He thought the sisters would be preparing gifts for the Stones.
It never crossed his mind that Serena was getting gifts for her in–laws.
Tch. Serena turned out to be quite generous.
Come to think about it, where did Serena get the money from? Did she ask her sister for money to buy Christmas gifts?
“I can get as many as I want. It’s none of your business. You can let the lady next to you know if you’re jealous. Tell her to learn from me and be generous to spend some cash on the in–laws. Only the best for the in–laws, am I right?”
Hank turned to Jessica.
Jessica was fuming.
She had a bit of savings since she had been in the workforce for many years. Her parents and brothers knew nothing about it, and Jessica wanted to keep it that way in case her parents would take her money to give to her brothers.
Jessica would not even spend her money on her family, so why would she splurge on the Browns?
“Hank and I aren’t married. I’m not part of the Brown family yet.”
As Jessica was reluctant to present her in–laws with gifts, she stuck to her story that she had not married into the family yet.
Liberty glanced at Hank and curled a fake smile. “I’d give your parents and sister expensive gifts even before we were married. Your parents praised me, calling me sensible and well–mannered.”
In other words, Jessica was not sensible and well–mannered to skimp on the gifts.
Jessica felt a rush of blood to her head.
The fat cow was taunting her.
She snapped a biting remark, “Well, you may be sensible and well–mannered, but Hank dumped you anyway.”
Unfazed by the sarcasm, Liberty smiled. “I wasn’t dumped. I asked for a divorce because he was tainted. Ms. Yates, I should thank you. I wouldn’t be able to get rid of him if you didn’t take over. You got him, and I got a wad of cash out of it. I’m living the life now.
“Life has never been better!”
Liberty had it easy after leaving Hank. At least, she no longer had to wait on Hank’s hand and foot or deal with her parents-in-law. She escaped her mother–in–law and sister–in–law’s nitpicking.
With the Browns‘ characters coming to mind, Jessica had to admit that Liberty did the right thing by leaving Hank and staying away from his family.
“Hank and I are getting married on Valentine’s Day.”
Changing the topic, Jessica began bragging to Liberty about getting her happy ending with Hank.
“Hank’s giving my parents a lump sum of 777,777 dollars. You tore the previous house down, but it’s a good thing because I didn’t like the design. I’m going to have our marital home renovated. Hank said my name will be on the title deed. “I’ll have access to his bank account too, unlike you who had to split everything.”
Curling her lips, Liberty said, “I heard things aren’t going well for both of you at work. One of these days, you might just find yourselves without a job. You’ll only have access to an empty bank account. What’s there to brag about?
“Although we paid for our half of the expenses, I got a million bucks off him during the divorce. My life with my son won’t be affected even when he’s out of
employment.”
Jessica was lost for words.
Hank pulled a sour face. “What do you mean by out of employment? We’re doing fine at our jobs, thank you very much.”
Serena chimed in, “Your mom said otherwise. She’s been at my sister’s place nearly every day to rant about a mistress having you under a spell. She said Ms. Yates’s a prodigal who doesn’t care that money doesn’t grow on trees. Your mom even commented that Ms. Yates’s parents are selling their daughter instead of marrying off their daughter. Apparently, her family is money hungry.”
Jessica scowled.
Agreeing that the Yates family was demanding a lot, Hank did not refute it.
Hank could afford the Yateses‘ wedding demands, but he was reluctant to give in to all their terms because the total cost was rather high. Hank still needed to pay for the home renovation.
Plus, the wedding and reception cost a lot. It made Hank think twice about offering additional financial support to the Yateses.
As mentioned by his mother, he could marry into prestige with 777,777 bucks, but could Jessica bring him prestige?
His mom also talked about Jessica’s integrity. Jessica was cognizant that he was married with a son, yet she got involved with him anyway. Even though Hank fell for Jessica first, it took two to tango.
Jessica would have handed in her resignation and stayed away unless she got her eye on him too.
His mom said it was cheap of Jessica. She may be pretty, but it did not change the fact that she was a wh*re. Jessica could not compare to Liberty.
“Liberty, I need to get a lot more stuff. Let’s carry on our shopping.”
With her attempt to drive a wedge a success, Serena called her sister and pushed the cart away.
Hank came over to give his son a cuddle, but he was so preoccupied with criticizing Liberty that he did not manage to hold Sonny.
“Hank, you should tell your mom off when we get back home. She shouldn’t be going to Liberty. I thought she didn’t like Liberty.
“Also, your mom shouldn’t be telling the world about us and airing dirty laundry. She should know that. I wouldn’t be that angry if she told an outsider, but she went to Liberty. Liberty must be laughing at us. How embarrassing is that for me?”
Jessica always thought herself to be a winner before Liberty.
Hank treated her so much better than Liberty, and it gave Jessica something to brag
about when she ran into Liberty.
However, Mrs. Brown went to speak ill of her to Liberty, and it undermined Jessica.
Liberty must be gloating.
Pushing the shopping cart ahead, Hank uttered, “My mom has nothing better to do. She just wants to pour her feelings out to someone, but she only knows Liberty in the city. That’s why she went to her.”
“My mom doesn’t mean it. Why are you hung up on this? Jessica, if I can be honest about the bride price, I think your family is demanding a lot. I’m fine with giving your family over seven hundred thousand dollars if they pay for the wedding and offer other gifts of the same value.
“Heck, I’ll be happy if they offer half the value, but your parents said they’ll only be gifting a few sets of bedding and an e–bike. The gifts are only less than ten thousand dollars put together.
“I overheard your parents the day they came to meet mine that the bride price would be split between your two brothers for their home renovations and new cars. Your parents are keeping sixty thousand dollars while only six thousand dollars is left for you and the wedding.”
Hank admitted that he went through the roof when he eavesdropped on how Jessica’s parents planned to spend the money.
He owned a fortune of around two million dollars. Since more than a million dollars went to Liberty, Hank had less than a million dollars left. However, he went back to becoming a millionaire after collecting the recent kickback and cash reward he hinted at the material supplier.
Nevertheless, the money would not last with the Yateses‘ exorbitant demand.
Jessica believed that her parents went too far too.
The monetary gift should be given to her instead.
She could not believe that her parents intended to give the money to her brothers to renovate the house and purchase autos when Jessica only got a few beddings and an e–bike. It was hurtful.
Jessica’s parents, brothers, and sisters–in–law usually doted on her.
Now that she was about to walk down the aisle, the true colors of her parents were showing.
Her parents talked about her being the favorite in the family, but all they were trying to do was to use her to improve her brothers‘ standard of living.
Still, Jessica took her parents‘ side after Hank made his grievance known.
“My parents raised me and paid for my college. It was not easy for them, and they spent a lot of money on me. The monetary gift is only to thank them for raising me.
well. Since the money is for my parents, they can do whatever they want to do with it. Besides, it’s our custom that the amount of bride price represents the love the
groom
has for the bride. It shows how far the groom is willing to go for the bride.”
Hank told her off, “I make money to give you instead of your brothers a better life. Think about it. We won’t be able to indulge in the life we’re accustomed to if I meet your parents‘ demands.
“What if your parents continue to ask us for money after the wedding? The money will be gone once your brothers renovate the house and buy a new car. They might look for excuses to get cash out of us.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.