Chapter 43
On the second day after I moved into the Johnson Villa, Michael's parents had to go out for something.
For a while, there was only Michael and me at the Johnson Villa, apart from the servants.
I wasn't sure if they did it on purpose, but living with Michael gave me the strange feeling of being a married couple.
Michael took care of me in every possible way, and I seemed to gradually get used to his care.
Until this morning, when I went downstairs for breakfast as usual.
Michael had already prepared warm milk at the dining table, waiting for me.
Seeing me come over, he took my hand and led me to my seat.
But I felt he was a bit different from usual.
I asked in confusion, "Michael, what's wrong?"
Michael asked me tentatively, "The Johnson family has a family gathering in a couple of days. Do you want to come?"
I couldn't help but fall silent for two seconds.
Although Michael and I had been engaged for a while, I had hardly seen any other Johnsons except on the day of our engagement.
At this family gathering, my identity would be Michael's fiancée.
The change in status made me nervous.
I wasn't sure if I could handle the social interactions with the Johnson family elders.
Seeing my silence, Michael guessed what I was thinking and handed me the warm milk, comforting me gently. "It's okay, you don't have to go if you don't want to. It's just a small gathering anyway."
Despite his words, I could still read some expectation in Michael's eyes.
I figured he really wanted to introduce me to his relatives properly.
Looking at his eyes, although I hesitated inside, I just couldn't bring myself to refuse.
After hesitating for a moment, I gave in. "I'll go. I'll have to meet your relatives sooner or later anyway."
Since I'd decided to marry Michael, I'd inevitably have to meet his friends and family in the future. I might as well get used to it now.
Seeing me agree, Michael's eyes filled with unstoppable joy, and he kept reassuring me. "Don't worry, Nancy. It's just a family gathering at the Johnson Mansion. There won't be any problems. Let's eat breakfast first, and I'll drive you to the company later."
With his reassurance, I felt more at ease.
After breakfast, Michael personally drove me to the Smith Group.
The Smith Group had always been stable, but I also felt that although my mom had handed the Smith Group over to me to manage, I was still living under her wing.
After all, all the decisions I handled would be sent to my mom for final approval.
In this second life, I still hoped I could have enough ability to solve problems on my own.
If possible, I wanted the ability to train independently.
Unfortunately, the Johnson family gathering came before that.
I accompanied Michael to the Johnson Mansion as agreed.
Approaching the door, I couldn't help but get nervous, and the hand holding Michael's was uncontrollably sweating slightly.
Michael noticed my nervousness and actively held my hand tighter, comforting me softly by my side. "Don't worry, everything will be fine with me here."
With that, we walked into the Johnson Mansion hand in hand.
At that time, quite a few Johnson family elders were already chatting inside.
Seeing us arrive, many of the elders' eyes fell on the two of us.
The tension that had eased somewhat intensified again.
Standing in the center of the gathering was Amelia.
My gaze met hers, but she coldly looked away.
In that instant, I thought it was my imagination and took the initiative to say to Michael. "Michael, let me go say hello to your mom."
Michael didn't think much of it and nodded in agreement.
I stepped forward, with a proper smile, and spoke warmly. "Mrs. Johnson, it's been a while since I've seen you. I've missed you."
Amelia glanced at me, but her attitude was somewhat cold. "Nancy, I'm actually surprised you could come today."
At this moment, I was sure that the feeling earlier wasn't my imagination.
Amelia's attitude toward me had indeed changed, but I couldn't figure out the reason.
After all, when I met Amelia before, she was always very warm.
The last time I saw Amelia was when I moved into the Johnson Villa, and she was fine then.
It seemed that something had happened in the past few days that I didn't know about, which changed Amelia's attitude toward me.
If I wanted to know the answer, it seemed I needed to talk to Amelia alone.
Seeing this, I took the initiative to invite her. "Mrs. Johnson, I have something I'd like to talk to you about privately. Is now a good time?"
Amelia looked me over and agreed. "Let's go to the study upstairs."
Amelia went ahead, and I quickly followed with small steps.
After closing the door, Amelia's attitude remained cold.
I asked seriously. "Mrs. Johnson, you seem a bit different toward me today. Did I do something wrong?"
Amelia was surprised by my directness, but didn't answer directly. Instead, she got up and walked toward the bookshelf.
I was puzzled by her action, but stood still and waited quietly.
Amelia took out a classical music vinyl record from the bookshelf, her expression becoming even colder.
"You should recognize this." Amelia asked me.
Looking at the vinyl record in front of me, I was even more confused, but still shared what I knew. "Mrs. Johnson, this should be Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. My personal feeling about this piece is that it's serene, mysterious, and even somewhat eerie."
But after I spoke, Amelia's expression changed, and she directly opened the inner sleeve of the vinyl record. "I'm talking about this. Don't you want to explain what you sent?"
Looking at the mocking words inside the sleeve, I immediately understood.
Amelia had mistaken this record as something I sent, which was why she wasn't being nice to me.
Not wanting the misunderstanding to worsen, I quickly explained. "Mrs. Johnson, I didn't know about this record, but since it was given to you in my name, I sincerely apologize for causing you trouble."
Hearing my words, Amelia's expression improved somewhat, and she continued to ask. "You really didn't know? I received this record several days ago."
I nodded honestly and continued to explain. "Mrs. Johnson, I did hear from Michael that you like classical music, but I never sent you a record. If I had done it, how would I have the nerve to come to the Johnson family gathering today and deliberately ask you about it."
Looking at my sincere expression, Amelia's attitude finally softened. "Nancy, I'm sorry I misunderstood you. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions without getting the facts straight, and even..."
Before Amelia could finish, I held her hand tightly and stopped her. "Mrs. Johnson, you're also a victim. This has nothing to do with you. I'll give you an explanation."
Amelia nodded repeatedly, looking at me with increasing satisfaction.
Seeing that Amelia had calmed down, I struck while the iron was hot. "Mrs. Johnson, but I really should have sent you a gift. That was my oversight. I'll make it up to you."
After this sincere explanation, Amelia completely let go of her anger, and our relationship even grew closer.