Too hard and too trying

"Jane! I'm so glad you could do it!"  Anna saluted while hugging her fiancé's arm.

 "Of course we're here, Anna!"  Anne answered before Jane could say anything.

 "I'd like to introduce you all to my fiance, Cuban Joan. His family owns a nationwide chain of drugstores!"  Anna announced quite smugly.

 "What a successful young man."  Jane's father praised.

 "Darling, Jane's husband, Matt, has been stuck at an assistant job for the past five years! He goes to the same university as us but it seems he can't find a decent job!  Why don't you help him?"  Anna said in a sweet tone to her fiancé.

 "Anything for my Anna."  Cuban replied.  To Matt, he said "Matt, what's your area of ​​interest? I'm sure I could talk to my dad about giving you a job!"

 "I'm fine, thanks."  Matt said in a meek voice.

 "You have too much pride, Matt!"  Anna scolded.

 "I'm fine with my job right now, Anna."  Matt said again.

 "What about another company? I'm friends with 4 of the 5 princes! I can ask them to give you a job in their company."  Cuban suggested.

 Matt laughed to himself, if only this kid knew who he really was.

 "I like my job at Mor Co."  Matt replied.

 "Then dress yourself."  Cuban just shrugged.

 "Jane! Curse your husband, Cuban has invited him too many times and he has the guts to refuse!"  Anne whispered to her daughter.

 "Mom, if Matt is happy with his job, let him be."  Jane said to protect Matt.  Although Jane disagrees with Matt's rejection of the offer, she doesn't want to contradict her husband in front of everyone.

 "I'm going to say hello to Grandpa. Matt, why don't you come with me."  Jane suggested.

 "Sure."  Then the couple stopped and walked towards the patriarch.

 Jane's grandfather was an old man in his eighties.  He inherited the Scarlett family business from his father before him and built it into the size it is today.

 After years of work, he finally handed over power to his eldest son, Anna's father.

 "Grandpa! We're here!"  Jane greets Grandpa.

 "Ah, my sweet Adri! I heard that you are doing great at work!"  Jane is her grandfather's favorite, she is the smartest and most beautiful of all his grandchildren.

 He had originally planned to marry her to the eldest son of House Reeves, unfortunately she married right out of college.  Although the old man was disappointed by this, he still decided not to interfere in his granddaughter's choice.

 "Grandpa, Matt is here with me."  Jane said sweetly.  She really loves Matt, despite their misunderstanding.

 "Glad you came."  Mr. Scarlett said in a monotone voice.  He wasn't too happy to see Matt.

 "Grandpa! You should scold Jane and Matt! Cuban offered Matt a much better job and he turned it down! What is this Mor company! It's so small, it's not even among the best!  leading company in the country!"  Anna complained when she saw her grandfather talking to the couple.  Beside her, Cuban just grinned.

 "Anna, I'm sure Matt has a reason to say no."  Her grandfather explained.  However, he himself disagreed with Matt turning down a much better job.

 Most people still don't know that Mor Co.  As a subsidiary of the much larger Reeves Group, the family has kept a low profile of some of its subsidiaries including Mor Co.

 "Cuban, what time do your loved ones arrive? It would be rude of us to have finished eating before they arrived."  asked Grandpa Scarlett.

 "My father, mother and siblings are on their way. Unfortunately, the rest of the family can't make it."

 Cuban's father did not inform the rest of the family about the engagement.  He still hoped that his son would call him away after meeting the rest of the Scarlett family.

 "Did you invite friends? I heard that Asia, you are quite close to the 5 princes."  asked Grandpa Scarlett.

 "Ah yes. Mark said he would definitely come. The others said they had a pre-contract."  Cuban is happy that "person" Mark Laurence says he's leaving.  His father was supported by the Laurence family and sending their heir had been a big deal for him.

 "Mark? Mark Laurence?"  Jane asked.

 "Yes, my Cuban and his are friends. Are you shocked to be in the same room with a bigshot, cousin?"  Anna taunts Jane.

 "No, it's not like that."  Jane was really wondering if the Mark Laurence she was a classmate with in college was like the Mark Laurence Cuban was talking about.

 All 5 princes are quite short in stature.  They never bragged when they were in college and didn't cause any problems either.  Only after graduating from college did each of them become as notorious as they are now.

 "Let's go back to our seats."  Matt whispered to Jane.

 "Grandpa, Matt and I are going back to mom and dad right now. Don't forget to take care of your health!"  Jane smiled and said goodbye to her grandfather.

 "You, Anna and I are going to find my family. They just sent me a message that they were in the lobby."  Cuban said.

 "I heard the Joan family isn't too happy with this engagement!"  Matt heard a guest tell about their travel companion.

 "Is it true that Anna Scarlett is pregnant, that's why this engagement needs to happen?"  Another guest asked.

 Matt looked at Jane for her reaction, but Jane always kept a straight face.

 It seems that Anna Scarlett has managed to make a plan to marry into society.

 Edward Joan, Cuban Joan's father, is not satisfied with his future daughter-in-law.  The more true the rumors are, Cuban got Anna pregnant and he wants to take responsibility.

 Edward originally wanted Cuban to marry one of the daughters of a more powerful and influential family, but unfortunately that opportunity is now gone.  His only hope for a political marriage is that his daughter, Katrina, be married into a better family.

 When Chus entered the room, Cuban felt proud, his family better in every way than the Scarletts.  Their business is so much better, they even have the backing of one of the top families, the Laurence family.

 "Katrina, you look so cute today!"  The beauty praised her soon to become a sister-in-law.

 "I know, thanks."  Katrina replied in a rather cold manner.  She never really approved of Anna and her brother dating in the first place.  For Katrina, Anna was too hard and too trying.

 "Sister-in-law, can you come with me to choose a wedding dress?"  Anna asked Katrina.

 "I might be busy."  Katrina said, rejecting Anna's offer.

 "Grandpa! I'd like to introduce you to Cuban's family. These are his father, Edward, his mother, Vivian, and his sister, Katrina."  The old man stood to greet the guests who had just arrived.

 "It is an honor for our dear Anna to marry your son, Sir Joan."  Mr. Scarlett said as he shook Edward Joan's hand.

 "You have a vivacious niece, Mr. Scarlett."

 "Father, I also invited Mr. Mark Laurence to join us today. He said he would be here shortly."  Cuban whispered to his father.  He knew his father wouldn't approve, but he would never yell at his son in public.

 "Ah, the Joan family is truly wonderful to invite someone as important as Mr. Laurence to join us tonight."  A man in his fifties spoke loudly.  "I'm Fredrik Scarlett, Anna's father, and this is my wife, Cecilia."

 "Of course, Mr. Mark Laurence is Cuban's friend. They grew up together."  Edward Joan is very wise and knows not to refuse compliments even though he does not like this family.

 The truth is that Edward Joan is always trying to get his son and Mark Laurence to hang out, but their group of friends is so tight-lipped that other than the 5 princes and their families, no one else is welcome to join.

 "Come, sit with us. We'll serve the food when Mr. Laurence arrives."  Fredrik Scarlett invited Joan's family to sit at his table.

 At the far end of the room, Matt is staring at his phone.  He just asked Mark if it was true that he would join the party.  His phone quickly vibrated when Mark answered.

 YES.  At first I was going to decline the invitation, Joan's house really doesn't matter much but when I saw you, I decided to go out and have some fun tonight.  Leave me a seat at your table, man!  We will make them panic.

 Matt couldn't help but laugh at Mark's answer.

 "You look like a madman laughing at your phone!"  Anne scolded.

 "Mom! Stop. Please."  Jane comes to protect her husband.

 "You had every chance to marry a man better than Jane! You're a thousand times prettier than Anna but you decided to marry someone like this guy! He's such a shame to live off of you!  His salary isn't even half of what you make at Damien's!" Anne continued to scold as if there weren't any people around.

 "Mother. Others will hear you."  Jane said in an attempt to reassure her mother.

 "There's no one on our table, no one wants to sit with us!"  Anne said in a low but angry voice.

 True, at any gathering before Jane and Matt got married, many people chose to sit with them, mostly young men eager to flirt with Jane.  Even if she did date Matt, many of their families and friends believed that Matt and Jane would eventually break up.  However, everyone was disappointed when the couple got married.  Their wedding was even more mocked by the Scarletts because no one in the Matt family attended the wedding.  Because of the shame of this union, the family only allowed a civil wedding, not a church wedding.

 "Looks like a special guest has arrived."  Jane's father suddenly spoke as he watched Edward Joan and Cuban Joan exit the function room.

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