We were at Fault

Anna started to rub the space between her brows as she watched Ryan's mother, Audrey, paced around the living room back and forth. Audrey's expression looked quite frightening.

At the side, her husband, James had an equally frightening look on his face.

Anna regretted going into her daughter's room.

If she did not find that contract, then, this situation would not happen. If only she had hidden the paper quickly...

Anna heaved another sigh as she recalled the scene from last night.

James was furious when he read the details of the agreement. He called Audrey over to their residence, hoping that the three of them could discuss their children's matter.

Anna understood that both James and Audrey were angry to know that their children were deceiving them. 

Both Ryan and Violet said that they were willing to date. However, who would have expected that the two of them were pretending?

They both agreed to fool both sides of the family for a month. Then, once the period has passed, they would both tell their family that they were not suited for each other. This way, they could escape the arranged marriage.

The elders were happy when they heard that their children were willing to comply.

But who would guess that everything was fake...

Still, Anna understood the reason both Ryan and Violet had taken this measure. 

From the very beginning, they were both reluctant to date each other.

Ryan did not have much free time to date as he was too busy with his work at the hospital. Meanwhile, Violet only wanted to focus on her cupcake bakery.

It was still new and growing. The bakery would need a lot of attention.

From the beginning, their children had stressed that they did not agree with the arrangement. Still, it was the elders who forced them to try and date each other.

"I will call Ryan and let him explain this situation," Audrey said as she finally stopped pacing around. Her brow furrowed deeply. 

It was clear that Ryan would definitely get into deep trouble the moment he showed up. 

"Then..." James pulled out his phone as well. "I'll call Violet to come back as well."

Anna raised her head. She did not expect that her husband planned to call their daughter as well.

Violet was away to visit her grandfather. It would take a while before Violet would reach home.

"Hold on, both of you." Anna stood up immediately to stop the others before they could make their calls. "Shouldn't we talk about this matter first?" She tugged on her husband's arm and gave him a look, hoping that he would stop Audrey from calling Ryan over.

"What's there to talk about?" Audrey still looked unhappy as she thought of what her son had done. "At this time, isn't it better to call them and ask for their explanation?"

Anna did not want her daughter to get into trouble for this. 

Last time, she could only watch as her husband made her daughter agree to date Ryan. This time, she could not sit back and do nothing. She already promised Violet that she would take her side.

Anna inhaled a deep breath to calm down. "Don't you understand the reason both Violet and Ryan decided to make this agreement? From the beginning, we were at fault for forcing them into this arranged relationship."

"Anna." James reached to hold his wife's hand, wanting to come up with some excuse for their decision. However, his wife tugged away her hand before he could say anything.

"Ryan and Violet both made it clear that they did not want to go through an arranged marriage," Anna said. "But we had forced them to give their relationship a try. Right now, both of them had come up with a trick like this. I'm afraid that if we continue to push them, both Violet and Ryan will do something else. Next time, we won't be so lucky to find out that they came up with something to trick us."

Audrey and James were both silenced as they pondered over Anna's words. 

They were not happy to hear what Anna had to say but they both knew that there was truth in her words. Ryan and Violet would do something else if they continued to force them.

"Even if they did not come up with another trick, both of them would only be unhappy with each other," Anna continued. She realized that she should have voiced her opinion sooner.

However, she also hoped that Violet would get along with Ryan. She had met that young man and knew that he was a good person.

Unfortunately, no matter how good Ryan is, nothing would happen as long as the children did not want this relationship.

"We all wanted our children to be happy, right? How can they be happy when we were forcing them like this? In the end, both Ryan and Violet might end up to resent each other. Is that what we wanted?"

Audrey had a complicated look on her face. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. But in the end, Audrey could not come up with anything to say.

"Then..." James spoke again after a long silence. "What do you think we should do?"

Anna heaved a sigh, knowing that both Audrey and James were willing to listen to her. 

"Let's just pretend as if we did not know about their agreement," Anna said. "Look. I know that you both hoped that both Ryan and Violet would get along with each other." 

A soft sigh escaped her as she looked at them both. "I'm not asking that we should forget this arrangement. I'm just saying that we should give them a chance to let things flow naturally. They already agreed to try and see each other for a month. If they are really suitable for each other, they whey will get along with each other. This matter about a relationship... a marriage, isn't something that we could force."

Audrey exchanged a glance with James. She had calmed down a lot after listening to Anna's words. In the end, she rubbed the corner of her eyes and heaved a long sigh. "Maybe you are right."

Initially, the reason she wanted to set up this arranged marriage for her son was because she was worried that he had stayed single for years. 

As a mother, Audrey hoped to see his son have someone by his side. 

Perhaps, it was better to follow Anna's arrangement and pretend as if they knew nothing about the children's contract.