Filed to story: I Got Married Without You
When she parked outside the cafe, she happened to see a classy woman stepping out of a luxury car. With just a glance, Eva knew who she was.
The younger generation of the Evans Family inherited excellent genes from their parents.
Paul’s mother was one of those people, with an elegant appearance and graceful figure. She exuded an air of sophistication, making it hard to determine her age. It was no wonder Paul and Edith looked so good.
Eva waited until the graceful figure entered the cafe before getting out of her car. Standing in front of the door, she involuntarily swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva.
For some reason, she had never been this nervous when meeting Jayden’s parents… Her heart was pounding incessantly, and she couldn’t control its crazy frequency. She felt incredibly nervous and anxious, lingering outside for a while before finally mustering the courage to push open the door.
Kate probably recognized her with a quick glance. “Ms. Miller, over here.”
Eva tugged at her stiff lips and walked over with a smile. “Mrs. Evans, hello.”
Kate greeted Eva to take a seat. “Ms. Miller, what would you like to drink?”
Eva took the menu handed to her by the waiter and chose a coffee she often drank. She showed no signs of nervousness or pretense, which surprised Kate.
After Eva finished ordering, she waved her hand, and the waiter immediately left.
Once the waiter was gone, Kate looked at Eva more closely, from top to bottom. Eva had a good face and figure. It had to be said that she took good care of herself, which was why her age was not apparent. However, despite her good appearance, she was still three years older than Paul.
Kate looked down on Eva a bit but didn’t show it on her face. “Ms. Miller, my son surprisingly came home today and said he wants to marry you. I haven’t even met you yet, so I took the liberty to call and invite you out. I hope you don’t mind?”
Eva shook her head. “I don’t mind. It’s only natural.”
Eva was always obedient and well-behaved in front of elders, so Kate continued to prod her. “Could you tell me about you and Paul?”
Eva thought she was trying to prevent their marriage, but Kate didn’t immediately get to the point. “What specific things do you want to know?”
Kate, elegantly leaning back in her armchair, slightly pursed her lips. “I want to know if you love him or not.”
It was a bit embarrassing for Eva to talk about love in front of someone’s mother. But after confirming her feelings, she bravely admitted, “He’s great, and I really like him.”
Kate asked if she loved him, but Eva answered that she liked him. In the eyes of older generations, this answer was not ideal. “So, you don’t love him then?”
Eva opened her mouth to retort, but Kate interrupted her. “Ms.Miller, my son has no experience with marriage, but you have plenty. So, you should be familiar with the process, right?”
There was no direct sarcasm, but it still carried a hint of irony. Eva felt embarrassed and lowered her head. “I know.” Seeing her discomfort, Kate finally got to the point. “As the groom’s parents, it is natural for us to negotiate with the bride’s parents. Do you know where your parents are?”
Kate’s words were like a sharp stab, piercing deep into Eva’s heart. The rosy color on her face instantly faded, leaving only a pale complexion.
Suddenly, Eva could feel Anthony’s pain from years ago. His gentle and noble face, which seemed kind-hearted, why did he say something so hard to accept?
She didn’t have parents, so how could Kate not know when she had looked into her background?
Kate was clearly intentionally hitting her sore spot…
Eva, who had originally intended to marry Paul, suddenly had a change of heart.
Marriage was not just between two individuals, but also between two families.
Having grown up without a family, she naturally longed for a warm and loving family on the male side. But the woman in front of her…
Eva clenched her hand and dug her nails into her flesh, stabilizing her emotions. “Mrs. Evans, I don’t have parents…”
The implication was that a child raised without parents couldn’t match her son.
If it were someone else’s parents sitting across from her, Eva would have left a long time ago. But facing Paul’s mother, she didn’t do that, even though she was hurting inside. She bit her lip and endured. She would do this solely because of Paul. It couldn’t be denied that she liked Paul and couldn’t let him go. So, for him, she should try to fight for it.
Thinking this, Eva loosened her tightly clenched fist and calmly looked at Kate. “Mrs. Evans, not having parents is not my fault. You can’t think that just because of this, Paul and I aren’t suitable.”
Eva didn’t directly address the hidden meaning behind Kate’s words, she simply continued along with her words. But to Kate, it seemed like Eva didn’t understand when to give up. “Ms. Miller, I didn’t want to be too harsh with my words, but since you don’t understand, let me make it clear.”
It seemed like Eva could guess what Kate was going to say next. Her face grew even paler, but Kate ignored her emotions and continued to embarrass her.
“Let me put it like this, my son comes from an influential family, he graduated from an Ivy League university and is a computer skills. He’s never been married, but you’ve been divorced. He’s currently the CEO of the Asia-Pacific region, while you run an entertainment venue. There’s a big gap between you in terms of birth, education background, marital status, and social status. Do you think you deserve him?”
After such a comparison, Eva truly couldn’t match up to Paul. It was only natural that his mother didn’t agree.
Eva thought about this and felt even more that she wasn’t good enough for Paul. But Paul said he loved her and wanted to marry her. Could she disappoint him?
Eva lowered her gaze and hesitated for a long time. Then she slowly raised her pale face and stared at Kate, who had never experienced hardships due to her high-born and sheltered life.
“I couldn’t choose my background, and as for my education… Mrs. Evans, do you know that when you don’t have money to eat, how can you focus on your studies? At that time, I just wanted to fill my stomach After all, who can endure not eating or drinking for five days and nights…”
As she said this, tears suddenly filled Eva’s eyes. She herself couldn’t go without eating or drinking, nor could she stop Rosalyn’s medication or deny Ryan’s education. Being the older one, she had to set an example and take care of them.
Upon hearing the words “not eating or drinking for five days and nights,” Kate was somewhat shocked. It seemed like she could understand how difficult it was for orphans to survive in marry her son, she chose to turn a blind eye.
“Ms. Miller, I sympathize with the hardships you faced as a child, but I didn’t cause them.”
Indeed, it wasn’t Kate’s fault, but those words still hurt Eva. However, she was foolish to say these things to Kate. What was the point? People born into wealthy families, how could they understand the hardships of the common folk?
When she was studying, she only focused on finding part-time jobs, thinking that if she started working early, she could earn more money and help Ryan and Rosalyn, who had better academic performance. She thought that if they succeeded, it would be equivalent to her own success.
Later on, it turned out to be true. Ryan and Rosalyn were both outstanding. She felt that this was enough, but she didn’t expect that both Jayden’s mother and Paul’s mother would still care about these things. She couldn’t decide her background, and she wasn’t academically outstanding. She felt that she was just an ordinary person, so she married an ordinary person, hoping to live a peaceful life. But things didn’t go as planned, and a bunch of troubles forced her to climb up.
But what kind of position could a person like her reach?
She didn’t have a good family, no one to help, and no connections. All she had was the inheritance left by Ryan. If it the manager of a night venue.
For ordinary people, it’s really difficult to achieve great success. So, how could she not hope for a good family background, being nurtured and educated from birth to adulthood, having experienced the wider world at a young age, and having better genes like Paul…
But she didn’t have that background or those parents. She could only rely on herself to struggle and climb up.
Kate couldn’t understand Eva, and Eva had no intention of persuading Kate. She just tried to see things from Kate’s perspective and acknowledge her point of view.
“Mrs. Evans, if I were you, facing a woman who is nothing compared to your own son, I would be just as dissatisfied as you are. I understand you, but please also think about Paul. It was his idea to marry me, not mine to marry him. If you want me to back off, it’s better to talk to him. If he is convinced and no longer wants to marry me, just let me know, and I won’t bother him anymore, even avoiding him in the future…”
Eva said all this in one breath, her heart pounding. This was her first time standing firm against someone for Paul, even though she knew she was not as good as him or deserving of him. But because he loved her and she couldn’t let go of him, she was determined to fight for their relationship.
Kate scrutinized Eva and after a while, she suddenly smiled. “You just said you don’t love my son, and now you’re saying you don’t have to marry him. It seems that you don’t care much about my son. If that’s the case, why would you insist on marrying him just because of his passion?”
Kate’s question was quite profound, and Eva found it difficult to express herself and lowered her head.
Seeing her reaction, Kate continued, “Setting aside your personal background, academic abilities, and all that, just this point alone, I think every mother would want their future daughter-in-law to wholeheartedly love their son. If you can’t even do that, what makes you think I can convince my son?”
Upon hearing this, Eva’s lowered eyelashes trembled slightly.
If it weren’t for the one-night stand, she probably wouldn’t have considered marriage again. But after the one-night stand and hearing Paul say he must marry her, she couldn’t help but waver in her determination. However, the root of her wavering was not just Paul’s words of wanting to marry her. It was her realization that deep down, she hadn’t let go of Paul yet, which made her want to take another risk.
However, in terms of deep love, it couldn’t compare to Rosalyn and Andrew. At least in Eva’s eyes, her relationship with Paul was fragile. Paul was used to being fickle; she didn’t know if he would continue to love her in the future.
Eva had no sense of security about this, so she dared only say she liked Paul, not that she loved him. She wanted to control her feelings, so as not to completely collapse or go crazy if she was betrayed. She didn’t want to become a hysterical woman or an abandoned wife. She could only remain calm by restraining her emotions.
But obviously, these words were something Kate couldn’t understand. Kate was born into a wealthy family, had a comfortable life since childhood, and even had a husband who loved her wholeheartedly. She naturally couldn’t empathize.
Eva didn’t want to speak ill of her son in front of Kate either.
Eva’s silence made Kate feel even more sorry for Paul. “Ms. Miller, I’m speaking here. I’ve always been direct. Besides what I mentioned before, there’s another thing that really bothers me.” Eva slowly raised her head and asked Kate in confusion, “Did I do something wrong to you?”
Kate shook her head, but there was a hint of anger in her indifferent eyes. “Before, my son got into an accident because of you, crashing into Jonny’s car. It was the first time I saw him injured. After managing to save him and sending him to the hospital, he was provoked by your ex-boyfriend and needed rescue again. Do you know how angry I was when I received that rescue call in the middle of the night? My perfectly fine son, getting injured for you once was bad enough, but you actually allowed your ex-boyfriend to make him suffer a second time. Seeing him lying helpless in the hospital bed, it broke my heart.”
In Kate’s eyes, Eva was a jinx who caused harm. However, at that time, she had no right to say anything to Eva and could only let Paul do as he pleased. But now that the matter of marriage was brought up and it reached her, she had to intervene. At the very least, she wanted to make these things clear.
“Anthony, at least, loved Edith wholeheartedly and was willing to give everything for her. But what about you? You don’t love my son, and you don’t cherish him. How can I, as his mother, feel at ease letting him marry you?”
Eva felt guilty about Paul being provoked to the point of needing rescue. She deeply regretted it and lowered her head. “I’m sorry.
I misjudged people and caused trouble for him, making him. suffer and get hurt…”
In this matter, Eva didn’t try to defend herself. It was only natural for a mother to be heartbroken for her son in such a situation.
She also agreed with Kate’s words. She hadn’t really cherished Paul before and always thought of their relationship as a casual fling that would eventually end. She forced herself not to care about him, but people you don’t care about are easy to neglect…
Moreover, when Paul talked to her, he was indifferent and didn’t take her seriously. Even when they broke up, it was just a simple “okay,” quickly ending their relationship that could be considered insignificant. Who could have known that after the breakup, he would become entangled and even insist on marrying her…