrieved.
“I just want you to be more mindful. Your mother is great in every way, except her poor judgment in men. Following David caused her a lot of suffering. A woman’s marriage is like a second life, determining the rest of her life,” Ava sighed whenever Eleanor was mentioned.
“Ava, I have good judgment. He’s genuinely a good person. He used to be a soldier.” Ever since the military uncle saved her, Isabella had an inherent admiration for soldiers. She had a hunch that soldiers were good people.
Moreover, her unemployed beau was handsome, had a good physique, excellent skills, a good personality-virtually perfect, except for lacking money.
“No matter how good he is, you need to understand his family situation. If it’s just him and his son, it’s fine. But if he has many relatives and a bunch of poor relatives, even if you have wealth, it will be drained.
Moreover, do his parents agree? What do they do for a living? What is their education level? You need to know all of this. If you encounter a difficult mother-in-law, you’ll suffer in the future,” Ava said.
Ava’s incessant chatter overwhelmed Isabella, and she couldn’t even finish her meal.
However, despite Ava’s nagging, she had some valid points.
After all, marriage involves two families. If Isabella planned a long-term life with Andrew, she indeed needed to understand his family to some extent.
Deciding to ask Andrew about this the next time they met, Isabella felt a bit down after breakfast and lunch under Ava’s relentless talk. After freshening up, she decided to go out for a stroll to clear her mind.
“Just changed my clothes and haven’t even stepped out of the door yet,” Isabella received a call from Olivia.
“Are you up?” Olivia knew Isabella’s habit of sleeping in, so her first question during calls was usually about whether Isabella had gotten up.
Thinking about it made Isabella feel down.
Every time Olivia called her in the morning, she would ask, “Are you up?”
Isabella replied, “Not yet.”
Then Olivia would say, “Get up now.”
However, if Olivia called her at night and asked, “Are you up?”
Isabella would respond, “Just lying down, about to sleep.”
Then Olivia would say, “Don’t sleep, get up quickly.”
…
Isabella stood at the entrance, changing shoes and yelling, “Whether I’m up or not now, the end result is I’ll have to get up, so just get to the point already.”
“Finally learned,” Olivia said on the other end of the line, feeling quite pleased.
“…,” Isabella felt even more down. It seemed like she was switching agents, not sure if it was worth it.
“I’ve sent you the location. Hurry over for an audition,” Olivia said.
“An audition? So sudden! But I haven’t even received the script,” Isabella hurriedly asked while heading out.
“No need for a script, improvise on the spot. The role is almost confirmed; this is just a formality,” Olivia explained.
Isabella drove to the audition site, which turned out to be a theater under Charles’s company.
“Why audition here?” Isabella looked puzzled.
“Let’s talk about it after the audition. Come with me quickly; the director has been waiting for you,” Olivia said, pulling Isabella along, heading swiftly into the theater.