Chapter 95: Call Alexander for Emergency

Chapter 95 Call Alexander for Emergency

Before Arabella could speak, Marilyn cut in disapprovingly, "Percy, just tell me what you need and I'll get it. Let Arabella sit down and chat with John so they can get to know each other."

Percy stood his ground, insisting, "You don't know where it is. I'll just have Arabella come with me."

In front of a guest, Marilyn couldn't say more, so she urged Arabella, "Hurry up then, don't keep him waiting too long."

With things spelled out this clearly, how could Arabella not understand?

Marilyn wasn't looking for a man for herself—she'd found one for Arabella.

Arabella felt an indescribable frustration welling up inside her. Without a word, she pushed Percy's wheelchair into the bedroom.

After closing the bedroom door, Percy sighed, full of guilt. "Arabella, I'm sorry. I had no idea Marilyn... that she'd take it upon herself to set you up with someone. She didn't tell me anything. If I'd known, I definitely wouldn't have asked you to come over."

Arabella was speechless too. After a pause, she said, "I'll go out and make things clear to him."

Percy nodded. "If you don't like him, just find an excuse to turn him down. Don't worry about Marilyn—she'll make a fuss at most, but it'll be fine."

Then he looked up at Arabella, his face full of worry, and sighed. "But you—I really hope you can move on from the pain of the Watson family soon and find someone new while you're still young. That would put my mind at ease."

Arabella smiled and said casually, "I'm not in a hurry. If I meet someone suitable later, fine. If not, I'm perfectly happy on my own."

Percy sighed disapprovingly. "You're already thirty. How many good years do you have left? In this life, everyone needs to find a partner. Otherwise, through all those long years, you won't even have anyone to look after you. You don't feel it when you're young, but you'll understand when you're old. You're my only concern left in this world. If you end up alone, your mom will definitely scold me to death when I get to heaven."

Arabella froze. Her father was a very traditional man, and only in these past two years, after the family troubles, had he occasionally shown his true feelings. But expressing care and love this directly—that had never happened before.

Percy continued, "You should find someone soon while you're still young, and have a child before thirty-five. After thirty-five, childbirth takes too much of a toll on a woman's body. Your mom... her back hurt for decades."

Arabella opened her mouth but ultimately didn't mention that she might not be able to get pregnant. What man could accept not having children? She'd actually been prepared for a lonely life for a long time.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so determined to adopt Molly.

She hesitated, but in the end didn't bring up what was happening with Alexander. She didn't want to deceive her father, even if it was to put his mind at ease.

Before long, Marilyn was knocking on the door, her tone so overly friendly it felt greasy. "Percy, Arabella, have you found what you need? The guest is still waiting. Don't get carried away chatting."

Arabella walked over and opened the door, pushed her father out, then looked at Marilyn. "Marilyn, I appreciate you arranging this kind of thing for me, but I'm not interested in remarrying right now. Should you tell him, or should I?"

Marilyn's face immediately darkened. She glanced carefully toward the living room, and seeing that John Gray wasn't paying attention to them, she grabbed Arabella and said frantically, "Are you stupid? John Gray is a proper university admissions director with a house, a car, and a good job. He's good-looking, and his parents are both educated people. You'd be so lucky to marry him! If his ex-wife hadn't been foolish enough to divorce him, it wouldn't even be your turn!"

Arabella frowned. "I don't want him, no matter what his conditions are."

She could see that counting on Marilyn was hopeless, so she stopped worrying about being polite. She walked straight into the living room and said to John on the sofa, "I'm sorry, my family didn't communicate with me beforehand. I don't want to date anyone for the next few years. I apologize for wasting your time today."

After speaking, she picked up the gift boxes by the door and handed them to John.

This was very rude—not just to a guest, but even to a friend. She'd never been taught to act this way, and besides, John was a victim in this too.

But in this matter, she didn't want to leave Marilyn any room to maneuver.

So she had no choice but to be rude.

Marilyn rushed over angrily to pull her back. "Arabella, do you know what you're doing? Who do you think you are, some great beauty? A divorced woman isn't worth much in the marriage market, understand? Being able to find someone like Mr. Gray is already your good luck!"

Arabella looked at her, calm and composed. "Marilyn, my worth isn't determined by the marriage market. I value myself. As a woman, as a divorced woman yourself, your hostility toward me is way over the top."

She didn't know why Marilyn was so eager—unless Marilyn had something to gain from this.

That made sense. Otherwise, why would Marilyn bother arranging a match for her?

If that was the case, she had even more reason to refuse.

She looked at John firmly and repeated, "I'm very sorry for wasting your time today."

Her intention to see him out was crystal clear.

At this point, how could John not understand what was going on? He smiled politely, stood up, and said, "Ms. Bourbon, there's no need to apologize. I should be the one apologizing for showing up without understanding the situation."

Arabella breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't the type to pester.

However, what she didn't expect was that John looked at her and continued, "But I really admire Ms. Bourbon's character. I wonder if I could get your contact information and be friends?"

Arabella immediately got a headache. Did he mean he still wanted to keep in touch?

She absolutely couldn't accept that, so she had to decline politely. "I'm sorry, I..."

Before she could refuse, John smiled understandingly. "Ms. Bourbon, I know what you mean, but I think since we're both single, why not get to know each other better? There's no harm in it, right? If we're compatible, that's great. If not, being friends isn't bad either."

Arabella really wasn't good at dealing with this type of persistent man. Her first love was Anthony, and she'd been the one to confess first.

Left with no choice, she had to bite the bullet and say, "I'm sorry, but I currently have a steady relationship."

John clearly didn't believe her. If she had a boyfriend, she should have said so from the start, not kept deflecting until she had no other option.

He obviously wasn't planning to give up, and said with a smile, "You're really charming. If he's available, why don't we all have dinner together sometime? I genuinely want to be your friend."

Arabella hesitated for a moment, about to agree, when Marilyn suddenly said coldly, "Why wait? Since your family doesn't even know about this boyfriend of yours, why not just call him over for a meal? Let us meet him too."

Now Arabella really had a headache. She'd just made up an excuse to refuse—where was she supposed to find a steady boyfriend?

But if she didn't bring someone back, Marilyn wouldn't let it go, and John wouldn't give up easily either. They'd discover she was lying and push even harder.

What should she do? Should she call Alexander over to help her out?

Thinking that he'd just dropped her off a moment ago and might not be home yet, she said to Marilyn and John, "Wait a moment, I need to make a call."

With that, she took out her phone and walked to the side.

Percy looked at her hesitantly. "Arabella, you don't have to..."

Arabella knew her father was worried she'd deliberately find someone to put on an act just to solve this once and for all. But right now, this was the only option, and besides, having Alexander come over would also put her father's mind at ease about her situation.

After all, Alexander was absolutely presentable.

And Alexander was technically her husband in name, so using him for this—he probably wouldn't mind.

Arabella comforted herself with this thought, but when she dialed the number, her palms were still sweating with embarrassment.

The phone barely rang once before it was answered. Alexander's deep, magnetic voice came through. "What's wrong?"

Arabella bit the bullet. "Are you home yet?"

Alexander paused, then replied, "...Not yet."

Arabella asked awkwardly, "Could you come back?"

Downstairs in his car, Alexander looked up at her words.

The lights on the fourth floor were bright, but he couldn't hear any commotion.

But she wouldn't make such a request for no reason. Was she in trouble?

With people in the room, Arabella couldn't be too obvious, so she simply explained, "My dad wants to meet you."

Alexander, holding his phone, understood. Her family was pushing her to remarry, so she was calling him over to help her out?

He was naturally happy to accept. Meeting the parents—that would make their relationship official. If she thought about divorce later, just these surface-level entanglements would make her think twice.

Perfect. He had one more card to play.

With a smile on his lips, he said, "Alright, I'll be right there."

Hearing his answer, Arabella breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, as long as she could pull off this act today.

Seeing that Arabella had called someone over, Percy quickly said to Marilyn, "Hurry and reheat the food in the kitchen."

Marilyn was reluctant, but in front of John, she couldn't say anything, so she went into the kitchen.

Percy then had Arabella push him into the bedroom to change clothes. He hadn't known there would be guests today, so he was wearing very casual loungewear. Now he had Arabella open the closet and pointed to the suit hanging in the very back. "Get that one out for me."

Arabella said in surprise, "Dad, isn't this the one you bought when you married Mom?"

A custom-made suit from over thirty years ago that reportedly cost her father two months' salary.

Even now, he treasured it like gold. Usually even Marilyn wasn't allowed to touch it.

Percy chuckled. "I'm meeting my son-in-law, aren't I? Your mom's gone, and I'm in this condition. I need to dress properly so I don't embarrass you."

There was something else he didn't say. These days when people look for partners, who doesn't check out the other person's family? In their eyes, he was a paralyzed man, a burden. He wanted to make a good impression on his daughter's boyfriend, so Arabella wouldn't be looked down upon because of him.

Arabella's heart ached. Her father's good intentions seemed completely unnecessary to her, because Alexander wouldn't care about any of this.

But she said nothing, helped her father change, and had just pushed him into the living room when the doorbell rang.

Arabella hurried to open the door. Seeing Alexander at the entrance, she was stunned. "You got here so fast!"

It hadn't even been ten minutes since she hung up, had it?

Alexander smiled. "I happened to be nearby taking care of something when you called. Not far at all."

Then he handed the gifts he was carrying to Percy and said respectfully, "Mr. Bourbon, this is a small token of my appreciation. Thank you for raising Arabella so well. I'll take good care of her from now on."

Seeing his daughter's boyfriend so handsome and well-mannered, finding no fault in his words or actions, Percy was already grinning from ear to ear. He quickly took the gift box and said politely, "You shouldn't have brought anything. Come, sit down."

He put the gift box in the corner and had Arabella make tea, wanting to serve Alexander his favorite tea leaves.

John hadn't received such treatment earlier.

John wasn't offended though. Instead, he stood up and extended his hand to Alexander, saying politely, "Hello, I'm John Gray, admissions director at Maplecrest College. May I ask your name?"

He was quite confident in front of Alexander.

This boyfriend Arabella found might have a good-looking face, but his circumstances weren't necessarily better than his own.

A man like him, just turning forty, with a car and house and no loans—sure, he had a kid, but his job was respectable and his career successful. And he wasn't ugly either, just that this pretty boy was too handsome.

He could definitely compete.

Although Arabella didn't like him, he controlled resources her family needed. Even for her brother's sake, she'd have to think it over.

He really did like Arabella—young, energetic, beautiful, with a great figure. Most importantly, she had good values and handled relationships cleanly, not using him as a backup plan.

And according to her stepmother, she was good at all household chores and graduated from a top university. This kind of girl was perfect to marry.

From every angle, she was very attractive to him.

Worth putting in some effort.

The hostility in his gaze as he looked at Alexander was too obvious. Alexander stood before him, a full head taller, and just by standing there without saying anything, he made John feel an inexplicable pressure.

"Mr. Gray, nice to meet you." Alexander curved his lips in a smile that didn't reach his eyes, maintaining surface politeness. "My last name is FitzRoy."

He didn't even bother giving his first name.

He even ignored John's extended hand.

John wasn't embarrassed. After holding his hand in the air for a moment, he withdrew it and made a gesture of invitation. "Let's sit and chat."

Alexander sat down and smoothly took the tea Arabella had made, saying gently, "No need to go to so much trouble. Sit down and rest."

Arabella smiled and nodded.

The atmosphere was truly strange. She'd thought that after Alexander arrived, John would leave.

She hadn't expected John to stay.

What was he trying to do? She had a boyfriend now—was he trying to steal her away?

Whatever little favorable impression she'd had of John was completely gone.

John looked at Alexander, smiled, and asked, "May I ask what line of work you're in, Mr. FitzRoy?"

Alexander took a sip of water and said flatly, "Insurance sales."

Hearing this, a flash of disdain crossed John's eyes.

An insurance salesman. Just as he'd thought—just a pretty boy, good-looking but useless.