Before long, the dishes were set on the table. It was a simple meal, but at least it was hot.
I’d just taken a few bites when Nicolas’s little brother suddenly looked up at me from across the table.
There was still grease at the corner of his mouth, and though he was just a kid, he had the audacity to look so smug and self-righteous.
“My mom said that after you marry my brother, you’ll buy me a house and a car in the city. If you do that, I’ll consider forgiving you for bullying me. Oh, and you’ll have to give me extra allowance too.”
The dining table fell into a brief, awkward silence.
Nicolas looked embarrassed, clearly not expecting his brother to blurt that out so directly.
However, his mother remained unfazed and instead placed a piece of meat on my plate with an overly warm smile.
“Claire, try the pork I made for you.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” I said with a strained smile.
“Don’t mind what the kid says,” Nicolas muttered, his tone a little forced.
Clack.
His mother suddenly set down her spoon.
“Watch your mouth,” she snapped at him before turning back to me with another smile.
“By the way, Claire, when are you and Nicolas planning to get married? Young people need to plan ahead. Why don’t we set the engagement after the New Year?”
I feigned a look of surprise.
“Isn’t that a bit fast, ma’am?”
“Not at all,” she said matter-of-factly. “You and Nicolas are the same age, right? Twenty-four? If you wait much longer, it’ll be harder to have kids.”
I let out a cold laugh in my mind.
“Oh, you’re joking, ma’am.” I kept my tone polite but firm. “Where I come from, no one gets married after just a couple of years of working.”
Nicolas must have picked up on the tension in my voice because he hurriedly jumped in to smooth things over.
“Mom, we’ve got plans. You don’t have to worry about it.”
But then Nicolas added, “But Claire, I think an engagement wouldn’t hurt. We could move in together first, and once my career is stable in a couple of years, we can make it official.”
While the mother and son casually planned out my future like I wasn’t even there, I could only sneer inwardly.
Right now, I had one goal: get my money back from Nicolas and teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
“There’s no rush,” I said calmly, pulling a napkin from my bag and wiping my mouth.
At that, Nicolas’s mother’s expression soured further.
Nicolas nudged me under the table, throwing me a pointed look.
Feigning ignorance, I blinked at him. “What?”
He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Claire, didn’t you bring gifts for my parents?”
