SWNOVELS Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Annallse's Expensive Betrothal Gift
When they heard that, everyone was stunned. Kent's voice quivered involuntarily as he stammered, "Y-You're the eldest son of the Parks family?" "Isn't their eldest son already fifty-two? And isn't he paralyzed and in a wheelchair?" he wondered at the same time. As he thought about this, he exchanged glances with Bethany, who was also dumbfounded. Abigail was in utter disbelief as well. She secretly scrutinized Julian and thought to herself, "Isn't he such a perfect man? He has well-defined features, a tall stature, and a perfect figure. He also gives off an air of nobility. I can't believe that he's the eldest son of the Parks family and the man I'm married to! Which moron spread the fake news that the eldest son of the Parks family was a fifty-two-year-old disabled man? They're just too ridiculous!" When she thought about how young and handsome Julian was, Abigail was overjoyed. She wished that she could marry him on the spot. After Annalise found out that Julian was the supposed fifty-two-year-old eldest son of the Parks family, she suddenly came to a realization. "Did he intentionally spread the rumor that he was fifty-two years old? When he said that he wanted me to help him fend off unwanted suitors, was he trying to fend off Abigail? This is indeed karma!" she exclaimed inwardly. Bethany hurriedly tugged at Kent. At that, Kent instantly revealed a warm smile. "Hello. Nice to meet you." He then turned to Samuel and said, "Old Mr. Parks, we've already decided on the marriage a long time ago. Now that you've personally come over today, why don't we discuss a date for the wedding?" When he heard this, Samuel chuckled. "Of course. We're here for that precise reason, too. Besides that, since we're here today, let's also talk about the betrothal gifts. Julian intends on giving 300 million dollars to Ms. Barton as a betrothal gift. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on that. We will respect the opinions of the Barton family." Once she heard that there would be a betrothal gift of 300 million dollars, Abigail flushed with excitement. She grinned so widely that her eyes were almost in the shape of crescents, and she cast a shy and affectionate glance at Julian. Normally, men wouldn't be able to stand such a charming glance from her. However, Julian simply glared at her coldly. His cold and indifferent gaze made Abigail's heart flutter, as she thought that he was incredibly handsome, cool, and manly. When Kent and Bethany heard that there would be a betrothal gift worth 300 million dollars, they were so surprised that they were at a loss for words. Kent, who was after all still a businessman, replied courteously, "There's no need for that. It's too much." "Of course, that's very much needed. Julian, hand Ms. Barton the card," Samuel instructed. Upon hearing this, the three members of Kent's family shifted their gazes toward the bank card in Julian's hand in unison. It was 300 million dollars, after all. After running Moonlight Group for so many years, they were starting to do pretty decently. Despite that, their annual profit was only 30 million dollars. Sometimes, if the business was poor, they couldn't even make 30 million dollars in a year. Now, the Parks family's betrothal gift was 300 million dollars, an amount that would take them ten years of hard work to earn! Samue smiled. "It's our first time coming to the Barton residence, and it's quite far from our place, so we didn't bring the other betrothal gifts over. Before this, I was still worried that you wouldn't bear to marry your darling girl over to our family. Don't worry, Mr. Barton. We'll definitely bring the rest of the gifts over next time." There seemed to be a hidden meaning behind Samuel's words. However, Kent failed to catch his hidden intentions completely and replied with a grin, "Old Mr. Parks, you're too kind. It would be a great blessing for my daughter to marry into the Parks family. Why wouldn't I bear to do that?" All of a sudden, the smile on his face froze. All he saw was Julian handing his bank card over to Annalise as he said, "Hope we get along well in the future." When he saw this, Kent started to panic and hurriedly said, "Julian, you got the wrong person. That's my niece, Annalise. This is my daughter, Abigail." He then pointed to Abigail, who exuded a fairylike beauty in her white dress. "Thank god Abbie is smart. She knows that she should dress up nicely to meet them. First impressions are very important," he thought to himself. Abigail instantly smiled as she looked toward Julian and waited for him to hand her the bank card with 300 million dollars. To her surprise, Julian responded, "That's right. The one I'm marrying is Annalise Barton." "What?" Kent was stunned by his words. He turned to look at Samuel with a perplexed expression. "Old Mr. Parks, what does this..." At this, Samuel smiled and responded, "Let me be frank with you. We reached Horington yesterday and got some rest at the Hamilton Hotel. Afterward, Julian just happened to meet Annalise at the hotel, and it was love at first sight for him. When he found out that she was from the Barton family, he decided to get engaged to her. This really is fate. Haha!" In fact, Samuel scoffed inwardly. Julian had told him about everything that had happened the day before. Abigail thought that the eldest son of the Parks family was old and disabled. Because of this, she ended up stealing the boyfriend of her own. cousin and sleeping with him at the hotel. If the Barton family was unwilling to let their daughter marry into the Parks family, they could have just made it clear to him. After all, the Parks family would not have forced them to marry their daughter over. Back when they arranged the engagement, Samuel only did it because he valued Kent's character. He thought that someone who would lend a helping hand to a stranger would inevitably be someone with good character. If the father had an excellent character, there was a high chance that their children would also be decent. That was the reason why he asked Kent if he had a daughter who was suitable to get married so that the two families could arrange for a marriage. Back then, Kent instantly agreed to this. Half a year later, one day before they decided to come to Horington, Samuel had called Kent again. He then asked Kent if he was going to keep to his promise about marrying his daughter over. He also wanted to confirm if Kent had informed his daughter about the matter and if his daughter agreed to the marriage. Over the phone, Kent sounded very enthusiastic and said that his daughter was thrilled to find out that the Parks family was coming over. In the end when they came over, Abigail ended up stealing her cousin's fiancé. Samuel couldn't help but wonder if this was what Kent meant when he said that his daughter was thrilled. When Julian told him about this, he initially wanted to make up an excuse for Kent, as he thought that Kent's daughter was just being ridiculous, and Kent was in the dark about this. However, Julian then told him that Kent wasn't a good man, as he sent his niece to be raised in the countryside, didn't let her go to school, and even took over the company that his sister left for his niece. Julian also said that he had already registered his marriage with Kent's niece. After Samuel heard about this, he blamed Julian for being too rash. Samuel thought that a girl who grew up in the countryside without any education wouldn't be capable of shouldering the responsibility as the lady of the Parks family in the future. Despite that, Julian said that he trusted his intuition and taste. He believed that a woman who was brave enough to reject a scum would be able to mature rapidly. He also added that he only had a strong impression of two girls in his entire life. Back when he was fourteen, he had an asthma attack and collapsed to the floor. Just as he was on the brink of death, a girl suddenly appeared before him and saved his life. She was the first girl who left a strong impression on him. The second one was none other than Annalise. When he heard this, Samuel felt his heart ache. He knew that Julian had always been searching for the girl who had saved his life back then. But now, the situation that the Parks family was in wasn't favorable for Julian. There was an urgent need for him to get married to earn support from the family, which was why he considered getting married. Thus, Samuel supported Julian's decision without hesitation and followed him over to back Annalise up. He also decided to double the initial amount for the betrothal gift.