Chapter 20 Dean LaRoche
Hubert fell silent.
So, it was his unmet sister-in-law who had scratched Dean's car in the morning.
"Mr. Donovan, it's late. I'm gonna go to sleep."
Although she had soothed her sister, she felt uncertain about it and upset.
With that, she headed to her room.
Hubert opened his mouth, trying to say something, but she had entered her room.
Those flowers on the balcony... He believed she would see them the next morning and arrange them.
However, Hubert had a strange feeling. It was like he had done something good and waited for her compliment.
"Mr. Donovan."
The door opened. Teresa stood in the doorway and asked, "You bought a washing machine? How much is it?"
"The two machines cost a total of $1,200."
Teresa compared the washing machine bought by Hubert with the one in her sister's house. The price was reasonable, and she made no further comments.
"Teresa."
Hubert called out to her when she was about to close the door.
"We can handle the problem your sister is facing. Just so you know, if she's short of money, I can lend it to her."
Teresa gratefully said, "Mr. Donovan, thank you. When we receive the bills, we'll see if we can collect enough money. If not, I'll borrow money from you on behalf of my sister."
It had been just a couple of days since they got married. They didn't know each other well, but he was willing to lend her money when her sister was in trouble. Teresa was truly grateful.
"Okay, it's late. Go to bed and don't think much about it. There will always be a way."
"Yeah, good night."
Teresa said good night to him and went back to her room.
After sitting in the living room for a while, Hubert got up and went to his room.
Once the door was closed, he took out his phone and called Dean.
"Dean, are you going to sleep?"
Dean laughed, "No way. I rarely go to bed before 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. What's up? Wanna buy me a drink? Come to my house. I have a lot of vintage wine in my collection."
"How much does it cost to refinish your car?"
Hubert hadn't gotten out of the car and checked out how serious the scratch was.
"It was not too bad and cost around $1,700."
"You didn't report it to the insurance company?"
"Not worth the trouble. Why do you ask?"
After a moment of silence, Hubert replied, "The woman who scratched your car in the morning is the sister of my grandma's savior. They hang on with each other, and that woman is a housewife with no income. After scratching your car, she's afraid that she'll go broke."
Dean said, "What a small world! Her sister saved your grandma? How did you find out?"
Hubert lied, "My grandma likes her and often goes to chat with her. She noticed her dejection and asked about the reason. That woman surnamed Heller then told her the story."
"That explains it. The woman who scratched my car is called Leila Heller. Who's the name of your grandma's savior?"
"Teresa Heller."
"So, they're siblings. In that case, I will not hold her accountable. It's not a large amount of money after all. It's just that I'm the victim. If I show her my generosity and ask nothing from her, she will not learn her lesson. She may scratch another car, who knows?"
Dean was the fourth son of the LaRoche family and 35 this year. He didn't take over his family business but founded Lionforce Group, which had quite a few subsidiaries. He was a billionaire.
He was generous, faithful to his friends, and once in the underworld when he was young. That scar on his face was left during a gang fight. He didn't bother to have plastic surgery. According to him, the scar made him look more fearsome.
"In that case, ask her for compensation so that she'll learn her lesson. I'm thinking that you could charge her less since her sister saved my grandma's life."
1,700 dollars was nothing to tycoons like Hubert and Dean.
Although Leila had no job or income, she could collect enough money.
"It didn't cost much, and I'll charge her half of the money. Several thousand dollars would be too much for a housewife. I just hope that she'll learn her lesson, be more careful on the road, and not scratch another car."
Fortunately, his car was parked by the road. If it were running, that cute baby might have been killed.
"Thanks, bro."
"No problem. By the way, your grandma likes that girl so much. She could have rewarded her savior with a sum of money instead of connecting with her. To my surprise, your grandma often goes to chat with her and even asks you to plead with me."
Hubert said blandly, "My grandma is blaming us for having no time to keep her company in a roundabout way."
It had been her wish that her grandchildren could get married and have great-grandchildren for her sooner. She even promised to reward them with eight million dollars if anyone had a son and 80 million for a daughter.
That was because there were too many male members in the family. The old lady had been expecting to have a granddaughter, but her three daughters-in-law had given birth to three boys. Now she pinned her hope on her grandchildren.
Dean paused and said, "Old people are all like this. When my grandma is alive, she urges us to get married every day. Back then, my brothers and I were all fed up and unwilling to go home. After she passed away, we missed those days."
People were like that. They didn't cherish the things they had until they lost them.
His three brothers and he were still unmarried. The entire family, his nephew included, often asked him when he was going to take his wife back home.
"It's normal that they push you. You're 35 and soon you will be 40. If you don't get married now, you'll be old when your baby is born. When others see it, they'll believe that you're taking care of your grandson."
Hubert teased his friend.
In fact, he wouldn't have chosen to grant her wish to get married so soon if his grandmother hadn't kept nagging him. He had planned to consider marriage at the age of 35.
Even though he was married, he hadn't decided to spend the rest of his life with Teresa yet. Just as he had said to his grandmother, he would examine Teresa's character and see if the wife his grandma had chosen for him was worthy of his devotion.
Dean laughed, "I'll raise my son as my grandson."
Hubert was speechless.