Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Get Married Early

The moment Rona Langdon saw Vera Xavier, her face soured. Knitting her brows, she snapped, “Go make dinner!”

Vera Xavier said, “My exams are soon, so I’m going to study first. If you’re hungry and can’t wait, you can make it yourself.”

With that, she headed upstairs.

Rona Langdon’s expression darkened instantly. Alden glanced at Vera, then smiled at Rona and said, “The girl was raised in the countryside, after all. Her manners are a bit lacking. You just need to train her slowly. If she’s really disobedient, one beating should be enough. If one isn’t, then make it two.”

“Her wings are all grown now. I wouldn’t dare lay a hand on her,” Rona Langdon said, her expression grim. “Yesterday, I barely even scolded her, and she started crying and throwing a tantrum. She even ran to Director Goodman to complain! She’s completely humiliated me.”

The sight of the gentian violet on Vera’s forehead made her stomach churn with disgust.

Alden hadn’t been around when Rona and Vera had their confrontation the day before, so she asked what happened. The other women quickly filled her in, speaking over one another. They all took Rona’s side, accusing Vera of being ill-mannered and disobedient.

Alden immediately offered Rona a solution. “If she’s this disobedient, just marry her off. It’ll save you the trouble of having her around.”

“I don’t know what got into her the other day, but she suddenly insisted on studying. And you know Preston—he spoils that girl rotten. The moment she said she wanted to study, he agreed,” Rona said, her face clouded with resentment.

Alden sighed. “Preston is just too soft on her. With the kind of grades she gets—always scoring zeros—what’s the point of studying?”

The other women immediately agreed. “If she doesn’t want to get married now, then send her to work in a factory. I heard that in Corvale, a regular worker can make eight hundred a month.”

Rona’s interest was immediately piqued. “Really? That much?”

“It’s more than eight hundred. With regular overtime, she could clear a thousand a month,” another woman added. “A daughter is a lost investment anyway. She’ll just end up belonging to someone else’s family. What’s the use of so much education? It’s better she starts working early so she can earn some money for this household.”

Rona silently did the math in her head. A thousand a month meant twelve thousand a year. That was a huge sum of money!

She decided that when Zachary Preston got home, she would have to properly brainwash him.

Upstairs, Vera heard them shamelessly discussing her future, so openly debating how to dispose of her. Her gaze turned cold. ’They clearly think I’m a pushover.’

She paid them no mind. People with such ill intent weren’t worth wasting her study time on.

When she stopped studying at five-thirty, the women were still downstairs playing mahjong.

She hadn’t intended to cook, but her heart went out to Zachary Preston. He worked so hard every day; it would be too much to expect him to cook dinner after getting home.

So, she put down her pen and paper and went downstairs. She started the rice in the cooker, then cleaned out the bottom layer of coal from the stove and replaced it with a new honeycomb briquette.

There were only a few greens in the house. Vera washed them, then stir-fried some green beans and another vegetable. Finally, she smashed a couple of cucumbers to make a simple salad.

She had just finished stir-frying the vegetables when Zachary Preston walked in. His face immediately darkened when he saw Rona still playing mahjong while Vera was busy in the kitchen.

When the other women saw his thunderous expression and realized how late it was, they all made excuses and quickly dispersed.

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