Chapter 876: Chapter 876: As Long As You Find Me a Wife...
But Mark didn’t dare to say it.
He feared that if he said it, his mom would cry even more and might even yell that he was heartless or something similar.
Not being able to voice his thoughts didn’t mean Mark would accept his mother’s arrangements.
He looked at his mother speechlessly, stating the facts and his stance: "Mom, Zoe is my sister. I won’t get engaged to her!"
"What do you mean she’s your sister?" Mia Foster looked at Mark, disagreeing with his point, "You know Zoe is adopted by your second aunt and has no blood relation with you!"
"So what? Even if there’s no blood relation, it doesn’t change the fact that Zoe is my sister," Mark remained firm in his stance.
Zoe Thompson reached out to tug on Mrs. Foster’s clothes, speaking softly, "Aunt, maybe we should just drop it?"
"No way!" Mrs. Foster looked at Zoe and said directly.
After saying that, fearing her attitude might scare Zoe, she quickly comforted her by patting Zoe’s hand, "Zoe, you don’t have to worry about this. Auntie will make Laurant agree, for sure."
As soon as Mrs. Foster finished speaking, Mark also looked at Zoe and said, "Zoe, don’t listen to my mom’s nonsense. To me, you’re just a sister."
Zoe looked up at Mark, "Laurant, I..."
Before Zoe could get more than a word out, Mrs. Foster turned to Mark, shouting angrily.
"Laurant Foster, don’t make things difficult for Zoe. I’m not here to negotiate with you today, but to inform you of your father’s and my decision!"
Then, Mrs. Foster began to tearfully complain, "Laurant, you should understand your father and mother’s good intentions."
"You’re so grown up, yet you neither want to get married nor have a girlfriend. Your father and I can’t help but worry!"
"Your dad and I aren’t some authoritarian, feudal people. We don’t believe in those parental orders or matchmaker arrangements."
"If only you had a girlfriend or even someone you liked, your dad and I wouldn’t be so anxious or try to make decisions for you, right?"
As Mrs. Foster went on and on, for some reason, Arnold’s face appeared in Mark’s mind.
This had been happening frequently over the past half month, with Mark thinking of Arnold yet again.
"Laurant!" Mrs. Foster called out to Mark, "I’m speaking to you, did you hear me?"
Mark snapped back to attention, looking at his mother, "Mom, no matter what you say, my stance remains the same: I will not get engaged to Zoe."
Mrs. Foster got angry, glaring as she scolded, "Laurant Foster, you ungrateful son!"
Speaking more, Mrs. Foster couldn’t help but cover her face in tears again, "Oh heavens, what did I do to deserve such an unfilial child! Other people’s grandchildren are already running around, while I don’t even know where my grandson’s mother is!"
Mrs. Foster pointed at Mark’s head, "You don’t find someone yourself, and when I find a mother for my grandson, you push it away so stubbornly. Are you trying to make me angry?"
Mark couldn’t stand the fuss his mother was making, so he gave in and said, "Mom, I’ll find you a daughter-in-law, and I’ll make sure you can have grandchildren."
Mrs. Foster immediately stopped crying, eyes wide as she looked at Laurant, "Are you serious?"
Mark nodded, "Absolutely."
After speaking, Mark added, "But Zoe will always be my sister, and those thoughts you shouldn’t have, just don’t entertain them any longer."
"Alright." Mrs. Foster agreed readily, "As long as you find me a daughter-in-law and let me have a grandchild, I won’t force you to get engaged to Zoe."
However, after agreeing with Mark, Mrs. Foster continued with a condition, "But to ensure you’re not just brushing me off, I’ll give you a deadline. If you don’t find a wife within six months, you’ll have to listen to me and get engaged to Zoe."
"Alright." Without any hesitation, Mark agreed to Mrs. Foster’s words.
The reason he agreed so readily was that Mark already had a plan.
His mother only insisted that he find a wife within six months, but didn’t specify that he had to get married within that time. If worse comes to worst, he could ask Arnold to help out by pretending to be his girlfriend.
Seeing Mark immediately accept her conditions, Mrs. Foster couldn’t keep pressing him about getting engaged to Zoe.
After sitting with Zoe in the hospital room for a while longer, Mrs. Foster left with Zoe.
As they left the room, Mrs. Foster ran into Silas, who had come to take care of Mark.
Silas stood up straight, greeted Mrs. Foster respectfully, "Hello, Auntie."
"Hello." Mrs. Foster had a kindly and dignified smile as she looked at Silas, speaking gently, "Silas, it’s been hard on you taking care of Laurant all this time."
Silas smiled, "No trouble at all, it’s what I should do."
Mrs. Foster nodded, "Such a good boy."
Silas scratched his head awkwardly, "Auntie, have you already seen the boss?"
"Yes, I brought Zoe to see Laurant, and now we’re heading back." Speaking of this, Mrs. Foster remembered something, looked towards the hospital room, and asked softly, "Silas, you’re close to your boss, do you know if he likes any girl? Or if he has a girlfriend?"
The reason for the question was because Mark agreed to that six-month term so readily just now.
This made Mrs. Foster suspect that maybe her son does have someone he likes, or even a girlfriend, but is just hiding it from the family without revealing it.
Faced with Mrs. Foster’s question, Silas was taken aback.
Many people liked the boss, but he really didn’t know if the boss liked anyone or if he had a girlfriend.
However... he might have someone he likes, right?
After all, he’d seen the boss drown his sorrows in alcohol before, and had noticed him being absent-minded. Those are all signs of having someone you like, especially someone you love but can’t have!
Silas looked at Mrs. Foster, just about to say something, when Mark’s voice came from inside the hospital room, "Silas, why are you standing in the doorway mumbling instead of coming in when you’re here?"
Upon hearing Mark’s voice, Silas immediately responded, "Boss, I’m coming right in."
After speaking, Silas looked at Mrs. Foster, "Auntie, the boss is calling for me."
Mrs. Foster nodded, "Yes, go on in."
After speaking, Mrs. Foster left with Zoe.
As they passed Silas, Zoe smiled politely at him.
Silas felt a tingle throughout his body from the smile; he had never seen such a beautiful woman before.
After entering the hospital room, Silas immediately sat beside Mark, gossiping, "Boss, who was that with Auntie just now? I haven’t seen her before!"
