"Friends...Maybe." Kris went back to eating.
"Even if she is not a friend. She is already someone important to you. You need her to achieve your goals."
"You talk too much." Important. Kris does not know if he would considered Lena as someone important. His friend will always be with him, but he can also go on without them either way. His mother though, she was important to him.
Lena said goodbye to Gary and came back to the table. She sat back down and started eating again. She was competing with two big man so she must get her fair share of food.
After the rooftop dinner, Lena helped Keso cleaned up the area. She thanked Kris for allowing her to stay extra over tonight. Both Keso and she left the place.
For the next few days, Lena would wait for Kris outside the lobby and ride the elevator with him. They would spend a good amount of time dancing and wrestling. There were a few times they did partner yoga together.
On Friday, Lena went straight the Shen mansion after work. She had not seen her parents for a long time. Although she enjoyed living out my herself, it was nice to come home once and awhile. Lena bought some gifts for her mom for helping her take care of SHYNE while she was away.
Now, Lena mostly just come home for dinner and stay overnight and leave the next day. As usual, her mom was cooking with Aunt Mary. Lena told the worker to put the gifts in her parents" room. She headed to the dining room where her father was already there. She gave him a quick hug before sitting down her own spot. Shen Milli and Aunt Mary finished plating the food and brought them to the table.
"How was your friend?" Shen Milli asked.
"She"s fine. Just a bad breakup." Lena dished a few foods onto her plate. "Told her there is no shame in being single."
"Single… you can"t be single forever." Shen Mao spoke.
Lena smiled. "Of course I can. I can grow old and take care of you and mom." She paused and looked at her dad"s reaction. Shen Mao looked at Shen Milli. Lena knew then… something was wrong. Was this also about what they wanted to talk about last time?
Shen Milli knew that her sweet child can feel the change in the air. "Lena… you know you would get married someday. Did you not say you wanted a big family?"
"I know." Lena took a bite of her food. She did want a big family of her own… but it is not that easy to find a man that she will like and hope to spend the rest of her life with him.
"You know we don"t push you as much… but that is a different story for your grandparents. We will still be here to see you get married, but they won"t. You are their lovely girl."
Lena"s grandmother had a few children but never a daughter. So when Lena was born, she was cherished by all of them. Of course, a major part of her spoiled att.i.tude was due to that. Lena continued to eat and listen to her mom.
"You…" Shen Milli did not want to pressure her daughter but she needed to tell her. "You remember that you were engaged before you were engaged with Andy?"
Lena stopped eating and put down her chopsticks. Before Andy? Lena tried to go back through her memories. She was indeed engaged with someone before she was with Andy. She was chasing Andy so much that she complained and caused earthquakes to her parents and grandparents. Lena did not want to marry anyone else other than Andy.
Luckily, her initial engagement was through the elder generation and her grandfather was able to annul the agreement. They returned the engagement promise ring back to the other family. After Lena caused such a troubling matter for her family, she was able to get engage with Andy.
Wow, looking back now, Lena was happy that her first fiance did not get engage with her. She must have been a pain in the a.s.s. The man should be happy that he was not engaged to Lena.
"What about that?" Lena asked.
"Seeing that you are no longer with Andy and their son has not yet wed, they have proposed to proceed with the original promise between both families."
Lena"s heart stopped. If it"s one thing she cannot accept, it was not being able to choose who she wanted to fall in love with. Lena did not also want to argue with her parents. She just stayed silent. Shen Milli knew her daughter well. Shen Milli looked at Shen Mao.
Shen Mao stretched his hand out to hold Lena"s. "Sweetie, we have not replied to them yet. If you don"t want to, just tell your daddy. He rejected them once, he can do it again."
Lena looked up to meet her father"s eyes. She sighed in her heart… he was such a good father and Lena had been a horrible daughter throughout her life. Since she has taken over this body, she had tried not to cause too much trouble.
"Are they a powerful family?" Lena saw her parents exchange glances. "So… they are…"
Lena knew that in the past, breaking the promise already somewhat damaged the relations.h.i.+p between the older generation. Will she choose her life or her families? The old Lena would automatically choose her own life… but what about her? Is she any different?
Lena was thinking about how she was going to respond. She did not want to put any more troubles for her family. Madam Yang was already silently attacking them. Their family cannot afford to offend someone else.
Lena tried to think back who her first fiance might have been but her mind gave her nothing. She can"t delay a response too. Her parents had wanted to tell her before and it"s been pa.s.sed a week since they last spoke.
"It"s been years since the annulment of the engagement. If I am this old, should he not be older? He must have heard some rumors about me too.." Lena did not hide that fact that she was marked as a spoiled princess for a long time. "He may be forced too. Why not just let us meet and have things go from there? Do we have to go through such old methods?"
Shen Milli stared at her husband. "Let"s do it that way then." Shen Mao nodded in agreement. "Lena, I once told you that you can marry any man you want, I still hold true to that. Don"t sacrifice your happiness for us."