If Barrett had no objections, then her parents wouldn't either.
That was right, everyone called him Barrett.
His girlfriend was Gemma Lowell.
Gemma had arrived the day after New Year's, picked up by Barrett and brought to the James Village.
The moment she arrived at the house, Barrett's parents and grandparents had handed her four envelopes of cash as a welcome gift.
His parents gave her six thousand dollars each, and his grandparents gave her six hundred each.
It was a substantial amount.
They were showing absolute sincerity.
Gemma had initially thought Barrett's family was struggling financially, and she worried that accepting the money would be a burden on them.
She planned to return the cash to Barrett when she left.
She wanted him to hand it back to his elders.
But the moment she voiced this idea, Barrett immediately shut it down.
"Babe, you don't need to give it back. Our family isn't hurting for cash."
"My parents originally wanted to give you ten thousand to show you're one in a million, but they decided it would be better to save that for the engagement party to really show how much they value you."
"Don't stress over it."
"Even though my grandparents just live here in the village, they receive regular dividends."
"Everyone in our village gets a payout during the holidays."
"They just got their share, and they insisted on preparing a gift for you."
"If you refuse it, you'll just break their hearts."
Since Barrett put it that way, Gemma couldn't bring herself to argue.
Instead, she felt incredibly touched.
She mistakenly believed the elderly villagers only received six hundred dollars for their holiday dividends, and that his grandparents had given her their entire share.
She felt even more deeply attached to this man.
She had originally felt too awkward to attend the wedding today. After all, what girlfriend went around visiting relatives on her first time meeting the parents?
But Barrett had insisted she tag along, saying they should take notes on how to throw a wedding.
He wanted them to see the process so they wouldn't be a disorganized mess at their own future ceremony.
He also tempted her by saying the banquet food in the village was incredible and she would regret missing it.
Gemma hadn't been swayed by the idea of taking notes.
But as an absolute foodie, the promise of incredible food was impossible to resist!
City wedding receptions were
notorious for their lackluster
catering. Even at five thousanet
dollars a table, rarely anyone e
actually enjoyed the meal.
But rural banquets were legendary for using fresh ingredients, guaranteeing a spectacular feast.
So, despite her embarrassment, Gemma had quietly followed Barrett to attend the wedding.
When she heard they would be holding The Chapel Ceremony in the family chapel, her curiosity dragged her along.
To her absolute astonishment, the leader of the James Village was a silver-haired woman.
The woman was dressed with immense elegance and clearly commanded absolute authority.
Even more surprising, the Clan Successor was also a young woman.
Her first impression of Claire was that she was breathtaking!
Absolutely stunning!
Dressed in her ceremonial attire, Claire looked like a wealthy heiress
steppi
out of a classic painting,
radiating a subtle but underable authority
"I'll have to go back and discuss the
wedding
s with my parent
ll
send them the video of The Chapel
Ceremony first, and if they're
interested, we can talk about it."
"But if we do get married, could we ask that older woman and the young lady to
officiate for us too?"
"Also, why are the clan leaders of the James Village all women?"
"If we have a daughter in the future, could she run for the position?"
Gemma was endlessly fascinated by this!
She had a strong feeling that the James Village wasn't the backward, patriarchal
place her friends had assumed it would be.
In fact, they seemed to deeply respect women!
After all, both their leader and the Clan Successor were female!
She was incredibly envious.