"What's the matter?"

"I... I want to take you to meet my mom."

Daniel was taken aback.

"Aren't you planning to marry me? Shouldn't we meet each other's parents before the wedding? My family background isn't great, and my mom can be a handful. I just want you to be prepared..."

"I want to marry you, not your family," Daniel said, holding Maisie's hand. "But it's only right that I meet them. It's a matter of respect."

Daniel had mixed feelings about it. When the weekend came, he prepared a gift and went with Maisie to her family's home. Even though Maisie had given them a heads-up, the atmosphere became tense as soon as they walked in.

Cindy and Nicole were initially surprised to see Daniel, and then they stood by the wall, all still and nervous. Their words and actions appeared quite restrained as they cast wary looks at him.

Maisie was a little surprised. She had been worried the whole way about her mom's materialistic nature causing trouble, as she was prone to saying things she shouldn't. She hadn't expected Cindy, who was usually domineering and arrogant, to be so apprehensive in front of him. Even though Daniel usually exuded a powerful aura, he was quite amiable today.

"Mom, Nicole, what's going on with you?" Maisie shot them a look, then forced a smile to try to defuse the tension. "Daniel is usually a bit serious, but he's a good person. You'll get to know him better as you spend more time with him."

"Yes, yes." Cindy managed to force a smile. "We know Mr. Quimby is a good person... Without his help, we wouldn't have been able to live here."

After going through the fuss of the demolition and relocation, Daniel had ultimately provided Cindy's family with a compensation package and arranged a place for them to live. They had secured a residence in this mid-range housing complex, which was a rare find for the Squires.

Daniel gently held Maisie's hand. He loved her no matter what. Even if the Squires were out of line, he didn't want to make things difficult for them.

"You're too kind," he said with a calm expression. "The reason we didn't compensate you earlier was due to a mistake made by the branch office of Quimby Group. Since the issue has now been resolved, there's no need for you to dwell on it."

Cindy didn't know how to respond, so she forced another smile. She insisted that Daniel stay for lunch and then led Nicole into the kitchen.

Maisie smiled helplessly and looked at Daniel. "Is it because your face is too stern? My mom... Well, she's one thing, but Nicole's already met you before, when we were in Centrolis. How did you manage to make her so afraid of you?"

"Maybe... I only smile for you."

Maisie patted his hand and laughed, then got up to help in the kitchen.

"Are you going to cook as well?" Daniel pulled her back.

"I'm afraid they'll prepare something you don't like."

At that moment, the door opened. Owen entered the house, swaying and stumbling. Maisie furrowed her brows when she caught the strong scent of alcohol on him.

"Owen, where were you?"

"Oh, we have a guest..." Owen didn't pay any attention to her, as he was completely fixated on Daniel, who was sitting on the couch. His drunkenness had mostly cleared up, and he had wide-open eyes as he stared at Daniel, as if to confirm that he was indeed Daniel. Then, he turned to Maisie in disbelief.

Daniel walked over to him slowly, his eyes showing a hint of disdain and warning.

Maisie held on to his arm and whispered, "Daniel, this is my elder brother, Owen."

Daniel said tersely, "Nice to meet you."

He had an intense aversion to this man. If she hadn't been forced to raise money for Owen's treatment, Maisie wouldn't have sold herself in the first place. However, without Owen, he wouldn't have met Maisie at all.

Trying to keep himself steady, Owen looked at Daniel cunningly. He could tell that Daniel had always been completely ensnared by his little sister, both then and now.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report
Hᴇlp us to clɪck the Aɖs and we will havε the funds to publish more chapters.