Chapter 120: Chapter 120

Elena, who just took a sip of her wine, immediately choked, resulting in her coughing violently.

"Are you alright? I mean, I want you to be my pretend girlfriend for the time being so my mom and Andrea will stop bothering me."

"Then how would this be beneficial to me?" Elena asked

Jacob sat upright, cleared his throat, and smiled charmingly. "That's quite simple. You can tell her you and I got together months ago, and then you relocated to New York because I asked you to, and you were too shy to tell her you were in a relationship with her elder brother."

Elena thought about it and realized he was indeed making sense.

"How long are we going to pretend?"

"For a month at least, then afterwards you can tell her we broke up because we realized we weren't compatible with each other."

"That sounds like a good idea!" Elena nodded in agreement.

Flash Back ends.

"Yes, I remember everything," Elena said, her voice laced with skepticism. "Why are you really here?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well... I told my family I'm bringing my girlfriend over for dinner tonight, so I thought it was only polite to give you a heads-up," Jacob replied, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Elena snorted. "You shouldn't have bothered. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do back at the office, and I have an early hospital shift this morning."

"I've taken care of that already," Jacob said, holding open the car door for her. "Come on, let's get moving. You don't want to keep your boyfriend waiting."

Elena hesitated, her mind racing with reasons why she shouldn't be doing this. But something about Jacob's infectious enthusiasm drew her in. She reluctantly got in the car, and they sped off to a high-end boutique.

As they browsed through racks of designer clothes, Elena couldn't help but feel like a golddigger. But Jacob seemed genuinely excited to spoil her.

After leaving the boutique, Jacob suggested grabbing dinner at a nearby fast-food joint. Elena raised an eyebrow as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Hungry?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Elena nodded, still feeling out of place in this strange scenario. But as they sat down at a table and ordered their food, she began to relax into it.

"So, what are your parents like?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

Only after she spoke did she realize how forward that was—like asking to meet her in-laws when this wasn't any bit of a real relationship.

"I'm sorry for asking," she hurriedly added before Jacob could respond.

"It's fine," he said, chuckling softly as he leaned back in his chair. "My mom and dad are really nice people. They're very welcoming; Andrea is actually a lot like mom."

Elena felt a wave of relief wash over her. If Andrea was similar to Mrs. Jones, then maybe this wasn't such a crazy idea after all...

****

Sean, Andrea, and the twins arrived at the restaurant late, trying to explain to the girls that they weren't going to the movies tonight until tomorrow. The twins, Pearl and Ruby, were excitedly chattering about their favorite cartoon characters as they rushed to join their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, who were already seated patiently waiting for the others to arrive.

As they approached the table, Mrs. Jones beamed with delight at the sight of her granddaughters.

"Ah, my babies are looking adorable tonight!" she exclaimed, showering them with kisses. Ruby looked up at her with a mischievous glint in her eye and whispered, "Granny, can we have ice cream?"

Andrea shot her a warning glance, but Mrs. Jones just chuckled and replied, "As long as your parents are okay with it."

Andrea rolled her eyes good-naturedly and whispered to Sean, "You know how she is." Sean just smiled and leaned in to whisper back, "Yeah, she loves spoiling the girls rotten."

Just then, they heard footsteps approaching, and a familiar voice called out, "Sis, where's Mom and Dad?" Andrea and Sean turned around to see Elena standing next to Jacob, her jaw dropping as she took in the sight of his arm around her waist. Andrea's eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed, "Holy moly, Lena!"

:

As Elena waved awkwardly and said "hey,"  Andrea's mind was racing with questions. "Lena, you're in New York? What's going on here? Are you really my brother's girlfriend?" she blurted out, barely containing her curiosity.

Jacob smiled graciously and pulled a chair out for Elena to sit down on before sitting next to her. "Elena and I will answer all of your questions," he said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it. Andrea's eyes widened in shock as she took in the romantic gesture. She had never seen this side of her brother before, who she thought had given up on love.

Even Elena seemed taken aback by Jacob's action, and she glanced at him shyly before looking away. "What's wrong with me? Why am I so shy? This is just an act!" she thought to herself.

Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Jones returned with the twins, who were excitedly chattering about their ice cream. "Grandpa got us ice cream!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing her arms around her father's neck.

Mrs. Jones smiled warmly at Elena, seeming to approve of her son's choice. "Who do we have here?" she asked, eyeing Elena with interest. For the first time, Andrea noticed that her mother seemed genuinely pleased with Jacob's taste in women.

"Mom, Dad, meet my girlfriend. I told you about her already," Jacob introduced formally, his voice filled with confidence. "The rest of you are familiar with her." He glanced at Sean, who was wearing an annoying smirk on his face that he wanted to wipe off.

"Is that true, Andrea, Sean?" Mrs. Jones asked in an amused tone. Andrea nodded enthusiastically. "Elena is my best friend from childhood," she explained, smiling widely. Sean simply nodded in agreement.

"That's great! I trust a friend of Andrea's."

"Mom, Dad, Elena has done a lot for me, and it's all thanks to her that I'm here with everyone today. She has always been more than just a sister to me, and I'm happy she's found happiness with Jacob."

"Thank you so much, Elena, for taking care of your daughter. We're more than happy to welcome you into our family as our son's wife. Did you two have a date set for the wedding yet?" Mrs. Jones asked eagerly, barely able to conceal her excitement.

Jacob and Elena exchanged a glance, and Elena smiled as she continued to explain after seeing the confused look on everyone's faces.

"Well, Jacob and I intend to take things slowly. We're not in a rush; we're trying to get to know each other better," she carefully explained.

"That's not a problem, dear," Mrs. Jones replied. "After your marriage, you both will have all the time in the world to get to know each other better. Despite how my husband and I have been together for decades, we still learn new things about each other every day."

"Mom, Elena wants to get used to this new environment and focus on her career for now before we get married," Jacob said. "I respect her decision, and if you're not in support of this, then I want to let you know that if it's not her, I'm not interested in getting married anymore."

Mrs. Jones burst out laughing. "Oh, silly! Son, you're already going against your mother's wishes for a woman!" She turned to Elena. "Of course, I support you two, but at least an engagement ceremony needs to take place when the time is right."

Elena tried to come up with another excuse, but Mrs. Jones wasn't willing to listen. "That's how our culture works back where we came from: after the man brings the woman of his choice to meet his family, the next step is for them to get engaged."

What kind of culture is that?! Elena thought inwardly as she started to feel like she was going crazy sitting in the midst of Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Mrs. Jones asked as she took a bite of her steak.

"I just got a job at BlueMoon private hospital; I'm a nurse," Elena replied nonchalantly.

"Wow! That's great. You must be a smart woman," Mrs. Jones commented.

"What about your parents? Are they here in New York or back in your hometown?"

"Mom, I don't think Lena wants—"

"I'm okay talking about this," Elena interrupted quickly.

"I lost my mom when I was 10 and my dad when I was just 5, so I'm an orphan," Elena said.

"Oh my goodness! I wasn't informed; I'm sorry, dear. Don't worry; you have us now, and you can count on us," Mrs. Jones said, touching Elena's hand affectionately. Elena returned a polite smile, feeling a warmth flood her heart—something she hadn't felt in a long time.

After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Jones left with the twins due to exhaustion, leaving the four of them alone. Andrea and Elena quickly got caught up in their own conversation while trying to catch up like old times, leaving both men feeling extremely awkward.

Not until half an hour later did Andrea realize the tension in the room; she smiled and cleared her throat. "Who's up for a drink?"

"I'm in," Elena responded immediately.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jacob said, quickly shaking off the idea. "Who's going to drive us home if we all get wasted?"

"I think we should get going; it's quite late already," Sean added.

"You guys are so boring!" Andrea pouted her lips.

"I have an even better idea," Andrea said mischievously. "Don't say we can't get wasted because no one would be able to drive—did you forget that we have a driver? Why don't we play a game to make things more fun? Just one game, guys, and then we go home."

This time around, everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Let's play truth or dare," Andrea suggested. "The rules are simple: if you choose truth and you don't want to answer the question, you take three shots of the strongest liquor here; the same thing goes for dare guys."

"Oh yeah! And instead of spinning the bottle to determine whose turn it is next time, we'll ask the person next to us, and then they'll ask us back in return. So that the game will be fair to everyone."

Sean noticed their seating arrangements and knew that he was going to ask Jacob a question, and then Jacob would ask him back in return. At this point, he knew his darling wife's intentions.