Roy placed the box at her feet.
Janet opened the box and took out a white evening gown.
"Laila, how about this one?" Janet asked.
Laila's mouth twitched. "So, the big thing you mentioned is this dress?" What dress was worth her mother flying from New York to Hollywood, a place she didn't like, without even knocking on the door, and barging into her daughter's bedroom while she was sleeping?
Holding the dress against herself, Janet said, "This is the best white dress I've made in years! You're going to the Oscars, right? Wearing this will surely make you the most stunning!"
Laila felt a headache coming. "Mom, you've made me so many dresses, and there are still a bunch I haven't worn." Every time her mother made her clothes, there were always so many, enough for her to wear a different outfit every day for one or two years without repeating. The problem was she hated wasting and preferred to wear her favorite clothes multiple times. This led to her wardrobe getting fuller and fuller...
Moreover, Janet had a quirk or rather a professional habit. She didn't just make clothes; she also meticulously planned out the entire outfit, just like she did with models, paying attention to every detail to achieve the best effect.
So, every time she brought clothes, Laila would be manipulated like a puppet by her for a long time, just to achieve what she believed was her most beautiful side. Having a mother who loved dressing her up, Laila could only say she was both pained and delighted.
"Come on, try it on!" Without waiting for a response, Janet pulled her up from the chair, handed her the dress, and pushed her upstairs.
Laila wanted to say that the buns today were her favorite flavor; normally, she could eat several of these buns in one sitting. However, looking at her mother's shining eyes, she could only sigh softly, hold the dress, and walk upstairs under Roy's amused gaze.
When she reappeared on the stairs and descended slowly, Janet's eyes gleamed, and even Roy couldn't help but stand up.
It was a white cape-style evening gown with an off-shoulder design. The irregular cut didn't reveal much of her chest, but one could still faintly see the delicate collarbone from the edge. The cape on her shoulders hung straight down to the floor, reaching the hem of the skirt, making Laila look like a goddess, both dignified and elegant.
This design was a departure from Janet's previous style. Due to Laila's dislike for bright colors, Janet used to add a bit of playful design to more solemn colors. This not only prevented the clothing from appearing too dull but also highlighted Laila's youthfulness.
However, this time, she seemed to have realized that her daughter was no longer the cute little girl she had always worried about but had become a truly mature woman. Thus, she changed her design, directly transforming her into an elegant goddess full of feminine charm.
"This is my daughter! How can you be so outstanding?" Janet rushed over, and circled her daughter twice, checking for any imperfections. "My dear, do you know how much I regret now? If I hadn't watched you become a director, maybe you would have been the world's best model by now. You have the most perfect temperament in the world!"
Laila didn't believe that. First of all, she wasn't tall enough. At 172 cm, she was fine in daily life, but on the runway, she belonged to the shorter group. She was also well aware that she was not cut out to be a model. Models needed to showcase the clothes they wore, not themselves. Laila could modestly say that she belonged to the type with a strong presence. Regardless of what clothes she wore, others' first impression of her would never be the clothes she wore but herself. Just this alone showed that she was not suitable to be a model, let alone a world-class one.
She believed that in her mother's eyes, all children were perfect, right?
"Mom, I like making movies!" Laila let her mother manipulate her like a doll, but she still had to say what needed to be said.
Janet was well aware of this, but in her heart, she always felt that Hollywood's top directors were too tired, and her delicate daughter was not suitable for such "rough work."
If she could be like the daughters of those families she knew, dressing up beautifully and attending balls and banquets with her mother, wouldn't that be great? With her daughter's beauty, she would be the most dazzling one in the group! She didn't hope that her daughter would be pursued by a group of men, she just hoped that she wouldn't confine her life to just making movies, but go out more and see more people.
She was about to put a bracelet on Laila's wrist when her body suddenly trembled. "My dear, what is this?" She lifted her daughter's hand, and on her slender, white finger was a small but exquisite diamond ring!
"Uh, it's Roy. He proposed to me," Laila withdrew her hand and placed it in her mother's hand, feeling a sense of impending calamity.
"Proposed?" Janet exclaimed in surprise. "He actually proposed? And you agreed!"
Laila coughed lightly, not expecting her mother to react so strongly. "Yes, I agreed."
"Agreed!" Janet glared at the "culprit" angrily. "Roy, you actually proposed to her!"
Roy also didn't expect her to be so shocked by this. "Sorry, Janet, I did propose to her."
He thought her shock was because he had taken away her most precious daughter. However, her subsequent reaction overturned his thoughts and made him realize that he should never guess her thoughts with his own.
"Haha! That's great!" Janet walked over to him, patting his back vigorously. "You're too slow. Do you know how many times I wanted to ask you both when you were going to get married? If it weren't for Father and Quentin stopping me, I would have thrown you both into the church and married you long ago!"
"What?" Laila and Roy were both shocked by her bold words.
"What 'what'? Do you know how long you two have been together?" Janet gave her daughter a look. "Your father and I fell in love on the first day we met, and we were together a week later."
Laila was speechless. Would she be beaten if she criticized them now?
"Wouldn't it be better to know more about each other?" After all, they were going to be entangled for a lifetime. If some bad habits of the other party were not discovered, like her father's, wouldn't they end up like her mother?
Of course, she wouldn't say the latter part out loud. If she did, a certain wife-protecting maniac would rush over to seek justice for his crying wife.