Chapter 4 Self-respect

Ryan was in the middle of administering a major meeting when he received a call from Jason. Thus, he was forced to postpone the meeting at a later date and immediately rushed back to the Gu residence.

When Ryan arrived, he found Jennifer sitting in the family living room, talking and laughing with his grandfather. His eyes turned cold from the sight of her and a sardonic smile appeared on the corners of his lips.

He seemed to have underestimated this cunning woman. She even had the audacity to directly approach the Gu Family.

Did she think that they could reach a compromise through this approach?

Around the same time, Ryan's father, Shemar, just arrived at the Gu residence.

Shemar looked a bit surprised, as he didn't expect that Ryan would be there during his work hours. His eyes looked confused and just as he was about to call out for him, he swallowed his words from a single glance from Ryan. The two of them proceeded to walk towards Jason.

"Dad."

"Grandpa."

Both Shemar and Ryan called Jason respectively.

Jason stopped in the middle of his conversation with Jennifer and looked up at the two men in front of him. He then said, "Everyone is here! Take a seat. By the way, this is Jennifer, the daughter of the Lu Family."

By the time that the two men had sat down, Jason introduced Jennifer.

The moment that Shemar's gaze fell on Jennifer, his eyes exuded discernment.

'The daughter of the Lu Family?

Isn't that...'

"Uncle Shemar, it's nice to meet you," greeted Jennifer with a pleasant smile on her face. After that, she fixed her gaze on the inscrutable expression on Ryan's face and said, "Ryan! What a coincidence for us to meet again."

Her words shocked Shemar to his core.

Judging from Jennifer's tonality, his son had known this woman for a long time. He never expected that his son, who had always preserved his moral integrity, was involved with the most scandalous woman in the city.

The expression on Shemar's face changed very slightly, but he tried his best to maintain a reserved composure.

Ryan sneered, "Coincidence? Wasn't this purposely arranged by you, Miss Jennifer Lu? You really are something, Jennifer. You even have the boldness to come straight to the Gu Family. What do you think you can accomplish by doing this?"

Jennifer simply shrugged and said, "Really? Well, I'm really sorry, Ryan. Sooner or later, you'll find out whether the circumstance have changed."

After she said that, Jennifer looked at Jason with a smile. Ryan thought that even her smile was such an eyesore.

But when he noticed Jennifer's tone and demeanor, Ryan felt an inevitable sense of foreboding.

The moment Ryan looked back at his grandfather, Jason said, "Shemar, there's an important thing I wanted to tell you about today. Ry is now old enough..."

"Grandpa, I refuse." Before Jason could even finish his words, a cold expression fell on Ryan's face and he sternly refused. He then stared at Jennifer with a deadpan expression and mercilessly mocked her, "If you're lonely, you can go and find some other men to amuse yourself with. You can keep dreaming if you think that I would ever marry a woman like you."

It wasn't until now that Shemar finally understood what was going on.

The reason why Jennifer had come to the Gu Family residence was to ask for Ryan's hand in marriage. She had visited Ryan recently, but after being refused by his son, she had approached the Gu Family directly and asked Jason for support.

However, Shemar didn't know what was on Jason's mind. He found it peculiar that Jason would agree to allow a despicable and scheming woman like Jennifer to enter the Gu Family residence.

No matter what, Shemar would never let himself watch Ryan turn into a laughing stock to everyone in F City.

"Dad, I object to this as well," Shemar added. "Look, I think the woman who can be with Ryan should at least come from a decent background. She doesn't necessarily benefit his career. Even if the woman is just a poor woman from the countryside, as long as she wholeheartedly loves Ry, I would never object.

As for Miss Jennifer..." Shemar glanced at Jennifer and continued, "You have a notorious reputation in F City. I don't care for your reasons on wanting to get married to Ry, or what exactly you want from him, but the truth is that you don't deserve him. He is not a man that you could simply toy around with. I hope that you could have at least a little self-respect and don't try to harm our family in the process."

Even if Jennifer was a woman, Shemar didn't beat around the bush and spoke to Jennifer in vulgar manner.

If it was someone else speaking to her, Jennifer would have turned around and left after being treated in such a blunt, humiliating manner. However, this time, Jennifer didn't.

She kept her composure, stood straight with a smile on her face. When she looked straight into Shemar's eyes, she didn't show any signs of displeasure, nor anger.

Jason watched them in silence, but he didn't say another word. He simply observed. If Jennifer was unable to overcome such a small matter by herself, then Jason figured that she didn't have what it took to stand by Ryan's side.

If she wanted to form a firm relationship in the Gu Family, she had to find her own approach on how to make them see her in a new light.

Under the watchful eyes of Jason, Jennifer answered in a calm and respectful manner, "Uncle Shemar, you might have misunderstood me. As a member of the Gu Family, I'm sure you're fully aware of the media's ability to make a myriad of groundless accusations. The speculators are constantly spreading rumors without evidence, because they simply enjoy talking about it and exaggerating the facts. The wise are clever enough to displace such rumors, and I believe that you, Uncle Shemar, are not that shallow.

As a lawyer, I've come in contact with all kinds of people every day. So, I am aware that it would be easy to discredit a person like me if they wanted to. Maybe, I have never bothered to explain myself before. If you really want to know why, I could tell you that as the daughter of the Lu Family, I think it would be unnecessary for me to have to explain myself.

I believe that clean hands don't need to wash themselves. For now, I will prove through my own actions that I am not what the media says of me. Uncle Shemar, I hope you could give me a chance. After all, I really do genuinely care for Ryan. I want to spend my life with him, help him with his career and please him. Besides, at least I am the daughter of the Lu Family, right?"

After defending her place in the family, she stated the last sentence to make it clear that her family had enough capital and reputation to be in a position as Ryan's wife. Her family background would also be beneficial to Ryan's career.

Her words had engulfed Shemar into a deep state of thought. He had to admit that what she said had moved him, but it wasn't only because she could help and support Ryan's position in the family. After all, he knew the kind of abilities that his son embodied.

Shemar trusted his son, from beginning to end.

It was also because that what Jennifer had told them made sense. The media could make countless unsupported accusations simply to attract attention. Most especially, Jason seemed to really like her. He thought that maybe it would be appropriate to give her a chance to prove that she wasn't what the media said she was.

It would be unfair to make such judgments on Jennifer's moral character just based on the media and the public's opinion.

Upon seeing the hesitation and contemplation from Shemar's eyes, Jennifer quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that she had successfully persuaded Shemar as well. The next goal was to convince Ryan.

Keeping this in mind, Jennifer glanced back at Ryan again. The smile on her face deepened. She raised one of her eyebrows and looked at him provocatively.