Arthur replied after a while with sadness, "Jean, do you really hate me that much to avoid me like that?"
"I have nothing to say if you feel that way." It was hard enough for her to make a day to see Emelia at Riverside City so she didn't intend to explain her schedule to him.
There was no need to explain to him as she didn't plan to see him or have anything to do with him in the first place.
"If there's nothing else, then that's it." Jean ended this call, thinking that he might not pick her up tomorrow at the airport and she'll just get a cab to see Emelia.
Back to the table, her mother asked her casually, "Who keeps calling you? Someone who likes you?"
"Just a friend," Jean said shortly.
Seeing her attitude, her mother didn't know how to ask more.
Jean's father said with a serious face, "I heard from Mario that there's a man who keeps bothering you. Was that him who called you before?"
Mario was the man her parents introduced who was close with Jean's father as he liked this potential future son-in-law very much.
Arthur came to see Jean a couple of times before but she all turned him down. Mario ran into Arthur once when he went to see Jean at the company, which must have been why her father knew about that.
"Of course not, I haven't spoken to him in years." Jean smiled a little.
It was not that she wanted to hide or something, she just tried to keep it simple.
"Well, Mario said that this man is not from Zoshalor. You are our only daughter, and now you've taken over the company, we really want you to stay at Zoshalor. A long-distance relationship doesn't work." Jean's father nodded.
"OK," Jean replied coldly and carried on with her meal.
"After this exhibition, you should make it clear with Mario and let him know if you have a future or not. Don't waste his time." Her father added.
"I know," Jean said still shortly.
The relationship between Jean and her parents seemed fine, but actually, that was not the case.
She was really into psychology at that time and wanted to pursue it but they did not agree with the excuse of no future. And it was such a shame if she didn't study design and came back to take over the family business since she had a gift in design when she was little.
Yet Jean thought that gift and passion were not the same things.
It wouldn't work with a gift if she didn't even enjoy it.
And how come there was no future with psychology?
Leading experts in any field had limited chances. Jean had confidence in becoming a leading psychologist as she has always been a straight-A student since little.
Jean was always kind and obedient, but she didn't want to compromise on her life choice at that time. Her father tore the offer to the psychology school apart in an extreme manner and sent her abroad to study design which changed her life.
Jean had no choice but to go abroad first and then changed her major. She practically supported herself those years since her father cut her off financially after that.
"How can I not be anxious? My body's getting worse, and I'd like to live to see her happily married ever after so she won't be too tired running a company." Jean's father growled.
He added, "Mario is in the financial business, and he sure can give constructive advice and support her in developing the company."
"Don't you believe that she can run the company alone?" Jean's mother said.
He took a glance at her and said nothing.
His silence suggested that he did not believe in his daughter, which was why he tried every means to introduce Mario, an elite in the financial business.
Jean's mother put down the fork and sneered at him, "We women can do it, too. I have faith in our daughter. If you don't believe her, why don't you spare her and let others take over your company? She doesn't like it anyway."
Jean's mother was normally kind and gentle and always did what her husband told her. It was unusual that she lashed out at him as she realized that introducing Mario was not for their daughter's happiness but for the company's future development.
She hated it that he used their daughter like that and didn't have faith in her.
"Why are you so mad at me?" Jean's father shouted behind her.
"Do you think she can run the company by being cold and unsociable? She is just a designer. A capable assistant is a must to handle social intercourse and management."
Jean's mother kept walking upstairs without replying anymore.
Jean's father was furious, thinking that he was right about all of this.
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