Fashion Idol

Robert stared at the young man and his daughter, his expression stern. For a second, his hand squeezed the knob of the door tightly before he finally calmed down and returned to his tranquil self.

"Finish what you are doing and come downstairs. Lunch is ready," he informed them. Then, he closed the door behind him as he left. As for the gun in his hand, he placed it back in its hiding place. As he locked it inside the drawer, the older man lamented in his mind, 'I guess I already lost my sharp senses. It has been a while since I left the army…'

If he had taken the time to stop his imagination from running wild, he would have realized the inappropriateness of the situation—any sane young man would never have the balls to do anything to his daughter, knowing that lunch was near and her parents could run up to them at any moment. It was also his first time in their house, and it would be strange for the two to do…that. He knew that his sweet, innocent daughter would not let it happen.

"I am getting old. I really need to hurry up with my plans," Robert muttered to himself, massaging his forehead as he walked down the stairs.

"Did something happen? I heard a yell," his wife asked at the entrance of the kitchen but he only waved his hand in response. He did not want to create unnecessary panic in the family.

"Nothing happened. I just tried to scare them," he explained as he smacked her bum back to the kitchen. Knowing Dana, she would badger him if he did not satisfy her curiosity. "They should come down in a moment."

Back in Rose's bedroom, both Ryan and Rose were left confused, sitting on the edge of her bed. A few awkward seconds later, Ryan made a bold guess. "What if…what if your dad eavesdropped on us and when he heard your moans, he thought that we were doing something indecent? We were quite loud and it was easy to misunder—"

"Ah!" Rose exclaimed, realizing it was indeed possible. As she recalled the ambiguous words that she had spoken a moment ago, her cheeks could not help but flush. If her father did catch them doing anything naughty, she would have probably died of embarrassment, and Ryan… would die!

"It's all your fault! You and your massage!" Rose blamed him. She started hitting his arm to show her anger, but not hard enough to hurt. "Now the whole lunch will be ruined… I won't be able to look at my dad in the eyes…"

"Hah," Ryan laughed as he caught her hands in self-defense and assured her, "don't worry, it will be fine. You are overreacting. It was your father's misunderstanding.

From our encounter earlier, I can tell that he's the type who won't mention it again if we don't bring it up. We should just forget about it."

"What about the lunch then? We are not yet even done with basic introductions and we haven't thought of our strategy. How do we convince them we are dating? My parents will probably ask you many questions," Rose whispered in worry. They had too much fun earlier that they did not notice the time. If they blew this up, Ryan would definitely suffer from the consequences.

Ryan wasn't particularly anxious about it. He stood and picked her up by her hand. "Let's go with the flow. I will answer them honestly if I can," he suggested with a casual smile, quite confident when it came to dealing with older people.

"Fine. I will trust you," Rose agreed begrudgingly. They had no other choice. "I will try to help you when I can but be careful of my mom. Try to not give away too much else she will delve deeper into each detail. For me, it doesn't matter how rich my boyfriend is or from which family he comes from but my parents care. Just know that in the end, I am still the one who decides who I date."

Her firmness in her beliefs assured Ryan. If his new girlfriend was the type to obediently listen to all of her parents' opinions, she would probably end up unhappy in the end.

"I'm glad you are this strong. If you weren't, I wouldn't get the chance to meet you. Who knows what would happen with my life without you," he teased while delicately lifting her chin. However, his playful gesture backfired when Rose stabbed her finger into his side, making him flinch.

"Too early and too cheesy," Rose commented, her smile enchanting him for a second, before pulling him towards the door. "Let's go down before my parents start to wonder what's taking us so long."

She did not know that Ryan was actually telling the truth. His university days were mostly boring and monotonous yet with the arrival of Rose, his life suddenly became interesting.

Walking down the stairs, they saw the dining table across the kitchen island already prepared with dishes. Rose's parents were just about to sit down.

"You two finally came," the madam of the house called out and sat down first before pointing at the two seats on the other side of the table. "Sit down and eat before the food gets cold."

Ryan could feel that even though Rose looked calm on the surface, she was extremely nervous. Her hand was squeezing his own in a vise-like grip. It was as expected—he would actually be surprised if she wasn't anxious at all.

Knowing her situation, Ryan took charge and led Rose to the table. "Sir, Madam, thank you for inviting me," he called out to her parents, showing a gentle smile

before he pulled out the chair for his girlfriend as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Then, he stood on the other side of her chair and reached out for her hand to support her. Rose looked at him and took his hand in amazement as she sat down. Only after she was done did he take his seat next to her.

Rose's mother gave her husband a glance before standing up to pour soup for everyone. "I hope you will like my homemade cooking, Ryan. Did I remember correctly? I don't think we have fully introduced ourselves yet."

"Yes, Madam. My name is Ryan," he confirmed before sniffing the soup on his plate and commented with a satisfied smile, "Mhmm, it smells delicious. I bet it tastes great."

"No need to be so formal. You can call me Dana and my husband, Robert," the older woman said while she filled the soup bowls for everyone. When she returned to her seat, she did not immediately start eating. Her eyes spoke volumes as she studied the young man before her. "Why don't you tell us something about yourself, Ryan?"

Ryan already expected that question so he came prepared. He didn't answer right away, tasting the soup first before replying, "First of all, this chicken soup is amazing. Since I became a student and started living in the dorms, I missed homemade cooking so I thank you for this opportunity."

"Oh, you are welcome," Dana responded with a smile, looking confident of her skills.

"Second of all, I would like to apologize for my behavior in the park," Ryan began, subtly looking at Rose with a complicated expression. "I know it was inappropriate but when Rose called me to meet her, I didn't expect to see her crying. I asked what happened but she said it was nothing as long as I was there. I couldn't help but give her the warmest hug to cheer her up."

This surprised both Dana and her husband as they simultaneously turned to Rose and asked at the same time, "You were crying?"

Rose also didn't think Ryan would expose her like that but thankfully, she didn't need to pretend as it actually happened. She returned her mom's gaze and replied, upset, "Is it that strange?"

Although she did not want to ruin the lunch for everyone, Rose could not help but show her true feelings. She was still a little miffed at her mother for her earlier behavior. Thankfully, fate fixed it by letting herself meet this strange yet endearing stranger who agreed to be her boyfriend, but it was a fact that her mother did try to force her to do something she did not want.

Dana went quiet for a second before sighing deeply. "It's my fault. Yes, we argued earlier but I didn't expect that I would end up hurting you." The guilt was evident on her face, and she did not shy away from taking the blame for what she did. "I'm sorry, honey."

"It's okay. I'm good now," Rose replied, her face feeling warm after hearing her mother's sincerity. "I have Ryan next to me."

She reached out to pinch her boyfriend on the cheek before returning to eating, impressing Ryan with her acting.

"I'm glad the situation is better now," he said as he sighed in relief.

He also continued to eat after that but Dana did not forget her duty to ask questions, taking control of the conversation once more. "I know all the prominent families in our city. Which one do you belong to? Maybe I know your parents."

Ryan could not dodge that question so admitted honestly, "My Morgan family are just from the normal working class, so I don't think Madam has heard of my parents."

Dana thought for a moment and commented, "There is one Morgan that I know, but I haven't heard of that person having a family or relative in Phoenix City. Well, Morgan is a pretty common surname too, so I bet there are many families with this surname."

Hearing that, Rose suddenly got excited and called out, "Mom, are you talking about Elizabeth Morgan?"

Dana smiled with similar enthusiasm and nodded, "Yes. I don't know if I've mentioned to you before, but she is indeed from our city."

"Really?!" Rose asked right back. "It would be amazing if she returned. I really want to meet her!"

Ryan was getting confused. He looked at Rose's dad for some help but Robert only shrugged, explaining, "Don't ask me. It's their fashion idol."

Dana didn't react to her husband's mumbling and continued to talk with her daughter. "Well, it will be great if she does return, but she left Phoenix City ten years ago and it doesn't seem like she will come back at all. After all, our city is too small for a celebrity like her."

"Shame… I would love to meet her," Rose muttered dreamily. Both of them didn't notice a sudden flash of realization for Ryan.

Wait… Morgan? Fashion? Are they talking about my grandma? Mine is also called Elizabeth!

If that turned out to be true, Ryan wasn't sure if that would be great for him. The last thing he wanted was to use his grandma to make anyone like him. That was the woman who abandoned her family for wealth and influence!

Should I tell them now or not?

There was hesitation as he opened his mouth. He had not yet even known Rose for a day. He had not told her much about himself, much less tell her about his

grandma's inheritance selection that would happen by the end of the week. If he exposed his connection to their 'Fashion Idol', wouldn't that diametrically change Rose's and Dana's behavior towards him?

Just as he was caught in an internal dilemma, the lovely girl beside him poked him on the shoulder.

"Ryan, have you heard of Elizabeth Morgan?"