"Mr. Lexio, I know you're a good man, but I really do have a boyfriend."
After Jaylene said this, she looked at her mother and said, "Mum, I'm not lying to you guys, someone really did propose to me, and I accepted. . ."
"What?" Nancy Scott was surprised, and immediately expressed her displeasure: "Jaylene, what's going on? You didn't even bring him home to meet us, and you've already accepted someone's proposal?"
"Who accepted whose proposal?" Randy Ziel, who just came back, asked, hearing only the latter half of his wife's sentence.
"Jaylene," Nancy Scott went over and quietly explained to her husband: "Auntie Bailey brought someone for Jaylene to meet, but Jaylene said she's already accepted another man's proposal. I think she just didn't like the man Auntie Bailey introduced. But I think this man is.."
Auntie Bailey saw Randy Ziel come home and immediately signaled to Gabriel Lexio, who then stood up to greet Randy Ziel: "Uncle's home."
"Hmm, sit down," Randy Ziel replied to Gabriel Lexio, then looked at Jaylene and asked frowning, "What exactly is going on? When did you agree to a marriage proposal? Neither your mother nor I heard anything about it?"
Randy Ziel's words carried some anger, and like Nancy Scott, they didn't believe Jaylene had a boyfriend, they were certain she was making things up.
They knew how much Jaylene loved Alexander Preston. Alexander Preston had just broken her heart by marrying another woman. They assumed Jaylene is still hurting and wouldn't have the heart to date a new boyfriend.
It seemed Jaylene would have to find someone to come out today, otherwise, no one would believe her. Auntie Bailey might even think she's insulting her as the director of the neighborhood committee.
Although she's usually slow to respond, she doesn't fully understand why Joseph Thompson proposed to her. But under these circumstances, she just had to deal with it for now.
At this point, besides Joseph Thompson, she didn't have any other suitable person in mind.
So, she took out her mobile phone in front of them, walked to the balcony, dialed Joseph Thompson's number, and silently hoped that he wouldn't be too busy to answer her call.
As expected, the phone was answered after three seconds, the first sound was some background noise, then Joseph Thompson's slightly surprised voice: "Ah, Jaylene, you're calling me?"
Ah, Jaylene?
Jaylene almost didn't react. It was the first time anyone had called her that in her lifetime. Usually, her parents called her 'little Jaylene', and her close friends called her 'gentle Jaylene'.
"Joseph Thompson, didn't you say you wanted to meet my parents? Why are you not here yet?"
If Joseph Thompson didn't come, or made an excuse not to come, then he shouldn't say anything about responsibility to her later, she did give him a chance.
If she had to start a new relationship with another man, she'd rather be with the stubborn Joseph Thompson than the plump-faced Gabriel Lexio.
There was silence on the other end of the phone, which made Jaylene anxious. Looking at the four people chatting in the living room, she couldn't help but ask again: "Darling, are you coming?"
This 'darling' came out somewhat flirtatiously. Right after she said it, Jaylene felt goosebumps all over herself.
"Tell your parents, there's a bit of a traffic jam. I'll be there in about half an hour. Send me your exact address on my mobile."
Jaylene hung up the phone and walked into the living room, looked at her parents and Auntie Bailey. "He's on his way, but there's some traffic, so he'll probably be here in about forty minutes."
Jaylene didn't wait for her parents to react after she spoke. She immediately went to the restroom to splash cold water on her face. This helped her clear her confused thoughts and calm down.
Joseph Thompson was coming, which meant she would have to take responsibility for him. From now on, she would have to enter marriage with a man she'd only known for less than a week and who was still very strange to her.
After washing her face and calming, she came back out to find Gabriel Lexio and Auntie Bailey still seated.
It seemed they weren't ready to give up until the end. Perhaps they doubted the authenticity of the call she made just now?
If that's the case, she wouldn't explain. She just sat down and listened as her parents, Auntie Bailey, and Gabriel Lexio talked about uneventful news from society.
Just half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Jaylene promptly got up to answer the door.
Outside the door was Joseph Thompson, bearing gifts in his hand. Seeing Jaylene, he blinked at her, clearly prepared for this visit.
"You came so quickly? It's just been half an hour." Jaylene received the gift from him. "Weren't you stuck in traffic?"
"A small traffic jam, but then the road cleared," Joseph Thompson explained with a pleasant smile on his face.
In reality, there was no traffic on his way. He only needed some time to buy a gift, luckily he passed by a boutique, so shopping for a gift didn't take much time.
When Jaylene led Joseph Thompson through the front door, Randy Ziel and Nancy Scott were clearly taken aback. They didn't expect someone bearing gifts to show up.
Gabriel Lexio's face fell upon seeing this. He didn't expect Jaylene to have a boyfriend, and he was even more surprised that this boyfriend turned out to be the CEO of The Sky Group, Joseph Thompson.
Such a formidable opponent, how could he possibly compete with him?
"Dad, Mum, this is Joseph Thompson," Jaylene introduced, then turned to Joseph Thompson, "This is my Dad, this is my Mum."
"Dad, Mum," Joseph Thompson naturally greeted them without any awkwardness, as if he had been practicing it for a long time, making it sound completely natural.
Auntie Bailey was convinced Jaylene had a boyfriend, who was younger, more handsome, and more appealing than the Gabriel Lexio she had brought. Thus, after throwing out some compliments, she took Gabriel Lexio and left.
Joseph Thompson was all smiles throughout, but Randy Ziel didn't look pleased. His daughter suddenly brought a stranger home, who on meeting, called him Dad and Mum, this certainly didn't sit well with him. Though Joseph Thompson didn't seem any worse than Alexander Preston.
Just as Jaylene wanted to explain, Joseph Thompson signaled her not to say anything, and that he will take care of it.
Joseph Thompson first picked up the teapot and filled up Randy Ziel's already half-empty cup. He then handed over the teacup to Randy Ziel. "Dad, have some tea first."
As a high school teacher, Randy Ziel understood proper etiquette. When the cup of tea was brought to him, he received it without coldly rejecting it.
He took the cup but didn't drink from it, instead, he just put it down.
The situation became awkward. Jaylene couldn't help but become anxious. Was her father not accepting Joseph Thompson?