Upon seeing Geraldine, with whom she had formed a close bond, in tears, Jennifer quickly offered comfort, saying, “Why are you crying, Geraldine? All right now. There's no need to cry. I'll take care of this, okay?”
Donald knew he was in trouble when he saw Jennifer's reaction. If Geraldine were really that fragile, she would have been squashed by the Harper family before she could even come here to stay with us.
True enough, Jennifer realized she could not console Geraldine despite what she said, so she glared at Donald and queried, “Darling? What do we do now?”
Donald forced a smile and responded, “Darling, there's really nothing I can do. Her parents want to arrange a marriage for her, and it's their family's private matter. I have no say in that.”
“What do you mean? How can they still believe in arranged marriages in this day and age? I don't care! You're going to help Ginny!” Jennifer insisted.
Feeling dejected, Donald retorted, “How am I supposed to help her? Do you want me to wipe the Harpers out?”
Geraldine's hands waved dismissively in a fervent gesture, her eyes carrying a tinge of desperation as she locked gazes with Jennifer. “No, no, hear me out, Jenny. I believe I've found a simple solution. If only Donald would be kind enough to act as my boyfriend, just for pretense, I think my family would back off and give up their plans of an arranged marriage.”
What? Again? Donald couldn't help but feel skeptical as he glanced at Hannah, noticing her deliberate avoidance of eye contact. Have these two women conspired in private? Why do they both seem to have the same approach to problem-solving?
“Darling, I don't think that is a good idea. What about your reputation—”
Donald didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Jennifer interjected, “Actually, I think that's a good idea. It won't affect my reputation since I rarely interact with Geraldine's family.”
Upon hearing that, Geraldine nodded enthusiastically, making her case. “Exactly! Jenny, we've known each other for so many years. You can't just stand by and watch me fall into this trap, can you? I don't even like that man from the Downey family.”
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