achieved her immediate goal, as they both thought that Alex was her boyfriend, and it would be impossible for her mother to force her to date, Garry.
"Ding, dong," rang the doorbell again.
Sara opened the door and saw two women and one man standing outside. It was her second daughter Jade, son-in-law Sheldon, and her granddaughter Rose. Sheldon and Jade were the couples that had asked Alex to rent the villa to them.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
"Grandmother!"
"Hey, why are the three of you together? Rose, where are your parents?" Seeing the three of them, Sara's mood improved slightly.
"Oh, Grandma!" Rose held Sara's arm affectionately. "My dad has to work, and Mom has been looking after Grandpa in the hospital these past few days, so I'm the only one who could come over. I called Aunt Jade, and she said that she wanted to go to Preston University to pick me up, so we came over together."
Sara looked at Rose and mumbled, "Your parents are really something. They even avoided coming for your grandfather's birthday."
"Oh my, Grandma…. If you don't think I'm qualified to represent them, I'll call my parents right now and insist they come over," Rose said teasingly.
"You're clever. Okay, okay. I've missed you so much, you little thing. Hurry up and light a candle for your grandfather." Sara pinched Rose's cheek and then turned to Jade and Sheldon. "Come on in."
She looked at Sheldon with a kind gaze. She had always been very satisfied with this son-in-law.
Seeing that Sue had arrived earlier, Rose was pleasantly surprised. Together with her aunt, she lit a candle for her grandfather before sitting down beside Sue. Jade and Sheldon also sat down on the sofa.
"Mom, is this—" When Jade saw Garry, she could guess that this was the man her mother had recommended to Sue.
Garry took the initiative to greet Jade, Sheldon, and Rose. Sheldon and Jade had a good impression of him and exchanged business cards.
"So, Garry, you're the founder of a film company. That's kind of like what Sue does. She's a sports reporter." Jade knew that since her mother had invited Garry to her house, she must have revealed her intentions of introducing him to her sister.
"If Sue can give me the opportunity, I would naturally want to discuss some film and sports stories with her. I'm just afraid that she won't give me this opportunity." Garry smiled. Seeing that Jade and Sheldon's impression of him was not bad, he wanted to gain their favour to speak on his behalf in front of Sue.
As soon as Garry finished his sentence, Sue glared at him. Her displeasure toward him grew even stronger.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Jade and Sheldon were both curious. They looked at their mother who seemed to know something.
"Sue found a man," Sara said with a sigh.
"You found the right man!" Jade, Sheldon, and Rose were shocked. Jade quickly asked, "Who?"
Sara sighed heavily as her brows furrowed. She looked at Sue and said, "She found a liar! He came to our house wearing fancy clothes and a watch. He claimed that his family owned an internet company, so they were high-income. Luckily, Garry exposed him, otherwise I would have believed it."
"Huh?" Jade and the rest looked very surprised. "Did you chase him away?"
"I had to send him to… If I kicked him out, he would have fought me like Sue," Sara said sarcastically. Sue sat there motionlessly, but she felt furious from embarrassment.
"Sue, why did you argue with Mom? She did it for your own good, you know." Jade reprimanded her sister, but she didn't say anything else in case it would start another clash.
A soft scrubbing noise came from the bathroom, which was far from the sofa. She couldn't hear the noise clearly, so Jade asked curiously, "Mom, who's in the bathroom?"
"Who else could it be other than that swindler," her mother cried.
"He's still here?" Jade asked as she walked toward the bathroom. She wanted to see what this shameless swindler looked like.
"Jade, don't worry about him." Sara held her back. She looked at Jade and Sheldon and said, "I told him to clean the toilet. It stinks. Let him stay in there alone!"
"This is too shameless. Where does he think he is? His place? With his family? A swindler who thinks he can stay in our house?" Jade was dragged back to her seat by her mother. She purposely said it loudly so he could hear her from the bathroom, but Alex had his earphones on and was listening to music while scrubbing the toilet bowl. He couldn't hear the conversation in the living room.
"Sue, he clearly tricked you. Do you still intend to keep dating him?" Jade looked at her sister. She liked to speak condescendingly to Sue in this way. "Listen to me… split up with this guy before he gets you into trouble. We're so busy, we don't have time to fix your mess for you."
"Since when have I troubled you, sister?" Sue couldn't help but retort angrily.
"Ach, what sort of attitude is that? I'm doing this for your own good, okay?" Jade was furious when she heard Sue speak to her in that manner. Sue had always been obedient to her, so how could she dare to speak to her like that?
"Forget it," Sara said. She lowered her voice and added, "She's enchanted by that man. It's useless for anyone to try and say anything now."
Jade still mumbled to herself as she glanced at Garry again. "Sue, you don't know a good thing when you see it. You're actually willing to follow a swindler. What are you doing?"
Then, she spoke to Garry. "Garry, it's fine. My sister is a bit stupid sometimes. They won't be together for long."
"Thank you!" Garry nodded his head, feeling even more pleased with himself. It looked like Sue's family was on his side.
Although Sue felt uncomfortable, she didn't say anything. Her sister had treated her like this since she was young, so she was already used to it.
Rose gently squeezed Sue's hand and looked at her with some sympathy. She knew that her aunt had never liked it when her grandmother tried to introduce her to someone. When she heard that her aunt had found a boyfriend, Rose was quite happy for her. But she didn't expect that it would be a swindler.
Sue could still smile wryly at Rose.
"Jade, we'll go to your house later. Let us see what this expensive villa looks like," Sara said with a smile, changing the subject.
It had already been more than two months since they said they had bought the house, and no one in the family had gone to visit yet. Sara wanted to take advantage of that day's get-together so they could all visit Jade and Sheldon's villa together.
"Do you want to go to the Green Island Garden District to take a look?" Rose asked. Preston University was very close to the area, so every time she saw a villa there, she felt especially envious. She would finally be able to go inside and take a look that day. Someday she would be able to show it off in front of her friends too.
"Okay, we'll go later," Jade said as she smiled. She felt confident, as Mr Ambrose had already given them a key to the villa.
"You guys bought a villa at the Green Island Garden District?" Garry asked in surprise. Seeing Sheldon and Jade indifferently nod their heads, the respect reflected in Garry's eyes grew even stronger. "Impressive! The Green Island Garden District is currently one of the top residential areas in New York. The villa in the centre there has sold for a sky-high price of almost forty million dollars, and no one in the city has surpassed that record.
"It's said that all the famous people in New York live there. Being able to buy a villa not only shows how wealthy you are, but also how much power you have. I've been wanting to buy a place in the Green Island Garden District since last year, but, even now, I still could not do it."
Jade and Sheldon were flattered by Garry's description.
"So, you also wanted to buy a house in the Green Island Garden District? To be honest, a place there is not that easy to buy. It's not only limited by money, but you also need the right connections." Sheldon acted as if he understood the process very well, completely forgetting that he didn't have a villa. "How about this… let me see if I can help you get in touch with someone who can help you buy a place there. But, whether or not you really can buy one, I'm not sure either."
"That's great! Thank you, thank you!" Garry shook Sheldon's hand vigorously.
"Sue, look at your sister. She already has a villa in the Green Island Garden District. Tell me… where are you living? Think about it carefully. See if your mother is right or not." Sara once again shifted the topic to Sue. Sue pursed her lips as she was unable to say anything.
"Are you still living at Lawrence Heights?" Jade glanced at her sister, "You're already twenty-six. You're still renting! That's quite a shame. Do you have any plans to buy a house?"
"No." Sue lowered her head. She didn't look at Jade or her mother.
"She only makes two thousand dollars a month. After paying for rent and food, she only has three hundred dollars left over. How could she afford to buy a house with just that little bit of money? I won't be surprised if you start asking me for handouts!" Sara snorted.
"Since when have I asked you for money?" Sue's nose crinkled and her eyes turned slightly wet. She forcefully held back her tears.
"Fine… since you didn't want my money, then you must have made all your own money. All the money you got for school must have fallen out of a money tree. Your mother never bought you any clothes… you must have bought them all on your own," Sara complained. Sue was again rendered speechless by her words.
Sue's cell phone rang. She picked it up without thinking and said to the person on the other end of the line, "Check it yourself. I've already made up what you owe me from the company. Don't call me again for it, okay?" With that, she hung up.
Previously, when Sue had left her media company, she had discovered that they owed her a year or so of back pay, so she had called them to ask them to make up for it.
"Sue, what's going on? Did something happen to your company? Tell me!" Sara asked as everyone in the room had heard Sue's phone call.