Hearing those words, Rita felt as though she wanted to say so much, but her voice got stuck in her throat. Her eyes stung, and it felt as if tears were about to spill out at any moment. She felt humiliated. To save herself from the situation, she said, "I came here for some tasty food. Even I don't want to get married yet."
Hearing this, Gilbert visibly relaxed. He filled his plate with shrimp and chose to sit far away from his family so no one could overhear them. Rita followed him, carrying a bowl of vegetable soup in her hand. They sat opposite each other.
Gilbert looked at her, then turned away with a faint smile before asking, "Don't you remember me?"
Rita was confused by the question. She looked at him, and when he met her gaze, she felt uncomfortable and quickly looked away.
"Sorry, I don't recognize you," she replied.
She did not think too much about it. Since their fathers were friends, it was entirely possible that they had met somewhere before.
After that, neither of them spoke for a while. Then Gilbert's mother approached them and asked, "How is it going?"
Gilbert replied, "How can I say? I'm waiting for Rita's response."
Gilbert's mother warmly embraced Rita and said, "I have always wanted a daughter. Now, Rita is coming into our family. My wish has finally come true."
Rita did not know how to react, so she simply smiled and began following Gilbert's mother. As she passed by, Gilbert, who was standing beside her, quietly reminded her, "Remember what you have to say."
She turned to look at him, but he had already walked away toward his mother.
When Rita returned home from the hotel, her aunt excitedly asked, "So, what do you think about Gilbert?"
"I don't like him," Rita replied immediately.
Her aunt was clearly not expecting that answer. In her eyes, Gilbert was already perfect.
Furiously, she asked, "Why? He's so handsome and comes from such a wonderful family. What's your problem? You'll never find someone like him."
Annoyed, Rita shot back, "If he's that great, then why don't you marry him?"
Without waiting for a response, she marched straight to her room. Opening her laptop, she searched for Gilbert on Facebook and quickly realized that he was exactly who she had suspected.
Her guess had been right.
Only someone like him could think of humiliating her like that.
He was probably sitting with his family right now, making fun of her.
Later, at the dining table, her mother asked, "I heard you don't like Gilbert. Why?"
Rita wanted to ignore the conversation, but everyone around her seemed determined to make her accept the proposal.
"Because he's rude and thinks too highly of himself," Rita replied sharply, pretending to focus on her food.
But her mother continued, "Mrs. Marina told us that you two studied at the same school until fifth grade, but later he had to leave."
Hearing that, memories Rita had desperately tried to forget began resurfacing.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her mother added, "You know, Gilbert came to me after lunch and said it would be his pleasure to have you."
Rita could hardly process what she had just heard. Gilbert had told her to reject him, yet he had said the exact opposite to her mother.
Then she understood.
He wanted her to look bad in everyone's eyes while saving himself from the marriage.
Unable to control her anger, Rita ran to her room.
She could not believe he would go to such lengths just to humiliate her. She lay down on her bed as tears streamed down her face. She was furious. At that moment, she could have strangled him.
Because of him, her school life had become a nightmare.
Closing her eyes, she found herself reliving all those painful memories.
The next morning, Rita was awakened by a knock at her door.
She opened it to find her mother standing there with a breakfast tray in her hands. Her mother placed the tray on the table and sat down beside her.
"Rita," she began gently, "you know your father and I would never do anything to harm you. When your father chose Gilbert, he made sure that you would have a comfortable life."
Rita felt emotional, believing for a moment that her parents were genuinely concerned about her happiness.
Then her mother stood up and continued, "You know how important our family's reputation is to your father. No matter how much money he earns, if you don't get married, people will taunt us. Do you even care about us? And after your marriage, the Marchantias will become a part of the Helianthus Group. It will be beneficial for your father's company."
Hearing this, Rita realized that she did not truly belong anywhere.
Looking at her mother, she calmly replied, "I am ready to marry him, but you should ask him first."
Rita knew there was no point in wasting her energy fighting this. It would be better to let Gilbert handle the rejection himself.
And now, she would make him regret what he had done to her.