716 Wedding Invitation

Twain had his arm around Shania's slim waist as they stood before their new house. Neither of them said a word as they quietly admired the three-story mansion that they would now call home.

The house had white walls and a red roof. The exterior looked asymmetrical, but there was something charming about its asymmetry. It looked vibrant under the sunlight, as though the house had a life of its own.

Shania fell in love with the color of the house at first sight. It looked pure and clean.

The place they were currently standing was known as Mapperley Park, which was located in north-eastern Nottingham. It sat on a small hill, and there was a road that gently led up to their neighbourhood and stretched all the way to the northern part of Nottingham.

Mapperley Park was a well-known luxury neighborhood in Nottingham, and it was also the place where many rich middle-class chose to live.

The end of May was a time when the color green became the most prominent in Mapperley Park. Green vegetation encompassed the neighbourhood, and the residents will also got to wake up each morning to the twittering of birds and the fragrance of flowers. The mansions, each with its own distinctive appearance and colors, look like villas surrounded by a vast garden.

Their house faced the street, and behind them was a garden that connected them to the Mapperley Golf Club.

All they could see around the house was a sea of green. The view was pleasant, and made them feel invigorated.

Not too far away from the front of the house was a sports club. It had a standard-sized football pitch that people could use to play football matches.

Twain could not help but be amazed. The Beckhams really know how to enjoy their lives.

Their new living environment could not get any better. The only downside of the house was that it was located a considerable distance away from the club's training grounds.

However, the long distance did not put Twain off. He had a car, after all.

The Beckhams had bought this three-story mansion for 2,700,000 pounds, but Beckham sold it to Twain and Shania for only 1,000,000 pounds after living in it for a year. The economic crisis had certainly influenced the price of the house, but offering the house at a low price was intended as Beckham's wedding gift to the couple, as well.

Beckham generously indicated that they were free to keep the furnishing of the house if they liked it. If not, they could change it as they pleased.

There was nothing that needed to be changed about the furnishing, however. Beckham's taste suited Twain perfectly. The house had everything they needed, and there were only a few minor furniture arrangements that they needed to tweak. Nothing major had to be done to the house. It was a house that Twain and Shania could start living in right away.

Twain accepted Beckham's magnanimity without feeling ashamed. After all, he was the one who had given Beckham his final glorious moments at the end of his footballing career.

Beckham's commercial value was the rise due to his good performance for Nottingham Forest, and the fact that he'd won the Double with the team. He had nothing to worry about financially, even if he had to face the economic crisis.

"Do you like it?" Twain lowered his head to ask Shania, who was cradled in his arms.

Shania nodded her head. "Yes!"

Twain raised his head again to look at the mansion before him, and became lost in thought. He started to think about the dream that he had had when he was unconscious, and also thought about the kind of person he had been in the past.

He could not afford a decent house in the past, much less a mansion like this.

What do the Chinese pursue throughout their lives? To settle down, to start a family, and to have a successful career. But the irony is, how can you start a family without a house to live in?

It was very difficult to purchase a house that you could call your own in China. His biggest desire back then was just to have enough money to buy a one-room apartment in Chengdu. He never would have dreamed that there would come a day when he could live in a mansion with a 100-square-meter garden, with a golf club to the back and a football pitch to the front.

My destiny…has changed.

I have gained a lot of things that I could never gain in that world, but I also lost some things as a result. Do I regret it?

No.

This is my road. This is my life. This is my story.

"Uncle Tony?" Shania shook Twain's arm after seeing that he was in a daze.

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you supposed to go to Wilford? Why aren't you leaving?"

"Oh… Ah! I almost forgot! I got carried away after seeing the house… Haha!" Twain laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

Shania had just reminded him of something important. He was indeed supposed to make a trip down to Wilford. Today was the last training session for this season. The players would soon be enjoying their holidays all over the world, so as to rest up for the next season after training ended.

He had an important thing to announce today before they departed.

※※※

"Lads, have you all thought about how you are going to spend your holidays?"

All the players, including Beckham, who was on his way out of the team, were seated on the pitch in their training grounds at Wilford. They looked at Twain, who stood in the center.

"Regardless of whether you have or not, I hope you can cancel or delay your plans."

Beckham smiled after hearing what Twain said.

"I'm inviting all of you over to Brazil for a holiday!" Twain waved his hands. "I'm paying for all your plane tickets, accommodation, and food!"

An uproar ensued.

"Brazil's a good destination but… Why, boss?" Eastwood asked loudly. "Sabina and I had made plans to go to Spain for a holiday! We even bought our plane tickets…"

"Cancel your flight. I will reimburse the money that you spent for them, Freddy. You have to come to Brazil!"

His comments made everyone even more curious. They had to ask Twain what was going on.

Twain waited till the clamor died down before he flashed a mischievous grin. "I'm inviting every single one of you to my wedding!"

A rowdy commotion broke out on the pitch.

"Wedding?!"

"Boss… You mean you and Miss Shania? That's way too fast!"

"What's with this surprise attack, Boss? How do you expect me to prepare a gift for you now?"

"Wedding? Wedding? Ah… Boss, so you weren't gay… Er, no, so you were just single all along…"

"Quiet down! Quiet down! Just tell me if you're going or not! I'm telling all of you, it's very common for a player to invite his teammates to his wedding, but it's not every day that your manager will invite you to his. This might be the only chance in your life to watch a manager get married!" Twain said proudly, cocking his head upwards.

What he said made sense. Unmarried football managers were probably even rarer than the Tibetan Antelopes. 99.99% of football managers are married and have their own families. After all, it takes time for them to make their way up to the managerial position and lead a team.

There might be a few of these managers who only got married after they had taken on the role of manager, but even then, they definitely would not invite their own players to their wedding. Most managers would want to maintain their authority and mystique.

Twain did not care about those things. He felt that this was the biggest and happiest occasion that would happen in his life, and he definitely had to share his joy with the people around him. That was why he had invited almost every person that he could think of.

Besides his players, Twain had also invited renowned actor and film producer Tom Cruise, as well as well-known fashion designer Giorgio Armani. Twain's tuxedo and Shania's wedding dress would both be designed by Armani himself.

How great it is to have such celebrities as my friends. I don't even need to pay for the tuxedo and wedding dress…

"I'm going! The Boss is getting married, of course we are going!" Eastwood's voice was the loudest among the players. He began gesturing about animatedly, and had completely forgotten about going to Spain with his wife.

The other players followed suit, and began shouting that they would attend his wedding as well.

Twain smiled at the sight of his players getting so excited.

Initially, he did not wish for his wedding to be too complex. He wanted to be like other celebrities, and just hold a simple wedding at a secluded and quiet location. However, after seeing how well he got along with Shania, he had changed his mind.

This is the biggest occasion of my life. Why should I hold it secretly? Am I scared of the media taking pictures of us? You must be kidding. I'm just getting married, there's nothing I should feel ashamed of! It's not like I'm having an affair!

I have to publicize my wedding, and let the whole world know that Shania and I are getting married.

Twain was not afraid of getting criticized for 'robbing the cradle' once news of their marriage began to spread. His relationship with Shania had already met with much censure ever since they publicly confirmed it. He was not concerned about breaking the hearts of Shania's numerous male fans, either.

Who cares whether or not they're upset that we're getting married?

I'm the one who should be upset over their constant sexual fantasies about Shania…

Twain shared his sentiments with Shania, and told her, "I want to let the whole world know that I, Tony Twain, love you, Shania, and that I want you to be my wife."

Shania was so touched that she almost cried, and that was how they came to the decision to hold a high-profile wedding ceremony instead.

※※※

After the team dispersed, Dunn flew back to China to help Twain invite his parents to the wedding.

Before he left, Twain repeatedly exhorted Dunn to get both his parents to the wedding, by hook or by crook.

Twain knew his parents well. When he was working in Chengdu in the past, he had hoped to bring his parents to live in Chengdu as well. But his parents were unwilling to leave their little town in the South Sichuan countryside. They told him that there was no place better than home, and they also complained about the traffic congestion and high cost of living in the big city. They said that it was more comfortable to continue staying in their little town.

Dunn just smiled and reassured Twain, "Their son is getting married. It doesn't matter how far it is, they'll definitely be there."

Twain patted him on the shoulder and said nothing.

※※※

Lisa Aria was still working for a small news agency that primarily published gossip news in Nottingham. She was the one who had first found out about and taken pictures of the relationship between Twain and Shania, and she was also the reason Twain decided to publicly acknowledge his relationship with Shania.

Twain suffered a heart attack, but gained a lover as a result. There was a positive change in his life. Unlike him, however, nothing about Lisa's life had changed.

She was still working as the chief editor for the entertainment news section. Her future looked bleak, with no prospects in sight.

Revealing Twain's love relationship with Shania did not lead to any significant financial gains for her.

She had hoped to be able to obtain more sensational stories about Tony and Shania's relationship, stories that would help draw readers in to read their newspaper. However, Twain had been evading reporters ever since he had been diagnosed with a heart condition. They had managed to locate Shania's house, which was situated near the Lace Market, but the windows there were shut 24/7.

The only pictures they were able to take were of the couple leaving and entering their house. But there were no readers who would be interested in such pictures.

And so, everything about her life was still the same. Nothing had changed.

That is, until today.

She suddenly received a call from Twain.

"Hello, Miss Aria. Can you guess who I am?"

"Mr. Twain, please don't irritate me with silly questions while I'm working, okay?" Because she was going through such a rough time at work, Lisa Aria was not in the mood to entertain Twain.

Twain coughed twice on the other end of the phone. "I have good news for you, but if you don't want to hear it, then forget it. I, Tony Twain, never beg anyone to do anything for me."

"If you have something to say, then get on with it. If it's an exclusive scoop, I'm interested." Aria's fingers never stopped typing away, even though she was on the phone with Twain.

"This is indeed an exclusive scoop, and a big one to boot. Hmm…Where should I start, though? There might have been some misunderstandings between us, Miss Aria, but I intend to give you this scoop for free, as a form of sincere apology to you. And also to thank you for what you did."

Aria scoffed. "Looks like your relationship with Shania has been going very well! Who was it who said that I knew nothing in the first place?"

"Let's let bygones be bygones. The reason I called you today is to give you the exclusive rights to publish stories about my wedding. I'm getting married to Shania."

Aria's fingers stopped moving. She thought she had misheard him, and quickly interrupted, "I'm sorry, Mr. Twain…I just heard that you want to give me the exclusive rights to publish stories about your wedding?"

"Yes, that's what I said. And I'm not providing the rights to the news agency that you work for, just you. As for how you want to report on the wedding, or which media outlet you use to report on it, that's entirely up to you, and is none of my business." Twain laughed after saying those words.

"I hope you understood everything that I told you, Miss Aria?"

Aria did not display her excitement right away, even though the joints on her fingers had already gone white from clenching her hands too tightly.

She asked in a steady voice, "Why are you giving it to me?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you earlier? It's a gift to thank you, and to apologize for the misunderstanding between us from before. I have to thank you, because if it weren't for the constant news stories that you published about us, then I wouldn't have been able to get close to Shania as quickly as I did…Also, I have really benefited from the words that you said to me previously. You said, 'It's not a shameful thing to admit that you are in love.' And so I have not only admitted my love for Shania, I want the whole world to witness our wedding. That's all I want, and it's also why I'm handing the job of generating publicity to you, Miss Aria. After all, you're the one who brought us together. How could you not be there to witness the moment when I put the ring on Shania's finger?"

Aria went into a daze. She did not know what to say. She had assumed, based on rumors and her personal experience dealing with Tony Twain, that the man was an unreasonable monster. How was he capable of saying such words?

She might have a lot of doubts about what was going on, but there was one thing she was certain of.

She could quit this meaningless job as soon as she got off of work.

No…Perhaps she could do so right away.

Before she did that, however, she asked Twain one other thing that was on her mind. "Should I thank you, Mr. Twain? I do hope that this isn't the last time I'll be working with you, however…"

"As long as you don't barge into my house and take pictures of us before bed, everything else is up to you."

Aria smiled. "That does sound like something you would say, Mr. Twain. I gladly accept this gift of yours."

Twain's and Shania's lives had both changed when they became an item. It was only natural Lisa Aria's life to change, too, given how closely intertwined her fate was with theirs.

When Aria first had published stories exposing Twain and Shania's relationship, neither she nor Twain could have foreseen what was in store for them in the future.

A blissful marriage for one, and a successful career for the other.

A win-win situation for both.