Chapter 23 Janet

As the secretary, he could only follow the CEO's orders. Shaking his head, the secretary told himself not to think too much into what had transpired.

But he had to contact the informant once again, because he had asked him to get away.

After dinner, Kent went back after staying in Melinda's place for a while. Melinda was recuperating well and had made improvements in her health. She went to bed after writing a chapter.

As for Kent, who had just gotten back home, his day wasn't ending as well as he thought it would. When he got home, the door was wide open. Only a few people had the key to his house. He was sure that his parents must have come since they were the only people brave enough to come to his house unannounced.

As expected, Kent came into the house and saw his parents sitting on the sofa. Each of them had a cup of tea, with nuts piled on a small plate for themselves. They were engrossed on a program they were watching on TV.

"Dad, Mom, why are you here?"

Kent changed his shoes and walked towards them. He checked his phone, but there was no call. It seemed that his parents hadn't called him at all.

"Since you never come home to visit us, we may as well take the mountain to Mohamed and decided to visit you instead. Why are you always so busy with your work that you have no time to visit even your family? Have you had dinner yet?" Kent's mother, Janet, asked with dissatisfaction.

Her son had always been busy as soon as he grew up, and didn't go home often. He had even taken the habit of working late into the night; how could he take care of himself with such a crazy schedule? He needed a girlfriend to keep him company and take care of his needs.

"I have already eaten," said Kent, not wanting to agitate his mother further.

He walked to the sofa and sat across from his parents. He had already gotten used to his mother's nagging and her impromptu appearances at his apartment. He could almost guess exactly what she was thinking.

"Son, are you just coming back from work at this time?" Janet asked tentatively.

Kent's father seemed to be concentrating on the TV, because that was where his eyes were looking, although all his mind was focused on the conversation between his son and wife.

"Yes."

"Son, it's time for you to get a girlfriend. You can't only work all day long. How about dating someone after work?" asked Janet

She had come to visit her son this time with a very specific agenda. She wanted to discuss the direction in which Kent's life was taking. Janet was worried that her son's age mates back in their hometown all had children who were big enough to run around.

"Mom, it's still too early for me to get married. I'm not in a hurry."

He knew that all his mother cared about was marriage. In the past few years, he had always been in love with Melinda, so he had never dated any other girl. His mother on the other hand had been so worried that she had even begun to question his sexual orientation. She had once accosted him and repeatedly made him promise that he was straight before she could let him go.

But shortly after, she had begun to urge him to get married every chance she got.

"You're in your late 20s. You're old enough. Do you remember your primary school classmates?" Janet began her usual train of rants insinuating that someone's child was already going to school and Kent should bring his girlfriend home to introduce the new girl to her and his father and get married soon.

"Your father and I are still young. If you have a child now, we can help to look after him; however, when we get old in the future, you can only look after him by yourselves. You don't know anything, and you can't take good care of a child..." Janet reiterated her exhortation once again.

Kent listened to her, silently absorbing her standard speech which at this point he could recite word for word. He was amazed at his mother's tenacity, and he didn't understand how his mother never got tired of saying the same thing over and over again.

He knew clearly that in his parents' eyes, he was not young any more. So he always listened silently when his mother talked without interrupting her.

"Mom, don't worry. I am searching and as soon as I have a girlfriend, I will bring her back to meet you," said Kent.

He had always made perfunctory statements as he tried to pacify his mother, but this time he actually made a promise to her, because he was actively pursuing Melinda who had finally left the Gu family. He was sure that he had a chance now.

"Do you think that it is so easy to deceive me since I am an old woman now? My friend has already informed me that she has spotted you several times going to the hospital to take care of a girl. Why do you spend so much time taking care of her if she is not your girlfriend? If you really have a girlfriend, you know you can always bring her home. I am not an animal, I won't eat her."

Janet's friend had gone to the hospital for a regular examination as she had not feeling well recently. She happened to see Kent with Melinda several times and told Janet about it. Therefore, Kent's mother could not wait to come to his home with her husband and find out the truth behind his weird behavior.

Kent was tongue tied; he didn't know that his mother had a battalion of spies watching over his love life. He didn't know how to answer the question.

"Could it be that the girl doesn't like you and it is unrequited love?" Janet said, dramatically covering her mouth with her hand.

She thought it was impossible. Her son was so outstanding, in her eyes. Kent was her joy and pride, so she had always ignored such a conjecture.

As for the reason why Kent was single till now, Janet only believed there were two issues. One was that he was gay, and the other was that her son's demands and requirement for the right girl were too high.

"Mom, stop talking about this topic for now, please change the subject. We can talk about it later in the future," Kent requested his mother politely.

Kent didn't want to mess up his relationship with Melinda. She had finally allowed him into her life and was very polite to him, so he didn't want to frighten her away. After all, he had been waiting for so many years. He wouldn't be in a hurry.

"Well, that's enough. Our son has grown up, and he knows what to do."

Kent looked at his father, Charles Jiang, with pleading eyes and Charles Jiang decided to help him out. Kent was relieved and immediately took the opportunity to hide in the study away from his mother's prying eyes. He gave the excuse that he had something to deal with.

Unfortunately, Charles Jiang got himself into trouble after his son got out of the room. Janet kept talking to Charles the whole night, lamenting over their son's non-existent love life.

The next morning, when Kent went to work, Janet changed her clothes, disguised herself a

nd then followed him secretly.

She closely watched him as Kent went to Melinda's place to pick her up and brought breakfast for her. Janet followed him with a big smile on her face. She couldn't help taking out her phone and taking many photos of Melinda.

Melinda was quiet and polite at first sight, which made elderly people really attracted to her character and like her very much.

Janet liked the girl too. She thought her son's requirement was really high, but fortunately this girl seemed to be well behaved and respectable.

When Melinda returned to her department, her colleagues came up to greet her. They even put a bunch of flowers on her desk and helped her with the work that had accumulated the whole time she had been sick and taken a break.

This kind of concern made Melinda very happy. Since she had married Jonas, she had not interacted with a lot of people and always felt out of place, but now she actually felt as if she belonged and was actually enjoying herself.

At noon, when she invited her colleagues for lunch, Kent stopped working and went to accompany her. They were joking and making fun of each other and asking Kent who had invited him for lunch. Of course, it was Kent who ended up paying for the bill in the end.

Janet kept following them until noon. Seeing that they were together anytime they had a break, she was certain that they were in a relationship. When she returned home, she showed photos of Melinda to Charles Jiang. Charles Jiang praised Melinda very much and thought she was very pretty and good enough for their son.

"I told you that there must be something happening for our son to leave so early and come back home late in the night," stated Janet with excitement.

Then she began going through the photos she had taken once again just to confirm that she had seen her son with a woman. She acknowledged that she was really good at photography, marveling at the wonderful pictures she had taken. On second thought, she realized that maybe it was because the girl was so beautiful that no matter how bad her photography skills were, she still looked dazzling.

Kent still picked up Melinda from work in the evening, but he couldn't have dinner with her because his parents were waiting for him at home.

"Kent, I didn't know your parents are here, I'm so sorry I have been taking so much of your time. I even let you pick me up after work. Please go home quickly and entertain them."

Melinda felt sorry for him. If she had known that his parents were visiting, she would have chosen to take the subway or a taxi back to her apartment.

"It's okay. It's not safe for a girl to go out alone."

While Kent was still talking, Melinda had already unfastened the seat belt and was ready to get off the car. Just then, Kent's cell phone rang, and the screen showed that it was his mother who was calling.

For some reason, Kent had a bad feeling.

"Mom, I just got off duty. I'll be home soon," Kent said directly as he gave Melinda an apologetic smile.

Melinda stopped moving around and sat there quietly waiting for him to finish.

"Why did you come back so soon? Had you gone to pick up your girlfriend?"

Janet had planned to ask Kent to bring the girl back home. When she heard that Kent was ready to go home after work, she became anxious.

"Mom, I have told you before, I don't have a girlfriend."

Massaging his eyebrows, Kent said helplessly. His mother was really stubborn.

"Don't lie to me. I saw that girl today. She is a good girl. Why don't you want to bring her home? What are you thinking about? I'm telling you, I like her very much. Don't let me down," Janet said.

Kent froze for a second wondering what she was talking about. She said that she saw her and indicated that it was today. "Mom, have you been following me around?"

"If I had not followed you, I wouldn't have known that you have been hiding such a big secret from me. I'm telling you, if you don't bring that girl back home so that we can meet her, your father and I will live here with you forever."

"Mom..." Kent was about to say something more, but Janet interrupted him and hung up. Melinda didn't know what to say, so she just sat there innocently waiting for Kent to calm down.

Janet spoke in a low voice, but the space in the car was too small, so Melinda could hear a few things that were said.

"I'm sorry. There seems some misunderstanding between my mother and me," Kent said sheepishly.

However, he was looking forward to seeing how Melinda would react.

"It doesn't matter. Your mother is very lovely," Melinda said with a smile.

Hearing that, Kent shook his head in dismay. His mother was the most troublesome person he knew, but thinking of the last threat she had issued, Kent began to worry again.

He looked at Melinda, a little hesitant. He had been afraid to ask for clarity about the state of their relationship for a long time. He was afraid that if he said anything, it would probably affect their friendship, but now he wanted to take advantage of this chance and ask her.

"Melinda, I have a request to make."

Kent took a deep breath and spoke hesitantly. His words almost used up all of his courage. He could feel his heart beating so fast and wildly that he thought she could hear it from where she was sitting.

"Kent, you can just tell me if something is wrong with your parents. You have helped me so much, how can I not help you when you need it? I will help you as long as I can."

Melinda had always been grateful to Kent. If she could help him, she would not hesitate to do everything in her power.

"My mother thinks that you are my girlfriend and is insisting that I take you home for introductions," Kent spoke very fast as if he spoke any slower, his courage would disappear. He was sure that she might have heard his mother's loud threats.

Melinda didn't want to have an ambiguous relationship with Kent and always tried to make it clear so that they were not confused.

"Well, considering how much you have come through for me so many times, I'll just help you this time, only this one time. Okay?" Melinda said with a smile.

She was a highly emotionally intelligent person. Her few words not only saved the two of them from embarrassment, but also explained her position on their relationship.

"Thanks for your understanding."

The smile Kent gave her was a little bitter, because he was now clear on exactly how she felt about him, but he still covered it up well.

"How about we wait for two days? We both have time over the weekend," Melinda suggested. Kent nodded in agreement as they got off the car together.

The lights in the corridor where she lived were off. Melinda didn't refuse for him to escort her to her apartment because she was afraid of the dark.

"I'm home. Thank you, Kent." She then entered the room and Kent didn't leave until the door was closed.