The Rich and Furious Son-in-law - Chapter 14
Chapter 14: A Slap in The Face
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Acting?
Ryan snorted as he glanced over at Raymond and Grandma, then at the second and third uncle, sisters-in-law and other elder relatives.
These people were all waiting to gloat over what was going to happen to him and Lumi.
Apparently, these people were colluding with each other and waiting to watch a drama.
Ryan stared at Grandma with a grave expression and thought of what Raymond said yesterday—Lumi’s days as the company’s president was numbered. So Grandma had decided to seize power today.
Probably these people still did not know that the company had gotten a new capital injection.
“I was still worried that you would not like it,” Lumi said, then turned to Ryan. “Take out the present, Ryan.”
Raymond, Lumi’s second uncle Anthony Mears and third uncle Jonathan Mears looked at Lumi and Ryan dully.
Others might not know, but not Raymond. The emerald earrings that Lumi bought yesterday were broken. It was he who sent someone to do that. Lumi and Ryan would need a miracle to show the earrings now.
Ryan rummaged in his pockets, even emptying his pants pockets, but he could not find the earring box.
A hint of panic flashed in Lumi’s eyes. “What’s wrong? Where are the earrings, Ryan? Didn’t you hold them when you came out?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know why it is not here now. I must have left it in the car. Give me the car key. I’ll go get it.” Ryan was not pretending. Before leaving the house, he had put the gift box with earrings in his pants pocket. But now it was missing.
While speaking, he reached out his hand to Lumi for the car key.
Lumi looked embarrassed. “You had better hurry.”
Raymond had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Now that it finally arrived, he laughed out loud. “Oh, well, well, well. My good cousin. Did you lie about the eight-hundred-thousand-dollar earrings? Hmph! It was a mistake that Grandma handed you the company. Don’t get me started with how you bring the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Now you have even learned to tell a lie. I think it must be Ryan, the fool who taught you this. A person like him should not be allowed to stay in our Mears family.”
Ryan knew Raymond’s modus operandi all too well. To be honest, he could make Raymond vanish from this world with just a phone call.
The reason Ryan did not do this was that he felt it was not the time yet.
But this did not mean that Raymond could do whatever he wanted. “Be more respectful, Raymond. Even if you don’t respect me, at least you have to respect Lumi. She is the granddaughter, Grandfather’s designated heir. And I’m his husband; I am your brother-in-law. This is the most basic mannerism. Didn’t your father teach you that?”
Ryan’s words might not sound blunt, but by berating Raymond, he had also chided Anthony, Raymond’s father.
Raymond’s unruly behavior was Anthony’s fault.
“Respect? Respect my foot! Do I need to remind you from where you come, Ryan? You were a stray, a pretty boy who lives off the backs of Lumi. Can you even support yourself by working at the bar?” Raymond hissed. “Let me tell you the truth. Allan will be here today. He is the best choice for Lumi. I would have gotten out of here to avoid embarrassing myself if I were you.”
‘Allan?’
Ryan and Lumi looked at each other. ‘Allan Moore?’
Allan Moore, the elder son of the owner of Moore Corporation, one of the best in the business in Saltband City. Allan had been courting Lumi when they were in college. But Lumi had never accepted him.
Allan still did not give up, even after Lumi was married to Ryan.
But today, Raymond openly invited Allan to Grandma’s birthday party. It seemed that Grandma had tacitly approved Raymond’s behavior.
‘Interesting. Things are getting more interesting!’
At first, Ryan thought that Grandma’s birthday party today was just an excuse to suppress Lumi and him to seize power. But now Allan was also joining the party. Things were getting more fun.
Before Ryan could say anything, Lumi quickly stepped out and slapped Raymond in the face.
Smack!
The crisp slapping sound reverberated in the living room while Lumi was heaving in anger. “You are too much, Raymond! Ryan is your brother-in-law. Please be more respectful!”
There was a moment of silence. No one expected that the gentle and graceful Lumi would slap Raymond at Grandma’s birthday party.
Raymond was Grandma’s most favorite grandson. Hence, hitting Raymond was akin to slapping Grandma in the face.
But Ryan knew Lumi had run out of patience. Before this, Lumi had borne it when Raymond tried to set her up in the company.
But yesterday at the mall, Raymond had not only tried to snatch the earrings from Lumi but also sent someone to smash them. Today, he repeatedly insulted Ryan. So she could no longer stay quiet.
It was one thing if Ryan remained as obscure and plain as before. But what happened at the bar and the mall, and then the capital injection he had brought in yesterday suggested that he was different from before.
At the bar, when Lionel Ball’s bodyguards were about to kill Ryan, Preston Parker had suddenly shown up; the timing was clever.
Was all this really a coincidence?
Lumi had thought a lot last night, and there was a suspicion in her mind. Her attitude toward Ryan had changed. At least, it was impossible for her to see Ryan being insulted at Grandma’s birthday party.
“You—are you mad, Lumi? How dare you hit me?” Raymond looked at Grandma with his hand on his swollen face like a crybaby. “Look what Lumi has done, Grandma!”
“What do you think you are doing, Lumi? You hit your brother for an outsider? You are rebelling now, eh? Hmph! I have been disliking Ryan for a long time. Just admit that he didn’t buy a gift. What’s the point of pretending he did?” Grandma’s face was grave.
Except for the grandpa, everyone else in the family disliked Lumi, who had long expected her grandma’s attitude a long time ago. She turned to look at Ryan. “Go get the gift from the car, Ryan.”
Ryan nodded. “Are you alright?”
“I am fine. I can handle this.” Having been in charge of Mears Corporation for such a long time, Lumi had naturally got the juice. She was not so ignorant about the conflicts inside her family.
At least for now, her grandma and the others had yet to fall out with her totally.
Ryan took the car key from Lumi, turned, and walked outside the house. Meanwhile, Lumi turned to her grandma without fear or favor. “Ryan is my husband, to whom I was legally married, Grandma. So how could he be an outsider? Since you dislike us so much, we will leave as soon as Ryan brings in the gift. I am done with this place.”
Lumi stood firm with no room for negotiation. It seemed that she really wanted to leave.
Raymond panicked upon hearing what Lumi said. He looked at his grandma for instruction. He, Grandma, and Lumi’s second uncle had set a trap for Lumi and Ryan. If Lumi and Ryan left now, the show would no longer go on. “Grandma…”
