As he toiled away in the kitchen, Benjamin White deftly washed, sliced, and stir-fried the vegetables with practiced ease. As he went about his work in a seamless manner, it was clear that he had mastered the art of cooking.
Laughter spread through the living room from time to time. It was Benjamin's in-laws chatting with their future son-in-law.
Benjamin was also a son-in-law of the Wilkinson family, it was just that he was a son-in-law who had married into the Wilkinson family.
In addition, he was not working and did not come from a strong family background. Hence, he had not been treated well in the Wilkinson family.
In the family, his responsibility was to do all chores at home, such as washing, cooking, cleaning, and so on.
Even so, his in-laws were not pleased.
Bridger Wilkinson, Benjamin's father-in-law, said with a smile, "Rowan, you have our permission to marry Gianna. We will talk more about the details when we meet your parents."
Gianna Wilkinson was Benjamin's younger sister-in-law.
Rowan West was Gianna's boyfriend. They only met each other less than three months, but now they had already started planning for their marriage. And today, Rowan was here to meet Gianna's parents.
Rowan answered, "Okay, Bridger. My parents are quite free, we will suit your time."
At this moment, Benjamin finished preparing the last dish, the sweet and sour fish. Then, he placed the dishes on the dining table.
"Mom, Dad, the food is ready. You can sit down and eat!"
Rowan asked curiously, "Uh... Gianna, who is this?"
Gianna pursed her lips and said with a look of disdain, "Do you mean him? He's Benjamin, my sister's husband. He doesn't have a job and relies on my sister to support him. He's just a parasite in our family."
Upon hearing how Gianna introduced him, Benjamin was quite dissatisfied. After all, he was Gianna's brother-in-law, and he couldn't help feeling slighted by Gianna's apparent lack of respect for him.
Benjamin, on the other hand, had never had much say in this household. His in-laws doted on Gianna, which made it difficult for him to voice his opinions or concerns. As a result, he often kept quiet during family gatherings or conversations.
In addition, Gianna's boyfriend was here. Benjamin didn't want to make everyone unhappy just because Gianna said something mean. He didn't want to make things difficult for his wife, Gracelynn Wilkinson.
Suddenly, Gianna asked, "What time is it now? Why is my sister not home yet? Mom, didn't you tell her that my boyfriend is visiting us today?"
Right at this moment, the door opened and Gracelynn, who was dressed in a black office-lady outfit, came in.
"Sorry, I'm late. I had an unscheduled appointment with my client after I got off work."
Rowan's eyes lit up when he saw Gracelynn. He praised, "Gianna, so is this your sister? You're already so beautiful, and I had no idea your sister would be just as stunning."
"Nice to meet you. My name is Rowan West, and I'm Gianna's boyfriend."
"Oh, nice to meet you. My sister's boyfriend is indeed a good-looking guy."
Gracelynn was 26 years old. She was tall and statuesque with alluring curves. Her long and slender legs, which were smooth as jade, drew the eye and added to her already stunning appearance. She was a rare beauty, and it was hard not to be mesmerized by her charms.
Bridger said, "Since Gracelynn is back and the food is ready, let's talk while we eat. It's just some casual dishes. I hope you don't mind, Rowan."
As everyone took their seats one by one, Benjamin sat down next to Gracelynn. He picked up a piece of fish and offered it to her with kindness.
"Gracelynn, this is the sweet and sour fish I made. Try it and tell me how's the taste."
Gianna picked up a piece of fish for herself, but as soon as she put it in her mouth, she spat it out before even chewing it.
"Bah, yuck! Benjamin, did you buy a stinky fish? Taste so bad."
Gracelynn took a taste of the fish but didn't notice any strange flavors.
"Gianna, what are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with the fish."
Next, Gianna tasted the celery and spat it out again.
"This celery is all old and stale, I can barely even chew it!"
After that, Gianna said proudly, "Dad, have you heard of the Hotel de Paree? It's a four-star hotel run by Rowan's family. The head chef came from a Michelin restaurant abroad and cooks delicious food."
Rowan said with a smile, "How about going out for dinner today? I'll ask the hotel chef to cook some special dishes for you."
In that instance, Benjamin felt offended. He finally realized that Gianna did this on purpose just to embarrass him today.
In the past, Gianna praised that the food he cooked was better than his mother-in-law, but today, she had been picking on him all the time in order to show that her boyfriend's family was running hotel businesses.
Gracelynn said immediately, "Benjamin has cooked so many dishes, we can't waste it. "Well, we shouldn't waste all this food. "Maybe we can do it another day. For now, let's just make do with what we have today."
Hazel Watts, Benjamin's mother-in-law, snorted and felt embarrassed in front of Rowan. She scolded, "Benjamin, what is wrong with you? Let alone getting a job of your own, you can't even cook well. What's the use of you?"
Rowan tasted the food and said condescendingly, "It's true that this doesn't taste good. However, we're going to become a family soon. I can arrange a position for you to work as an apprentice in the hotel kitchen. You can learn some new skills and also help out with the family expenses."
Hazel stared at Benjamin and said, "See, Rowan is being so considerate. Shouldn't you thank him now?"
Benjamin clenched his fists in anger. It was clear that Rowan's words were not meant to be helpful or considerate. Rowan was trying to make himself superior to Benjamin.
Gianna secretly patted Benjamin's fist under the table, telling him to bear with it. Only then, Benjamin relaxed his hands.
"No, thank you. I'm not interested in being a cook."
At this time, Gianna continued to provoke the situation with her words, "What's wrong? Are you looking down on being an apprentice? Look at that meager look of yours, and you still wanna hold on to your dignity. Whenever you go out shopping with my sister, she paid for everything, didn't she? Have you ever bought a dress or jewelry for her?"
Gianna took a necklace from her neck, which was inlaid with sparkling gems.
"Now, look carefully. This is the necklace Rowan bought for me. It was 40000 dollars. I bet you'll never be able to afford it! When you and my sister got married, you didn't even buy a diamond ring. What's more? What you've ever done is rely on her and get everything for free."
"Gianna, that's enough!"
Gracelynn was so mad that her face turned pale. No matter how useless Benjamin was, he was still her husband.
Rowan was not married to Gianna yet. In terms of identity, he was still an outsider.
Mocking Benjamin in front of an outsider not only made him humiliated but also embarrassed Gracelynn.
"Benjamin has always been nice to you. Why are you talking nonsense today? Did you forget he's the one who took you home with an umbrella on a rainy day? Did you forget that he's the one who carried you to the hospital in the middle of the night when you were sick?"
Gianna didn't appreciate any of it at all and said, "The reason why he walked to pick me up on a rainy day and carried me on his back to the hospital is that he is poor! If he had the money to buy a car, he would drive me there."
"In the future, it doesn't matter whether it's raining or I'm sick, I don't need him anymore, because I have Rowan to drive me there. Right, Rowan?"
Rowan said with a smile, "Of course, and I'll buy you a car after we got married."
"Thank you, dear!"
Gianna kissed Rowan in front of everyone without feeling embarrassed at all.
"With the food being so terrible, let's not eat at home today. Since you've already met my parents, why don't we go out and eat instead?"
Gianna pulled Rowan up, and the two of them headed toward the door.
"Mom, Dad, I might be late tonight. Don't wait for me and sleep early!"
Bridger sighed and said, "Alright, let's eat!"
Hazel flung her spoon and said, "I'm so pissed off! I don't have the appetite to eat anymore!"
Just like that, the meal ended unhappily.
Gracelynn comforted Benjamin, ''Don't take it to heart. Gianna is not a bad person, I just don't know what's wrong with her today and all that crap from her mouth."
Benjamin smiled and said, "It's okay. I won't hold a grudge against her."
Gracelynn answered, "Alright then, I'll go back to the office first. I have to meet a client later. Let's go to the movie together at night."
"Okay!"
Benjamin saw Gracelynn out and started to clean up the table.
At this time, his cell phone vibrated all of a sudden and he received a text message.
"Mr. White, the time limit is up. The family's restrictions on you have been lifted."
"From now on, your UBO Bank account and your unlimited credit card have been activated. If you need any help, you can contact the family anytime."