Chapter 7 The Three Hundred Thousand Dowry

• Chelsea dragged herself back to her seat with a heavy heart. Is this all I am, then? A hooker? Am I nothing but a toy for him to torture whenever he pleases?
• The soreness between her legs reminded her how long and painful the entire ordeal had lasted the night before. If I sleep with him tonight, I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow. But there's nothing I can do about it.
• Oblivious to her thoughts, Ben held her hand excitedly as he said, “I saw a neat property located in Henderson Gardens, which is close to your company. We can check it out tomorrow if you're free. If it's to your liking, I'll pay the deposit right away. It doesn't come with furnishings, so we should go furniture-shopping after that. We've set the wedding date two months away from now, so that leaves us plenty of time to pick out the furniture that you'd like for our future home.”
• Chelsea felt scalded by Ben's touch. Calmly, she removed her hand from his and took a sip of her tea. “I-I don't know if I'm free tomorrow. Maybe we should hold off on the new house for now—”
• Before she could even finish her sentence, Donald cut in agitatedly, “Why should you hold off on your new home? If you're busy with work tomorrow, I can accompany Ben for the property viewing. Chel, you should be counting your blessings that the Gomez family are your in-laws. They're even planning to put your name on the title deed!”
• “Donald, that's too much. We genuinely adore Chel, and we have never treated her as anything other than a daughter. We know it hasn't been easy for you and your wife to raise Chel, so the least we can do is assure you that your precious daughter is marrying into a loving family. Don't you agree?”
• The sincerity of Sally's words only served to deepen Chelsea's guilt. She had a strong urge to blurt out the truth then and there.
• I'm dragging Ben and both of you into trouble! If I follow through with this, I'm as good as my heartless father.
• Just then, she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Donald was pinching her as if he had realized the thoughts warring in her mind. As her forehead beaded with sweat at the pain, she swallowed her confession and washed it down with more tea.
• That got Donald to remove his hand. Smiling, he replied, “Sally, that's too kind of you. Our Chel must have done a lot of good deeds in her past life to deserve this. My wife and I feel reassured about Chel marrying into your family too.”
• He turned to Ben next. “You should fix a time with Chel tomorrow. I'll accompany you for the property viewing instead if she's not free. After all, I know my daughter's tastes.”
• “Okay,” Ben agreed immediately, though he still wished that Chelsea would be the one accompanying him the next day.
• Chelsea's heartache was unbearable, but she could only lower her head and sip her tea in silence, ignoring Ben's pleading gaze.
• Now came the moment Donald had been eagerly anticipating. Putting on airs of faux modesty, he addressed Ben's parents, “That's all for the wedding discussions, I believe. Since you have kindly offered to get a house for Chel and Ben, it would be remiss of me to mention a dowry. We should forgo it altogether.”
• A deep frown appeared on Dan's face. “How can we forgo the dowry? We may not be an insanely wealthy family, but we have the means to live comfortably. Besides, Ben is our only son, and his wedding is once-in-a-lifetime. We would never skimp on such a momentous occasion. We'll prepare both the house and the dowry. Please feel free to suggest an appropriate sum.”
• Donald rubbed his hands in glee at the success of his plans. His smile exposed the rows of ugly teeth in his mouth as cracks began appearing in his act of sincerity. “Since you've put it that way, I'll be frank with you. We only have one daughter, and she'll be one of yours once she's married. In other words, this dowry will be replacing our daughter's financial support for my wife and me in the future. As we're fortunate to have you as our in-laws, we'll only ask for three hundred thousand in dowry.”