The living room was lavish, decorated till gleaming.
In the center was placed a selection of sofas with real leather, with crystal chandeliers overhead. It was a spacious place too, and moving the sofas away, you could have a small ball here.
Where the sofas were placed, Georgia saw an old man about the same age as Wilhelm sitting in the middle.
They were far away, so Georgia could only see the old man's face.
It was a thin face, but he had bright eyes, and looked energetic.
The man's hair was half white already. On two couches next to the old man, one middle-aged couple sat to one side, while a somewhat mature looking woman sat to the other, with a pretty young lady by her side.
Georgia thought of the situation her mother had introduced.
Was the middle-aged couple her uncle and his wife, the mature woman his aunt, and the younger woman her cousin?
As she considered it, they walked for about two minutes before the family stopped before old man Powell.
The two sides faced each other. Georgia stared at the old man for a few heartbeats, not knowing what to call him in the moment.
"Grandpa" seemed too intimate. They weren't there yet.
But it would be impolite not to greet him.
More importantly, this old man Powell was also looking at her, as if watching their family, and didn't speak at all.
They just occupied the space awkwardly. Georgia felt so awkward that she didn't know where to put her hair.
After a few minutes of dead air, Linus Powell spoke.
"You look like your mother, and somewhat like Emilia. I'm your grandfather. You must know about this now."
Georgia dipped her head and said yes.
"I've already met my mother yesterday. She told me a lot. Hello, Grandpa. Pleasure to meet you."
Georgia lifted her head and showed a formal smile. She didn't know what Linus was going to do.
But thinking about it, she had two kids with him, and she couldn't be impolite so the kids would learn it.
Saying that, Robert smiled too.
"Hello, Grandpa. I'm Georgia's husband. You can call me Robert."
As the two said that, they bent next to their children and murmured a few words.
Soon Annie and Wesley turned to the old man and greeted him too.
"Hello, Great-grandpa."
"I'm Annie Simpson."
"I'm Wesley Simpson."
After all four of them greeted him actively, Linus smiled.
"As your great-grandfather, I haven't seen you two kids before. Since you're here the first time, I'm not sure what you like. I hope you'll find these presents to your liking."
As the old man said that, he took out two small, gift-wrapped packets.
Annie and Wesley looked at Georgia and Robert, not sure what to do next.
Robert and Georgia smiled at them.
"Go over and remember to thank Great-grandpa for his presents."
The kids walked obediently up to Linus, took the presents, and spoke in unison.
"Thank you, Great-grandpa."
Linus' smile widened, but Georgia felt that it wasn't an intimate smile between families.
Georgia had an indescribable feeling that this was just business motions.
But they'd been this nice to them from the get-go and even got the kids presents.
They wanted to build a good relationship and there was no need to make it sour. Making friends was fine.
When the kids took the presents and got back to them, Linus pointed to the middle-aged couple.
"This is your uncle and his wife. Should get to know them."
Georgia examined who her mother said were her second uncle and second aunt in earnest.
Oscar Powell had a cold face and was clearly not an approachable person. He nodded politely at them, but didn't seem to smile at all.
As for her second aunt, her name was Margie Snow, and she smiled faintly at the family.
The smile seemed like it came from behind a veil, though, and put distance between them.
Exactly as her mother had said.
After the two were done with introductions, the kids greeted them too and received another set of gifts.
Margie had passed the gifts to them. She smiled at the children and patted their heads tenderly. Seemed like she liked children.
After their greetings were done, old man Powell pointed at the mature lady and the pretty young woman by the other side.
"That's your Aunt Sally and her daughter, Tammy.
"Tammy's a few years younger than you, but you're in the same generation. Could talk more with them and develop a sisterly bond."
Georgia and Robert greeted them.
Just as her mother had said, the two women nodded proudly.
Georgia hadn't expected it, but they'd gotten gifts for the kids too.
She'd thought that with their arrogant bearing, they might have just ignored them outright. Forget gifts.
But the gifts were prepared beforehand. The old man might have forced them, and they weren't necessarily willing.
Only, the two kids looked happy at receiving the gifts, and after having them greet the two women politely, Georgia let them take it.
The kids were really making a killing now.
At least they were happy getting presents coming to the Powell house.
The only thing that Georgia felt strange about was that when Sally Powell gave her presents, Tammy's eyes were fixed on Robert's face.
As if studying his features. Her eyes gleamed and never left him.
The people around them noticed too, and Linus' face darkened as he turned coldly to Tammy.
"What are you staring at your in-law's face for, Tammy? Where are your manners? Sit down. Embarrass yourself again and I'll have the butler toss you out."
Tammy sobered.
Sally tugged at her daughter's hand, signally her to hurry up and wake up. Tammy grew pale, sat down, and apologized to the old man.
"I was just deep in thought, Grandpa. Sorry."
At that, the old man scoffed.
Afterwards, Georgia and Robert brought the kids and followed the other Powells to the dining room.
Over a dozen servants took up dish after dish towards the massive banquet table, where they could eat whatever they wanted to.
"Are these dishes to your liking, Miss Lane? The old man got Michelin-Star chefs to make these. We hired them just for you."
Wilhelm introduced, and Georgia was taken aback.
From what her mother said, Linus knew who she was before, but never thought to take her back.
But now their attitude was this nice. This was a royal welcome. Was it all just because she inherited the SY Group and married Robert?
If that was it, the old man was just too calculating.
He ignored her completely when she was worth nothing.
Now that she'd come into her own, he was this good to her. Georgia didn't much like the feeling.
She didn't show it, though, and smiled at the old man.
"Thank you for treating us like this, Grandpa. I'm not a picky eater. Thank you for going to the trouble."
Linus smiled faintly.
"I'd been planning on getting your mother over to dinner too, but she's still confined to hospital for a while, so we had you and Robert over to eat. You're a Powell now, and we'll get to know each other after a few more meals."
With an attitude that nice, Georgia was getting embarrassed.
The Powells had been nothing but nice to her, Robert, and the children ever since they arrived.
There were dozens of dishes on the table now.
As Georgia ate, she got the kids what they liked as well.
Georgia just didn't understand why Linus was being so different compared to what her mother and Aston's parents had said he was like.
Didn't he have an iron wrist? Why was he so nice?
After dinner, Georgia didn't talk much with Oscar or Margie.
Her Aunt Sally didn't much look at her and treated them like air.
As for her cousin Tammy, she stole occasional glances at Robert. Georgia found that stranger and stranger.
Old man Powell alone chatted with her, but only about regular day-to-day subjects. He even had a bit of concern, didn't ask anything strange, didn't talk about business, and didn't ask them to help with anything.
It was like chatting at just a normal family dinner.
Georgia felt the old man was trying his best to treat them politely and kindly, even trying to craft an intimate atmosphere.
But she just felt something was off as she speculated exactly what Linus had called them here for.
So far, though, they chatted, met at dinner, and the kids had gotten presents.
She couldn't tell what they were up to at all.
No matter what plans the old man was making or if he was planning on getting close to them to build a good relationship, though, Georgia had to talk with him alone.
She needed to clear up Wesley's affairs.