It'll Come Naturally

"Excuse me? What did you just say? Are you serious?" Michelle opened her eyes wide, staring at him in disbelief. She never saw that coming and was totally out of the blue. She was expecting a rude retort, not a marriage proposal. It wasn't a romantic proposal but still, what a surprise! She was so shocked that she just could not think of a proper response. So many things were going on in her head at the same time.

"Well, I hate repeating myself," Luke said impatiently. Had Cynthia and Jonathan not kept bugging him that they would like to introduce a woman to him, he would not have said that. Even though he was just an adopted son, he considered them his natural parents and gave them the highest respect. And since it was their wish for their son to get married, he would make every effort to please them. That being said, Michelle was just a sacrificial lamb whom he took advantage of to make them happy. Apart from that, she was nobody to him. "Fine. I think I heard what you said. It is just very hard to believe. Especially with your attitude towards me. Also you blocked me. I can't call you," Michelle said in a wronged tone. Anyway, she received the best and most inspiring response from him. Of course, she was not that naive to believe that he decided to marry her because of love. But she did not care. She believed that he would eventually fall in love with her someday as long as she tried hard enough and did her very best.

"I'll unblock you. Oh, and just to be clear, there won't be any wedding ceremony. We'll simply go to the civil affairs bureau to register. If you are fine with it, we can do it soon. If you are not, then forget about it, this whole deal is off." Luke turned around and left as soon as he finished speaking. He did not allow any time for Michelle to think it over. Was this the kind of marriage that Michelle really wanted? He did not care. Plus he was not about to spend a single cent on a circus ceremony that he despised. He was a jerk, not an idiot. Michelle bit her lips. For her, it was fine to have no wedding ceremony at all. But her parents might be unhappy with that arrangement. Although her family had something to do with the underworld, they merely ran some "special business", and they were not one of those big time criminals. As parents, they would surely want their daughter to have her dream wedding ceremony.

Michelle made great efforts to persuade her parents. Her father was so furious and insulted with the setup that he even wanted to kill someone to vent his anger. But for her daughter's sake, he calmed down and eventually accepted it. She was his beloved daughter, after all. He had no choice but to be gracious about it and give them his blessing because his daughter had already decided that she would not marry any other man except for Luke. Eventually, he made the compromise. But there was still one thing he insisted on, that the families of both sides should meet at least once before they got registered. Otherwise, he would not agree to this marriage.

"Dad, Mom, I'm getting married." Right after dinner, Luke announced his percussive decision to finally tie the knot. Everyone was shocked upon hearing the news. Edward spit out some tea. They were filled with a mix of joy, elation and disbelief. Luke's mother was all smiles, proud of his son.

"Really? Lukie?" Cynthia asked in surprise as she hugged her son. This news just sounded unbelievable to her. She had arranged blind dates for him many times. But he just refused to go on those dates. For quite sometime, she even thought that he liked men instead of women! She could now heave a big sigh of relief, hearing such good news tonight!

"Mom, are you not afraid that the one he's going to marry is a guy? He hasn't told us yet if it's going to be a woman!" Edward pursed his mouth and let out an evil smile. He was aware what business his parents were busy with. He probably knew that Luke decided to give in to them by marrying Michelle thanks to their excessive and relentless badgering. Oh, yes, of course, he knew it was Michelle that Luke would marry, because Luke did not know any other woman apart from her. It looked like Luke was deliberately forced into a marriage which turned to be a blessing in disguise for Michelle. Had his parents not paid too much attention to Luke's personal life and pressured him about it, he probably would not have considered even hanging out with her. Fortunately for Michelle, the stars in the sky, with the help of the gods, had aligned perfectly to her favor. Edward knew Luke well. If he had his own way, he would not even think of getting married.

"No way! Uncle Luke, are you confirming to us that you like men? I remember that Grandma was busy choosing among lots of women for you. But it turns out that you like men!" Justin joined in the conversation and turned to his uncle. He took his father's words seriously. Actually, he did not think there would be something wrong should his Uncle Luke marry a man. These were the modern times and he was allowed to love anyone he wanted. As for the sex? It did not matter a lot, did it? It was done in private and was nobody's business, so why worry about that?☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐