"You also know how powerful the media can be, we might accidentally be seen together, right? And there's such clear evidence." He pointed to the ring on her finger.
Looking at the ring, which had obediently stayed on her finger after years of being in his chest pocket, Roy's heart was once again filled with warm happiness. Even his smile was sweeter than usual, which made Laila want to roll her eyes, though she found it amusing.
Janet opened the computer and easily found the reason after a quick search. Actually, there was no need to search at all; just by entering Laila's Facebook account, one could see countless messages all asking about the truth of the matter.
Honestly, the photo was taken from a relatively distant place. If it weren't for a dark background and the reflection of the sunlight, you might not even be able to see if Laila was wearing a ring.
Even now, many people are still debating whether it was an engagement ring. Because they felt that a wealthy Hollywood star like Roy would surely give a large diamond ring, like a "goose egg" type of big diamond ring, right? How could it be as petite as the one Laila was wearing?
"Laila, you two were indeed caught on camera." Janet looked at the computer screen, giggling incessantly. "How on earth did they manage to recognize you two when you were so well covered?" Sunglasses, hats, and scarves wrapped around, it took quite some effort for the fans to recognize them.
Laila wasn't in the mood to laugh. She hadn't expected the exposure to come so soon; she had planned to delay it for a while, wait until the movie started its promotion, and then make it public, which would have added some buzz to the movie's promotion. But unexpectedly, before even 24 hours had passed, everyone knew.
"What a waste." Just the thought of it made her feel a pang.
"What's a waste?" Roy was puzzled by her seemingly random remark.
How could Laila tell him the truth? She could only chuckle awkwardly, "It's nothing, I just think the media is too clever."
"It doesn't matter, it would have been discovered sooner or later." Roy placed her hand in his palm, his fingers lightly brushing against the ring, his eyes curved with happiness. Just by looking at his smile, one could tell how happy he was at that moment.
Janet looked at the two of them and also smiled. The satisfaction on Roy's face was evident; anyone who had been in love could easily see it. From his expression, she knew that he must love Laila deeply, willing to give her everything. Therefore, she believed that he would bring happiness to her daughter.
"Darling, did you two forget something?" She kindly reminded them, seeing the two pairs of eyes looking at her. With a smile, she said, "If even the media knows, do you think Dad won't know?"
Thinking of her grandfather, Laila felt even more troubled. Did she need to say it? That old man was probably waiting by the phone, ready to scold her as soon as it connected. Could she pretend not to be home?
Obviously not. Roy handed her the phone and patted her shoulder, with a look on his face that said, "I support you from behind, go for it!"
Laila gave him a fierce glare. Did he think he could escape if she got scolded?
She thought so, but still reluctantly turned on her phone, then dialed her grandfather's number.
"Look whose call this is." As soon as the call connected, the old man's sarcastic voice came through, "Is this the granddaughter who got engaged without telling her most beloved grandpa?"
Listening to the emphasized words, Laila couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that her grandfather must be furious this time.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa, I didn't mean to keep it from you, I just didn't have a chance to say it yet."
Oswald snorted, "Of course, you didn't have time, the weather is so nice, you can just take your fiancé out for fun! Have you forgotten about your dear grandpa at home?"
Laila wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, "I haven't forgotten, how could I forget about you? You're my dearest grandpa!" She really wished her grandpa would stop emphasizing certain words; with each emphasized word, it felt like her heart was being stabbed, and she wanted to scream.
"An old man like me can't bear the weight of the words 'dearest grandfather.'" Another string of emphasized words followed, along with a snort.
"How could you not bear it? Besides you, do I have any other dearest grandpa?" Knowing her grandpa was still angry, Laila could only resort to her last tactic - acting cute.
But what usually worked failed this time. The old man remained unyielding, with the same sarcastic tone, "That's a pity. Your dearest grandfather will have to see his most beloved granddaughter getting engaged on TV!"
Laila sighed, looking at her mother who was eavesdropping nearby and almost laughing herself to the ground. She felt her head swell with a headache. "Grandpa, I'm really sorry. Roy proposed to me this morning. Then my mother came over to bring me a dress. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and she hasn't been here for a long time. I just wanted to show her what I've achieved over the years." Yeah, that's it! She really wasn't taking her mother and boyfriend out to play, she was just taking them to inspect her business!
How could the old man not see through her nonsense? Janet hadn't been there for so long, he knew that very well. And he knew his daughter well. If he wanted her to inspect the business, he might as well give her a pencil and a stack of paper and lock her in a room for a few days! It's simple to let her draw some clothes, but to make her go and look at the business...heh heh, it's not that he's underestimating his daughter, it's that he saw through how useless she was thirty years ago!
Otherwise, why would he leave his daughter without nurturing her, and focus all his attention on raising his granddaughter?
After Laila coaxed and acted cute for a while, her grandfather's anger finally subsided a bit. After all, he was a soft-hearted person; hearing his granddaughter's soft and sweet voice, all his anger dissipated.
"What about that kid?" The old man felt that he needed to have a conversation with that little rascal. If he were there, it wouldn't just be a simple verbal exchange; maybe even the cane would have been thrown.
Roy smiled and took the phone from Laila, "Grandpa, it's me, Roy."
"Who allowed you to call me grandpa!" The old man's anger was stirred up again.
Roy was speechless. When he lived with Laila as her boyfriend, her grandmother always insisted that he call them Grandpa and Grandma when they went to New York. How did it become that they couldn't call them that when they were engaged?