Chapter 14

Philip pondered before saying, “I won’t meet him for now. Let’s talk about it in the future.” Anna replied, “Understood, Mr. Clarke.” After the call ended, Philip sat in the corridor and slept the night away. The next day, early in the morning, Wynn said to him coldly, “I’m taking Mila home in the afternoon, will you be coming with me?” Philip nodded and gave her a bitter smile. “I’ll go and apologize to Father.” Wynn’s heart skipped a beat when she heard him, but her expression remained indifferent, only nodding without saying anything. In the afternoon, Philip and Wynn brought Mila to the Johnston family home. The atmosphere in the house was cold as soon as they entered. “Dad, I’m home.” Wynn feigned composure. No one came out to greet them. Charles was sitting on the sofa wearing reading glasses as he read the paper while Martha was busy in the kitchen. Philip put Mila down, and the little girl immediately hid behind her father’s leg, hugging Philip’s leg tightly. She looked up with her big innocent eyes and mumbled in a small voice, “Daddy, do Grandpa and Grandma dislike me?” Philip squatted down and lovingly caressed Mila’s tiny head. He shook his head and smiled gently at her. “That’s not true. Hurry on inside and greet Grandpa and Grandma.” Little Mila’s big eyes were shining like obsidian gems. She carefully albeit fearfully glanced at Charles, who was reading his paper before moving her tiny feet to run to him, calling out in a crisp voice, “Grandpa, Mila is here.” Charles then put down his paper, stood up, walked away from his sofa, and entered the study without giving her so much as a glance. Bam! The door of the study closed shut. That sound crushed down heavily on both Philip and Wynn’s heart. Wynn looked at Mila, who was pursing her lips, about to cry and quickly ran over to carry her daughter up. She brought her into her bedroom. Philip frowned slightly, feeling irked. His father-in-law was too cold to his daughter! But he still went into the kitchen to help, although he ended up being scorned by his mother-in-law. “Philip, I don’t need you to help me. I really don’t. You can just go back to where you came from. We don’t welcome you here,” Martha said without reserve, not showing Philip any courtesy. “Mom, I’m sorry.” Philip lowered his head. He knew what he had come here to do today, and he did not want to give Wynn any trouble, so he chose to compromise. “Oh dear me, I can’t possibly accept that.” Martha scoffed. She mildly cocked her eyebrows up as she wore an arrogant expression. Just then, the doorbell rang. Martha shot Philip a glare before rudely pushing him away as she ran to the door, looking delighted. In a cheery voice, she called out, “Coming, coming! Is it Aiden?” When the door opened, Aiden appeared in a handsome suit with gift bags in his hands. “Hello, Aunt Martha.” “Oh my, come on in, quickly,” Martha chirped happily as she took the gift bags from Aiden. “Why did you have to bring gifts with you, you’re too kind.” “It’s my first time visiting, so it’s the least I can do. My parents send their regards as well,” said Aiden generously. When Martha turned around to see Philip sitting on the sofa in the living room, she felt annoyed and barked at him, “Can’t you see there’s a guest? Why aren’t you preparing tea? Such poor sight!” This rubbish of a son-in-law should take a look at Aiden. The man had brought gifts while he came empty-handed and had even brought over extra baggage! How frustrating! Philip looked at Aiden to see the latter staring at him proudly. His eyes conveyed the message, ‘Hey trash, your mother-in-law is treating an outsider like me better than she treats you.’ Philip did not make a fuss. He got up to prepare the tea. By then, Charles had already come out of his study as he chatted enthusiastically with Aiden in the living room. Philip instead was standing in a corner, listening quietly. “Uncle Johnston, where’s Wynn? I don’t see her.” Aiden scanned the house, squinting. Charles yelled, “Wynnie, we have a guest in the house!” The door of the bedroom opened. Wynn had spent a lot of effort to coax her daughter to sleep. When she saw Aiden sitting in the living room, she was mildly stunned. “Why are you here?” Wynn’s tone was cold. “Why can’t he be here? Should we be letting you bring home trash instead?” Martha came out of the kitchen with a plate of fruits as she glared viciously at Philip, who was standing in a corner, smoking. She looked evidently crossed. “We don’t allow smoking in the house. If you want to smoke, do it outside.” “I’m sorry.” Philip immediately stubbed out the cigarette and opened the windows to let the smoke out. Wynn shot him a glare, wanting to drag him out this instant in case he embarrassed himself again. “Aiden, I just bought these fruits this morning, they’re really sweet.” Martha pushed the fruit platter to Aiden like she was trying to flatter him. “Thank you, Aunt Martha,” answered Aiden politely. Philip felt uncomfortable when he saw this scene. When Mila was here, there wasn’t a piece of fruit in sight. She’s still your granddaughter no matter what, so why do you have to be such a snob? “Oh, yes, Uncle Johnston, the decoration work has started for your gallery. The invitations have been sent out and the gallery will open at ten sharp on Saturday morning.” When Aiden spoke, he shot a cheeky glance at Philip as he gloated. It was clear that he held a higher position in the Johnston family than this son-in-law. “Great, great, thank you so much, Addy.” Charles looked delighted as he imagined how grand it would be when his gallery opened. His old friends have already started to spread the word for him. A lot of aristocrats in Riverdale City have now heard that the ex-section chief of land development planning had gotten an authentic painting by Tang Bohu! And this had caused a great uproar within the city. For suspense’s sake, they had refrained from saying which painting it was so that they could shock the guests at the coming event. “You’re welcome, Uncle Johnston. It’s what I should be doing.” Aiden humbly added, “As for your request to meet with Mr. Clarke, I’ve already told the person in charge. You can meet him, but the time has not been set yet. You should know that a man like Mr. Clarke is quite busy.” What the f*ck! How shameless! Philip cussed internally. Since when did he say he would meet them? This was blatantly a lie to win favors, and he had said it so tactfully. ‘They could meet, but the time has not been set yet’. Aiden was so great at pleasing Charles that the latter just kept holding him in higher regard and favored him. “Philip, look at Aiden. You should learn from him if you have the time instead of wasting your life away. If you really can’t make it on your own, get Aiden to get you a job. You’ll look more proper that way,” Charles finally spoke on behalf of Philip’s future for the very first time. It was a great start, but Philip felt uncomfortable listening to it. Aiden Grant’s company was worth only about a few million. It was not even enough for his allowance. “Philip, what are you standing there for, hurry up and beg Aiden.” Martha glared hatefully at Philip. What an idiot! Her husband had already spoken up for him, but he was still just standing there. He deserved to be looked down upon! On the other hand, Aiden sat up straight, with his eyes narrowing slightly as he waited cheekily for Philip to come and beg him. He was feeling great! Although Wynn did not like Aiden, she felt that it was a good opportunity as well. However… “No need. Thank you, but that company’s a little too huge, I can’t get used to working there.” Philip calmly refused. Charles and Martha’s faces immediately darkened. Charles snorted while Martha started berating him, “Philip, how can you be so insensible? Leave this instant, our home doesn’t welcome you.” That was an order to leave. Philip was immediately pushed out of the house by Martha. Bam! The door closed, and Philip shook his head, smiling bitterly. He took out his phone to give Anna Carter a call. “I don’t really like this Aiden Grant.” Anna was at the gallery, busy with decorations. When she received this call, she immediately answered, “Understood, Mr. Clarke.” She then immediately stopped the people working in the gallery and called Aiden’s number. Aiden was currently boasting to the Johnston family when he received a call. Seeing that it was from the representative of Civil Gallery, he immediately flaunted it to Charles. “Uncle Johnston, look. It’s a call from the gallery representative.” “Hello, Manager Carter… Has Mr. Clarke agreed to see us?” Aiden was ecstatic and pleased. He spoke loudly. “Mr. Grant, we regret to inform you that we can’t rent the gallery to you anymore.” “What?” “This is Mr. Clarke’s intention. He seems to be a little upset, so the gallery will not be opened to outsiders,” said Anna coldly. Her tone was apparent. Toot! The call was cut off and Aiden’s face froze in an instant. His expression turned ugly.