Tea

The grand dining room, bathed in the warm glow of crystal chandeliers, buzzed with a renewed sense of familial warmth. Grandmother Jia, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous delight, had declared a welcome dinner for her new grandson-in-law, Flynn. The atmosphere was a carefully constructed facade of normalcy, a delicate dance of pleasantries and polite conversation.

Flynn and Noelle descended the grand staircase together, their expressions carefully neutral, their movements synchronized. They had agreed to present a united front, to bury their earlier disagreement beneath a veneer of marital harmony. They were determined to play their roles, to convince the family that their marriage was a picture of perfect bliss.