Dangerous Love: You Are My One and Only Bride novel Chapter 1420

“By the way, sir, I need to take a few days off…” Brian meekly spoke up from the driver’s seat.

“Problems with the family?” Mark asked.

“Getting engaged,” Brian chuckled shyly. “I’m going home to officially ask my girlfriend’s parents for permission. It’s kind of our family tradition. We have to be officially engaged before getting married.”

Arianne’s interest was piqued. “That’s wonderful news! You’re finally making it official. Haven’t you been living with your girlfriend for a while? Why’d you have to go through the procedure of an engagement? Why not just get married?”

Brian sighed. “This was a request from my girlfriend’s family. They’re a little old-fashioned so I have no choice. We have to foot a high price for the dowry too—once for the engagement, and another for the wedding. I feel as if all my previous hard work has gone to waste whenever I think of having to empty my savings for this wedding. Actually, the dowry is fine, it’s the bride’s family’s request anyway. But they’ve insisted on having the wedding ceremony here too and demanded a five-star hotel. We have so many relatives, and we’ll have to find accommodations for all of them when they arrive. Calculating the amount alone is enough to break me. Dating is great, getting married is a nightmare.”

As a woman, Arianne did not see anything inappropriate with dowries. “How much does the bride’s family want? It should be fine if it’s within reason. After all, a woman is dedicating her life to you and giving you children.”

Brian raised his hand, showing all five fingers. According to Arianne’s estimation, $7,700 should cover it. “$7,700?”

Brian looked helpless. “$77,000.”

Arianne choked. “Wait… Brian, if I remember correctly, your family isn’t exactly rich, am I correct? Although your salary from Mark is substantial, you live in the capital and living expenses are high. Are you going to put years of savings into the dowry and the wedding ceremony? Is your girlfriend’s family rich? Are they being demanding because they value their dignity? Are they going to take all of the dowry? Will the bride’s family be giving you some dowry too?”

Brian’s expression changed. “No, the bride’s family’s finances aren’t any better than mine, but they seem to think that I have money, since I live in the city. They’re so poverty-stricken that they crave dignity. They never mentioned any dowry for me. They only want dowry from me. They’ve even demanded $15,000 to agree to the engagement. I’ve mentioned their demands for the wedding. Most important of all, the bride’s family wants a house too, a house in the capital. I’m going home to negotiate all of these things with them. It’s been giving me a headache.”

He wasn’t the only one—Arianne and Mark both felt headaches just listening to him. Arianne and Mark didn’t have to go through any procedures when they got married. They stared at Brian’s situation in shock, unable to fully comprehend it.

“Maybe you should… call it quits?” This was Mark’s suggestion for the whole affair.

“If negotiations don’t go well, I’m afraid we’ll have to go with that,” Brian replied, chuckling bitterly. “I’ve been quite unlucky when it comes to love. Big city girls have high standards, I get that. That’s why I chose someone from my hometown instead. I had no idea that they’d be even more demanding than a city girl’s family. It’s scary.”

Brian didn’t drive Mark the next day. Apparently, he had gone back to his hometown along with his girlfriend, first thing in the morning.

Arianne was unemployed at the moment. The previous events had exhausted her, so she wanted to take a break and take care of her kid.

On the next day of Brian’s time off, a girl arrived, sobbing at the door. Mark wasn’t around. Arianne would have suspected Mark of having an affair if he hadn’t just returned from being shipwrecked not too long ago.

She invited the girl in. After some questioning, she discovered that the girl was Brian’s girlfriend. She couldn’t figure out how she managed to find her home.

Without hesitation, the girl answered, “I would not. Buying a house is his problem and it’s to show his sincerity to the woman. A man without his own house shouldn’t even think about getting married.”

If the girl in front of her wasn’t Brian’s girlfriend, Arianne would have seriously scolded her senseless. Materialistic women were all over the place regardless of how small the city was, and it was only a matter of how materialistic they were. However, it’s no wonder why Brian would walk away from such a selfish and self-centered person. If the roles were switched, Arianne was sure that the girl’s family would not be able to fulfill those requirements either. Why did she have to be so insistent on such monetary requests?

Arianne suppressed her emotions and said, “If he really hasn’t got that much money, even if he gets a loan and fulfills all your requirements and marries you, wouldn’t the two of you have to share the burden and repay the loan later on? Why don’t you think carefully? You are getting married to spend the rest of your life with the person you love, not selling yourself off to another.”

The girl arrogantly said, “He most definitely has that much money! Plus, why would I have to bear the burden of repaying the loan from before the marriage? Has he really not been here? You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

Arianne had lost all hope, there was no way she could communicate with her. The girl would be underestimating her if she behaved well in front of her. Arianne coughed twice and immediately put on her appropriately arrogant manner as well. “My dear girl, do you know where this is? This is the Tremonts’ home—Brian is just our family’s driver. Are you not afraid that he would lose his job if you come along here and cause a scene?”

The girl pouted her lips. “I don’t care. If he doesn’t come and find me, I’ll wait for him here until he does!”

Arianne did not bother herself with the little girl any longer. She walked to a corner and called Brian. “Your girlfriend’s here, come over here and settle it.”

Brian exploded the moment he found out about it. “What? I’m on my way now!”