Love is the Sunshine

Chapter 10 Rough Diamond

Gripping her hand tightly, Terence leaned close to Carla and whispered in her ear,"I'll pay you back in

the future. It'll be my treat. I promise that I won't take advantage of you."

Even though he said it sincerely, Carla didn't have it in her to believe his words.

It was not her first time to hear promises such as these. From her experience, this kind of promise was

nothing but empty words. She raised her head and gave Terence the most menacing glare that she

could manage. Pulling her hand from his, she sped up and tried to catch up with Sean who was walking

ahead of her.

Terence shook his head, arched an eyebrow and smiled. His offer was well meant, and he was very

serious when he made that promise. However, it seemed as if Carla did not appreciate his suggestion.

He felt that she was angry at Nina. How could she not? She had been glaring at Nina since they ran

into each other. That was why he suggested that they had lunch at a fancy restaurant. Everyone knew

that revenge was a dish best served cold, and where better to serve it than in a very fancy restaurant?

Besides, it was always best to deal with the problem now rather than prolong it.

At the fancy Michelin-starred restaurant.

It was Sean's first time to eat in a restaurant as fancy as this. Hell, it was even his first time to enter a

place so luxurious as this! The decoration was so beautiful he couldn't help but look around. He saw

marble statues strewn around the room and giant crystal chandelier was hanging in the center of the

ceiling! Everything was so new to him that he couldn't help but comment about the decoration.

He tugged at Carla's sleeve, and whispered,"Carla, look up! Look at the circular chandelier. It's so

beautiful. I've never seen such a unique chandelier. I bet it's made of diamonds! l wonder how much it

must have cost the owner to buy that. I bet that it's really expensive."

"Hey! Look over there! The fish tank is so big. It's as high as the wall. At first glance I thought it was a

wall, but then I saw the fishes move. Look at all the different fishes they have inside. They even have

corals! I bet that fish tank can rival an aquarium. I already feel as if we really are in one!" he continued.

Carla looked at Sean and smiled bitterly. She knew that he was just excited to be in a place like this but

she couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Their parents died a long time ago and since then, money had been

scarce and difficult to come by. They were always having a hard time, sometimes, they even struggled

to put food on the table. It was the first time for both of them to enter such a fancy restaurant. Sean

found everything interesting but she couldn't help but feel as if they didn't belong here.

Nina was holding Evan's arm and was walking ahead of them. She heard Sean's words and found it

very ridiculous. "Such a country bumpkin! Pathetic," she sneered in a low voice.

Terence had been walking in the back and was following them. There was a tender look in his eyes that

even he wasn't aware of. He couldn't help but smile. He lengthened his stride, and decided that he

should keep up with them.

They approached their table and Terence stepped forward and pulled the beautiful blue fabric chair for

Carla, then he helped Sean to properly be seated at the table.

Evan and Nina sat down by themselves. They couldn't help but notice how Terence meticulously

attended to Carla and Sean. They exchanged a glance with each other.

Terence had been taking good care of Carla and Sean, and he behaved decently around them. He was

nothing but a complete gentleman. They wondered how Carla managed to get a man like him.

"You said your name is Terence An. Am I right? Are you in any way related to the famous An family in

JA City?" asked Evan.

Evan had been wanting to ask this question ever since Terence said that his last name was An.

Terence didn't answer his question right away. He placed Sean's napkin on his lap carefully and made

sure that Sean was properly seated first before answering the question.

"No," he replied curtly.

"No" was the answer that Nina had expected. She turned to Evan, who was sitting next to her and

said,"Evan, the An Family is a very famous family. It is a great clan respected by many. Even though

his last name is An, it doesn't mean that he is related to the An Family."

"Even though your family is merely distantly related to the An Family, your family is also a very notable

family. If he is a relative, don't you think that you would be able to recognize him? You're so silly. How

can you think that he is in any way related to you? You don't even know the man," she added.

Nina was arrogant, but what she said was undeniably the truth. The An Family was a noble clan.

Majority of the family members were senior politicians or successful businessmen. Even though he was

merely a distant relative, he was already pretty popular. It seemed almost impossible to meet a relative

that he did not know or a relative that did not know him.

Evan knew that Nina had a point, but Terence looked oddly familiar, so he kept wondering if he had

seen him somewhere before.

Evan kept on thinking that he might have met Terence before, but he wasn't entirely sure.

After looking at the strange looks on Evan's and Nina's faces, Carla began to wonder about Terence

and his real identity. Terence had already finished placing their order and already handed back the

menu to the waiter. Carla glanced at him curiously.

"I'm sure that there are a lot of families that are even richer than the An family. Money is not everything.

Besides, 'An' is a very common last name. Not everyone whose last name is An wants to be linked with

the An family you're talking about. It's not that big of a deal," Carla retorted.

She hated to see Nina looking down on Terence. The An family they had been talking about might be

rich people, but it didn't mean that they were better people than Terence.

She believed that whether or not Terence was a good person did not depend on his last name.

Not everyone with the last name An was rich. It might be true that Terence was poor, but....... when she

first met him, he seemed like a good person.

After speaking her mind, she prodded Terence on the side with her elbow.

Terence smiled softly at her, with tenderness in his eyes.

"No, I don't think the An family is a big deal. Everything in the world is a drop in the ocean after all," he

added.

Hearing their opinions about the notable An family, Nina found it all a little ridiculous. She suspected

that Terence and Carla were being defensive because they were poor.

"If you haven't heard of the An family, you really are country bumpkins. The An Group owns a lot of

business, including real estate, hotels, and fancy restaurants, and many more! Most of their business is

global. If you think the An family is no big deal, I don't think anything else is worth mentioning," She

sneered at them.

"Nina stop it, please," interrupted Evan. He patted her on the back of her hand, which prompted her to

stop talking.

Sean, was already a ten-year-old boy who was old enough to understand what they were talking about. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

He got angry at them for talking to Terence like that. "Terence is the best person I've ever met. No one

in the whole world is better than my Terence! No one!" he shouted.

"He is an amazing person. He knows how to play basketball. He helps me with my studies, and he can

speak very good English!" he said while looking proudly at Terence.

Everything he told them was true. He sincerely worshipped Terrence.

Terence chuckled. He raised his hand and gave Sean a high five. "I think of you as my little brother,

and I believe that you are an amazing person as well. I'm glad to have you too."

They clearly just flattered each other.

Carla couldn't help it. She smiled at them sweetly. She gave Sean's ear a gentle tweak and said,"Why

do you keep flattering Terence? What about me? I'm your big sister! Who has been raising you for all

these years? Are you giving all the credit to someone else?"

She felt a little upset because they had only known Terence for several days, but it seemed that her

little brother adored him so much already.

"No, no, Terence is practically a family member to me, sister. We are going to be one big happy family

sooner or later. Am I right?" he grinned. Sean knew that Carla was a little jealous at what he had said,

so he tried to soften her up immediately.

Sean was being very funny. Both Terence and Carla laughed when they heard the word "family" from

him. But having lunch together like this made them feel as if they really were a family.

The waiter served the dishes while they were chatting and laughing with each other.

In the middle of lunch, Carla took Sean to watch the fish swimming inside the giant fish tank.

A few moments later, Evan stood up to answer a phone call. Since Nina and Terence were left alone at

the table, she couldn't help but ask Terence a few questions again.

"Mr. An, you're such a gentleman. I bet your family is well off. How come you've ended up with a girl

like Carla?" she said after quickly glancing at Carla. Terence clearly heard a strain of bitterness in her

voice.

He raised his head and glanced at Nina. He never once looked at her in the face since they met.

She was such a snobby woman, and he was reluctant to even spare a look at her.

"What do you mean by someone like Carla?" he asked her gently.

He didn't even bother to stop eating as he gave his reply to her.

"Mr. An, aren't you bothered that she has a younger brother who is only ten years old? It's like she's

practically raising a son. Your family might not be as rich as Evan's, but I'm sure that you can do better

than someone like Carla. Come on, let us be realistic here. If you marry Carla, for sure that one day,

you'll have to provide for her brother as well. Don't you see it? It's not worth it," she said mockingly.

Taking a sip of her tea, she continued her lecture.

"Her brother is a burden, and so is she. A wise man will never involve himself in such a mess. I advise

you to think twice before deciding to take a step further in your relationship. Do you really want to build

a family with someone like them?"

Nina thought it made so much more sense if Terence wasn't serious about his relationship with Carla.

Nina hated to admit that Carla was a pretty girl. If he was planning on dumping her after he was tired of

her, then it would justify why he was still sticking around. It was totally something a normal guy would

do.

Terrence's eyes gleamed menacingly. He placed his fork and knife down and began to speak with a

faint smile on his lips.

"Yes, I did think it through. Thank you for your advice, Miss Nina. But I think you should think twice

before saying something like that to other people next time. Most men don't like gossips. You might find

it hard to believe, but men would rather dump girls who always stick their noses in places that is none

of their business. Nosy girls are annoying."

He was good at judging people.

He could see that Evan would never marry someone like Nina.

Nina's face darkened when she heard his words. She knew that he was talking about her.

Ignoring Nina's livid face, he continued,"My Carla is like a piece of rough diamond. She might not seem

like it now but I'm sure that one day, after carving carefully, she is going to be one of the most precious

gems there is in the whole world. Sean is still a very young boy. He has a great deal of potential. Who

knows? He might surprise us both by becoming a big shot."

"I'm glad that I met them. I think that God gave them to me as gifts. Thank you for your concern, but I

think they are great people and I'm not ashamed of them. I am a lucky man."

After speaking, He raised his head and looked toward the direction of the fish tank.

Carla was walking back to their table.