Way Back Into Love (Essie)

The next day, when Lucy and Bob came to visit Essie, she was still fast asleep. She was woken up by the doorbell ringing, so she went to open the door groggily and went back to lie on the bed. Lucy looked around and asked, "Where is Zac?"

"Asleep in his room," she replied in a daze. After getting off the Ferris wheel, they went to see a movie and didn't come home until midnight.

"I just saw that he isn't in the room. He must be out." Lucy paused and added casually, "You two didn't sleep together?"

Upon hearing Lucy's words, Essie became wide awake, scared. While she was thinking about how to answer, she suddenly heard Bob's voice. "You didn't have a fight with Zac, did you?" he asked.

"No, we are completely fine." Essie quickly came up with an excuse. "I don't really sleep well at night. I either snatch the quilt from him or kick him out of the bed. Because of that, he can't sleep well beside me and it has affected his work. So we decided to sleep separately on most days. We sleep together on weekends."

Hearing her explanation, Lucy looked at her and mumbled, "Essie, since you two are living with each other, it is more or less inevitable to have some conflicts between the two of you, but you have to overcome that. Sleeping in different beds will have an emotional impact on both of you." She said that sincerely.

"I know, mom!" It was so embarrassing for her to discuss this topic with her mother. Luckily for her, her mother didn't live in there, otherwise, she would probably force them to sleep in the same room. Lucy didn't say anything more. After all, she had only come to invite Essie and Zac to have dinner with Essie's aunt.

"Call Zac right now to see if he has time."

"Okay." Essie nodded and took up the phone from the bedside table. Just as she was about to make the call, she heard the door open. It was Zac. He came in with breakfast in his hands.

When he saw his mother-in-law and father-in-law, he quickly put down the things in his hands and went to pour them some tea, "Uncle, aunt, have you had breakfast?"

"Yes, we have." Lucy smiled and winked at his husband. Bob took the hint and coughed. "We are a family now. Can you change the way you call us?" he said.

Zac was very happy to hear that they had finally accepted him as their son-in-law!

"Dad, mom!" He immediately corrected himself.

Essie glanced at her mother and father by her side, and she felt a mixture of both joy and sadness. She was happy that they didn't get mad at her for "acting first and reporting afterwards", and at the same time, she was worried about how she would face them when they got divorced in the future.

Zac seemed to have read her mind and gave her a mysterious smile.

After they left the apartment, Zac drove his car to a shopping mall first. He bought two bottles of French wine and a fruit basket. Etiquette was always very important to Chinese people. Since it was the first time he, the son-in-law, was going to visit his wife's relatives, it would be inappropriate for him to come empty-handed.

Bob and Lucy looked at each other and nodded with satisfaction. It made them happy to see that their son-in-law was thoughtful and sensible.

The moment they arrived at the Harkin Palace, they immediately heard Essie's excited voice. "Wow! What a beautiful house! Did you rent or buy it?"

"Of course we bought it. It's a 100 square-meter apartment. It cost more than 700 million dollars, and we paid it in full," Essie's aunt Wendy said. She wanted to show off her daughter's wedding room, so she decided to cook their meal by herself instead of going to a restaurant.

With a smile on her face, Essie set her eyes on the man next to Finney. The man was about thirty years old, with a square face and single eyelids. Even though he had a rough set of features, he looked quite agreeable at that moment.

"Finney, is this rich, handsome man my cousin-in-law?" she asked with a smile.

"His name is Antony Jiang." After introducing him, Finney looked at Zac and said, "By the way, Essie, who is this handsome man? Is he your exclusive model?"

"No, he is not. His name is Zac, your cousin-in-law," she said. The introduction was very simple yet direct.

Zac felt quite satisfied at her words, and a smile appeared on his face.

Wendy led them upstairs while continuously praising her son-in-law. "Our Antony is just thirty years old, but he is already the CEO of a listed group, and he has thousands of people under his control. I plan to ask them to register one of these days and hold the wedding ceremony on national day." Since Antony was such a good son-in-law to have, there must be a lot of women chasing after him, and Wendy wanted her daughter to tie the knot with him before he could get seduced by another woman.

Bob smiled. "I see that Finney has found herself a good husband. Now you and my brother can relax."

"You're right." Wendy smiled so happily that her eyes narrowed into a seam. Then, she glanced at Zac and Essie and asked, "Have Essie and this man gotten settled too? Are they going to get married?" "They already got their marriage license last month. Zac is now my son-in-law," replied Bob with a smile.

"Really? Then our family will have double blessings this year," exclaimed Wendy when she squinted her eyes for a while. She then led them to visit the three rooms and the balcony before leading them back to the living room.

Once they were settled in the living room, Finney came and served the chopped mango. Essie took another piece of mango for Zac. Then, she smiled and said, "My cousin-in-law's mansion is so large. But I'll be satisfied if I have a 60 square-meter house."

Zac stroked her nose in a pampering manner and said, "You're easy to please."

Wendy looked at them and said with her eyebrows raised, "Haven't you bought a new house yet?"

"No, we are working hard on earning enough for a down payment." Essie smiled again.

"What about a car?" Wendy pouted.

"We haven't gotten one yet either," Essie said, shaking her head.

Wendy patted her thigh and stared at Zac with dissatisfaction. "You don't have a house or a car. How could you marry Essie? It's like asking for a free service."

Zac had been acting obsequiously and cautiously this whole time. He had immediately noticed that aunt Wendy was extremely sly the moment he entered the room. Essie didn't expect that aunt Wendy would be so rude to Zac. So she immediately jumped to Zac's defense and said, "Aunt, we are still young, and we are both working hard for money. We can just rent a house and take the bus while we don't have our own house and car. Besides, the housing price in Yang City has gone up! How can two young people like us who have only been working for a short time afford to buy a house? We have to take it step by step!"

"Are you an idiot?" Wendy sighed. "Don't you know what a house means? You can only have a home when you get your own house. Did you know that even birds make a nest before asking for another bird's hand in marriage? How could a man marry a woman without buying a house first? How is he qualified to get married? He was being irresponsible and selfish when he married you. He even hoped that you would be selfless and willing to live a hard life with him. Only a fool like you would be fooled!"

Bob patted her on the hand and said, "You are right. Since they got married, they need to have their own house. Not only was it unsafe to rent a house, but they are also giving easy money to others. So, over the past two days, I have been talking to Lucy. If Zac's family is in trouble, we can give them the money for the down payment. We will buy them the house first so they get settled down."

Wendy snorted and thought, 'Luckily, Finney found a president for herself. If he were a poor man, I would've done everything I could to get them to divorce. A poor man without a house or a car would have no right to be my son-in-law.'

"Bob, anyway, you can't raise your daughter for nothing. You must uphold the bride price. According to the standard of our tradition, you should at least ask 500,000 dollars from him, or adopt him into our family." She paused and looked at Essie. "Essie, have you forgotten what you have promised to our family?"