46 Telling Anna's Parents

Anna Jones took the opened mobile phone from Hou Yi and called her parents' home number in Warrnambool, Australia.

The phone rang 3 times, before there was an answer "Jones residence, Meredith speaking."

"Hi Mum, it is Anna.Is Dad there"

"Hi sweetheart, yes he is, do you need to speak to him."

"No, I actually need to speak to both of you.Are you able to put the phone on speaker?"

"Sure.Let me just call your dad.I need to keep this call short as it will be costing you significantly."

"Mum do not worry about the cost.Just call dad, and I can tell you what you need to know."

With that there quiet noise in the background, and Anna and Hou Yi heard Meredith call out in the background "Stan come in here.Anna is on the phone and wants to speak to us."

Hou Yi could see Anna was nervous.He leaned over, squeezed Anna's hand and said, "Just go with what you told Officer Mu, and everything will be OK."

A few seconds later, they heard two loud voices "Hi Sweetheart," which indicated the phone on the other end was on speaker.

"Hi Mum.Hi Dad.Sorry to disturb you."

"No worries sweetheart, what is going on" came Stan's voice, which sounded worried.

"Mum, Dad, I have to tell you something, so I need you to sit, and not interrupt me until I finish.You know, how before we left, I had some reservations about getting married, but was willing to accommodate Jinhu.There is a lot more to the story than you know."

She paused for a second, then continued after taking a breath "You both know when Jinhu asked me to marry him, I committed myself to the relationship, dismissing any concerns that I had.Six months ago, something changed when I literally bumped into someone at the office.It made me consider whether Jinhu was the person for me, but given my commitment, i dismissed this.Due to work, I was in contact with the person i bumped into who sensed my concerns.He became someone who just listened to me.Once piece of advice was to resolve my concerns before I married.I passed this person by chance at the Australia Embassy when I went into complete the paperwork to enable me to marry here.Just this sight was enough to know I could not marry Jinhu.We had a brief discussion and I knew there and then I I had to marry him or my chances for happiness would be gone.All I had been doing was looking for the right time to tell Jinhu that our relationship was over, but he decided to dump me today to marry in an arranged marriage.This meant that I was able to marry the man that I know will bring me happiness, which we did today.I did not tel you before hand, but I believed Jinhu had the right to know first.It was simply that the opportunity to marry my Hou Yi arose today, that I wanted to do it immediately, and then figured that everyone afterwards.We have not even told Yi's parents, which we are going to do later."

"What sweetheart!"came two voices, over each other on the other end of the line.

"Mum, Dad, I decided not to marry Jinhu, and married the man that I know can secure my happiness today, Hou Yi."Anna at this time was struggling to keep the tears from flowing.

"Mr Jones, Mrs Jones, my name is Hou Yi.Please pardon me interruption, but Anna, is struggling here to contain her emotions.I fell you in love with your daughter on sight six months ago, but as she had committed herself to Lu Jinhu, all I wanted to do was be there to support her.While we had been in contact, a few days ago at the Australian Embassy we ran into each other, and she immediately told me that she could not marry Lu Jinhu and explained to me that the reason was me.We decided to marry, but do nothing until after some time had passed from her telling Lu Jinhu, but when he entered an arranged marriage today, we decided that there was no reason to wait to get our marriage certificate.I arranged for the formalities of this to be filmed as neither of our families were present and I will have a copy forwarded to you to see.I know I should have called you and asked for your permission to marry your daughter, but please do not take our actions today as disrespecting you.The opportunity presented itself to us, and we decided to take it with both hands as we did not want to wait.Neither of us regret it.However, we have already discussed it, we want to have a formal marriage ceremony.While my family would want it here, I have already decided that we will do it in Australia, and my family and friends can travel, and we will work out a date with you."

"Anna, I cannot believe it.You should have spoken to us.You have run from one situation to another," came an angry Meredith Jones on the phone.

"Anna, I am so disappointed in you.You have no respect for a relationship, and should have spoken to us," came an even angry Stan Jones.

"Mum, Dad.I know what I am doing, and I am happy," said Anna, who then burst into tears given how angry her parents were.

"Mr Jones, Mrs Jones.We viewed that you needed to know about our marriage today firstly, before we have even told my family.But getting angry is upsetting Anna, which I cannot allow.she is my priority to protect.My assistant will contact you tomorrow to confirm the email to send the footage to.He will also discuss the formal wedding ceremony, which I will pay for as it will be exactly what Anna wants, and in doing that money is no object, her happiness at all times is enough."

"You cannot tell us about how we deal with our daughter," yelled Stan Jones.

"Enough," said Hou Yi in a determined voice."That is it.Anna is in tears as you cannot accept what makes her happy.We will give you some time to calm down and call you in a few days to talk further."With that Hou Yi terminated the call and gathered the sobbing Anna in his arms.