Our Love Story: Hard to Guard Against the Sudden Love Strike-Chapter 479 - 457: The Forrester Family’s Betrothal Troubles (19 Updates)
Melinda Linton took the red paper, looking at it very carefully. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
She couldn’t really read Chinese characters, but Quentin Thorne had marked the numbers, which she understood at a glance. She held the red paper cautiously with both hands, and after a while, her eyes turned red.
Seeing this, Quentin Thorne quickly grabbed two tissues to wipe her tears: "Melinda, today is a good day for our daughter; don’t cry... Whenever there’s a good day, you cry. We’ll have plenty of good days to come, are you going to cry every day?"
Melinda Linton burst into laughter through her tears.
This scene might be something Sienna Thornton and Simon Forrester were already used to, but for the rest of the Forrester Family, it was surprising, especially for Sylvia Langley, who immediately noticed something was up.
.
The two families agreed on the date to present the dowry, set at 8:08 am on the eighth day of the lunar calendar at Melinda Linton’s place.
Old Master Forrester was straightforward, asking Quentin Thorne and Melinda Linton what dowry they wanted.
Melinda Linton sat beside her daughter like a gentle bird, not expressing any opinions, appearing neither competitive nor aggressive, as gentle as water.
Understanding the local marriage customs well, Quentin Thorne had already asked Sienna Thornton a few days before what she wanted from the Forrester Family, and he would make the request. Sienna Thornton had simply said at the time that the Forrester Family could do as they pleased.
Therefore, Quentin Thorne merely conveyed Sienna Thornton’s intentions: "Uncle Forrester, you can handle it as you see fit. We have no special requirements, after all, our Annie lacks nothing."
This greatly surprised Old Master Forrester.
Back then, when Zane Forrester married Sylvia Langley, the Langley Family asked the Forrester Family for a hundred million. Thirty-odd years ago, what was a hundred million? It was an astronomical sum few could even dream of.
But the Langley Family dared to ask, and the Forrester Family could afford to give it.
Old Master Forrester was never stingy, especially when it came to major events like Forrester Family descendants getting married, which is where the man’s side should be generous. So they had planned the night before that even if Quentin Thorne asked for a hundred billion today, they would give it!
Unexpectedly, Quentin Thorne had no demands at all, leaving Old Master Forrester unsure of what to do.
Yet, this was indeed the best way to test the Forrester Family’s sincerity.
On the way back, Simon Forrester drove, Zane Forrester sat in the passenger seat, and Grandma Forrester, Sylvia Langley, and Old Master Forrester sat in the back. Old Master Forrester crossed his arms, remaining silent throughout the drive.
Sylvia Langley and Grandma Forrester chatted about gossip.
Having not returned to the United States for six months, Sylvia Langley thought she had missed something juicy and asked as soon as she got in the car, "Did Dean Thorne break up with Ian Grant? He seems quite serious with Annie’s Mom."
Grandma Forrester chuckled, sitting upright with an incredibly graceful demeanor, looking straight ahead, "Ian, that girl, wouldn’t dare divorce Thorne! If they divorced, Thorne could immediately find another woman, but she might not be so lucky."
"So... now does Dean Thorne have two families?"
Grandma Forrester sneered, "Who knows?! It looks rather messy to me too!"
Sylvia Langley leaned forward, patting her husband’s shoulder.
Zane Forrester turned his head to glance at her, his tone impatient, obviously insinuating, "Ask your son. He goes to people’s houses every day to be their live-in son-in-law. If there’s anything going on, shouldn’t he know best?"
Simon Forrester had been planning to stop Sylvia Langley, but upon hearing Zane Forrester’s sarcasm towards him, his face turned sour in an instant. Before Sylvia Langley could speak, he already retorted, "Can’t you all stop guessing? Don’t you have anything better to do?"
Sylvia Langley sheepishly sat back, muttering, "You’ll see, Dean Thorne and Annie’s Mom will end up together sooner or later. I’ve never been wrong about these things..."
"Enough!" Old Master Forrester, who had been silent since getting in the car, finally spoke, "Can we all think about what dowry to present? Why is it that I’m the only one pondering over it, and none of you seem to care?"
Grandma Forrester glanced at her husband and asked, "Didn’t the Thorne Family say we could do as we please? Let’s just give some money, jewelry, and a house or something."
Old Master Forrester glared at his wife, "Could you be any more mundane? Can we be a bit more creative?" With that, he looked at the back of his son’s head, "Zane, what’s your opinion?"
Zane Forrester raised his hand, gesturing backward for Old Master Forrester to ask Sylvia Langley.
Old Master Forrester turned to look at his daughter-in-law.
Sylvia Langley said, "Last year, I already spent over ten million euros on jewelry for the two of them. I’ve done my part, so you guys can decide the rest."
Seeing that no one could make a decision, Old Master Forrester was somewhat annoyed. He harrumphed, patting his grandson’s arm, "You’re more familiar with their family, what do you think would be a good dowry?"
Simon Forrester laughed, turning the steering wheel in a big arc, asking, "Want me to arrange it?"
Old Master Forrester replied, "Say what you have in mind first!"
Simon Forrester didn’t waste words and spoke directly, "As for Grandma, just hand over the safety deposit box. Grandpa, you could give half of what’s in your pocket. My mom already prepared jewelry for us last year. As for my dad..."
At this point, Simon Forrester glanced sideways at Zane Forrester, smiling, "You don’t seem to have anything particularly valuable? In that case, how about giving ten percent of the shares in The Forresters (United States)?"
Old Master Forrester, hearing this, grabbed the back of the driver’s seat with both hands, jumped up, and slapped Simon Forrester’s arm: "You insolent boy, wanting to marry a wife and strip away half the Forrester Family’s assets. If you get married again, won’t you empty the Forrester Family?"
Hearing his grandfather curse him with a second marriage, Simon Forrester couldn’t take it. He immediately spat three times, protesting, "What kind of grandfather are you? Cursing your grandson’s second marriage?!"
Old Master Forrester, laughing in anger, hit him once more, then sat back in his seat.
In the end, the five members of the Forrester Family argued all the way home but still didn’t settle on what dowry to give. Fortunately, there were still two months until the wedding, giving them time to prepare slowly.
-
With the wedding date set, Quentin Thorne began busying himself with finding a venue for the wedding banquet and preparing for the various traditions involved in marrying off a daughter.
Preparing for a daughter’s marriage is generally simpler than for a son’s wedding. Quentin Thorne immediately drafted a plan that night. For the items required according to marriage customs that the bride’s family should prepare, he had Old Mrs. Thorne buy them and send them directly to Melinda Linton; he took responsibility for all matters concerning the wedding banquet and preparing a dowry for Sienna Thornton.
He knew Melinda Linton was not in good health and was unfamiliar with Brimfield’s wedding customs, so most matters of marrying off their daughter were not assigned to Melinda Linton, only some simple tasks at home, like embroidering various auspicious wedding linens for the couple.
Everything was proceeding in an organized and orderly manner.
Every now and then, large red items of wedding customs arrived and departed from Melinda Linton’s apartment, yet the Thorne Family remained as usual, calm and quiet.
Ian Grant also heard from Old Master Grant that the Forrester Family was getting married on the fifteenth of January, and he knew Quentin Thorne had been out often lately, surely busy preparing various things for his eldest daughter’s wedding.
Thinking of how, in two months, almost the entire circle would know that her husband, Quentin Thorne, Mina Thorne’s father, had another daughter outside, she couldn’t imagine how she would face her friends in the future, or how they would secretly pity her.
