Torin was restless as he thought about how he could convince his bro, Zach, to accept him as his future brother-in-law. Today, he would formally ask for Lyra"s hand in marriage from her whole family. He was now driving to the Lims" villa in the province, with a trunk full of gifts he had bought for them.
Lyra was already there a day ahead of him to inform her elders about his intention.
Although he was no stranger to the Lims, but for some reason, he felt so nervous. He kept drawing in and out a loud sigh to calm his nerves during his drive.
But, the one he was most nervous about was Zach. Especially after seeing his wicked smile for the first time in his life the last time they talked. His bro was definitely up to something.
"He is becoming more and more like his wife," he complained, his whole face crumpled. Who would have thought that the once expressionless and cold general would know how to smile wickedly now? He sure had gotten it from his mischievous and playful wife.
At the Lims" villa, everyone was in the garden, preparing for a barbecue party while they waited for Torin"s arrival.
And Lyra was the center of raillery.
"Who would have thought that Lyra and Torin have feelings for each other based on how they treated each other?" Grandpa Shen remarked in a whimsical tone. The blush on Lyra"s face from her family"s continuous teasing was not fading away.
"That was probably why Torin would always ask me where Lyra was and how she was doing whenever he visited. I thought he was just asking because Lyra wasn"t often here whenever he was here." Sheila recounted as she prepared the table.
"So the saying, "The more you hate, the more you love" could be applied to them. Those two never stopped pestering each other before," Josh concluded.
"Well, that"s probably their way of hiding their feelings," Grandpa Shen commented, laughing.
All of the Lims had joined in to tease Lyra at least once, except for one.
Rizie was unexpectedly quiet, so Josh messed with her hair and asked, "Hey, why are you so quiet? Are you that shocked? Isn"t it a good thing that big sis ended up with bro Torin? Better than a man we don"t know. At least we know that big sis is in good hands."
Rizie sighed… Of course, she agreed that there were no better men for their sister than Torin. But what about her arms? She had dared provoke Torin, telling him that she would cut both of her arms if he and Lyra indeed turned out to be a couple.
Rizie looked at her arms and winced as she prepared herself for Torin"s revenge later on.
"Let Torin stay here for a week, Grandpa. Let him help you with our herds," Zach instructed, to which Lyra protested, "Big bro… you know Torin doesn"t like animals…"
Zach laughed and replied, "Exactly. Let him adjust to the ranch life, so he knows how hard your Grandpa works. Let him work for your hand in marriage. That way, he would cherish you even more."
"Yes, big sis, don"t you know the saying, "Success tastes sweeter when you"ve earned it"? Or "No pain, no gain"? That is true for men in pursuing women. They would appreciate and love their women more if they won them over through some challenges and hards.h.i.+ps," Josh seconded, to which Keira gulped. In her case, it was the other way around…
"But, his surgery was not too long ago…" Lyra defended. Keira, who was listening quietly, nodded, and threw her husband a look. Zach laughed. He knew the meaning of that look. She was reminding him not to be too harsh on Torin.
"So? Cleaning horse manure will not kill him," Josh retorted. He was the first person to agree that Torin must at least experience what he called "The Lim"s initiation."
Then he added with a mischievous grin, "Don"t worry, I"ll be gentle with bro Torin…"
Lyra looked at Keira timidly, and complained hesitantly, "How come Keira never went through any initiations from any of us?"
Grandma Terry, who just arrived with a plate of fruits, chimed in, "Says who she didn"t? Keira had gone through enough initiations from your own brother."
Zach nodded in agreement and concurred, "Yeah, Keira had been through a lot just to get my attention…"
Everyone looked confused, so Keira gave them an awkward grin as she confessed, "Yeah... I entered the military academy just to follow him around and win him over."
All eyes widened in disbelief, so she added, "He really gave me a hard time back then... Punished me a lot..." All of the Lims stared at Keira as they listened attentively to her narration on her own journey to win Zach"s heart.
"Wow, bro! You"re the man! My hero!" Josh burst out as he looked at Zach in admiration, while Rizie looked at Keira in bewilderment. "You went through all that, just to get our big bro"s attention? Why?" She asked, to which Keira responded with a chuckle and an inexplicit answer, "You"ll understand once you fall in love with someone, Rizie."
Rizie couldn"t understand. She and Keira were of the same age. She couldn"t imagine liking someone so much to the point that she would go through all those hards.h.i.+ps just to get his attention. But no matter how she saw it, she really admired her sister-in-law. For a girl as young as eighteen to be able to endure all that, she must be a strong lady, and she must love her brother a lot. Her big brother was, indeed, a fortunate guy.
That time Torin appeared in the garden with some of his presents, and he greeted everyone.
"What"s going on?" Torin asked, confused when all eyes were on him. Josh was the one who opened his mouth first and spoke, "I think the horses would need checking later…"
"Huh?" Torin baffled as he looked at Lyra, who could only give him a helpless look and answer him with a shrug.
Rizie then told him, "You can still back out now, bro... Otherwise, prepare yourself to be peeled alive…"