Chapter 10 Marry Into A Rich Family

Alina smiled, "If that's what you want, I can call you by your name instead. How about I call you Sheffy?"

"No way!" Sheffield objected.

"Well, how about Sheff?"

Sheffield was even more agitated. "No!"

Alina raised an eyebrow. "Dear Sheff?"

Peter's hand shook when he overheard their conversation, and he almost spilled the soup he was about to serve them.

Sheffield was stunned by her shamelessness. "Shut up!" he yelled.

"If you don't want me to call you any of those names, what should I call you then?" Alina pouted.

Sheffield chose not to answer her question and focused on eating his food instead. She was getting him too riled up.

Alina intended to joke with him to lighten the mood, but she ended up upsetting him even more. She instantly regretted teasing him.

There was no coriander in the fish soup when she looked down in her bowl. "Peter, could you add some coriander to my soup? It's no good if there's no coriander in it," she requested.

Sheffield stopped eating and snapped his eyes up at her.

Peter cast a glance towards Sheffield and explained, "Sheffield detests the smell of coriander."

'What?' Alina was surprised to hear about this. She couldn't believe that Sheffield hated coriander.

No wonder he got angry when she offered the noodles to him. It turned out that she upset him by putting coriander in his noodles.

"Oh. It slipped my mind." Alina peeked up at Sheffield and gave him an apologetic smile. She pretended to forget about his hate for coriander.

She wasn't Alaina, so she wouldn't be aware of what he liked and didn't like.

Sheffield arched a brow at her and he suddenly had a suspicious thought. She didn't seem like she forgot about it. Instead, she looked like she had no idea at all.

Last night, she offered to cook noodles for him but added coriander to it. At the time, he assumed that she did it on purpose to get a rise out of him. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe she didn't know. Maybe her intention was never to prank him.

Everyone in their family knew how much he hated coriander. There were only two possibilities. The first was that she did it on purpose. The second was that she merely forgot.

Alina didn't want to draw any more attention to herself, so she decided to keep quiet and finish her meal in silence.

The only sound in the dining room was the sound of them eating.

Alina had a hearty meal and was satisfied when she finished her food.

Peter served them some fruit after the meal. When Alina reached for a piece of fruit, Peter reminded her, "Alaina, aren't you on a diet?"

'On a diet?' Alina came to her senses and speculated that this was something Alaina shared with Peter in the past.

"I decided to stop my diet because I heard one of my classmates nearly fainted because she was eating so little. It was terrifying!" To be able to eat in peace, Alina had to tell this small lie.

Sheffield scoffed when he heard her explanation.

Peter nodded slowly at her and said, "I see."

It was a great comfort to be a part of a wealthy family. She didn't have to do any housework, and someone served her fruit after dinner. Alina was overjoyed.

After eating some fruit, Alina was too stuffed to have another bite. If she had only known that there would be fruit after dinner, maybe she wouldn't have eaten so much.

At the sight of Sheffield eating without ever feeling full, Alina sighed with jealousy.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said. Out of sight, out of mind.

As soon as Alina left the table, Sheffield stopped eating. He looked at her receding figure and smiled faintly to himself.

It was around ten o'clock in the evening, and it was raining heavily outside. Wendy came home alone and in a foul mood.

"Welcome back, Mrs. Xu." Peter didn't rest because Eric hadn't come back.

"Where is Alaina? Is she asleep?"

"She went back to her room after dinner. I'm not sure if she's already asleep."

"I'm going to see her. You can go rest." Wendy marched towards Alina's room, clenching her bag with a cold expression on her face.

When she turned the knob to enter, she realized that the door was locked.

"Alaina, open the door!" Wendy's brows furrowed. 'Why would she need to lock her door at home?'

At this time, Alina was busy studying at her desk. When she heard Wendy's voice, she stopped writing and ran to open the door.

"Mom, you're back! Did you have dinner yet?"

Wendy's hair was still damp from the rain, and her daughter's concern gave her a small bit of comfort.

"Yes, don't worry. Why are you still up?"

With a smile, Alina explained, "I'm studying before I go to bed."

"Don't go to bed yet; I have something to discuss with you." Wendy sat next to her daughter on the bed. "I told you to go after the boy of the Tang family. Did you do as I asked?"

'The boy of the Tang family? Who is she talking about?' Alina was flustered that she didn't have access to Alaina's memories.

She lowered her head and gave her an ambiguous explanation. "Yes, but... I don't think he likes me."

"You're a beautiful girl. Why wouldn't he like you? Did you do something to upset him?" Wendy asked and looked at her daughter carefully.

Alina hesitated before answering, "Maybe... I'm not his type."

"What about the boy of the Song family?" Wendy believed that it was of utmost importance for a woman to marry a capable man. She had been telling her daughter to start thinking about marriage.

'Huh? The boy of the Song family?' Alina was so confused.

"I think that he's also not interested in me."

Wendy's face darkened, and she stood up.

"Alaina, do you understand what I'm asking? The boys that I mentioned are all from wealthy families. Why don't you secure one of them for yourself when they're still young and naive? Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Alina didn't know what Alaina had thought of her mother's plans, but she wouldn't agree to this.

She didn't think it was necessary to force a marriage with someone simply because of their position or wealth.

"Mom, it's out of my hands if they don't like me back. I can't force them to be with me, can I? I don't want to degrade myself! After all, you're Mrs. Xu and I'm a member of Xu family!"

She didn't know what she said wrong, but Wendy suddenly screamed at her.

"Wake up and face the facts! I'm only Eric's second wife, and you're not his real daughter. If Eric is unhappy with us, he can kick us out anytime. The only way for you to safeguard your future is if you marry a rich and powerful man. You will also help me secure my position in this family."

'Wendy is only in her thirties, and Eric isn't much older than her. Why don't they have another child together? They could easily afford to raise another child!'

Alina thought to herself.

"Mom, why don't you have another baby?" If Wendy gave birth to Eric's biological child, their relationship would be more secure.

After a short pause, Wendy explained in an exasperated tone, "Do you think I haven't thought about it? No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get pregnant."

Alina pursed her lips and asked, "Have you thought about seeing a doctor about it?"

"I already had a checkup. The doctor told me that there's nothing wrong with me."

'Maybe Dad's the problem.' Wendy could tell what was going through Alina's mind based on her expression.

She frowned in distaste and said, "You're too young to be thinking about these things!"

"Mom, our family has enough money. You can opt to have an IVF baby."

"Stop talking nonsense! IVF babies are a scam!"

Alina forgot that domestic IVF technology was still new territory during this time, and only a few people had tried it.

"Don't worry about me. You're my only daughter. Please do as I say and trust me!"

With a sigh, Wendy stood from the bed. "Go to bed early. As long as your grades are better than Sheffield's, you don't have to study hard."

'How could I compete with the hero? Even if his grades are poor now, he's destined to be successful in the future,' Alina thought.

"I know," she answered obediently.

When Wendy reached the door, she suddenly stopped and mentioned, "By the way, the Song family will be holding a party for their son's sixteenth birthday. It's going to be at a hotel the day after tomorrow. I want you to come with me and to remember to buy a gift."

"I..." Before Alina could refuse, Wendy had left the room.

Her plans to study this weekend were ruined.

The day after was a Friday. As soon as her alarm rang, Alina reluctantly got out of bed and freshened up. After changing her clothes, she dragged herself downstairs to have breakfast.

By the time she got downstairs, the dishes were already served on the table. There was bread, milk, noodles, and eggs for them to eat.

"Good morning, Alaina," Peter greeted politely.

"Good morning." With a smile on her face, Alina pulled out the chair opposite Sheffield and greeted, "Good morning, Sheffield."

Sheffield stopped eating when he heard her greet him. He raised his head and asked, "Good morning, Alaina. Could you pour me some milk?" As he spoke, he carefully observed Alina's face.

Alina didn't know that Sheffield was testing her, so she naturally picked up the milk and poured him a glass.

After looking at the milk, Sheffield lowered his eyes, his eyelashes covering the gleam in his eyes.

"Good morning, Mrs. Xu." Alina looked up when she heard Peter's voice.

It looked like Wendy didn't rest well the night before. She looked haggard this morning.

Before she reached the table, she pulled a long face and scolded, "What are you doing, Alaina? He can pour his own milk!"

Last night, Eric didn't come home or contact Wendy. At the thought that he might be sleeping with another woman, Wendy was so angry and wanted to lash out at Sheffield.

Alina was surprised and realized that Wendy saw her pour milk for Sheffield.

It wasn't a big deal to her.

"Mom, you don't look so good. Are you feeling okay?" Alina didn't dare to coax Wendy in front of Sheffield. It would only make things worse, so she decided to change the topic and ask about her instead.

Wendy was disappointed by her daughter, but she still appreciated her concern. "I'm fine. The bad weather is making me feel a bit irritable, that's all."

"Mom, would you like some milk? I can get you some," Alina offered with a sweet smile.

"I can do it myself; I don't want to inconvenience others," Wendy said as she looked at Sheffield.

Sheffield looked down at his food with a slight frown. Shortly after, he put down his fork and stopped eating. He walked towards the door with his backpack.

When Sheffield left, Wendy snorted, "Finally, he's gone! Don't mind him. It's still early; you can take your time."

Alina lost her appetite after Sheffield left. Without another word, she stuffed two buns in her mouth, then grabbed her backpack and ran after him.

"It's fine. I'm leaving for school!"

At the sight of her receding figure, Wendy shouted, "You bad girl! You never listen to me!"

It was drizzling outside by the time Alina reached the car. Sheffield was still seated in the passenger seat.

Alina opened the back door and got into the car. From time to time, she snuck glances at the rearview mirror to look at Sheffield's face. She wondered if she should apologize to him on behalf of Wendy.

After struggling for a few minutes, she finally came to a decision.

"I'm sorry about my mom. She's been in a bad mood since last night. I hope she didn't upset you." Alina leaned forward and looked at Sheffield with apologetic eyes.

Sheffield turned his head and looked into her eyes. They were clear and bright, and he could see his reflection in her eyes.

He gave her a small smile and said, "Okay."

Alina's eyes brightened at his words. "Thank you!" she replied.

Sheffield's next words made the smile on her face falter. "But you need to pay the price."

Alina asked, "What do you want from me?"

"It's simple. All I want is for you to get out of this car and go to school by yourself." After that, Sheffield ordered the driver to stop the car.

The car came to a screeching halt at the side of the road. He looked at her with a malicious smile when he said, "Get out."

'Damn it!' Alina sighed heavily before she left the car.

As she watched the car leave, she couldn't help but curse Sheffield in her heart.

The place where she was dropped off was an alley. Alina looked around to search for a bus stop but couldn't find one, so she decided to walk to school in the rain.

The alley emptied into the main road. Alina saw a bus stop not too far away from where she stood.

She quickly walked over to the bus stop and saw that two buses were scheduled to stop by MH High School. Even though the two buses took different routes, it was still the same number of stops to get to the high school, so Alina could take either one.

Before the bus arrived, Alina grabbed some tissues from her bag and dried herself off. She fished out two coins to pay for the bus fare.

After a few minutes, a bus stopped, and Alina got on the bus.