The large suitcase slamd heavily onto the floor with a dull thud, rattling the entire room. From downstairs, Linda’s sharp voice imdiately rang out, yelling up at him,
"Morrison, what’s wrong with you tonight?"
Morrison took two long drags from his cigarette before his nerves finally settled. Then, he pulled out his phone and dialed Lilian’s number.
anwhile, back at the Mos residence, Lilian had returned to the sofa with Karl, resuming polite conversation with Madam Mos and Lord Mo. Suddenly, her phone buzzed loudly on the side table.
Seeing the caller ID, Lilian nearly jumped out of her skin. Hastily, she grabbed the phone and shielded the screen from view. She gave a quick smile to Madam Mos and Lord Mo, apologizing softly,
"Sorry, I need to take this."
She stood up and walked away, careful to keep the call private.
Since breaking up with Morrison, Lilian had deleted his number from her contacts, but after having spent so much ti together, she still rembered his number by heart.
In other words, even if deleted, his number was etched in her mory.
Karl, sitting beside Lilian, caught sight of her hurriedly snatching the phone. Curious, he glimpsed the caller ID. Though it was only a string of numbers, his sharp mind imdiately recognized it.
Frowning, he pulled out his own phone and searched through his contacts. His gaze settled on a familiar na.
Lilian moved a few steps away before answering. Fortunately, the Mos family’s grand living room was spacious enough to keep her conversation private.
As soon as she picked up, Morrison’s cold voice ca through the line,
"What do you an?"
His tone was like a ticking bomb, threatening to explode and tear her apart at any mont. Lilian’s heart trembled as she carefully replied,
"What do you an by what I an?"
Morrison clenched his jaw, tempted to kick his suitcase again. Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he finally said,
"You showing up at my house as Karl’s girlfriend — what does that an?"
Lilian blinked, realizing his question, and answered honestly,
"It ans exactly what you think. Your mom and my mom think we’re a good match, so they set us up."
Morrison felt like his head was about to explode.
Recalling everything Linda had done lately, and how she had been so eager to set Karl up with that girl, Morrison’s mind suddenly clicked. That girl Linda had been so insistent on—the one she’d been talking about all this ti—was actually Lilian.
Of course! Linda and her mother were close friends, and Linda knew Lilian inside and out. If Lilian wasn’t a genuinely good girl, why else would Linda be so determined to match her with Karl?
Before, when Linda said Karl had fallen head over heels at first sight with the girl he t through matchmaking, Morrison had been skeptical. He never thought Karl was the type to be dazzled by re beauty. But now, if that girl really was Lilian, he found himself starting to believe Karl could actually like her.
Because Lilian was exactly that kind of girl—one who naturally drew n’s admiration. It wasn’t surprising that Karl would take a liking to her.
That tight, suffocating feeling in Morrison’s chest grew stronger. He grabbed a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag before his weary voice ca through,
"So what about you? What do you think? Do you like Karl?"
Lilian was caught off guard by the question. She hesitated for a mont on the other end of the line.
But then she answered with casual indifference,
"I don’t really care one way or the other. If the adults think we’re a good match, then we’ll just be together."
She wasn’t about to admit she was only pretending to be in a relationship with Karl.
Though she was sowhat clueless about emotions, after their ti apart and the interactions they’d had, she could sense a little bit of his feelings for her.
Still, she thought to herself that he was a playboy—no matter how much he might like her now, it wouldn’t last.
Morrison could only think: fine, let her use her relationship with Karl to keep him at bay, so he could stop tornting her. She could then live her own life clearly, while he continued living his—surrounded by won, adored as the playboy he was.
"The adults think you two are a good match, so you’ll just be together?" Morrison’s voice on the other end was cold as ice, tinged with mockery.
"Your whole life, your future—don’t you have any say at all? Just let your parents decide for you?"
He didn’t even know why he was so angry. He knew she was the kind of girl who behaved obediently in front of her parents, but hearing her speak so nonchalantly about sothing so important made his chest feel like it would burst.
But she only made him angrier, casually saying,
"In ancient tis, marriages were all arranged by parents and matchmakers. What’s wrong with that even now?"
The implication was clear: whoever her parents chose for her, she would marry—Karl included.
Furious, he slamd down the phone, threw it aside, and kicked over his suitcase. The noise upstairs stirred Linda’s anger, and she stomped up to confront him.
"Morrison!"
Lilian glanced at her disconnected phone, pursed her lips, and quietly returned to the living room.
Karl gave her a look and casually asked,
"Who was calling?"
Lilian froze for a mont, then forced a laugh.
"Just... a friend."
Karl glanced at her again but said nothing.
What he didn’t say was that he had just tried calling Morrison, only to find the line busy—because Lilian’s phone was on a call.
Linda stord upstairs to scold Morrison. After venting his frustration, he cald down a bit, peeled off his travel clothes, and was about to take a shower.
Linda followed him in just as he took off his shirt, revealing his lean, toned body. Without any hesitation, she confronted him directly.
"What’s your problem? Karl’s girlfriend ca over today, and you acted so cold, throwing tantrums like soone owes you two million. You don’t need to tell you that’s rude, right?"
As a mature, composed businessman who maneuvered skillfully in the corporate world, Linda couldn’t believe Morrison would behave so disrespectfully. Yet here he was—doing exactly that.
In Linda’s mind, her eldest son was always flawless, impeccable in manners above all else.
So Morrison’s reaction now was completely unacceptable to her. She was confused and troubled.
Morrison coldly shot back at Linda,
"It’s not like she’s my girlfriend. Whether I’m rude or not doesn’t matter—Karl treats her well, that’s enough."
Linda was oddly struck by the jealous undertone in his words, and for a mont, she was at a loss for a coback.
After a while, she scolded him again,
"We all represent the Mos family’s image. She’s here to see our family’s values. Even if she likes Karl, the attitude of the rest of us matters a lot. If she sees that the eldest brother gives her the cold shoulder, who would want to marry in?"
"Hmph!"
Morrison sneered, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips,
"Then she’s better off not marrying."
With that, he ignored Linda and strode off to his wardrobe to find so clothes to change into.
Linda was nearly fuming,
"What’s wrong with you? How can you curse your own brother and his girlfriend like that?"
Morrison glanced back at her, then raised his hand to his belt,
"I’m taking off my pants. Going to shower."
He decided to use this as a way to force Linda out of his room. The more she kept going on about Karl and Lilian, the more his anger flared up again.
she snorted,
"So what if you’re already undressed? I’ve seen all sorts of things when you were kids."
Morrison pursed his lips, grabbed his change of clothes, and headed to the bathroom. Fine, when it ca to shalessness, he lost to Linda.
After a shower and a fresh set of clothes, Morrison lit a cigarette to calm his temper and steady his nerves—he knew he had to keep his cool to survive this dinner without flipping the table.
By the ti Morrison went downstairs, everyone else was already seated at the dining table, waiting for him.
There was no way he could put on a happy face, so he simply wore a cold expression as he sat down.
Karl fanned his nose with his hand, smiling as he looked at Morrison,
"Bro, how many cigarettes have you smoked? What’s wrong? Another woman got on your nerves recently?"
Karl looked innocently casual as he asked, but his words struck right at Morrison’s sore spot, prompting Morrison to shoot him a cold glare sharp enough to freeze him solid.
Lilian sat beside Karl, and Karl casually draped his arm around her shoulders — as intimate as any couple in the early bloom of love.
Karl smiled warmly at Lilian,
"Nowadays, n like who don’t smoke or drink are rare. You better cherish , you know."
Lilian forced a small smile. They had agreed beforehand to pretend to be affectionate when eting both sets of parents, so she didn’t dare pull Karl’s hand away from her shoulder.
Across the table, Morrison’s gaze burned with such intensity it felt like it could scorch both her and the hand on her shoulder.
Linda chid in to support Karl,
"That’s right, Lilian. Our Karl is a steady, honest boy. You two better take good care of each other."
Lilian kept smiling, while the others — including Mos Grandma and Mos Lord — all showered Karl with praise, completely ignoring Morrison, the real head of the Mos family.
Morrison felt like slamming the table and walking out.
The dishes arrived, and everyone started eating.
Lilian reached to grab so fish, and by coincidence, Morrison’s fork moved toward the sa piece. Both froze for a mont, fork poised.
By all etiquette, the gentleman should have yielded to the lady. But Morrison, wearing a cold expression, glanced at Lilian then unapologetically took the juicy piece of fish for himself. Lilian had no choice but to quietly withdraw her fork.
The whole table was stunned by Morrison’s complete lack of gentlemanly manners. This was not the Mos family’s way.
From Grandma’s teachings to Linda’s guidance for her sons, this would never have happened.
Linda was both embarrassed and angry,
"Morrison, how could you—"
She wanted to scold him for snatching food from a lady, but felt it was too shaful to say aloud. Morrison, anwhile, was perfectly at ease.
"Fish’s good for the brain. I’ve been exhausted lately, need so extra nutrition."
Then, as if casually, he glanced at Lilian. She imdiately felt guilty and turned her eyes away.
"Fish for the brain" — the phrase was loaded with mories, a taunt he had used to tease her before.
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