Kevin could not help but ask, “Can’t you let us fall in love at our own pace?”
“I am. I’m just giving you a target and a time limit of one year. If you really can’t become husband and wife within one year, I’ll give up.”
Kevin muttered, “We’re said to be favored and giants among men, but in your eyes, we’re unmarketable products that can’t be sold. We’re not that old. We’re all still under thirty–five. Look, Duncan is thirty–six but still unmarried.”
Kevin planned to solve his marriage when he was thirty to thirty–five years old.
Men like him who had busy jobs and successful careers married later rather than sooner. Case in point–Zack was only forced to marry all of a sudden by Grandma May when he hit thirty.
Back then, Kevin was thankful that Zack was the eldest because only the eldest would suffer something like that while the younger ones would not have to experience it. However, he forgot the fact that once Zack was no longer around to act like a shield, none of the other brothers could escape anymore.
Only the youngest two or three could get away with it. It would be another decade or so before the youngest one could get married. By then, their nana would no longer have the energy to torture them.
Grandma May said, “Duncan already has a target, and his grandmother has passed away. If she were still alive, I guarantee she would’ve thrown a tantrum and used every possible means to force Duncan to get married and have children.”
Kevin still remembered the late Old Mrs. Lewis. The woman was even more difficult to handle than his own nana.
Compared to Old Mrs. Lewis… Yep, his nana was considered much better.
Lily had a habit of going on a stroll after eating.
Mrs. Lewis looked at Duncan.
Duncan and his three brothers were talking about the recent trends in the stock market.
He did not notice the conversation between Lily and his mother, much less his mother staring at him.
It was his second brother who noticed first. He nudged Duncan and whispered, “Mom is looking at you. I think she wants you to do something.”
Duncan turned to look at his mother and smiled. “What’s up, Mom?”
Why was she looking at him like that?
“Lily wants to go on a stroll. Go with her.”
Mrs. Lewis did not expect this son of hers to appreciate the pains she was taking, so she spoke bluntly and told him to accompany Lily on a walk.
Duncan looked at Lily and said, “Ms. Harmon, you’ve lived in my home for a while now, so you should be familiar with the environment here. You can’t go very far, so you can just walk by yourself. You won’t get lost.”
Mrs. Lewis’s expression darkened. She almost wanted to throw something at Duncan.
Lily smiled. “Yes, I won’t get lost, but it’s boring to walk alone. I want a companion to chat with me as I walk.
“Can you come with me?”
As all eyes were on Duncan, the words of refusal climbed up his throat before he swallowed them down again.
He said, “The sun is right above us now. It’s too hot.”
It was not evening.
The weather in Wiltspoon started warming up around March to April, and many would change to short–sleeved shirts by May. They would start longing for their electric fans.
“It’s windy today and not hot at all,” Mrs. Lewis said. “Lily is our guest, so you have to walk with her.”
Duncan looked at his three brothers, hoping that they would speak up for him. However, they glanced away and refused to meet his eyes.
With no other choice, Duncan stood up and said to Lily, “Let’s go, Ms. Harmon. I’ll accompany you for a stroll outside.”
Lily smiled. “Thank you for sparing the time, Duncan.”
Looking at the backs of the two people going out together, Mrs. Lewis said to her husband happily, “Those two are such a great match. Duncan just doesn’t understand. Lily is a great girl. If he doesn’t grab her, she’ll be taken away by someone else.
“He only has this advantage because I’m good friends with Lily’s mother.”
Derek smiled. “Don’t push him too hard. Duncan was so scared of you that he ran off to live at Zack’s place.”
“That brat… Tonight, I’ll talk to Zack and ask him to chase that brat out.”
“Mom, I don’t think Duncan is interested in Ms. Harmon,” said the eldest son, Emmett.
The second son, Kyle, chimed in, “Mom, you can’t force emotions. If Duncan doesn’t like Ms. Harmon, don’t force him to be with her. If it’s not meant to be, then it’s not meant to be. I don’t think Ms. Harmon is the type who likes being forced into a relationship.”
Lily was a woman with her own opinions. She only let her parents set her up with Duncan because she was genuinely interested in him.
However, that did not mean she liked to be forced into a relationship.
If she could not conquer Duncan, she would give up.
She would never marry a man who did not love her
“They haven’t even tried it out yet, so how would they know they won’t develop feelings for each other? It’s because you’re always speaking up for him that he still can’t get a wife at thirty–six. He’ll be forty in a few years. Some people would have grandchildren by then, but he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.”
Duncan’s three brothers did not dare say more.
They were afraid their mother would blame them for spoiling Duncan if they spoke up for him again, causing him to still remain single at the age of thirty–six.
Duncan accompanied Lily out of the house. The two strolled casually along the paved path in the courtyard.
However, Duncan’s pace was fast.
Lily wore high heels, so she struggled to follow him.
“Duncan.”
Lily was not the type who was willing to suffer for the sake of others. She jogged up and reached out to pull Duncan’s hand.
“What is it?”
Duncan’s attitude toward Lily was neither good nor bad. He did not hate Lily, but he just did not feel a spark with her.
He also did not like how his family was arranging a girlfriend for him without his consent.
“Are you running a race with me?”
Duncan’s dark eyes flashed. “Didn’t you say you wanted to take a stroll? Even if you wanted to race, you can’t race after just eating. It’ll upset your stomach.”
Lily paused before stating, “Don’t play dumb, Duncan. There’s a bench here. Let’s sit down and talk.”
Duncan wanted to say that he had nothing to talk to her about.
Their companies never worked together before, so there was nothing to talk about when it came to business.
However, he followed her to the stone bench ahead. Just as he was about to sit down, Lily stopped him, took out a packet of scented tissues, and wiped the bench.
She only allowed him to sit down after she threw away the tissue.
This girl was a conscientious person.
Duncan sat down and said, “The workers here clean the stone benches and tables in the backyard every day.”
“It’s been windy recently, so there’s a lot of dust in the air. Even if it’s cleaned daily, there’ll still be dust. The tissue was full of dirt when I wiped it just now.”
Duncan smiled and asked, “Ms. Harmon, are you a clean freak?”
“No.”
“That’s good. I’m most afraid of clean freaks. An uncouth man like me can’t get along with clean freaks. Zack is a bit of a clean freak, but he falls within my tolerance.
Zack was just fussy with cleanliness.
He was not a germaphobe.
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.