She sighed in relief, thinking back to what happened a few days ago and what her husband had said about terminating the talk about the girl's wedding she sighed again knowing that it was for the best.
After a few seconds, as she was still in her thoughts, a sound suddenly came from her side and her eyes darted in that direction and she stared at the man who was walking toward her then she slowly looked down with her sigh. "Father," she greeted softly.
"Where is she?" The old man stopped beside her and muttered with his usual stoic expression and the woman bit her lips.
"She's still inside father," she answered softly then walked aside as the old man walked toward the door.
"Go and bring her food." She heard the old man said, then quickly nodded an answer and walked away with another sigh.
"Vivian." The old man knocked on the door after watching his daughter-in-law leave.
He was about to knock again when the door suddenly opened and his gaze was met with his granddaughter's teary face and large eye bags.
Glancing down at the black dress she wore, he sighed inside then turned back after saying, "follow me."
Vivian bit her lips and slowly followed the old man, through the hallway, toward the study room.
They paused after a while in front of the door, which he pushed open and walked inside while the girl followed him.
Vivian watched as the old man sat down on a chair and she also sat on the couch opposite him with her head down, while fidgeting with the hem of the dress which she had not changed out of since last night.
"Vivian, you went to the ceremony last night right?" The old man started then watched with a sigh as the girl slowly nodded.
"Vivian, I told you not to go close to that family again, why didn't you listen to me," he continued softly, however his stoic expression was still on.
Vivian slowly looked up and a tear dropped from her eyes. "But grandpa, I love him," she muttered with a sob and watched as the old man slowly shook his head with a chuckle.
"Vivian, that is not love... Do you want to hear a story?" His expression changed slightly and the girl could notice a hint of gloominess in the man's eyes.
She slowly nodded with a small frown while wondering where the topic was going. She thought he was going to tell her again to forget about Carl, which she doubted so.
"Vivian, you don't want to disrespect me just like your Auntie, right?"
'Oh, it's that topic again.' Vivian sighed inside then softly muttered, "No, grandpa... " while she slowly shook her head and heard the old man continued.
"At first, I don't want her to marry into that house but then I agreed, under the persistence of your Auntie and the persuasion of your father," the old man said with a sigh, remembering how his son had been adamant to matchmake his sister with his friend whose wife had just died at that moment. He already had someone in mind for her to marry, however, she refused.
Vivian listened silently not daring to interrupt the old man even though she was getting bored with the topic. However, the next thing he said, made her eyes widened slightly.
"Your second Auntie, that was what she also did... She was friends with that boy in high school but even though I didn't trust him, I allowed them to be and always made sure to keep an eye on them... Then, one day, I noticed that the boy does not seem ordinary. I told her to stop going out with him, however, she became more distant from me day by day, up to the point that she doesn't return home, until weeks after weeks." The old man sighed again while gripping tightly to the cane in his hand, trying to mask his emotions.
By then Vivian was already staring at him in shock as she watched the old man perplexedly. That was the forbidden topic in the family as no one was ever allowed to mention her death Aunty and even a single portrait of her was not present in the house.
"Only your father knows where she was going with that boy... I tried to force her to come back but by then it was too late because one day, after seeing her for a very long time, she came back to me with the guy and showed me their marriage certificate."
Vivian watched the old man in astonishment as she heard him continued. She had never expected the story of her dead Aunty to be this complex.
"You know one thing I regretted most?" The old man heaved a deep sigh. "I actually sent her away, because I was angered, I was very angered. But later on, I realized that she and that boy were inseparable because she never came back to me again."
By then, a brim of tear had settled in the man's eyes and Vivian watched as he quickly flicked it away with another sigh.
"I could clearly remember her expression, the last day I saw her, she was really hurt. She said there was something she wanted to tell me, she even begged me, but I didn't listen... After I calmed down and wanted to bless their marriage, I realized it was too late, because just one year later, she got into an accident with her husband."
'Huh? She got into an accident?' Vivian frowned while listening silently to the man.
"You know the lesson I learned from this?; Never try to mend people to do what you want, especially those you love. You never know if you're pushing them away. If you have your own reasons they might also have theirs. Try to understand them or let fate take its course and wait patiently for the outcome."
Vivian bit her lips and slowly looked up, by then, the old man had started dabbing his eyes with the white hankie in his hand.