Apology

Anna stood beside the refrigerator as she watched her husband adding some final touches to the stew. She pulled her long hair into a ponytail and then tapped her fingers on the kitchen counter anxiously.

"Relax," James glanced at his wife. A helpless sigh escaped him as he saw her act. "Everything will be fine."

Anna shot a look at her husband. As a mother who knew her daughter well, she did not think that everything would be fine. "I'm not sure if we're doing the right thing, that's all," Anna voiced her concern. "What if we mess up our daughter's future by doing this? Have you thought about this?"

James smiled. "Nobody said that it's going to be love at first sight between those two. It may take some effort to make this happen."

Anna passed a serving dish to her husband. "Don't you think that we're forcing our daughter into something that she doesn't like? Sure. I like Ryan. He seemed like a nice kid, but can he make my daughter happy? Will he be able to treat her well? But, let's face it. What Ryan had said was inappropriate."

James scooped some stew into the serving dish. "We are not forcing them. Look, I know that their first meeting did not go as smoothly as we had hoped for. The kids are young and impulsive. They act rashly and say things without thinking of the consequences. But today, Ryan and his mother will be coming over to our place to apologize to Violet."

Anna let out a heavy sigh.

She recalled how upset her daughter was last night when she asked her about her first meeting. Her daughter had labeled Ryan as an arrogant jerk, a stuck-up and a snob. Anna was not sure what happened on the date, but she was sure that it went really bad. Violet was such an easy-going person. She wouldn't talk badly about a person, unless that person pushed her button.

Perhaps this was her chance to make her husband forget the idea of an arranged marriage. After all, she did promise Violet that she would try to convince them if the date didn't go well.

She wanted her daughter to be happy more than anything else. After all, Violet had said that she would rather borrow from the banks, or worse, loan sharks to save her bakery than meet Ryan again.

"I know what you were worried about. I am worried about Violet too," James Xu said. He walked over to his wife and held her hands. "Fine. Let's give this one final chance. If the two of them really could not be together in the same room for more than five minutes, I promise that I will not proceed with this arrangement, is that alright?"

Anna took another deep breath and sighed. "Fine. Just one last chance. Just that... I've got a bad feeling about all this," Anna replied. "You did tell our daughter that we will be having guests for dinner, didn't you?"

James took off his apron and paused to look at his wife. "No. I thought you were going to tell her."

"Well, I didn't. I thought you were going to tell her." Anna said nervously. Suddenly, she was worried about how her daughter would react once she saw Chen's family members in their living room when she came back from work.

"Maybe this was for the better if she knows nothing about our guest," James tried to ease the tension. "I'm afraid she would go berserk if she knew what we're planning. Well, thank god Jace was not around and went outstation. Or else, I don't know what would happen today."

When the couple heard the front door creak open followed by their daughter's voice, they began to look at each other in panic.

When Anna took the dishes out from the kitchen to the dining area, she saw how her daughter stood still in the living room. Violet's eyes were staring sharply at one of their guests, Ryan. It was as if she was having some kind of a staring contest with her eyes unblinking.

Subconsciously, Anna swallowed and mentally prepared herself for what will come later.

Violet Xu could not believe that her parents would invite Ryan Chen over to their house after he had insulted her. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't find any proper insult to say.

Sensing another presence, Violet turned around and saw her mother holding a bowl. "Mom?" Violet raised a brow as soon as her mother stepped into the room, demanding an explanation as to why Ryan was there, sitting comfortably in their living room.

Viole remembered clearly that she had told her parents every little detail of what had happened over their first date.

"Violet," James called out as he walked out of the kitchen. There was a warning in his gaze that told his daughter to act nicely in front of their guests. "I'm sorry, Lindsey." He smiled apologetically towards the middle-aged woman. "We haven't told her that we would be having guests for dinner. She was probably surprised to see you guys as our guest."

"That's okay. I understand." Lindsey smiled politely. Then she gave her son a sharp stare as a cue for him to start apologizing for what he said or did yesterday.

Ryan sighed inwardly and stood up. "We need to talk," He said to Violet.

Violet dropped her bag behind the door and watched Ryan. She wanted to storm off to her room in rage but decided not to when she noticed the look her father had been giving her. Violet then led him outside, towards the garden so that they could talk in private. "What do you want from me?"

"Look," Ryan said. "I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I know I shouldn't have insulted you or your parents. I was wrong. I was being a jerk towards you. But, in my defense, I thought you were like the other girl."

Violet clenched her teeth and nodded. "Apology accepted. Can I go now?"

Ryan watched Violet in disbelief. Although she had said that she had accepted his apology, Ryan did not think that Violet was ready to forgive him. "Wait. Why does it sound like you're not accepting my apology?"

Violet crossed her arms on her chest. "Because I was hoping that I didn't have to see your face again."

"Fair enough." Ryan nodded. "I love the idea of not meeting each other again. But I have to tell you that that is impossible," He said as he glanced towards the house to make sure nobody was spying on them. "I'm guessing that your parents haven't told you this, but I do think that they're still planning to pursue their plan to marry us."

Her eyes widened. Then she laughed, thinking that Ryan might be pulling her legs. "You're joking, right? Because I don't think that my parents would agree to that considering what you said to me yesterday."

Ryan shook his head. "I wish I was joking. But I'm not. In fact, our parents were still discussing our engagement before you were here. It seems that your parents are very forgiving people, unlike their daughter."

Violet threw him a dagger look. Just as she had thought. Ryan Chen was an annoying prick.

Then she tried to process the news but was not sure whether the man in front of her was telling her the truth.