Chapter 5 Gift

"Honey, are you for real?" Amira took a long time to react. Cleo and Fern snapped back into reality as well the moment Amira said something. "Yeah, dad. Is this your way of solving problems? Then you might as well just let me die!" Cleo yelled and started sobbing again. For once Fern agreed with Amira and Cleo, "Dad, did I upset you too much?" Asking her to get married to Khalid? What a bad joke! "I am very clear-headed, Mr. Marsh already told the reporters that Fern is Cleo. Now that the situation has played out like this, the only thing we can do to save both families’ faces is to let Fern be a substitute for Cleo." Jaxon sounded regretful, why didn’t he figure out the situation earlier? No wonder the Marsh family didn’t welcome the sisters’ visit the last time he told them to head over. "Dad, why do you always take this wench’s side! Even though it was all her fault that the situation became like this, and now she even wants to steal my fiance? You shameless bimbo, I’m going to perish together with you!" Cleo lost her temper, she jumped and pounced on Fern. Fern was frightened, she raised her hand and unintentionally threw the cup noodle she had in her hand at Cleo. Cleo’s head was now a mess, the noodles were all over her head and the broth was running down her hair, it was an amusing scene. The atmosphere in the living room was still and quiet. After a brief moment, Cleo shrieked, "Fern, I am going to kill you!" Fern was already hiding in her room as she knew that the situation wasn’t to her advantage. Initially, she could still hear screaming, yelling and crying noises from the mother and daughter while hiding inside her room, but the noises died down after Jaxon reprimanded them, she soon fell asleep unknowingly. It was already dark outside when she woke up, her stomach was growling as she didn’t get to finish the cup noodle that she made in the afternoon. She walked downstairs stealthily and was trying to look for something to eat, but Jaxon was sitting on the sofa. "Come here, I have something to say," said Jaxon. Fern shuffled over unwillingly, she sat down in front of Jaxon and was going to tell him that she had no intention to marry Khalid. But Jaxon started talking before she could mutter a word. "I will deal with the matter on your mom’s and sister’s side, just settle down quietly and be Mr. Marsh’s fiance. Though you must keep in mind that your sister gave you the opportunity to marry Khalid, you should forgive her and forget about whatever she had done to you in the past. Make peace with her and be grateful towards her in the future too, okay?" said Jaxon. "What?" Fern scoffed. She couldn’t instantly react to what Jaxon said, it was outrageous, and he was so full of himself. "Your sister is very depressed because of this, you are lucky that you landed on such a good marriage opportunity. For the time being try to not bother them, better yet go back to school earlier and don’t stay home." Jaxon didn’t notice Fern’s gloomy expression, he was still nagging non-stop. "Okay, I’ll pack and head back to school, but I’m never coming back." There was nothing to come back to. "What are you saying? Why are you twisting my words? All I ask of you is to not bother your sister. She gave you a chance in a good marriage, what else do you want from her?" Jaxon was getting angry at Fern. Fern snickered, "I don’t want anything, I just want to tell you that Mr. Marsh can marry anybody he wants, but I definitely am not getting married to him. I also couldn’t afford to accept such great kindness from my dear sister, she can have the marriage back if she wants." "What did you say?" Jaxon kept talking non-stop because he was afraid that Fern would be too conceited about the marriage and started to look down at the Woods family, but to his surprise, she didn’t want to get married at all. "Yes, you didn’t hear that wrongly. I said I don’t want to get married, it’s getting late and I’m going back to my room." Fern stood up and was going to leave. Suddenly Jaxon stood straight up and shouted, "Stop right there you bastard! Who said that you get a say in this, you’re getting married because I said so and that’s that!" "Father, I really cannot comprehend, you mentioned that this marriage was a gift from my sister, I cannot accept this gift as it is too heavy, why would you force it on me?" Fern was so fed up and couldn’t even get angry at the matter anymore. Jaxon felt like he was losing his ground, but he was stubborn, "No matter how being able to get married to Khalid with your conditions is god’s gift. You should be grateful to your sister and be indebted to your family!" "I thank you for your great kindness, but unfortunately I couldn’t accept this gift. It’s a shame but I’ll have to make my statement again, that I am not getting married!" Fern was slapped hard on her face just as she finished her sentence. Fern’s head turned to one side from the impact of the slap. "Did you forget what your mom said to you when she brought you to this house? You are only alive today because we took you in, now we need you for something and you should just do as I say to repay the kindness." Jaxon pointed his finger at Fern, "You only have two choices, either you get married or go kill yourself!" Jaxon was boiling with rage after he finished his sentence even though Fern should be the one getting mad, he furiously stomped up the stairs. "Why does everybody want me dead?" Fern murmured to herself, she fell onto the sofa. She sat down for a bit, took a deep breath, got up and went to the kitchen to get another cup of instant noodles. She added a bunch of hams into the cup, she made a large portion of noodles as if she was letting out her anger through doing that. "Why force me to get married? Why don’t I have a say in it?" Fern muttered to herself again, she hung her head low and ate the noodles. All of a sudden she started laughing heartily as if her argument with Jaxon just now didn’t take place at all. Fern’s thirst and hunger were now satisfied, she heard sobbing noises from Cleo’s room as she walked up the stairs, she also heard Amira cursing at her. She acted like she didn’t hear anything, went into her room and started packing her stuff. She decided to go back to school after finishing up her business in town. And her business in town was exactly about the marriage with Khalid, she wanted to meet him and ask him to call off the marriage from his side. Jaxon wasn’t a man of reason, Fern couldn’t convince him otherwise and hence she had to bite the bullet and talk directly to Khalid. But she couldn’t just meet Khalid just because she wanted to, she strutted valiantly into his company and was immediately halted by the front desk. "I’m sorry, it’s not possible to meet with Mr. Marsh without an appointment." The woman at the front desk was beautiful, she was also gentle and polite, Fern didn’t want to cause her any trouble. "What time does he usually get off work? Can I wait for him here in the lobby?" Fern didn’t have Khalid’s contact, waiting for him here was her only way of meeting him. Fern walked towards the resting area in the lobby and sat down. The woman at the front desk gently shook her head and let her be. Khalid was actually not in the office today as he had a meeting outside. He noticed Fern immediately as he came back from outside, she was nodding off on the sofa at the resting area. The woman at the front desk was about to wake Fern up but was stopped by Khalid. He strolled over and sat down next to Fern. Fern’s head was moving around so much at one point she almost planted her face on the ground. Luckily, Khalid reached out with his long arms and pulled her towards himself, Fern’s head tilted and rested comfortably on Khalid’s broad and wide shoulders. The people manning the front desk and a few subordinates who were following behind Khalid were shocked seeing the scene. Was Mr. Khalid possessed by a ghost? He could actually be so gentle towards another person? There was a heavy silence in the lobby. Fern was suddenly wide awake as she felt shivers down her spine. She saw Khalid’s handsome face the moment she opened her eyes, Fern turned pale from fear, she jumped and shrieked, "You, why are you here?" "Why you ask? You were the one sleeping soundly on my shoulder and wouldn’t move, and you’re asking me why I’m here?" Khalid put on an act and brushed his shoulder off. People gazing from a distance knew that their boss was lying through his teeth, it was horrible to look at and they all wore strange expressions on their faces.