Mr. Willy didn't answer directly; instead, he turned toward his wife.
Mrs. Grace, stared at by her husband in such a way, furrowed her brow and asked, "Where is Mona? Did she go with that pathetic young man?"
Mr. Willy instead asked Mason to call Mona in her room, "Mason, please call Mona and tell her to come to the living room!"
"I thought Mona went out with that young man. This is truly a difficult day for me. Good heavens! My head hurts so much, could you get me an aspirin from the cupboard, Megan?" Mrs. Grace asked, massaging her aching head.
"Just a moment, Auntie, I'll get the aspirin," Megan replied, stepping toward the kitchen.
As Megan walked toward the kitchen, she glanced at Albert.
Catching Megan's eye, Albert looked flustered.
Megan then gestured with her pinky and thumb, signaling for Albert to call her.
Meanwhile, Mason, who was already in front of Mona's bedroom door, knocked while calling out, "Mona, hurry up and come out! Father and Mother are calling you; don't keep them waiting."
"Go away and don't bother me, Mason!" Mona retorted from inside her room.
"Good heavens! Can't you come out for just a moment? Don't let Mr. Martin and Albert be disappointed; you are going to be engaged to Albert," Mason replied, reaching to open the door, but it was locked from the inside.
"What do you care, Mason? Tell Father and Mother, I refuse to be matched with someone I don't like. Just go away, Mason!" Mona retorted, still sobbing.
"Of course I care about my little sister; I want the best for you, Mona!" Mason replied, still waiting for Mona to come out of her room.
Mona hadn't been able to shake off her annoyance with her father and mother; in fact, Mona wished to be matched with Albert. Mona also didn't accept her father's decision, which forbade her from meeting and contacting Ethan. How much Mona resented her family's treatment of Ethan, and Mona felt very guilty towards him. Not one of her family members would defend him.
Mona reached for the phone lying on the small table beside her bed, then sent a text message to Ethan. After her text message was sent, Mona took her diary from the drawer. Mona had a habit of writing down every event she experienced in her diary. Mona hoped that one day all the events she wrote would become a memory and a true story.
"Listen, Mona, if you don't meet Mr. Martin's family, you'll be wasting this good opportunity. If you marry Albert, I'm sure your life will be secure. With our family uniting with Mr. Martin's family, no one will dare to disrespect us. Come on, Mona, just meet them!" Mason continued to persuade Mona.
"Dream on, Mason!" Mona retorted curtly.
Feeling his persuasion was unsuccessful, Mason went back to his father and mother in the living room. With heavy steps, Mason walked to the living room and sat beside his father.
"Why did you take so long, Mason? Why hasn't Mona come yet?" Mr. Willy asked, slightly annoyed with Mason.
Shaking his head, Mason replied, "I'm sorry, Father, Mona has locked herself in her room. I've tried to persuade her to come out, but she still refuses."
Hearing that Mona had locked herself away and wouldn't come out of her room, Mr. Martin and Albert looked very disappointed. Similarly, Mrs. Sonya appeared listless and turned her face away from Mr. Willy.
"I apologize, Mr. Martin; this is truly beyond my control. I never thought it would come to this; apparently, Mona has been having a romantic relationship with that young man all this time. I don't want to disappoint you and Mrs. Sonya; I will keep persuading her, and if necessary, I will force her to agree to the arranged marriage with Albert," said Mr. Willy, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
"I appreciate your good intentions, Mr. Willy! But you need to know that I am still very disappointed with this situation. Why didn't you and Mrs. Grace know that Mona was involved with another man? As you both know, we made this agreement a long time ago; please don't let this engagement plan fail completely," Mr. Martin lamented, clenching his trousers.
"Yes! I completely understand your feelings, Mr. Martin! As we saw earlier, that pathetic young man is the cause of all this. I also don't want this engagement plan to fail; I will get rid of that pathetic young man later," Mr. Willy replied.
"Good! I'll hold you to your word, Mr. Willy! If there's no change within a month, I will demand compensation," said Mr. Martin.
"Alright! But I can't promise anything, Mr. Martin! However, I will try my best to ensure that this engagement plan proceeds as it should," Mr. Willy replied.
With feelings of disappointment, Mr. Martin and his family stood up and said their goodbyes, ready to leave.
"I'll be waiting for your news, Mr. Willy! For now, I can still tolerate this setback, but if the same mistake happens again, I won't give you another chance," said Mr. Martin, shaking hands with Mr. Willy's family.
Unnoticed by anyone, while Mr. Willy and Mr. Martin were talking, Megan and Albert were exchanging glances. As Albert was about to say goodbye and leave, Megan slipped him a piece of paper with her phone number written on it. Mr. Willy and Mrs. Grace escorted Mr. Martin's family out of the house.
After Mr. Martin's family had left and passed through the gate, Mr. Willy's anger surfaced. He immediately headed towards Mona's room, intending to scold her. Mrs. Grace, knowing her husband was going to reprimand Mona, followed behind him.
When Mr. Willy was in front of Mona's bedroom door, he immediately banged on it loudly, "Mona, get out of this room now! Father wants to talk to you; don't make me break down this door!" Mr. Willy threatened, his eyes blazing red.
Hearing her father banging on the door loudly and wanting to scold her, Mona didn't budge from her bed. She covered both her ears with her palms. Many times Mr. Willy pounded on the door, but Mona still didn't move to come out of her room. Mrs. Grace tried to calm Mr. Willy, whose emotions had reached their peak.
"Enough, Willy! Let Mona calm her mind first; we can talk again tomorrow or the day after with a cooler head. If you talk in such a high temper, it won't solve anything," Mrs. Grace advised.
Mr. Willy glared at his wife, sharply retorting to Mrs. Grace's words, "You sound like you're defending that daughter of yours, Grace! Mona has embarrassed me in front of Mr. Martin's family; your daughter needs to be taught a lesson."
"Suit yourself, Willy! Do you think I'm not ashamed by what happened? How much I didn't want this to occur, especially on my birthday. Like you said, this is all beyond our control, and we never expected it, did we?" Mrs. Grace retorted.
"Yes! But it had to happen at such a crucial time. Mona has to give a reasonable explanation for why she's refusing to be matched with Albert. If her engagement plan with Albert fails, the risks we bear are quite significant, Grace!"
"How else can we persuade her, Willy? The one you should pressure isn't our daughter, but that pathetic young man. I must admit, that young man is quite handsome, but that doesn't mean he's wealthy. What will become of our daughter if she marries a poor man?" Mrs. Grace said, offering her perspective.
"What crazy parents would want to marry their daughter to a poor young man? You're not the only one who doesn't want it, Grace! If that pathetic young man is indeed poor, I'll oppose it until my dying breath," Mr. Willy retorted in a raised voice.
Hearing her parents arguing outside her bedroom door, Mona screamed hysterically. Hearing Mona's loud scream, Mr. Willy and Mrs. Grace covered their ears. Unable to bear it, Mr. Willy and Mrs. Grace finally returned to the living room. As they approached the living room, their extended family was still chatting.
"It seems you're still talking about that pathetic young man; I really don't want to hear about him. Isn't there any other conversation?" Mr. Willy interjected, sitting down beside Mason.
"Sorry, Uncle, we were just finding it funny about that pathetic young man. How confidently he called you 'Father'," Megan replied, giggling.
Meanwhile, Mona, who didn't hear her parents arguing outside her door, quietly slipped out of her room. She then walked slowly towards the living room and eavesdropped on her extended family's conversation from behind the wall. As they continued to discuss Ethan's shortcomings, Mona could only lower her head and close her eyes tightly.