Chapter 13 The Engagement Must Go On

When Sebastian reached home in the evening, he saw Nelly and Simon having a chat on the couch. Seeing him, Simon beckoned to him. “Sebastian, why did you come home so late?” After Sebastian took off his coat, he recalled his encounter with Jocelyn in the bar, so he replied, “I came across an annoying girl.” Hearing that, Nelly remembered the scandal that had gone viral on the internet, so she knitted her brows together. “You came back at the right time. Your grandpa and I were talking about your engagement party next month. Do you have any suggestions?” At the mention of the engagement party, Sebastian put on a dispassionate expression. “Yes.” Just when Nelly smiled and was about to continue speaking, Sebastian uttered coldly, “I won’t marry Joanne.” Has he really fallen for Jocelyn? Nelly thought. “No way. The engagement has been made known to the public, so there’s no turning back. If you really did that, you’d be bringing shame to our family.” Joanne is a pretty girl with excellent academic results, so she’s much better than Jocelyn. Even though Nelly didn’t like the McBrides as well, it was Simon who had made the decision. Therefore, they could never call off the engagement. Gazing at his grandson, Simon asked gently, “Don’t you like her?” “I have no feelings for her.” Sebastian crossed his legs and spoke in an impassive tone. “And I don’t agree with you making the decision on my behalf.” “Well, I think she’s not bad. I’m sure you’ll love her.” At that instant, Simon recalled the lively and kind-hearted girl he came across on this day. “If you love her, you can get married to her.” “What did you say?!” Simon growled. How could he say such an inappropriate thing? “You’ll fall in love with her over time,” Nelly said unenthusiastically. Simon nodded because he was fond of the girl from the McBride Family. Everyone said that Joanne was a perfect girl, unlike her unruly sister. However, after the encounter, Simon thought it wasn’t the case. He wondered why everyone on the internet said that Jocelyn was a C-list actress with poor academic results and reckless behavior. Both of those girls are interesting. Nevertheless, the engagement party had to be held on time. Moreover, he had promised to get Jocelyn a gift, so he couldn’t go back on his word. “I won’t change my mind,” Sebastian replied. Seeing that his grandson was unyielding, Simon immediately covered his chest and started groaning. “Why do I have a grandson like you? You’re getting on my nerves!” “Dad, what’s going on with you?” Nelly hurriedly told the housekeeper to get some medicine and pointed her finger at Sebastian. “Your grandpa is old now. How could you talk to him like this?” Following that, Simon lay down on the floor and pretended that he could hardly breathe. “Grandpa, you underwent a health check before coming back to the country, and I saw the report.” “You brat!” Simon glowered at him. “My heart is aching because of you! Oh, no! I’m dying!” “Dad, please stop saying that.” Nelly put on a stern expression and told Sebastian to apologize to his grandfather. Despite knowing that his grandfather was pretending to be sick, Sebastian couldn’t bear to keep watching the show they were putting on. Therefore, he decided to give in and turned to leave. Pointing at his grandson with a crutch, Simon growled, “What an unfilial grandson!” When Jocelyn returned home, she saw Joanne and Nadine chatting and laughing among themselves. Seeing her, Nadine rolled her eyes. “Someone thought she could marry Sebastian by playing a dirty trick, but it turned out to be just a pipe dream.” With delicate make-up on her cold-looking face, Nadine stared fixedly at Jocelyn. “It’s good enough as long as I could embarrass you.” Jocelyn sported a smile on her alluring face. While glaring at her, Nadine could feel that her fury was rising within her. So what if she’s beautiful? In the end, it’s my daughter who gets to marry Sebastian. At the thought of this, Nadine felt comforted. “Jo, tell your sister where the engagement party will be held.” “Well, it’ll be held in Grandeur Hotel. Mrs. Davis called to tell me this, and she said that Sebastian had agreed to it.” Joanne put on a smug smile upon finishing her words. After a moment of silence, Jocelyn raised her head. “I was supposed to be Sebastian’s fiancée.” She let out a breath. “You were the one who snatched him from me. From now on, you’ll live under the fear that your future husband might leave you at any moment.” “Will you wake up to reality? The engagement belongs to Joanne, and it has nothing to do with you!” Nadine snarled. “Well, as Joanne’s sister, you’re welcome to join her engagement party. Do you want to be the bridesmaid?” Upon finishing her words, Nadine covered her mouth and started giggling. Seeing that, Jocelyn felt disgusted and wondered why there was such a shameless woman in this world. Not only did they snatch her fiancé from her, they also provoked her from time to time. “I found out that you snatched the engagement from me. After my mom’s death, you slandered me behind my back and managed to secure the engagement for Joanne.” “So what?” Joanne rose from the couch and stared at her in an aloof manner. “Your reputation is terrible, so you have no right to marry Sebastian. I’m a hundred times better than you are, so I’m the perfect girl for him.” Wearing a Chanel skirt with flower patterns and a pair of stilettos, Joanne approached Jocelyn in a haughty manner. At that moment, she was no longer the obedient girl she always pretended to be. “What did you say?” All of a sudden, the door of the study was flung open as Jeremy stepped out of the room. “Dad, I…” Joanne became flustered in an instant. Seeing that her lie had been exposed, Jocelyn felt gleeful. She had noticed that her father was about to come out of the study, so she decided to infuriate them. It was her intention to make the mother and daughter admit that they snatched the engagement from her. She didn’t intend to get married to Sebastian, but she had to make them pay the price for stealing her stuff. “Dad, it’s not what you think.” Feeling anxious, Joanne stood beside her mother. Nadine didn’t expect Jeremy to be home, so she was flustered as well. “Jeremy, please hear me out. What Jo meant was that—” Before she could finish her words, Jeremy raised his hand to stop her. “After you persuaded the Davises to change their mind, I thought that they chose Joanne because they felt that Joanne was the better one. Now it seems that…” With expectation written all over her face, Jocelyn thought that her father was finally willing to speak up for her. However, what Jeremy said later turned out to be disappointing. “It doesn’t matter which one of you is going to marry Sebastian. As long as we’re united, we’ll be able to get more benefits for ourselves through this marriage.” What? Jocelyn opened her mouth wide in disbelief. “Are you saying that you don’t care about it even though they slandered me and stole the engagement from me? I’m also your daughter!” Jocelyn growled as her eyes welled up with tears. Hearing what Jeremy said, Joanne and Nadine turned gleeful. In a disdainful manner, Jeremy stared at Jocelyn. “You know very well what you are really like. Your mom and sister didn’t slander you. Everyone knew that you had done countless embarrassing things before, so it was expected that the Davises would change their mind. Jo was right to say that she’s a hundred times better than you are, so the Davises will be happy with her. You would only be an embarrassment for me if you were to get married to Sebastian.” His words were like countless needles jabbing into Jocelyn’s heart. She bit her lip and told herself not to tear up. They are all cold-blooded people who don’t care about me at all. I don’t want to be a part of this family anymore!