Lydia was at a loss for words every time she spoke to her son. So she immediately changed the subject of their conversation.
"Have you found anyone who would want a poker face like you for a husband?" Lydia eyed her son from head to toe as she drank her tea.
"No, but that will ..."
"Don't worry, I've already found someone for you." Lydia interrupted her son's words with a grin.
"Mum, you don't have to try hard for me, I'll find someone!" Eliott replied with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm telling you, you already have a fiancée. So you don't need to look for one."
"Mom, is this your new way of challenging me? Because it's not funny!" Said Eliott with a cold smile, setting his drink on the table.
"I'm not lying to you, it's an old commitment between our family and your future wife's. Her father called us a week ago to talk about it, I thought they forgot so we didn't talk to you about it, but since they bring it up and it's a promise we made, you have to keep it, besides she's my best friend's daughter..." Lydia gave her son a sweet smile.
"Mme Jensen I think you have confused me with someone else because you know your son wouldn't say yes to that, right? It's you who made a promise, not me! " Eliott crossed his leg and looked his mother straight in the eye.
Lydia, knowing her son best, wasn't fazed, but when she saw him getting angrier, she beckoned her husband to help her. When he saw her, Eli Jensen pretended not to understand what she wanted him to do and continued to drink his tea in silence.
Lydia couldn't believe her husband's lack of support. Annoyed, she pinched his side angrily.
"Ouch... !!! What're you doing? Aren't you talking to your son? Why are you pinching me? " Eli looked at his wife and gave her an innocent look.
"I asked you to help me! Convince your son!" She whispered.
Eliott began to laugh in his mind. His parents' interactions were always fun to watch and he loved to tease them every time he was with them, especially his mother.
He knew how important the commitment of two families like theirs was. It wasn't just because of their wealth, it was because of their names and how important one family's sincerity was to the other. He knew his mother had given him time to find someone himself, and if he had indeed found someone, she would not have forced him to make that commitment, but he didn't. So he knew he couldn't escape this arranged marriage, even if he wanted to.
Truth be told, he was just teasing his mother, but he didn't understand why she hadn't told him about it before. Thank God he knew that the wife-to-be was the woman he loved because it could have been a disaster.
Before his mother started blaming all the family's problems on his father's head, Eliott burst out laughing!
"Mom, I already know about the promise; Leila told me about it years ago. But mother, why didn't you tell me? It's no big deal, why are you making such a secret of it?"
Truth be told, Lydia knew her son was a responsible man, she knew he would never let his family lose face, so she wasn't worried about this arranged marriage thing. The problem was that there was a history behind this commitment, and she didn't want her son to remember it. But he was a man now, so she thought it was okay now.
Still a little worried, Lydia decided to tell him what had happened then, "You've known the girl you have been engaged to since you were seventeen. Her name is Alex Michell once Alex Porter and her mother Alix was my best friend. Remember that accident you had when you were seventeen? It was Alix who saved you that time. You still don't know what happened, do you?" She asked her son a little worried. After all, that event was taboo in her house. Eliott had really suffered a big shock then.
"Yes, actually I don't remember what happened that day, I've no memory at all. Well, speaking of which, why don't you tell me what happened? It's not like I was really in any danger then, so why are you so worried? It was thirteen years ago!!"
Lydia looked at her husband and then her daughter and sighed.
"That day you saved Alex from a **** attempt. But during the fight, you were hit in the head with an iron bar. By that time you weren't well, you had a fever. Therefore, the blow to your head was more serious, plus you had a deep wound and were bleeding profusely. Fortunately, you were found very quickly by Alix, who took you both to the hospital. At the time, we were on a business trip, and Alix took care of you before we came back. She was also the one who gave you her blood to save you.
To thank her, we made her this promise. At first, she wouldn't take it, because if you got hurt, it was because you tried to save her daughter. But I really liked Alex at the time, and to make me happy, she finally accepted it. Besides, it was good for Alex's future, considering what happened to her husband back then."
Hearing all this, Eliott's mood was sinking by the second! The atmosphere around him abruptly turned cold and gloomy when his mother finished the story, his face was as cold as frost. Alex had told him that she had been confronted with something as a child that was the reason for her fear of men. But he hadn't imagined it was anything like that.
"Sis, why didn't you tell me? Who was that bastard anyway? " Eliott asked his sister, his voice deep and his gaze cold.
Before his sister could give him an answer, his father, who had been silent ever since, spoke.
"It doesn't matter anymore, you said it yourself, it was thirteen years ago..."
"Wait, don't tell me you didn't punish that asshole?" He looked at his father, frowning.
"Things weren't that simple back then! We let the matter go because Alix's husband, who was at the time Alan Porter, mentioned as one of the conditions for the divorce that Alix she should forget about the incident back then! It was more important to secure Alix's divorce, so we agreed." Eli sighed and looked at his wife, who was sadly remembering her best friend's story.
'What father can act like that when his own daughter ...' Eliott thought aloud before he thought of something and added, "Don't tell me it was Clyde?"
He looked at his sister, who answered him with a nod.
At this point Eliott's head was full of murderous thoughts, towards Clyde Porter, he was already thinking of how he'd make him pay for what he'd done to Alex, even if it had been thirteen years ago! Even more annoying to him was the fact that Alan just let it slide, after all, Alex was his daughter too. No normal parent would want to abuse their child like that, what do you think would have happened if he hadn't passed by the road back then? He clenched his fists at that thought and frowned deeply.
"It's alright, I understand. But why is Mr. Porter calling you to talk about the promise, Mom? It's not like he cares about his daughter! " Asked Eliott with a poker face.
"Priceless is having some financial problems, it won't be long before they go bankrupt," Leila said, comfortably drinking her water.
Eliott realized what his sister was implying and smiled darkly, "Mom, you can call them for a meeting, I want to know how stupid they are for even trying to fool us.. I mean, if he really thinks he can get his stupid daughter to replace Alex, it proves how desperate and crazy he's now."