Vera Thompson reached out to Grace Li on Monday. In fact, she'd already done some digging about Grace Li on Friday, but since Aiden Thompson was in New York, she didn't want to approach Grace Li in front of him.
Vera Thompson went straight to Grace Li's office. The moment Grace Li saw her, she thought the woman looked familiar, like she'd seen her somewhere before.
Olivia stepped forward to greet her with a professional smile. "Hi, how can I help you? Who are you looking for?"
Vera Thompson, keeping her tone friendly, replied, "Hi, I'm looking for Grace Li."
Olivia turned around and called out, "Grace, there's someone here for you!"
Grace Li stood up and walked over, still trying to place where she had seen this woman. "You are...?"
Vera Thompson extended her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Vera Thompson, Aiden Thompson's sister."
As soon as she said that, Grace Li remembered. Last year, at the restaurant where she met Matthew White, she'd seen Aiden and Vera having a meal together. Back then, she'd assumed Vera might be Aiden's new girlfriend, but now she realized she'd completely misread the situation.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Grace Li said politely, shaking her hand.
Vera Thompson smiled and said, "There's a really cool vintage-style café nearby. How about we grab a seat there?"
Grace Li had a feeling Vera had something on her mind, so she replied, "Sure, sounds great."
The two of them walked to the café. On the way there, Vera, probably trying to ease the tension, casually said, "Hope I didn't catch you off guard showing up like this."
Grace Li responded, "Not at all."
"So, is that company you and Aiden started together?"
"Yeah, that's right," Grace Li said. "We're still in the early stages, not much to it yet, but we're really confident it'll take off."
"I think it's got a lot of charm. When I walked in, the décor gave me such a warm, welcoming vibe."
Just those few words helped Grace Li relax a bit. She started to feel like Vera Thompson wasn't a difficult person to talk to—she seemed pretty approachable and down-to-earth.
Still, Grace Li knew deep down that Vera wasn't here just for coffee and small talk. Whatever this was about, it definitely had something to do with Aiden.
When they got to the vintage café, they grabbed a table by the window and ordered their coffees.
Vera Thompson looked at Grace Li and said, "Honestly, the first time I saw you, I thought you were really easy-going."
"Really?"
"Yep, your eyes are just so kind." Vera Thompson continued, "Actually, I did a little research on you before coming. You're definitely a strong-minded woman. I've met a lot of powerful women, and most of them have this intense look in their eyes—the kind that makes you think they're tough to deal with at first, and you kinda want to keep your distance. But you're different."
Grace Li smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "You and Aiden are both good at giving compliments."
Vera Thompson raised an eyebrow. "So Aiden's good at compliments too? I can't believe it."
"Oh, he can lay it on thick, making me feel like I'm the most amazing person on the planet."
Vera Thompson laughed out loud. "I see. I've never heard him compliment anyone before. He's more of the sarcastic type."
"Yeah, he can be a bit sarcastic sometimes."
Vera smiled and said, "That's because he's especially different with you."
Grace Li almost denied it immediately, but then she thought about it. Aiden Thompson really did treat her differently.
Vera Thompson asked, "So, how much do you know about him?"
Grace Li shook her head. "Not much, honestly."
Vera pressed further, "What about his family? How much do you know about them?"
Grace Li held her coffee cup with both hands and gave a smile with a touch of helplessness. "To be honest, I only found out recently that he's the son of the chairman of Silverstone Group."
"Really?" Vera Thompson couldn't help but laugh. "Are you serious?"
"Totally."
"So, you thought he came from a regular family?"
Grace Li replied, "I figured his family had some money, but I never imagined it was like this."
Vera Thompson found that pretty funny and laughed again. "So, how did you feel when you found out his true identity?"
"Shocked, and I also felt like the distance between us suddenly grew a lot wider."
After a few simple conversations, Vera Thompson really warmed up to Grace Li. She thought Grace Li was genuine and easy-going, and she could see why Aiden Thompson liked her.
"Aren't you curious why he left home and came to New York?"
"He told me he had a fight with his father."
"Do you know why they fought?"
Grace Li shook her head. "No idea."
Vera Thompson decided it was important to fill her in. "My dad's been partners with this guy for years—he's the second-largest shareholder of Silverstone Group. He's got a daughter Aiden's age. Our parents hoped they'd get married, but Aiden didn't go for it. He had a big argument with my dad, and they're both really stubborn. So Aiden just left."
Grace Li was taken aback. She never expected that the fight with Aiden's father was over an arranged marriage.
Vera Thompson continued, "It got pretty serious. The second-largest shareholder felt like Aiden had wronged his daughter, and he wasn't happy with our family. There's been no contact for almost a year. A few months ago, we heard that his daughter was going to marry the third-largest shareholder of the company, and both families were planning to team up to take over Silverstone Group. My dad had a heart attack because of all this."
After hearing the full story, Grace Li fell silent. From Aiden's point of view, he was right—no one wants to be pushed into a marriage. But his actions had definitely set off a chain reaction of problems that he'd need to fix.
Grace Li, being sharp, probably guessed that Aiden's parents knew about her by now.
To confirm her suspicion, she asked, "Do your parents know about Aiden and me?"
"Yeah, they do," Vera Thompson replied, not hiding anything. "That's actually why I'm here today."
Grace Li knew this day would come sooner or later. "So, did you come here to ask me to break up with Aiden Thompson?"
"Not exactly. I just wanted to have a chat. Please don't see me as the bad guy trying to tear lovers apart, although I know what I'm saying might sound like that."
"Honestly, I've been mentally prepared for this ever since I found out about his background."
Vera Thompson liked her even more after that. She really respected smart women. "To be honest, I really admire you. You're so level-headed."
"Maybe it's because I'm older and have been through more."
Vera Thompson smiled. "I wish I'd been as level-headed as you back then."
Suddenly, Vera Thompson seemed to remember something and said, "Can I tell you my story?"
Grace Li gestured like she was all ears. "Sure, go ahead."
"Right after I graduated, I joined our family business and started from the bottom. Then I met a guy. He worked in the same department as me and was four years older. I had no idea what I was doing when I first graduated, and he was always really patient, teaching me and looking out for me. So I thought he was a good guy, and we fell in love and even talked about getting married. My parents didn't like him because he came from a regular family and had grown up in a single-parent household. But I was so head over heels for him at the time that I didn't listen to anyone. I thought he was the one. I even thought I wouldn't be able to live without him if my parents tried to keep us apart. Back then, I was really stubborn—I even tried to run away with him. Looking back, it's pretty embarrassing. Eventually, my parents gave up, and I married him, just like I wanted. But less than a year into the marriage, a woman came to me and accused me of being the other woman who ruined her family. I was completely floored. How could I be the mistress? I'd been treated like a princess my whole life. But the truth hit me hard. The guy was already married. His ex-wife was his high school sweetheart, and she worked as a civil servant in their hometown. They'd separated, but he left her, a woman who had loved him for eight years, to marry me. And I ended up being the other woman. I was ready to divorce, but he didn't want to. He thought he'd sacrificed so much for me, and that I owed him something. I fought him in a long, bitter divorce battle. In the end, because of how complicated the property division was under U.S. law, I had to give up a huge chunk of my assets just to get out of the miserable marriage. During all this, I became the laughingstock of New York's high society. Do you have any idea how that felt? It was like living in hell."
Vera Thompson wasn't sharing her scars to pour out her feelings to Grace Li, whom she had just met. She was telling her this to make a point: Aiden Thompson's parents didn't approve of their children marrying people from ordinary families. Even though Vera had won that fight back then, her marriage ended tragically. This would only make her parents even more convinced they were right, and it would make it harder for them to accept someone from a regular family as their son- or daughter-in-law.
It would be incredibly difficult for Grace Li and Aiden Thompson to be together.
Grace Li comforted her. "A guy like that isn't worth your time."
Vera Thompson smiled, relieved. "Yeah, but it took me a long time to get over it."
Vera Thompson added, "Miss Li, you might think I'm being insincere or that I'm trying to break you two up, but I just want to explain. I've made mistakes myself, and I don't want to interfere with Aiden. My situation isn't exactly the same as yours, but I just want you to understand what's going on."
"Yeah, I get it," Grace Li replied.
Vera Thompson continued, "When my parents found out about you the other day, they both completely freaked out. Aiden even had a heated conversation with my dad. My dad's heart isn't great, and he really can't handle any stress these days. My mom was worried they'd end up arguing, so she thought about coming to you and trying to solve things with money. But I knew that would just make things worse between you and Aiden. So, I convinced her that I should come instead. We're around the same age, so I figured it might be easier for us to talk it out."
Grace Li could imagine how uncomfortable it would be if Aiden Thompson's mom came to her with money, asking her to leave her son.
"Thank you."
Vera Thompson smiled. "You don't have to thank me. I just hope we can handle this more calmly. I'm not trying to get you to break up with Aiden. I just want you to think it over carefully. If you two really want to be together, it's going to be a tough road, probably harder than what I went through. But if you decide you want to be together, I just hope you'll also think about my father. He's got a bad temper, he's stubborn, and he's pretty self-absorbed. But, at the end of the day, he's the one who raised Aiden and me, gave us a good life, and made us who we are today."
"I understand," Grace Li said. "I'll think it over carefully."
Vera Thompson rested her chin in her hand and looked at her. "By the way, I really like you."
Grace Li was a little surprised but smiled softly. "Thank you."