Chapter 739: Chapter 739: The Complete Family Portrait
Magnolia Hearne’s sudden use of the term ‘little brother’ left the guests present momentarily bewildered.
Didn’t she just say he was her older brother?
Scarlett Jennings quickly understood; she was getting back at him for calling her ugly in front of everyone earlier, wasn’t she?
Aaron Hearne naturally realized this too, but his face turned grim as he corrected her word by word in a deep voice,
“I am your elder brother.”
The aura of his voice didn’t match that of a younger brother at all.
But Magnolia wasn’t about to let him off that easily.
Didn’t he look down on her for making herself look older?
Didn’t he call her ugly?
Then let’s hurt each other.
She didn’t confront him directly; instead, she gracefully turned to the guests, explaining in a tone full of tolerance,
“Please forgive my brother; he’s been strong-willed since he was young and always likes to pretend he’s the older one. I hope you all understand.”
With Magnolia’s explanation, everyone present suddenly understood.
Oh! That’s how it is!
Some children do like to compete over this when they’re young.
Families with more than one child understand this.
Upon closer inspection, this family member indeed looks younger than Mrs. Jiang.
No older than thirty.
It’s unexpected that at this age, he would still argue about being older than his sister.
Almost instantaneously, the elders who were scrutinizing and wary of Aaron Hearne now looked at him with the patience reserved for a younger generation.
Aaron Hearne coldly stared at Magnolia, and after a while, he pulled out a cold smile,
“To want to be my elder sister comes with a price.”
Magnolia was actually a bit intimidated by him, but she feigned calmness,
“Price or no price, let’s deal with it later.”
Aaron Hearne snorted coldly, “Fine.”
…
Because Aaron Hearne suddenly brought a ‘dowry’ along, the reporters tonight were quite excited.
They originally thought they were just announcing the return of Mrs. Jiang, but unexpected twists filled the story.
They decided to write their articles overnight; this scoop couldn’t be missed.
Old Sir Jiang had been listening to their conversation and naturally understood that this young man from the Wolf Family had come today to support his eldest daughter-in-law.
He thought it wasn’t a bad thing. Although the Jennings didn’t care much about the daughter-in-law’s dowry, the dowry is a woman’s confidence and represents her family’s attitude towards her.
It’s good for his eldest daughter-in-law to have family support.
Seeing Aaron Hearne about to leave after giving the gifts, Old Sir Jiang took the initiative to ask him to stay,
“Since you’re here, why don’t you wait a little?”
Being a Demon, Elderly men like Old Sir Jiang seemed like children to Aaron, so he had no intention of respecting him and merely raised his eyelids, replying,
“You’re asking me to wait?”
Magnolia: …
If it weren’t for the setting, she’d definitely instigate a big fight with him.
Though she surely wouldn’t win, she still wanted to fight.
Old Sir Jiang wasn’t angry; he just looked at him with a smile and said,
“Wait a bit, we’re getting ready to take a big family photo. You are family to the eldest daughter-in-law, and since the opportunity might not come again, why not join us for the photo before you leave.”
After finishing, he noticed Aaron looked a bit surprised, so he slowly added,
“But this is not mandatory. If you have something urgent, feel free to leave.”
Aaron: …
This old man doesn’t seriously think he cares about taking some family photo with them, does he?
Heh.
*
Five minutes later.
The photographer set up the position for the shoot, and the Jennings family arranged themselves by each family unit.
Aaron stood beside Magnolia, looking at Old Sir Jiang and the matron seated at the front.
His brows furrowed, and he bluntly asked,
“Why are they sitting at the front?”
In terms of age, he was way older than these two elders.
Magnolia knew he’d react this way, but facing the camera, she replied with a forced smile,
“Because they are the elders.”
Aaron was dissatisfied, “I’m not considered an elder?”
People not even two hundred years old dare call themselves elders in front of him?
Magnolia found him a bit irritating and turned to ask,
“Do you want to take the photo or not? If not, just leave.”
Aaron decided to give them some face.
Scarlett ignored the dispute between the two. After observing the scene, she somehow felt something was missing and called everyone to a halt.
Then she stepped out of the group, directly found Samuel Chalmers, and pulled him over.
Donovan and Luca Jennings exchanged looks over Samuel, all with subtle expressions, but no one dared suggest that Samuel shouldn’t be included.
An engaged man, after all—even though the engagement wasn’t official yet—was also considered family, right?
Scarlett dragged him to her side, and the moment Aaron saw Scarlett pull Samuel over, his eyes stayed locked on Samuel.
After a moment of deep thought, he suddenly seemed to realize something, a trace of depth flickering in his eyes, as he turned directly to look at Magnolia.
He didn’t believe she didn’t know who that was.
Magnolia, aware of the gaze beside her, merely whispered,
“Whatever it is, let’s discuss it after the photo.”
Aaron subdued the emotions in his eyes and redirected his gaze toward the camera.
He rarely took photos.
He had never taken a photo with this sister.
This was the first time.
In front of the elaborately decorated European stairway.
The four branches of the Jennings family stood in position with their kids.
Donovan and Scarlett stood behind their parents, with Scarlett beside Samuel Chalmers.
Old Sir Jiang and the matron were placed in the center; the matron held a beautiful white fox looking at the camera. Not far from their feet, a small turtle on a mini skateboard photobombed.
As the photographer counted “one two three,” the complete Jennings family portrait was immortalized at that moment.
…
The banquet neared its end.
Aaron and Magnolia finally had some time to speak privately.
Compared to the earlier ‘brotherly love and sisterly respect’ atmosphere, Magnolia now showed a slightly solemn face, revealing little emotion.
Looking at Magnolia, Aaron asked her,
“Do you know who Scarlett’s fiance is?”
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t heard about Scarlett having a fiancé before.
But Aaron never gave it much thought.
In his view, if Scarlett was of ordinary standing, her fiancé wouldn’t matter to the clan, or to him.
If Scarlett… was the person the clan had been waiting for, then her fiancé wouldn’t be something she or the Jennings could decide.
However, this changed completely once he met Samuel.
Compared to Aaron’s cold question, Magnolia replied with indifference,
“I know.”
“You know who he is and still arranged a marriage contract for him and Scarlett?!
He’s the one who founded the Security Bureau and the Mystic Regulation Office, how dare you scheme against him?
Aren’t you afraid that once he regains his consciousness, he’ll come to settle accounts with you?!”
Meeting his gaze, Magnolia neither flinched nor evaded,
“You know why I did it.”
Her tone was resolute.
Aaron looked at her with furrowed brows,
“You did it… to guard against me?”
“I’m not just guarding against you; I’m also guarding against those so-called Elders in the clan.”
Magnolia, leaving no ambiguity, looked directly at Aaron with a cold and deep voice,
“I know the clan has been looking for the most suitable vessel for so many years. Even if there’s only a tiny chance, I won’t hand Scarlett over to the clan.”
Samuel Chalmers is the absolute backing she found for Scarlett.
“Back then, I thought I might never return, so I could only protect her this way…
Now that I am back, there’s no way I’ll let anyone scheme against my daughter.”
She looked at him, her eyes calm and devoid of waves,
“Brother, especially not you.”