14 Secret Boyfriend (1/2)

The sudden scream stunned both Mrs. Xu and Joann. Both women stopped right in their tracks.

Making use of this opportunity, Sylvia first turned to Mrs. Xu and said, ”Grandma, I am sorry for what I did and I promise to be more careful in the future.”

Mrs. Xu nodded more from reflex than actual acknowledgement.

Before either of the women could recover from their shock, Sylvia ushered Joann out of the living room and disappeared up the stairs.

If Xu Jing was bomb diffuser number one in the Xu household, then Sylvia was definitely bomb diffuser number two. However, while Xu Jing relied on his charm and self-debasing pleas, Sylvia depended more on shock tactic as evidenced by what she did that night.

Back in the safe refuge of Joann's room, Sylvia thought things would just blow over then but one glance at her mother's face told her it was not over yet.

”Mom, why the long face? You should not take what grandma had to say to heart. You know how it is. People say things they do not mean when things got heated. At the end of the day, I know that she means well.” Sylvia curled her arm around her mother's waist as they both sat down on Joann's bed.

Joann sighed and said, ”I know, I know…”

Then she turned to look at this spirited daughter of hers and a frown appeared on her face. As the fire from the argument left her, some details that were revealed during the fight now cropped up in her mind. There was one that specifically concerned her daughter.

”What did your grandmother say earlier? Something about you lying to her about your whereabouts when you were staying late outside? Young lady, is there anything you want to tell me?” Joann began.

This time it was Sylvia's turn to sigh, ”Mom, I was hoping you would have forgotten about that already…”

Knowing she was not going to get out of this one without giving up some information, Sylvia admitted, ”Grandma saw a male friend of mine sent me home in his car earlier and that was the reason of the lecture.

”What I told grandma was the truth, or well, partial truth. He is indeed just a friend... at least from how I see it but I do know he wants to be more than friends.”

Joann turned into Chinese mother mode instantly and bombarded her daughter with a series of questions, ”What is the boy's occupation? What is his family background? How much is his monthly salary? When are you going to bring him home for your parents to see?”

Joann did not ask what the boy's name was because to be honest, that was not that important to a Chinese mother who was selecting her future son-in-law.

”Mom… If you are going to be like that, I'd rather go back downstairs and face grandma's lecture…”

”Alright, fine. You win, but I only have one question.” Joann took Sylvia's silence as the permission to carry on, ”Have you been using protection?”

”Mom!” Sylvia looked at Joann with something akin to terror on her face.

Joann could not help but laugh. She added, ”Come on, Sylvia. You have to give me something. You know you will need to let us see the boy sooner or later right? At least tell me what his job is.”

A frown appeared on Sylvia's face as if she was contemplating whether to come clean or not before a wicked grin appeared on her face and she said, ”Mom, that is for me to know and for you to find out.”