Chapter 87 Uncle Louis and Uncle Davian
Alina went to the refrigerator to get an apple. Wilson had told her that there were all kinds of fruits which he bought just now.
She took out an apple, washed it under the tap, and handed it to Wilson. "Here, your apple."
Wilson frowned. "I don't eat the apple skin!"
"This won't do, apples should be eaten with their skin!" Alina showed a serious expression on her face.
Since they left the jigsaw puzzle shop, Wilson had the upper hand in all their decisions. This time, Alina was determined to have her way!
Wilson frowned again. "Since young, I have not eaten apples that were not peeled."
Inwardly, Alina smiled mischievously. However, she put on an unyielding expression on her face and said in a stubborn tone, "I want you to eat it whole!"
Wilson frowned: "I really hate eating apple in its skin!"
She insisted. "Do you really love me if you can't even eat an apple for me?"
When Wilson heard Alina's words and noticed that she had a displeased look on her face, he reached out and took the apple from her. Without saying a word, he took a big bite from the apple, skin and all. Alina's eyes widened. Was the apple skin that nasty? Why did Wilson look like he was consuming poison? His brows were furrowed tightly into a knot.
She couldn't help poking his cheek. "Hey, is it really that difficult for you to eat apple peel?"
Wilson peeked at her and nodded. "Yes, it's disgusting!"
"If it really tastes that bad, you don't have to eat it then." Alina gave in first.
She couldn't bear to see him in distress.
Wilson shook his head. "No, since you were the one who asked me to eat it, I must finish this apple."
Alina was speechless at his obstinancy.
With a frown on his face and his eyes squeezed shut, Wilson finally finished the apple after much difficulty.
During the whole process, Alina felt bad for forcing Wilson to eat the apple peel. As he took the last bite out of the apple, she heaved a long sigh of relief and said, "In the future, you don't have to eat the apple skin anymore!"
Wilson pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently from side to side. He murmured, "In all my 28 years of life, I never ate apples in their skin. Silly girl, do you know how much I love you? I would rather eat the nastiest apple peel in the world as long as you remain by my side!"
With Wilson's help, their efficiency at completing the jigsaw puzzle improved by leaps and bounds.
Although Wilson took liberties to distract Alina with kisses and hugs, they managed to complete the puzzle before nine o'clock in the morning.
It was obvious that it would be completely impossible for Alina to complete the puzzle all by herself before ten.
Wilson had put together the jigsaw puzzle as fast as lightning. Alina's eyes shone with admiration at his speed.
It seemed like Wilson had no weakness. Although this was his first time completing a puzzle, how could he be so skilful? In Alina's opinion, he was as perfect as a celestial being.
It was after a long time that Alina finally found out Wilson was an idiot in first aid and cooking. Only then did she realise Wilson was just a normal man with weaknesses. He couldn't even cook! After they finished the Pines and Cranes jigsaw puzzle, Wilson and Alina drove straight to the Scott Family villa.
At 9:30 in the morning, they arrived punctually at the venue.
At this time, the atmosphere was already very lively. There were many people milling around the gardens of the Scott Family villa.
Most of the men were in formal suits, and the women were dressed in their finest gowns.
At a glance, it was obvious that the invited guests were of elite status.
Alina was so nervous that her palms were sweating. Wilson held her hand in his gently.
He could feel the tension from her hands and comforted Alina softly, "Don't worry, I'm right beside you!"
"Yes." Alina nodded, immediately feeling at ease.
A charming and sweet smile appeared on her face.
The servants of the Scott Family were so busy that they were almost running to complete their tasks.
There were more than a hundred tables placed around the courtyard of the villa. It was a huge task for the servants to serve the hungry crowd who were invited to the banquet.
Alina turned to Wilson and asked with a smile, "Will there be that many guests to fill all the tables?"
Wilson smiled and replied with a meaningful look in his eyes, "The rest of the guests have not arrived yet. If we were to open up the villa and announce the celebration publicly, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to accommodate everyone."
Meeting Wilson's profound gaze, Alina understood instantly. Since the olden times, people had flocked to the rich and wealthy. No one would care about a poor person.
Her family's situation was in stark contrast to Wilson's. Since childhood, few relatives had come to visit her family. When her father was still alive, some of her uncles would come to visit occasionally. However, after her father passed away, they were no longer in contact.
Among the relatives on her mother's side, there was only an aunt who stayed in touch. After Alina and her family moved to Jameson City, they lost contact as her aunt's family was poor and her cousin had a frail constitution.
Noticing Wilson's arrival, countless people came up immediately to greet him with wide smiles on their faces.
"Hello, Mr. Scott!"
"Good day, Mr. Scott!"
"Wilson, you're here!"
"Mr. Scott, I'm so glad to see you."
"Mr. Scott, I've asked to meet you several times, however, you were too busy. We finally have the chance to meet today."
Wilson greeted them with a poker face. He was used to treating people coldly and keeping them at a distance especially in the business world.
To those who came up to greet him, Wilson replied with a polite and formal greeting.
To those who wanted to talk about work matters, he cut them off coldly. "Today is my grandfather's birthday, let's not talk about work."
There was no need to waste his energy by smiling at them.
Friendship didn't matter to him. The business industry was like a battlefield. Parties who mutually benefit from each other could be allies, those who were unrelated would coexist peacefully, and competitors should be weeded out inevitably.
Every single person would fall into these three categories. In that case, why should he pretend to care about others?
He didn't mind giving up a little profit so that other companies may survive.
If they all thought the same as Wilson, he would be very grateful.
However, he knew that not everyone in the world was like Alina. She wasn't interested in his money or wealth. She truly cared about whether Wilson's position in the Scott Family would be at risk or if he was tired out from work.
Holding Alina's hand tightly, he turned to her and said with a smile, "Lina, let's go find Grandfather, Uncle Louis, and Uncle Davian."
"Okay." Alina nodded and allowed him to lead the way.
Along the way, there were still many people coming over to greet them.
Wilson responded to all of them with a cold expression.
He didn't care how others gossiped about him behind his back. He was Wilson Scott, the alpha of the business world.
Wilson knew that most of the people present were secretly hoping that he would fail. If they could, they would surpass him and replace his position. Nonetheless, he would not give them the chance! Wilson would never allow himself to fall into that miserable state.
They walked across the main courtyard, through a side gate, and finally arrived at a private garden.
Alina had never been to this area before. When she looked around, she was taken aback by what she saw.
There was a small pavilion in the middle of the garden. There weren't any flowers, but vegetables were planted behind the pavilion. Lincoln was clearing the weeds in the vegetable patch.
In the pavilion, two elderly men were playing chess. One of them was wearing a white shirt, and the other was dressed in a blue tunic.
The old man in a white shirt was smiling as he took down his opponent's knight. He put it aside and chuckled gleefully. "I say, Davian, you should just give up. It's been decades, and you are still a bad chess player. Go, admit defeat, and help Lincoln clear the weeds."
The other man, Davian Taylor, glared at him. "Did I lose? I haven't lost yet! My king and queen are still intact!"
"Uncle Louis, Uncle Davian!" Wilson approached and greeted them politely with Alina in tow.
The two elderly men raised their heads at the same time. When they saw Wilson, their faces broke into warm smiles.
Louis waved Wilson over. "Wilson, come over here, quick! Take a look at my strategy and give me some feedback!" His eyes were gleaming with pride.
Davian interrupted, "Come here, Wilson. Stand beside me and we will defeat that grumpy old man, Louis Brooks, together."
Seeing Wilson and Alina arrive, Lincoln stood up from the vegetable patch. Holding a handful of weeds in his hand, he walked to the pavilion with a smile. Looking at Alina, he said kindly, "Lina, you're here!" "Yes, Grandfather!" Alina greeted Lincoln with a respectful smile.
Seeing that Lincoln greeted the young lady so enthusiastically, Louis and Davian turned to Alina with interest.
When Wilson saw them looking over, he introduced the two elderly men to Alina. "This is Uncle Louis, and this is Uncle Davian."
Alina nodded and greeted them politely as well. "Nice to meet you, Uncle Louis, Uncle Davian!"
"Good, good! You're such a well-mannered young lady!" Louis replied with a warm smile.
"Well, you're so lovely. If my boy can find such a charming granddaughter-in-law for me, I won't have any regrets," Davian added effusively.
"Your name, Lina, has a nice ring to it. It sounds pleasant to the ears!" Louis praised her again.
Alina felt a bit embarrassed by all the attention.
On the other hand, Wilson had a broad smile on his face. He liked hearing other people complimenting Alina.
Davian glanced at Wilson and Alina, who were holding hands. He exclaimed, "Lincoln, you are really lucky. Look, there's another happy occasion coming up in your family. After your 80th birthday celebration, Wilson had found his better half. Once they get married, it won't be long before you will have great-grandchildren. Conversely, my grandson doesn't even have a proper girlfriend. He really worries me." Hearing Davian's tone of admiration, Alina couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Lincoln raised his chin proudly as he heard Davian's words. "Of course, who do you think I am?" With that, he turned to Alina and said affectionately, "Lina, if you are not busy with work, you should spend more time in the Scott Family villa and accompany me more often!"
"Yes, I will." Alina agreed with a nod.
Wilson met her gaze with a smile. Coincidentally, they had reached an agreement to spend a few days with Lincoln at the Scott Mansion.
However, Davian countered Lincoln's words. "I say, Lincoln, you should be more understanding. Louis and I don't even have granddaughters-in-law yet. Are you planning to have Lina give birth to great- grandchildren as soon as possible? Don't give excuses such as staying over to accompany you!"
Upon hearing his words, Alina's cheeks blushed.
In contrast, Wilson smiled to himself. He was ecstatic at the idea of having a child. As he was already 28 years old, he would be 29 after the wedding in March next year. Having a baby would be next on the agenda.
Lincoln laughed out loud in glee.
The atmosphere in the pavilion was exuberant with their cheerful voices. At that moment, a couple appeared in the garden.
They were Lucas and Caitlin. Both of them were carrying gifts.
They had seen Wilson and Alina quietly enter the private garden.
Lucas and Caitlin had never dared to enter the garden because Lincoln had said before that no one was allowed to come in without his permission.
When they saw that Wilson and Alina were not scolded, they assumed that their grandfather was in a good mood because of his birthday. With Uncle Louis and Uncle Davian around, Lincoln would not rebuke them in front of guests. That was why they came into the garden with their gifts.
Lucas and Caitlin went into the garden for two purposes. First, they wanted to show their filial piety to Lincoln. Second, Caitlin hoped that Louis would approve of her position as a legitimate daughter of the Brooks family. After all, she was already Lucas's official girlfriend, and Lucas was a grandson of the Scott Family.
It was nothing for the Brooks Family to acknowledge Caitlin as a member of the Brooks Family. However, for Caitlin and Lucas, it was very important.