Chapter One - Birthday Dinner

“Happy Birthday, my love.”

Jason smiled from ear to ear as he presented Diana, his wife, with a tiny jewellery box.

She hugged him and excitedly took the box from his arms.

She was honestly surprised that such a gift was coming from Jason. Or should she say that any gift at all was coming from Jason?

Usually, on her birthdays or any other celebration, Jason would write her a love letter.

There was a box full of them on her bedside table, and while she cherished them, it was nice to finally switch things up, she thought.

As she opened the box, the gleam in her eyes disappeared, and her excited look was sealed with one of disappointment.

“it’s empty?” She questioned.

"Yes, love, I plan on filling it with precious jewels in the future,” Jason stuttered.

Diana sighed She knew that if Jason had the means to do so, he would get her a thousand pieces of jewellery, but sometimes she couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment.

“Thank you, Jason.” Diana said stiffly and offered him a fake smile and kissed him on the cheek.

Jason felt tears welling up in his eyes. He could tell from her reaction that Diana was just trying to make him feel better.

“We should probably start getting ready for dinner; my father doesn’t like it when I'm not on time,” Diana urged Jason, trying to change the subject.

Jason’s expression changed from sadness to dread at the mention of the dinner. He would rather eat glass than sit through dinner with the Sinclairs.

Instead of actually enjoying their fancy meal, the real treat for Diana’s family was making fun of Jason.

"Honey, I thought you didn’t want a fancy dinner this year.”

“I don't, but my father insisted. He went on about how it’s tradition and how I couldn’t say no to a family tradition. Christopher said he wants to attend as well.”

Jason grimaces at the mention of his brother’s name.

He wasn’t dumb, and he knew that he’d always envied him for marrying Diana and never missed an opportunity to flirt with her.

"Jason, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Diana said, noticing the change in Jason’s mood.

“No DI i’ll go. Today isn’t about me. It’s about celebrating my beautiful wife, and I wouldn’t miss this dinner for the world.”

***

Diana’s birthday dinner was held at Per Se restaurant. Her father, Stephen Sinclair, bought out the entire restaurant so that their family could have an intimate dining experience in one of New York's finest restaurants.

The Sinclair family was gathered around a large table, eating and laughing.

Andrew Sinclair, the eldest son of the Sinclairs, stood up and tapped his spoon against his glass, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Thank you for coming, everyone” he smiles looking around the table .” I would just like to take this moment to make a toast to the most wonderful and courageous woman I know, my sister Diana. Happy Birthday”

Everyone around the table clapped.

“And I know you didn’t want us to present gifts at the table, but as your elder brother, it’s my duty to annoy you.”

Everyone laughed, then Andrew fished out some documents from his bag and handed them to Diana along with a pen.

"Daddy, you got Aunty Diana homework for her birthday?” Marcus Andrews, a six-year-old sim, asked.

"No, son,” Andrew laughed.

“These are property documents. Oh, my God!” Diana exclaimed.

She rushed to her brother and embraced him as everyone cheered.

"We'll, it’s not just me, Dad, and I both pitched in for it.”

Diana embraced her father as well and showered him with thanks.

At this moment, Jason had started getting nervous. It wouldn’t be long before everyone would start showering his wife with lavish gifts, and all he could do was watch.

He cleaned the beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead, and as if on cue, Annette Sinclair, Diana’s mom, gifted Diana with a Birkin bag.

"Mom, it’s beautiful.”

“Only the best for my daughter." Annette said, “Noah and David couldn’t make it. They had an emergency business trip to Dubai, but they sent their love, and they wired some money into your account.”

Next was Christopher; this was the perfect moment for him to upstage his brother, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

“Well it’s o land in the Bahamas, but Diana, please accept this little token." Christopher gave her a gorgeous diamond necklace, and she stared directly at Jason while he did it.

Jason could feel his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. At this point, he felt frozen in place as he dug his fingers into his palms.

"Chris, thank you so much; you didn’t have to." Diana said

"No, I really did." Christopher smiled

"Aunty, open mine too,” Little Marcus said. He gave Diana a gift bag that had a pair of Chanel sunglasses in it.

"Awww, thank you, Marcus. I love them."

Now the spotlight was on Jason. He wished that the ground would open up and swallow him. Even Marcus’ gift upstaged his.

“No need to look so scared, Jay Jay; we didn’t actually expect you to get anything for her," Annette mocked him.

“Oh no, he got her something,” Christopher chirped in.

“You don’t mean it,” Annette and Andrew exclaimed.

"Oh, I do. He got her a box.”

Everyone broke out in laughter. Jason’s face was so red, and he wanted to speak up for himself, but it felt like he had forgotten how to speak.

Diana couldn’t say a thing either; she wanted to defend her husband but felt so embarrassed.

"Well, it’s better than those cheesy cards he usually gets her." Annette said, “I mean, sorry to say, dear, but don’t you ever think that you picked the wrong brother?”

Annette, Andrew, Christopher, and even Marcus all laughed.

All the blood drained from Jason’s face when Annette said that. That was it. That was the last straw, but before he could walk away, the last thing he expected happened.

“That’s enough!” Stephen shouted, making everyone freeze in their seats.