‘Isn’t this Vincent’s house…?’ She thought.
Joel got hold of her hand and squeezed it lovingly as they walked into the mansion. He know different thoughts would be going through her mind.
Emily looked up at her husband and he smiled at her reassuringly.
“You knew we were coming, didn’t you?” Mrs Chen asked as soon as she sighted her parents seated on a couch.
She was sure her parents had spies spying on her and her family.
And she knew that even though they had told her they wanted to have nothing to do with her, they still loved her.
“Why are you here, you disobedient child?” Old master Choi’s voice rang out.
Although the man was old, his voice still held authority in it.
Mrs Chen inhaled deeply, tilting her head to the side as she forced tears back. She fell on her knees.
“I’m sorry for being disobedient… you were right about him… Please forgive me… Jebal. Please…” Mrs Chen stuttered amidst tears.
Old madam Choi who could no longer bear the sight of her daughter who she hadn’t seen in ages cry, stood up on her and walked over to Mrs Chen.
“Omma.” Mrs Chen called softly as her mother pulled her up and hugged her.
Old madam Choi let tears roll down her cheeks as her daughter wrapped her arms around her. It had been so long. So long.
“Hmn!” Old master Choi cleared his throat as he watched his wife and daughter.
Truth be told, when he had yelled at his daughter and told her he disowned her, he never really meant it. And all those years apart, he had regretted his actions.
Mrs Chen broke away from the hug and walked over to her father.
She sniffled as she sobbed, “Abeoji…”
Old master Choi cleared his throat again, “Hmn.”
He looked closely at his daughter and saw that she had changed, her body looked so frail and lean. The bastard never even took proper care of his daughter.
“Where are my grandchildren?” Old master Choi voiced out after a while.
Mrs Chen smiled happily as she stared at her father. Even though he didn’t say it, she knew he had forgiven her.
She couldn’t help but hug the old man.
Old master Choi’s body grew stiff for a few seconds when his daughter hugged him but soon relaxed himself and patted her on her back. He missed her.
Mrs Chen sniffled as she stepped away gently from her father.
“Well,” she paused, catching her breath.
“One of them is here while the other is in school” she explained.
“I know.” Old master Choi replied.
He looked in Emily’s direction and set his eyes on her while Mrs Chen mused at her father. ‘This old man probably knows everything about my family’ she thought.
Emily who had been standing next to her husband as the drama unfolded returned the old man’s gaze as he stared at her.
The past few minutes had been like a movie to her. A friend’s grandparent were also her grandparents, she found it hard to believe.
“Emily,” Mrs Chen called her daughter out of her thought.
“You have always wanted to meet your grandparent, here they are.” She added with a smile on her face.
Emily looked into her mum’s face and looked up at her husband who was standing next to her. Joel smiled at her and squeezed her hand once again.
Old madam Choi smiled at her granddaughter, “You must be surprised, but we are indeed your grandparent.”
“You see, we had a misunderstanding with your mum and that’s why she never brought you and your brother here. But now, the issue as been resolved.” She explained further.
Emily stared at the old woman and maybe she was just noticing but they shared striking resemblance.
Emily looked up again at her husband and Joel nodded his head as a ‘go ahead’.
Emily took slow steps to old madam Choi and hugged her.
“Hal amonim.” She whispered softly.
Old madam Choi smiled as she returned her hug. “That’s right, child.”
After a few seconds, Emily broke away from the hug and walked over to her grandfather. “Hal-aboeji” she muttered.
Old master Choi smiled and waved his hands in the air, signaling to her to hug her.
***
“I guess you know why we are here?” Mrs Chen asked after the family was done reuniting and they had all taken their sit except for Joel who was still standing.
Elder master Choi looked up at Joel and twitched his lips before nodding his head.
“I have been watching you closely and I see you are really serious with my granddaughter.” He spoke.
He sneered. “You even married her without our permission… what audacity?”
Joel bit his lower lip while Emily blushed.
“Mbo?!” Mrs Chen couldn’t believe her ears.
Hastily, she looked over at her daughter whose cheeks had turned red from blushing.
“Mihamnida.” Joel apologized, bowing his head respectfully.
He knew the Chois very well and he really liked the old couple. He used to be close with them until he and Vincent stopped being friends.
Old master Choi waved his plea off. “Sorry for yourself…”
“The wedding will only take place on one condition.” He stated.
“Only if you go upstairs and settle your dispute with Vincent will I consider the wedding.” He added.
Joel saw that coming.
“Nde.” He bowed and excused himself from the lounge.
As Joel climbed up the stairs, he mused at Old master Choi’s level of intelligence.
Without knocking, Joel barged into Vincent’s room.
As Vincent sat on his bed, thinking about Danielle, he heard his door swing open. There was only one person in the world that would walk into his room without knocking, his former best friend.
But since he was no longer friends with Joel, who was it this time around?
He looked up at the doorway and saw Joel standing, hands in pockets and an expressionless look on his face.
“Don’t give me that ‘what do you want?’ look. I never wanted to come up here.” Joel blurted out.
He walked towards the bed and sat on it, staring into space.
Vincent stared at him for a while, thinking about what Joel said yesterday, in the prison. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
He had been mad at Joel for ages, not knowing what really happened. Joel wasn’t the bad guy here, he was. He was the one that betrayed their friendship, not Joel. He was the one that had been gullible enough not to have noticed he had fallen for a witch.
He spoke up after a while, “Did she really do that to you?”
Joel turned and looked at Vincent. He didn’t know how Vincent found out but he knew what he was talking about. He turned back to his former position and nodded his head.
Although Vincent already knew what Joel’s answer was going to be, he shut his eyes when the man nodded his head and felt sad at the thought of what happened that night. He dreaded the day he started having a thing for Danielle.
“I’m sorry.” He stated.
Joel turned again and stared into his face.
“Don’t beat yourself up… you couldn’t have known. Danielle was an expert at being a bitch.” He consoled.
He turned back again and continued to stare into space. Vincent did the same. And for several minutes, none of them said anything, they only sat in silence; enjoying each other’s company as stared into space.
“If you are sorry, why don’t you do me a favour?” Joel blurted out after a while.
***
“Hal-aboeji…” Vincent called as he and Joel climbed down the stairs, disrupting whatever discussion those in the lounge were talking about.
Even Becky had joined them in the lounge.
All eyes turned to the direction of the staircase.
“… don’t think about calling off the wedding.” Vincent addressed as he reached the foot of the stairs.
Old madam Choi and Becky were shocked. Had the men settled their issues just like that? They wondered.
Old master Choi was elated to see the duo together. Although his face had no expression written on it, he was glad the boys were back to being friends.
“The wedding preparations should start with immediate effect!” He announced.
“Joel come, let’s discuss.” He added.
***
After discussing into the late afternoon, the whole family proceeded to the dinning table for lunch.
“I have ordered a driver to go pick Promise up from school. You are all sleeping over tonight.” Old master Choi stated as he munched on his food.
Mrs Chen couldn’t believe her ears, her father was unbelievable. He was only just telling them now that he had sent someone to go get Promise.
Joel pushed his chair backward and dropped his fork in the plate. “Errr, I won’t be staying overnight.
He stood up on his feet, smiling. “I have work to do. I should get going.”
“Hmm.” Old master Choi voiced nasally.
“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.” Joel mouthed the Emily.
Emily nodded her head and pouted. She was going to miss him.
She could have also stood up and said she’d leave with her husband but the look on her grandparent’s faces said they wouldn’t take that from her. She had no choice, she was stuck.
Joel bowed his head and walked out of the house.
As soon as Joel got in the car, he picked up his phone and dialed Dr. Clinton’s number.