Chapter 118 - What A Cliche?

That night, Halia arrived at the Michelin-starred restaurant where she was having dinner with Emerson's family.

It was a quiet, dimly lit restaurant with only a few tables. In the middle of the restaurant, there was an open kitchen where the chef was cooking. The chef was a celebrity in his field and he often appeared on television shows, so Halia was a little excited to see him. Most days, his apprentices ran the restaurant and it was rare to catch a glimpse of the man, but since the owners of the casino were there, he had to ensure that they received the best quality food, straight from his hands. So, he decided to head the kitchen that day.

As Halia watched the man cook, she suddenly felt an arm on her shoulder, "Daniel is one of the best chefs here in Macau. You're in for a treat!"

Halia quickly turned and noticed Emerson standing beside her.

Emerson ran his eyes up and down her body and smiled. "You look beautiful," he said.

A couple of hours ago, when Halia was still in her hotel room trying to pick out an outfit for dinner, there was a knock on her door.

It was a staff from the dress shop she visited earlier.

"This is a gift from President Wu," the young woman said as she handed Halia a box with a beautiful silver ribbon on it. 

Halia wanted to reject the gift, but it had already been paid for and the staff were instructed to burn it if she didn't take it. So, she had no choice but to accept the gift. After taking it into her room, she opened the box with curiosity and discovered a dress sitting inside. 

It was the white lace dress she had tried on earlier.

At first, she didn't want to wear the dress in case Emerson misunderstood, but she had already spent an hour trying to find a suitable outfit with no luck, so she lifted the dress out of the box and looked at it with hesitation. In the end, she decided to wear it.

Emerson grabbed Halia's hand and placed a kiss on it before he hooked it around his arm and started leading her towards the table that his family had reserved.

"Oh, Haili, it's nice to see you again," Emerson's father said as he stood up to greet her.

Emerson's mother also nodded politely.

Sitting next to Emerson's parents were another old couple. Halia recognized the chubby man: it was Emerson's uncle, Everett Pang. "This is my uncle and auntie," Emerson introduced.

The man looked at Halia in surprise as he shook her hand. He didn't realize she was so close to Emerson.

After finishing with the introductions, Emerson pulled out a chair next to his mother and gestured for Halia to sit down. He then walked around the long table and sat opposite her with a smile. "I'm really glad you're here. Otherwise, I would have been the only single person surrounded by couples," he whispered.

As soon as he finished speaking, the empty chair next to Halia suddenly slid out. At the same time, Emerson stood up and pulled out the chair beside him as well. "Let Sister-in-law sit next to me, I want to chat to her," Emerson smiled at the guests that arrived behind Halia.

Halia quickly turned her head and realized that Jackson and his blond-haired 'girlfriend' had arrived. 

Originally, Jackson planned to seat Amelie next to Halia, but Emerson's actions suddenly made things very awkward.

Amelie didn't know that Halia was the girlfriend that Jackson had told her about in France, so she accepted Emerson's request without any hesitation.

As soon as she sat down, Jackson also sat himself down next to Halia.

"Haili, this is my brother, you already met briefly the other day. As for this beautiful woman next to me, she is my brother's girlfriend, her name is Amelie. She only speaks French and English," Emerson smiled.

Halia stuck out her hand and greeted politely in French, "Bonjour, comment allez vouz? (Hello, how are you?)"

The woman looked at Halia in surprise, "Bien (Good)," she replied.

Emerson smiled at the woman and asked nosily in English, "So, I heard you saved my brother's life. Do you mind sharing the story of how it happened?"

Halia heard this and also looked at the woman in interest.

The woman glanced at Jackson and smiled, "It's a long story."

At that moment, Father Wu suddenly grunted in dissatisfaction, "You rascal, I told you not to join the gangs. It's no surprise you almost died! If you didn't come back claiming that you lost your memory, I would have never taken you back in!"

Mother Wu quickly patted the old man on the back comfortingly. "Old man, calm down. You should be happy that your son is back. Plus, watch your temper, we have guests."

While everyone tried to comfort the old man, Halia glanced at Jackson in surprise. "How much of your memory did you lose?" she asked.

"I couldn't even remember my name at first," he replied calmly.

Halia looked at the man in disbelief, was this some kind of a cliche scene in a soap drama?