Chapter 221 - Meeting The Parents (2/2)

But, as soon as he was an arms-length from Sean, Sean automatically grabbed his wrists, turned him around, tripped him over, and pinned him against the floor.

Sean gasped in shock and quickly let go in surprise when he realized what he had done, ”I'm sorry, Uncle, that was an instinctive response.”

Father Du brushed his clothes clean and stood up. A smile then appeared on his face, ”Nice moves! Are you a black belt?”

Sean laughed in embarrassment and nodded his head.

At that moment, Mother Shu stood next to her husband and whispered, ”He's pretty good, isn't he?”

Father Shu laughed and nodded his head, ”Did you only realize that now? I knew he was a good guy from the moment I saw him...”

...

On the other side of the world, another person was having a parent meeting for the first time.

”So, you're Trisha?” an elegant British woman said as she sat down and adjusted the floral dress on her body.

”I'm sorry, Oliver's father couldn't make it today. You see, we're divorced and he's not a very involved person. Men can be very selfish and irresponsible...” the woman added indifferently.

Trisha smiled awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. This woman was obviously taking the opportunity to vent her frustration with her ex-husband, but Trisha had never met the man, so she couldn't agree nor disagree.

”Mom, Dad's in Edinburgh attending a seminar. There was no way he could have made it. You simply told him to come so you could complain that he couldn't make it,” Oliver exposed his mother's intentions.

He knew his parents well. From a young age, he had gotten used to their ridiculous arguments.

Margaret Williams had a very narrow view of the world. She was born in London and spent her entire life there with the same friends and family that she had known all her life. This made her very bias in her judgment and beliefs. Oliver understood why his father had to divorce his mother. At times, he also struggled to be around her. But, Oliver couldn't leave like his father did. No matter how frustrating she was, she was his mother; a fact that would never change. So, over the years, he had learned to accept her and deal with her.

”Where are you from, Trisha? You don't look British. Are you from China? Or Korea? Or Japan?” Margaret said as she took a sip of tea.

Oliver scrunched up his nose at his mother's question. He knew she meant no harm, but she honestly had no idea how racist and patronizing she sounded.

England was a multicultural country with millions of immigrants. What defined the 'British look' that his mother was referring to? What if Trisha was born in England? What if she had lived there all her life? What if she identified herself as British?

But, Trisha was not offended, ”I was actually born in London, but my family was originally from Hong Kong. My father worked for the Hong Kong consulate during the time of British Hong Kong and both of us hold dual citizenship.”

”What about your mother?” the woman asked insensitively when she realized there was no mention of her mother.

Trisha cleared her throat and replied, ”She passed away several years ago.”

”How did she die?” Margaret asked in a straightforward manner.

”Mom...” Oliver cut in. First, she was being racist, now she was being insensitive...

But, Trisha grabbed his arm and gestured that it was OK. From her perspective, his mother was simply curious.

”She had cancer,” Trisha replied.

Margaret's face screwed up with disgust, ”Have you checked your body recently? I heard that stuff runs in the family...”

”Mom! That's enough!” Oliver yelled.