Chapter 377 I Am Here to Fulfill the Engagement
“What are you doing here?” Jolly’s face sank as soon as she saw Ryan. Ryan sat upright and said indifferently, “I am here to fulfill the engagement.”
“Is there something wrong with my ears? Since when did I get engaged to you?” “Six years ago, when my father was still alive, he made an agreement with Mr. Carter. At that time, Mrs. Carter also agreed, and they gave us a token as a testimony.”
There was a mahogany box on the coffee table with a bright yellow satin bottom and a glistening jade bracelet inside that was clearly extremely valuable at one glance. Jolly also owned a jade bracelet that was exactly like this one.
“We did get engaged before, but I’ve never heard of two parties that are engaged to each other where one of them married someone else and divorced, then tried to resume the previous engagement. What do you take me for, a backup plan?” Jolly was furious. “Mom, did you call me back just for him?”
Ever since she entered the house, her parents hadn’t said a word. At that moment, she felt that something was not right.
Marilyn looked at her seriously. “Jolly, I’m going to ask you a question. You have to answer me honestly.”
“What question?”
“Is Samuel really Chris’ child?”
Jolly’s expression stiffened.
As a mother, Marilyn immediately confirmed her doubts when she saw Jolly’s reaction. “How dare you hide something so important from me and your father for so many years? Jolly, do we even mean anything to you?”
Jolly panicked. “Mom, I… I wanted to tell you about this at first.”
However, she knew very well that if she came clean to her mother back then, there would only be two outcomes. Either Marilyn would go to the Sutton Family and make Jolly fulfill her engagement to Ryan, or if she refused to marry, with her mother’s personality, she would definitely not allow her to keep the child and would force her to get rid of it.
“Do you know how difficult it is to be a single mother? Are you a fool? Jolly, do you even want to marry in the future?”
“Mom, I know that the person I want to marry wouldn’t mind.”
“Who wouldn’t mind? That small-time celebrity?”
The news about Jolly and Leroy was blowing up, so it was impossible for her parents not to know.
“Mom, he’s a good person.”
“He probably has other motives!” Marilyn had been dabbling in business for many years and had had a lot of contact with the entertainment industry. Hence, she knew very well about the industry and had always looked down on these new stars. Without waiting for Jolly to defend herself, she immediately dismissed, “Today, I’m making this clear. You have to break up with Leroy immediately.”
“I don’t want to.” Jolly was used to being stubborn and immediately refused. She glared at Ryan opposite her angrily. “I can’t believe you’re this despicable. Snitching on me to my parents? You can’t bear seeing that I’m better off than you, right?”
“That’s enough. This time, he’s here to propose a marriage.”
Marilyn’s words made Jolly’s expression fall. “Mom, have you gone senile too? Have you forgotten how much shame he brought to our family when he married Estelle back then?”
“That’s because you didn’t marry him first!”
“I did that because…”
“Because what? You already have a child with Ryan, and you’re still being so childish. Now that things have already come to this and Ryan has already apologized, you should also rein in your temper. There’s a limit to how much of a grudge you can hold.”
Jolly couldn’t argue with her. She couldn’t believe that her mother would favor Ryan to this extent.
“Mom!”
“It’s settled.”
Saying that, Marilyn turned around and left, clearly not wanting to say another word to her daughter.
“Dad!”
Richard got up from the sofa and spread his hands helplessly, indicating that he was not the one in charge in the family, before he got up and followed his wife.
“Ryan, what did you feed my mother?”
As soon as her parents left, Jolly vented her anger on Ryan.
Ryan said carelessly, “I didn’t feed her anything. It’s just that your parents will never allow you to marry Leroy. Plus, you have a child with me, so I am your best choice.”
“Just because Leroy is a celebrity?”
“That’s not the only reason. Do you even know where Leroy came from?”
“How wouldn’t I know? We were classmates in the same college!”
“Classmates?”
Ryan’s questioning suddenly made Jolly come back to her senses. She and Leroy were not classmates in college—she and Estelle were. It was only because he was Estelle’s boyfriend at the time that she subconsciously thought he went to her own school.
“Jolly, if you really were doing well, your parents wouldn’t be objecting so much. This Leroy is definitely not as simple as you think.” Saying that, he moved the jade on the table toward her. “Marrying me is the best choice not just for you, but also for Samuel.”
Jolly was silent for a while as she looked at the table in front of her thoughtfully.
“Fine, I’ll think about it.”
As he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily, Ryan jolted slightly.
At the same time, Jolly’s parents stood in the corner of the hallway on the second floor, watching everything that was happening downstairs.
Marilyn said, “Look, what did I say? Jolly isn’t heartless. She must still have feelings for Ryan. Otherwise, why did she give birth to Samuel back then? It’s the best choice for the two of them to be together, whether it is for Samuel or for her.”
Richard frowned slightly, showing a look of disapproval. “If you ask me, I don’t think Ryan is suitable for Jolly.”
“Why not? He’s skilled, young, and promising. Besides, wasn’t it you who got them engaged to each other back then?”
“That was because I was drunk. Didn’t you scold me when I came back? I had thought about canceling the engagement then, but the Sutton Family was declining that year. If we’d canceled it, others would’ve scolded us for kicking them when they were down.”
Thinking of what had happened back then, Richard felt remorseful. Although everything had already passed, their daughter’s suffering in the past few years was not something they could dismiss easily. As her parents, they should be ashamed for only finding out now.
“Let’s watch and see. I still want to respect our daughter’s decision.”
“By respecting her decision, do you mean that you’ll let her marry Leroy?” Marilyn’s brows furrowed. “Don’t you know what our daughter is like? If he were an ordinary man, I wouldn’t have any objections. I would’ve asked him to take our surname at most. But he just had to have such a special identity. If Jolly married him, she wouldn’t be able to handle that and would get into trouble one day.”
“Maybe it’s not as bad as we think.”
However, he did not receive a reply.
At this time, Jolly had already sent Ryan away. As soon as he left, she fished out her cell phone and made a call.
“Hello?” The female voice on the other end of the phone was very surprised.
“Estelle, we’ve been friends for so many years. Is it so surprising that I would call you?”
“Do you have business with me?”
“Of course.” Jolly bent over and picked up the jade bracelet, holding it up to the sun and looking at it as she said lightly, “You know that Ryan’s family has a jade bracelet heirloom, right? It’s here with me.”
Hearing that, the person on the other end of the phone immediately burst into anger. “Jolly, what are you trying to imply? Are you showing off to me that you guys are getting back together?”
The corners of Jolly’s lips curled up as her gaze turned sly. “No, I want to do you a favor and give this bracelet to you.”
