Chapter 10 Talking To The Family

Hearing this, Jenna immediately forgot about the dowry that she had saved up and cheerfully told her daughter about all the funny things about her classmate.

Caroline's heart beat fast as she listened. She had secretly taken a hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of her mother's bank deposit to invest in stocks. If her mother found out about it, things would go haywire.

Her mother was a careless person. In normal times, she wouldn't check the deposit balance at all. And her father always left things up to her mother, so as long as her mother did not think of the deposit receipt again today, she would be safe for the time being.

As for the dowry, she was touched, but she didn't actually care about it, because she had experienced a marriage which was full of bad memories.

In her previous life, when she got married, Edwin only accepted the new quilt made by Jenna and bought everything else by himself. After getting his first month's salary, Edwin asked his mother for a lot of money. After that, he took Caroline to the supermarket. He was in charge of pushing the shopping cart while she was in charge of putting items into the cart. She was pregnant at that time, so she couldn't lift anything heavy. Otherwise, she would have bought a lot more stuff.

Even now, Caroline still remembered the pair of particularly exquisite cups she had bought. She didn't remember what brand they were, but the image of the dragon and the phoenix embossed on the cups was embedded in her mind. Those two cups had cost Edwin a month's salary! If she had known the importance of being thrifty back then, she would not have made such unrealistic purchases. But why hadn't Edwin stopped her? He must have known that money should not be wasted!

Caroline decided that if she got married in this life, she would not be so careless with money again. She would budget her expenses and live within her means.

On the same day, Edwin returned home as well. This was the first time that he had come home after deciding to get a doctor's degree. When Edwin's mother, Kayla Zhang, opened the door and saw her handsome son standing at the door, she couldn't help but shed tears of happiness.

Trembling with excitement, she took her son's hand and said, "You're finally home! Hurry up, come in. Let's have dinner together."

Edwin smiled and followed her into the house.

Finnley Han, Edwin's father, was sitting on the sofa with a newspaper in his hand. When he saw Edwin, he raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, "What a surprise. What are you doing here, Dr. Han?"

"What are you talking about?" Kayla Zhang scolded her husband. "You don't have to speak just to show that you can!"

Finnley Han glared at his wife. "You don't know anything. Just go and check if dinner is ready."

Kayla Zhang snorted and went back to the kitchen to ask the servant to prepare more dishes. Since her son was back, they needed to celebrate!

Edwin walked towards the sofa opposite his father.

Finnley Han glanced at his son and said coldly, "Why did you return home all of a sudden? Have you run out of money?"

Edwin was about to sit down when he heard his father's words, and he suddenly broke into a smile. It was not his usual cold smile, but a warm one from the bottom of his heart.

Finnley Han was stunned by his son's smile. It was rare for his son to smile, especially a genuine smile like this one. So what was he smiling at?

Standing straight, Edwin bowed deep with his hands folded in front of him and said politely, "Father, thank you for your love and support."

Finnley Han was rendered speechless.

It was only after that that Edwin sat on the sofa. The smile on his face never left, because he was particularly satisfied with his father's reaction. A long time ago, when he was in a fit of anger, a brat had bowed to him like this. He had been so taken aback that he didn't know whether to continue scolding the child or to smile at him. It seemed that this move had worked on his father, too.

Edwin looked at his father seriously and broke the silence. "Dad, I still have plenty of money. I came back because I have something to discuss with you."

Finnley Han finally regained his composure and snorted. "Hmm, how strange. You have something to discuss with me? Really?" he asked sarcastically.

Unperturbed by his father's reaction, Edwin asked, "Dad, do you really think you can be promoted by the end of this year?"

Once again, Finnley Han was taken aback. His son had never cared about his career before. Why was he asking such a question all of a sudden? Finnley Han squinted at his son and carefully took in every detail of him from head to toe.

There was no change in his son's appearance. Edwin had always been a handsome boy with fine features. He had inherited the best features of Finnley and Kayla. However, Finnley Han still felt that his son had changed.

Just a few months ago, Edwin had still been a little childish, eager to get his approval but prone to rebellion.

But today, even though Finnley Han had said harsh words to him, Edwin acted like nothing had happened. The father and son looked at each other silently. Edwin's face was surprisingly calm and composed, with a small smile. Finnley Han couldn't guess what his son was thinking about.

He wondered, 'Is this boy really my son? How did he grow up so much in just a few months?'

In the end, he decided to stop beating around the bush, because he thought that it would be a little immature of him in this circumstance. Putting down the newspaper in his hand, he asked, "Tell me, why did you come home?"

It was at this moment that Kayla Zhang happened to come out of the kitchen. She tutted unhappily and said, "Does our son need a reason to come home? I think he doesn't need to say why."

Finnley Han and Edwin both acted as if they hadn't heard Kayla Zhang.

Edwin said, "Dad, I came back home to have a talk with you about the provincial governor."

After hesitating for two seconds, Finnley Han stood up and walked to the study room first. Edwin unhurriedly followed him. Although Kayla Zhang didn't get any response from her husband and son, she didn't care. All she knew was that her husband and son had gone to the study room to talk about business.

Finnley Han was 48 years old and was in the critical period of his career. If he got a promotion now, he would become more successful. But if he didn't get a promotion, his career would come to a standstill. Whenever he needed to discuss serious business matters at home, he would take them to the study room for some privacy. But today, he had taken Edwin there. What did that mean?

Edwin's family resided in the middle of the residential area of the municipal government. They lived in a duplex apartment that covered 200 square meters, and had a maid who was responsible for cleaning the house daily. The elegant and quaint interior design made the house look more beautiful. There were also some antiques in the display cases, but no one knew whether they were genuine antiques or just reproductions.

Finnley Han's study room was upstairs, and Edwin's bedroom was downstairs. While the father and son talked upstairs, Kayla Zhang sat in Edwin's room and looked through his photo album.

Her son's return filled her with happiness.

In Edwin's room, there was a large wooden bed and a bookshelf full of books. The space under the bed was filled with even more books and boxes. His wardrobe was very tall, but it was almost empty. The design of his bedroom was simple but pleasing. He had personally chosen bedsheets with a blue and white pattern, some nattier blue curtains, and white furnishing. If Kayla Zhang hadn't stopped Edwin, his bedroom would just be completely white.

The mother and son had had different ideas of decorating this bedroom. Kayla Zhang had wanted to make her son's room look lively and cute, but Edwin only wanted a simple room.

An hour later, the food had gotten cold and was heated again. The father and son finally came out of the study room one after another. Although Kayla Zhang saw her husband walk to the dining table with a frown, she was not nervous. She knew that his expression did not mean that he was in a bad mood, but that he was thinking about something. On the other hand, Edwin's face was still calm, and no one could tell what was going on in his mind.

"Let's eat," Kayla Zhang said, holding her son's hand.

During the meal, Finnley Han kept silent and ate quietly. Kayla Zhang kept putting food on her son's plate.

"I'm glad that you had a good talk with your father," she said. "Your father has his own reasons for not wanting you to get a doctor's degree."

Edwin just nodded in response.

Seeing his reaction, Kayla Zhang smiled with relief. She couldn't help but think that her son had really grown up and begun to understand his parents.

While eating, Finnley Han suddenly asked, "Why didn't you say these words half a year ago?"

Kayla Zhang paused and stared at the two of them in confusion. "What?"

Once again, the father and son acted like she wasn't there.

"Caroline said I should have a good talk with my family," Edwin replied.

Before Finnley Han could ask more questions, Kayla Zhang had already latched onto the key point with her keen intuition. "Caroline?" She took her son's hand excitedly and said, "I haven't heard you mention this name before!"

"We've only known each other for a short while," Edwin explained.

Finnley Han raised his eyebrow. "You've only known each other for a short while but you let her know about our family affairs?"

But Kayla Zhang shot her son a meaningful smile and asked, "Caroline is a girl's name, right?"