I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 142: Marriage and Childbirth Are Her Proper Destiny
Grace told Irene Lynch about it as soon as she got home.
Irene Lynch’s mouth hung wide open. "People here in Coronet are really rich, huh? Three hundred yuan for just a few pieces of clothing?"
Grace smiled and nodded. "Well, what girl doesn’t want to look pretty? As long as you can afford it, buying a few outfits you like to make yourself happy is perfectly normal and reasonable."
Irene tsked. "I could never bring myself to do that. For just ten or twenty yuan, I could buy enough fabric to make several whole outfits."
"Mom, once we’ve made some money, forget clothes that cost a few hundred yuan—I’ll buy you ones that cost thousands, even tens of thousands, if you like them," Grace said with a grin, hugging Irene’s arm.
Irene poked her on the forehead. "You just know how to say sweet things to make me happy."
"Oh, right. I don’t know how to draw any plans. For the renovation, do I just find some workers and tell them what I want done? Why don’t you come with me there tomorrow? I’ll explain my ideas, and since you’ve always been good at drawing, you can sketch it out for me afterward."
After a bit of banter with Grace, Irene’s thoughts returned to the shop.
Grace nodded. "Sure."
She couldn’t draw professional blueprints; that was something only people with specialized training could do.
But making a simple sketch based on Irene’s description wouldn’t be a problem for her.
Gregory Winslow came home late that evening, not walking through the door until after eight.
Seeing his grim expression, Grace and Irene exchanged a look, both guessing that something had happened at work.
Just as Irene was about to ask, Gregory slammed his hand on the table and fumed, "This is outrageous!"
"My daughter... What right do those people have to be spouting such nonsense?"
The corner of Grace’s mouth twitched. ’I can’t believe this is about me.’
"Dad, what happened?"
Gregory was furious and recounted everything that had happened in detail.
It turned out that someone at his office had started spreading rumors about Grace. They were saying she was divorced, and even though she was in her early twenties, she had gone back to attend university. They were also saying things like, "What’s the use of a girl studying so much? She’d be better off finding another man to marry and having a few kids. That’s a much more reliable path."
The gossip quickly reached Gregory’s ears.
Some people even approached Gregory, wanting to set Grace up with potential partners.
As you can imagine, because Grace was divorced, the men they suggested were far from good prospects—every one of them was a dud.
How could a doting father like Gregory possibly agree to that? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
He flew into a rage on the spot, pointing his finger in the matchmakers’ faces and telling them off.
But then the group of women surrounded him and chewed him out in return.
Naturally, Gregory was no match for them in a shouting match. He lost the argument and was left stewing in anger.
He’d been fuming for three days straight, so angry his chest ached, and he just couldn’t shake it off.
Grace and Irene were speechless after hearing the story.
What a ridiculous situation.
"That’s strange, Dad. Logically, since we just moved to Coronet from Prospera Town, no one should know that much about our family unless they’re an acquaintance. How could someone at your office be spreading rumors about me?"
"Is there someone from Prospera Town at your office? Have you noticed anyone?" Grace asked after a moment of silence, her voice tinged with confusion.
Irene chimed in, "Exactly! What is wrong with that person, bringing up Grace’s business for no reason? Our Grace is a university student! Do they have any idea what an accomplishment that is?"
"She was chosen from among millions of candidates, and she was the top scorer! Even if she were to remarry, it should be a grand affair, and she should marry a man of good standing."
"I think Sean is quite nice."
Grace had been nodding along with Irene’s words.
But she sensed something was off as her mother continued.
When Irene mentioned Sean York’s name, Grace broke out in a cold sweat. "Mom, Comrade York and I just have a revolutionary friendship! We don’t have the kind of relationship you’re thinking of! Please don’t say such things!"
Irene shrank back a little. "Alright, alright, a ’revolutionary friendship.’ Your father and I had a ’revolutionary friendship’ back in the day, too. And didn’t we end up getting married and having three kids?"
Grace: "..."
’She was beginning to realize,’ Grace thought, ’that no matter how successful she became, in her mother’s traditional view, a woman’s life wasn’t complete without marriage and children.’
She shook her head, not wanting to argue with Irene.
Irene had been married to Gregory Winslow for many years. She’d never had conflicts with her mother-in-law, never had to deal with a cheating husband, and her children were all dutiful.
She had endured all her life’s hardships while living with her own family before she got married.
After joining the Winslow family, her life had been nothing but comfortable.
Naturally, she saw nothing wrong with marriage.
In her eyes, finding a good man to marry was the best fate a woman could hope for in life.
Grace didn’t try to change Irene’s mind.
"Mom, even if you want me to get married, you’ll have to wait until I’m done with university. I really don’t want to get married and have kids while I’m still in school. It would derail everything," Grace said, grabbing her mother’s arm in a clear delaying tactic.
"Fine. But Sean really is a nice young man. He’s been coming over to help out whenever he’s free these past few days. He’s helped with so many things around the house. He’s truly a good person," Irene said with a nod, not missing a chance to praise Sean York.
Grace: "..."
"Mom, once we’re settled in, why don’t we have my brothers and their families come over? Coronet has much better opportunities for development than Prospera Town."
’Mom must have too much time on her hands,’ Grace thought.
If Nolan and Brandon brought their kids over, Irene would be busy opening the shop and helping look after her grandchildren. She’d definitely be too occupied to worry about Grace’s marital status.
And she certainly wouldn’t be trying to play matchmaker.
Grace had originally planned to write Hayley a letter, but since Hayley had recently gotten a telephone installed at home, contacting her was much more convenient. So, she went to the post and telegraph office to call her and ask if she could mail a few outfits over.
Hayley, of course, agreed and promptly mailed twelve outfits.
Besides the ones for Wendy Quinn, the rest were for Grace and Irene, and there was even an outfit for Gregory.
After Grace had left, the textile factory had seen a drop in new clothing designs. However, the factory did have other talented people, and with the incentive of a large bonus, they had managed to discover two workers with a knack for design.
Oscar Osborne then went ahead and established a dedicated clothing design department, assigning the two women to it.
Now, in addition to women’s apparel, the textile factory also had a wider variety of men’s clothing styles.
While they weren’t as stunning as the designs Grace used to create, they were still quite impressive for the time.
The factory’s orders were piling up, and business was booming.
The employees’ bonuses became much more generous.
Everyone was happy to work overtime, even if it was every day.
Grace headed back to school at five o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
Near the school gate, she spotted a tall, slender figure in a black overcoat from a distance. He looked somewhat familiar.
But Grace didn’t pay it much mind and jogged right past him.
It wasn’t until a familiar voice, warm and laced with a smile, sounded right beside her ear that she stopped in her tracks and turned to look.
