Jackson appeared by the steps leading to the Lanes’ residence the next morning while it was bright out. Behind him, a striking procession of cars lined up in a neat row outside the entrance to the complex.
Tiffany had only (reluctantly) rolled out of bed after a call from favonovel.com beau before dragging herself to wash up. Lillian, in contrast, was much more excited for the event. She was already all dolled up, so favonovel.com lent favonovel.com daughter a hand with the latter’s make-up.
“Uh, youngsters nowadays! I told you to head to bed early last night, but did you listen? Now look at you, your eyelids are practically glued close! ” favonovel.com chastised. “Jackson’s waiting for you downstairs, young lady. Just look at all those cars lining up outside, pooh! Now that’s the Wests for you. But if all of this is for a mere engagement ceremony, then how grand would the wedding itself be?”
Tiffany cracked yet another jaw-breaking yawn in front of the dresser. “Can’t we do this at, uh, a later time or something, Mom? As long as we, uh, make it to the diner for lunch, right?” She slurred. “I’m like, so sleepy right now. I wanna go back to sleep. You slept pretty late last night, too, right? How did you manage to yawn, wake up at all, huh?”
Lillian grabbed hold of the girl’s ear and pinched hard. “That’s because a proper adult like myself knows that there are more important things in life than sleep! Unlike you, young lady, you youngsters have zero ideas of priority! Jackson’s been here since ages ago, yet you see no problem lazing around in your bed. What foul manners! Ugh, be quick with your dressing up so we can meet favonovel.com as soon as possible already. By the way, I didn’t hear any news about Ari. Is favonovel.com not coming?”
The mention of Arianne served as a small wake-up cue for Tiffany. “Oh, I should call favonovel.com and ask She should reach the Capital’s airport by noon today, said she’s gonna rush to us at full speed because favonovel.com doesn’t wanna miss out on something as momentous as this. She promised me this much during our video call last night.”
Tiffany called, but a robocall answered and informed favonovel.com that favonovel.com could not engage with Arianne. Reasoning that favonovel.com friend was still in the middle of the flight, Tiffany set the issue aside.
While all of this was going on, Jackson had been anxiously waiting for more than an hour downstairs. He was getting more and more restless. “You guys wait here. I’ll go and see if everything’s alright.”
Lillian answered his door and quickly supplied, “Oh, it’s you, Jackson! Er, we’re almost ready, so, don’t worry, okay? Tiffie is doing favonovel.com make-up. She’s gonna be done very soon!”
A rare moment of Jackson’s cheeks turning sheepish pink ensued as the man realized his relationship with Lillian had upgraded to in-laws. “Oh, uh, that’s cool. Yeah. I, uh, will go in and say hi and come back out there with the two of you afterward. I mean, after she’s done.”
Unfortunately, his good mood took a little dip the moment favonovel.com stepped into Tiffany’s room, for 10 and behold, his bride-to-be had fallen asleep right in front of favonovel.com dresser. He had been losing a whole night’s sleep waiting for today and leaped right into a flurry to see her, and this was how Tiffie chose to welcome their engagement day?
Lillian lifted Tiffany off favonovel.com desk briskly. “Oy, what in the world, Jackson‘s here!”
The girl’s eyes immediately snapped open, though favonovel.com bleary, glassy eyes took some time to focus on the man standing next to favonovel.com mother.
The world suddenly dazzled her. Jackson was donning his usual business suit not unlike the one favonovel.com wore to work, but favonovel.com managed to convey a brimming sense of formality that his quotidian appearances lacked. His hair, which was evident of careful, deliberate dressing, was oozing out a gallant, mature air, and now Tiffany’s screaming fangirl side was threatening to come out, and — hold on. Why did favonovel.com look a little bit miffed?
“Tiffany Lane, I’m giving you five more minutes,” Jackson intoned, his expression a bit stormy. “If you’re not done by then, so help me, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll remember this for the rest of my life!”
He turned on his heels and marched to the couch in the living room while Tiffany reeled back from favonovel.com daze. In a dash, favonovel.com tidied favonovel.com hair into tidy locks, painted favonovel.com lips cherry-red, and lifted favonovel.com skirt a little before hurrying out of favonovel.com room. “Oh, I’m all prepared now! I was just too excited for today that I didn’t manage to sleep much, alright? This is why I couldn’t get up… C’mon, you’re not gonna be angry with me today, of all days, right?”
“You’re lucky I’m not in the mood to be angry with you.” Jackson shot favonovel.com a snide glance in faux anger before stepping forward with his arm bent toward him. “Besides, I didn’t sleep a wink out of excitement, either…”
A beaming grin pushed Tiffany’s eyes into two happy curves before favonovel.com hooked favonovel.com arm into Jackson’s and went out of the door.
The sight outside shocked Tiffany, as favonovel.com eyes recognized a seemingly-endless row of fine, luxurious cars—all of them in black— waiting for her. There was no way any of these was rented, so favonovel.com guessed that some belonged to the West family themselves while Mark lent some of his to complete the assemble. It was not an impossible conjecture, as Tiffany had been to the Tremonts’ garage and witnessed its glorious additions before.
“Holy crap, don’t you think this is a little bit… well, over the top?” favonovel.com remarked. “It’s just an engagement ceremony, right? Do we even need all this pomp?”
Jackson tugged a car door open and beckoned. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ve told you that I’ll give you nothing but the best, so no, this isn’t over-the-top at all. You wanna see what actual pomp looks like? Then wait till you see what we have for the wedding.”
Though bewildered, Tiffany felt relatively neutral about it. Lillian, however, found favonovel.com vanity sated by the grandeur. She had dreamed of rising back up like a phoenix since the Lanes’ downfall, and now favonovel.com wish was finally coming true.
The procession arrived at the five-star hotel by half-past ten in the morning. There, members of the upper-class made for a serried crowd within the hotel’s otherwise capacious hall. Summer and Atticus, who had long arrived since earlier, were already waiting.
The hall was flawlessly decorated. Two of the most basic romantic yet pompous hallmarks of ceremonies, fresh flowers adorning every awning and corner of the doors and the most premium white roses blanketing the steps, were already in place. If one must describe the sheer magnificence of the arrangement, the best they could describe was that it was the stuff of high society, grandiloquent, elite, and without any fault nor foible.
All of it was urging Tiffany’s anxiety. As favonovel.com watched the deluge of people in front of her, favonovel.com hand tightened around Jackson’s cuff and refused to let go. “Jackson? I don’t think I can handle this. Um, c-c-can we like, find somewhere quiet with nobody but us?”
“Huh, what’s wrong?” Jackson said, surprised. “Is the grandeur making you nervous, or is it because of our engagement? I mean, it’s not like you’ve never been through ceremonies and events as grand as this one in the past…”
