Chapter 417
Lily got all choked up and spilled the beans about what had been going down with her family lately.
The Wilsons, who were big in the trading game, had thrown a massive 1.5 billion dollars into a 30 billion dollar project in Sevan City last year. But this year, business tanked, and their trading company took a nosedive, leading to a total financial meltdown. Getting their money back from the project? Yeah, right. Total pipe dream.
Her dad, Elijah was so furious that he ended up hospitalized, while her mom stayed at home without a job.
They sold off everything they could and were now renting a place in East City. Lily had to sell all her fancy stuff just to scrape by.
She managed to pull in a few hundred thousand from selling her luxury items. Sure, they couldn't live it up like before, but at least they had food on the table. But her dad, Elijah, in total denial, blew the money trying to save the sinking ship of a company. It was a total waste.
Lily had cut ties with Eloise and lost my contact info, and the stress had her losing weight.
That Sevan City project was a disaster, messing up lives and involving billions.
I asked, "Can't we pull the money out now?"
"Nope, no way!"
"Alright, stop crying for now. Let's eat, and I'll figure out the rest."
I sliced a piece of steak. "Here, open up!"
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat!"
With a serious look, I said, "Take care of yourself. I hate seeing you so thin. Now that I'm back, I'll handle it."
She sniffled and shook her head. "It's okay. This is a huge mess. We don't need just a few hundred thousand or a million, we need tens of millions!"
I thought, 'Tens of millions? No biggie for me now!'
"Don't stress, let's eat first."
I coaxed her until she finally took a bite.
"Okay, I'm stuffed, can't eat another bite." She patted her stomach, looking like she overdid it.
My hand slipped under her skirt, and she blushed. "What are you doing?"
"You've lost weight, your stomach's smaller, you need to gain it back!"
"No way!"
"I measured it with my hand."
"You're still the same as ever!"
I didn't say anything, just kissed her. She stiffened, then relaxed, letting me kiss her.
After a long kiss, I said, "Let's go, I wanna take you somewhere!"
"Where?"
"Just come with me."
After paying, we grabbed a car to the shopping street and hit up a perfume shop. "You can choose what you want!"
"John, it's too much!"
"It's not!"
The perfume counter staff smiled, "Miss, your boyfriend's a keeper."
Then we hit the clothing counter. "This one, that one, wrap 'em all!"
Lily grabbed my hand. "It's too much. How can I wear all these?"
I grinned. "Just keep 'em! This hat, bag, shoes, wrap those too!"
The store staff were super nice. "Please, have a seat. I'll get you both some tea!"
I told Lily, "Go try them on, see if they fit!"
"John, it's really not necessary."
"Go on, the clothes you're wearing and the bag you're holding don't do you justice. To me, you're always the most beautiful!"
Lily was touched.
After leaving the clothing store, I took her to the jewelry counter. "Wrap up this necklace. Bring out this ring. I wanna wear it now, and this bracelet too."
After dropping another two hundred grand, Lily was back to looking like a million bucks.
I looked her over. "Now, this is the Lily I remember!"
Lily blushed. "Do I look good like this?"
"You look great, just too thin!"
"Then I'll eat more!"
"By the way, where did you get all this money?" Lily suddenly realized, "You didn't blow all your old commissions, did you?"
She started to panic. "Return this stuff. I really don't care what I wear now."
I chuckled. Honestly, this whole Wilson family mess wasn't all bad.
When things are smooth, everything just feels normal.
I said, "Don't worry, this money is just pocket change for me now!"
"When did you get so loaded?"
She thought I was just talking big.
I grinned. "Do you believe I can help your family?"
Lily said, "Can you really come up with tens of millions of dollars? Don't joke around. Even the banks won't lend us money now!"
"What if I can?"
Lily gave me a skeptical look. "Then my whole family will owe you big time!"
"Let's go, take me to meet your family!"
"You want to meet my parents?" Lily said nervously, "Isn't it too soon?"
I asked her, "Do you think I'd let you go? Or do you still want to break up with me?"
"No!" Lily shook her head quickly.
"Then it's settled!"
I walked into a fancy gift shop nearby and picked out some presents. "Let's go!"
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "My dad might say some harsh things later, don't argue with him. If he asks you for money, don't feel pressured!"
I sensed her hesitation. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Lily lowered her head and murmured, "He's forcing me to go on a blind date to marry his friend!"
I furrowed my brow. "Your dad's friend? Isn't he an old man?"
"Yeah, he watched me grow up. His son is my age, but his wife passed away three years ago. But their family is loaded!"
I was stunned. If Lily's dad, Elijah, was pushing her to marry his friend's son, I could kinda get it, but marrying an old man whose wife had died? That was nuts.
Good thing I came back. If I had been a few days later, Lily might have ended up marrying that old guy.
"Their family is willing to give a dowry of twenty million dollars. My dad is obsessed with rebuilding the company and has gone off the deep end."
"What about Sofia?"
"Sofia listens to my dad, and they're also planning for my brother Scott!"
"So they can sacrifice your happiness for Scott?" I said with disdain.
Lily looked troubled. "It's not all my dad's fault. He's been pushed to the edge."
I sighed inwardly. "Let's go, I'll talk to Elijah."
We arrived at the old part of East City. The place wasn't great, with old, rundown buildings, but it had a lively vibe.
A bunch of people were sitting under a tree at the entrance of the neighborhood, enjoying the cool breeze.
Soon, she led me to a low house. As we got closer, we heard voices inside, and the door was open.
"Mom, Dad, I'm back!"
Sofia stood up. "Lily, Isaac is here to see you."
"Mom!" Lily called out to Sofia, then held my hand. "Let me introduce you, my boyfriend, John!"
Sofia's smile froze. "Don't be ridiculous!"
Elijah, who was sitting on the sofa, stood up and slammed the coffee table. "What boyfriend? Lily, let go of him!"
"Dad!"
"Lily!"
Next to Lily's father, Isaac stood up. "I'm here to propose. Our families know each other well, and Elijah has already agreed. Bringing a guy to pretend to be your boyfriend is disrespectful to me."
I looked at the man, who was about the same age as Elijah.
"Isaac, it's not happening between us, and I've been with John for three months."
"Stop joking around, come here!"
Elijah said coldly, "Lily, you used to listen to me the most. Now that the family is in trouble, do you want to see it fall apart?"
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