She obediently followed his instructions and sat next to him. Once she sat down, she realized that she had been too obedient and felt like a pet dog listening to the command of her owner.
‘Eeks! Yucks! I’m not some pet dog!’ She immediately comforted herself inwardly.
Hadwin Stephenson took the ointment from her hand, lowered his head, and applied the ointment on the burnt area of her hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney looked at each other when they saw what he did. Subsequently, Mrs. Sweeney asked in a friendly tone, “Tingxin, what other family members do you have? Have your parents retired?”
“My late father has pa**ed away. My mother has been living abroad all this while and has no plans of returning,” Hadwin
Stephenson replied.
“Do you have any siblings?” Mrs. Sweeney continued to probe.
“I do have some half-siblings that share the same father. My father has quite a few women, therefore he had more children.”
Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney had not expected such an answer, so the atmosphere became rather awkward. They did not know how to continue the conversation.
Lina Sweeney immediately said without further thoughts, “Mom, Dad, these are the affairs of the previous generation. His parents are his parents, he is himself!”
Hadwin Stephenson was rather surprised by Lina Sweeney as he looked at her with a hint of warmth that even he did not realize.
Mr. Sweeney reacted first and conceded. “Indeed. Those were the affairs of past generations. So… Tingxin, what are you working as?”
“I mainly manage a company,” Hadwin Stephenson replied.
“Manage… a company?” Mr. Sweeney looked at him in disbelief. He thought perhaps he had misheard him. “What company do you manage? You’re only 29 years old.”
For Mr. Sweeney, it was good enough if a 29-year-old young man could get a regular managerial position.
As for managing a company, he still found it rather implausible.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Stephenson Group.”
Mr. Sweeney was a man from a small suburb. He was not familiar with any famous shipping companies. However, he could tell the brand of cars from the logo within his suburb.
Mr. Sweeney smiled awkwardly. “Um… I haven’t heard of it before. Is it a new company?” After all, young people nowadays liked being entrepreneurs. It was not uncommon for them to build a new company.
Lina Sweeney felt more awkward than her dad.
Hadwin Stephenson said nothing but merely smiled.
After chatting a while more, Lina Sweeney wanted to find an excuse to send Hadwin Stephenson off, but her parents asked him to stay for a meal.
“Didn’t you say that you have some things to settle in the office?” Lina Sweeney kept signaling him with her eyes.
“This meal won’t take much of my time.”
Lina Sweeney was rendered speechless.
‘Is he saying that he wants to stay for a meal?’
After the meal ended, Lina Sweeney noticed that her parents wanted to chat further with Hadwin Stephenson to get to know him further. Thus, she quickly said, “Let me take him out for a stroll to digest our food.” She did not waste any second in pulling Hadwin Stephenson out.
Lina Sweeney finally heaved in relief once they reached the elevator. The meet-the-parents-day finally ended.
Lina Sweeney could not help from exclaiming, “If I didn’t bring you out just now, my parents would probably ask about your ancestral tree as well. Earlier when my parents asked you those questions, you didn’t need to answer with much detail. You could have just brushed them off with a simple answer.”
He suddenly said, “I think you wish that your parents aren’t pleased with me. If that’s the case, why did you say something like ‘my parents are my parents, I am me’ kind of thing?”
Lina Sweeney was taken aback for a moment. She had said that out of the spur of the moment.
“So… you don’t wish that your parents dislike me?” he asked.
His gaze seemed to make her inexplicably flustered. “I just felt that the deeds of the past generation should not be equated to you as a person. Don’t overanalyze the meaning of what I
said.”
She turned her head away to avoid his gaze.
“Is that it?” He asked deeply while looking meaningfully at her face that had gradually begun to turn red.
Ding!
The elevator arrived on the first floor. They walked toward where Hadwin Stephenson had parked his car.
Lina Sweeney was eager to bid him farewell. “That’s all for today. Bye-bye!” She immediately turned around to leave.
However, Hadwin Stephenson suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the arm before pulling her into his embrace.
“Ah!” Lina Sweeney shrieked softly as her nose bumped into
Hadwin Stephenson’s chest.
‘That was painful!’ Lina Sweeney rubbed her nose. Her nose had experienced similar trauma several times in the past. Nevertheless, even if her nose were made of steel, it would not have been able to withstand that much pain.
Hadwin Stephenson bent down and brought his lips closer to her ears as he whispered, “Didn’t you say that as long as I keep my mouth shut about what happened in the hotel, you’ll agree to a request of mine?”
Lina Sweeney’s ears were tickled by Hadwin Stephenson’s breath. She felt her body gradually begin to heat up.
“What… sort of request do you have?” Lina Sweeney licked her rather lips that were rather dry.
“I want you to kiss me and say that the person you like the most is me,” Hadwin Stephenson replied.
‘Huh?’
Lina Sweeney was stunned. “Here?”
“Yes, right here,” Hadwin Stephenson said.
‘But the thing is… we’re in the suburbs, and it’s not even 8 PM. There are so many people walking around. Even if the parking lot were a little secluded and there weren’t so many people walking around, it would not be completely deserted either.
Lina Sweeney bit her lip. “Why don’t we change locations?”
“Why? Are you embarra**ed to be with me? Is that why you don’t dare to go out in public with me?” Hadwin Stephenson raised a brow.
“That’s not it. This place is too crowded and we’ll be noticed by others. What if we become the talk of the town…”
Hadwin Stephenson responded with a question, “So what?