Chapter 186
I looked at Faye's smiling face, not knowing what to say for a moment.
According to proper etiquette, she should have greeted everyone first, but since she showed up with Joseph at the same time, it would make people think too much.
"Girl, where did you go last night?"
Sure enough, my mother-in-law asked her. Although the house was chaotic last night, things had settled down later. As her relatives in the country, my parents-in-law were responsible for her.
"I went out to hang with friends."
My mother-in-law gave her a look, and she went to wish Aiden and Rhea a happy new year.
Joseph's sudden arrival made the house a bit awkward, but Aiden, with all his experience, didn't seem uncomfortable.
Perhaps he didn't know that Levi already knew about Joseph coming to propose, so he tried to cover it up to keep my relationship with Levi stable.
"Nola's cousin..." Cleo thought for a few seconds and continued, "I'm curious, the one in our family closest to the Skye family should be you, right?"
Cleo turned to look at me, looking like she wanted to get to the bottom of things.
"My relationship with Nola goes without saying, and her cousin's respect for Grandpa is obvious. He came to visit Grandpa before the new year, and we met once."
I knew what she was getting at - she just wanted to know how close Joseph and I were.
So I might as well tell her first, that way she probably wouldn't make things difficult for me.
"Just met once, that simple? I heard he..."
"Cleo!"
My mother-in-law cut her off. She noticed that Aiden's face had already darkened.
But Cleo wouldn't let it go. Having finally caught something related to me, she naturally wanted to take the opportunity to embarrass me.
"Mom, I'm doing this for my brother's good. Gossip can be scary." Cleo put on a righteous face.
"If you know gossip is scary, why are you talking nonsense!"
Aiden scolded harshly, "Joseph respects me and came specially to visit me. I'm honored. The Skye family having such a good nephew means they'll have a bright future."
Then Grandpa walked up to Joseph, "My granddaughter has always been outspoken, but she means no harm. Don't mind her."
Joseph shook his head, "Mr. Morgan, I don't mind."
He turned to Cleo, "Miss Morgan, happy new year!"
This move made Cleo's eyes widen. She didn't expect him to do this.
"Good, you didn't come here for nothing."
Cleo still spoke with hidden meaning. Saying such things on the first day of the new year was really unpleasant.
Joseph smiled and glanced at me. I turned my face away, not meeting his eyes.
There was nothing between us to begin with. His courage today really caught me off guard.
I didn't know if he was making a statement to me or provoking Levi.
There was no possibility between us at all.
"He came to visit with good intentions, Cleo. Don't overthink it."
Seeing Joseph looking disappointed, Faye stood up to speak for him.
"Oh, so we have someone getting anxious here?"
Cleo was like a bomb, randomly provoking anyone.
"Cleo, don't misunderstand what I mean, and don't misunderstand Joseph's good intentions."
"You're so friendly with him, can't you tell what's what? He's obviously here for Blair, can't you see?"
Finally, it was spelled out. This made Joseph look embarrassed, but since he came, he must have been mentally prepared.
Can't blame them for thinking too much - there really wasn't any other explanation.
"What does it have to do with her?"
Levi stood in front of me, "Since he's Nola's cousin, naturally, he's not that distant from us either. Welcome to my home, and thank you for coming to visit Grandpa."
Facing Levi's friendly hand, Joseph quickly responded. The moment they shook hands, I felt Joseph competing with him secretly.
"Hello, nice to meet you."
Joseph was a decent person. If it were someone else being targeted by Cleo, they probably would have lost it already, but he still controlled his emotions well.
Cleo gave Levi an eye roll. She must think Levi was being stupid.
Jasper leaned over to Aiden and whispered, reminding him it was getting late and they should leave for church.
"Joseph, we have other activities today, so we won't keep you for dinner. Come by another day when you're free and have a drink with me."
Aiden still tried to maintain dignity.
"Okay, Mr. Morgan. I came a bit suddenly today. I don't have many relatives and friends in the country. I respect you very much. Sorry for the intrusion."
"No intrusion at all, you're very welcome."
"Then I'll leave now."
Joseph looked at me, "Blair, goodbye."
I forced a smile. My heart was racing. I prayed he wouldn't say anything more to me, or Cleo would endlessly find opportunities to mock and ridicule me.
I even started to wonder if my slap to Michael last night had brought on her targeting today. Even though Levi stood up to defend me, why did she still think I was cheating on Levi?
No matter how bold I was, I wouldn't have the other party come to the house to provoke, would I?
"Joseph, I'll see you out."
"Faye!"
My mother-in-law stopped her, "Let Jasper see him out. You go eat something. You're always just playing around; you need to remember to eat."
"I..."
Faye had to stop. With so many people in the house, it wouldn't be good for her to continue following.
She slowly walked up to my mother-in-law and lowered her head.
As soon as Joseph left, Cleo started again.
"Blair, I don't care what methods you used to confuse my brother, but watch yourself and don't ruin our reputation."
At this moment, I chose to stay silent. As long as I didn't respond, she'd get bored and stop, right?
"It's not your place to talk about the Morgan family's reputation. You can't even handle your own affairs properly. When hasn't Blair helped you?"
Aiden pounded his cane on the ground twice, "Guests should be treated as guests. Is being aggressive like this good manners?"
"Grandpa, I..."
"Considering your marriage isn't going well, and you're in a bad mood, everyone is accommodating your feelings. Is it interesting to talk in this sarcastic way?"
I smiled slightly at Aiden, "Grandpa, let's not miss the time. Let's go."
"Yes, okay."
We were all prepared to leave. Cleo glanced at me, "You're so good at pretending!"
My mother-in-law tugged her arm, reminding her not to say more. Making Aiden unhappy would really be disrespectful.
"Faye, you stay home with your grandma. Go eat something, and stop running around crazy all the time."
"I just recently..."
"Let's not talk about it now. We're leaving."
Every year, Rhea doesn't go along. She only believes in science, but she respects faith. She doesn't oppose Aiden going, and Aiden doesn't get angry that she doesn't participate.
Levi standing up earlier to shake hands with Joseph and make peace - that was defending me too, right? Even though Cleo kept stirring things up, he didn't get mad at me.