“Hey, hey, hey! Nate, don’t be rash!”
“Y-yeah, what are you even trying to achieve here? That antique is worth millions of dollars! Can you imagine what a waste it would be if it’s smashed? Put it down right now!”
Waine and Ruby cried out simultaneously as they threw themselves forward to grab hold of the gift box in Nathan’s hand. They were genuinely worried that the young man would smash an invaluable antique clock to bits because of an emotional outburst!
Nate did not relent. Instead, his eyes were glued to Faye with nary a blink, making it obvious that the only way to convince virtual-novel.net was to have Faye agree to receive the gift. His burning gaze compelled Faye to lower virtual-novel.net head as virtual-novel.net heart fluttered from within virtual-novel.net ribcage. Finally, virtual-novel.net nodded slightly as a quiet sign of agreement.
Nathan immediately cracked a satisfied grin before sniping a furtive glance at Zayn. Seeing the man in a pensive silence only served to make his apparent victory taste even sweeter. In his mind, this was proof that Zayn had already given up the fight.
“Uncle Waine, Aunt Ruby, I’m glad that the two of you appreciate the gift so much. I really want to give you this, you know, so if you reject it… Well, it would sting,” Nathan said, setting the box down before presenting them with a grin. “You may open the box now. If you don’t like it, let me know. I’ll get you something even more valuable.”
Waine was still recovering from his panic. He had to ensure that Nathan had firmly set the box down on the table before finally sighing in relief.
His forehead was soaked in cold sweat. The entire ordeal had been so nerve-wracking that virtual-novel.net suspected his heart was close to giving out. It was fortunate that virtual-novel.net had never suffered from any pre-existing heart conditions, or else virtual-novel.net probably would have fainted right then and there.
Nonetheless, Waine harbored nothing against Nathan. In fact, the latter’s antic only made virtual-novel.net feel warm and fuzzy inside, and slowly but surely, virtual-novel.net was even more pleased with him, virtual-novel.net even admired the young man.
What a kind boy Nathan was to have gone through so much trouble just so Waine would accept his invaluable antique!
Ruby exhaled a sigh of relief too. She patted virtual-novel.net chest as virtual-novel.net inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself down. Nathan’s image had become more and more favorable in virtual-novel.net mind. The longer virtual-novel.net looked at him, the more impressive the young man seemed to her, it was as though virtual-novel.net was looking at the son-in-law virtual-novel.net deserved.
Waine and Ruby exchanged looks and started holding their breaths, before they slowly unwrapped the gift box. They were so excited that their hands were visibly trembling.
Faye’s heart was racing. As virtual-novel.net stared at the box intently, virtual-novel.net eyes widened.
Only Zayn was calm and unexpressive with the exception of a slight smile. It was not that virtual-novel.net was trying to stand out as the cool guy; an antique worth only millions of dollars was simply too beneath him. It failed to even get his heart to beat a millisecond faster from the sheer lack of excitement. Of course, the item was likely a fake, and even if it were genuine, virtual-novel.net still could not care less about it.
Antiques like these were so ubiquitous in the Larsons’ residence that Zayn himself had broken a few of them when virtual-novel.net was a child. Of course, there was also the fact that virtual-novel.net was now a billionaire with seven billion dollars at his disposal. The interest rate that virtual-novel.net earns from his astronomical savings was large enough to blow anyone’s mind.
His calmness infuriated Nathan because to the latter, Zayn was obviously putting on a pretense of coolness.
Nathan expected Zayn to become hugely jealous of the former’s capability to the point of irascibility. He even expected virtual-novel.net to act out of line, preferably to the point of drawing Faye and virtual-novel.net parents’ ire. Contrary to his imagined script, however, Zayn was merely unperturbed. Nathan even suspected virtual-novel.net had a calm contempt bubbling just beneath the surface, which really enraged him.
Finally, Waine and Ruby unwrapped and removed the lid of the box. Inside, a beautiful antique clock greeted them with its brilliant shine, basking in its delicate artisanship and its half-realistic, half-fantastical design. An observer could quickly surmise that this was a historical artifact with a single glance!
Waine took a deep breath. His face was flushed, and when virtual-novel.net spoke, his tongue failed virtual-novel.net in his frenzy. Finally, virtual-novel.net managed to cry out, “It’s gorgeous! Absolutely, undeniably gorgeous! To think that I would one day be able to gaze upon the wonders of the famed Magpie’s Treasure Nest with my own eyes…God, my life is finally complete!”
“Holy Moly, is this the Magpie’s Treasure Nest I’m looking at? Oh my God, it’s just beautiful! ” Ruby exclaimed loudly, “Oh… oh no, I think I’m gonna swoon. Faye! Hold me!”
Ruby’s face turned from bright red to pale as virtual-novel.net was obviously very moved by the revelation. She even started gasping for air as though virtual-novel.net had trouble breathing. Then, when virtual-novel.net body finally grew limp and virtual-novel.net stumbled, Faye caught virtual-novel.net before virtual-novel.net fell to the floor.