After Rebirth, I Accept The Arranged Marriage-Chapter 41: "A Wedding Only Happens Once.

"Isn’t Mdiade’s perfume a little too niche?" Quincy Sterling said. "There will be so many guests, and not everyone might like it. This perfume is priced too high, and a bottle that costs five or six thousand isn’t easy to resell on second-hand platforms."

On her end of the call, Jessie Sterling jotted it down in a small notebook. "Got it." Then she looked up at Lynn Jennings on the other side of the screen. "Lynn, what do you suggest?"

Lynn Jennings was sitting on her sofa for the evening, holding a honeydew melon and staring at her computer screen. "I think you should ask your President Morgan. The gifts we’ve chosen are better suited for the female guests. Maybe President Morgan has some different ideas?"

The sudden mention of Victor Morgan’s name caught Jessie Sterling off guard. She couldn’t react for a moment.

Quincy Sterling, however, nodded in agreement. She looked up from the screen and glanced at her older sister. "Yeah, I think we should ask my brother-in-law, too."

Jessie Sterling: "..."

’Can I really admit that it’s been over a month since I got back from abroad and I still haven’t contacted Victor Morgan?’

’He hasn’t reached out to me either. If I suddenly go looking for him now, it’ll just feel awkward no matter how I spin it.’

"Why ask him?" Jessie Sterling muttered sullenly. "Can’t I figure it out on my own?"

Through the camera, it was as if Lynn Jennings was looking right into Jessie’s eyes. They had been friends for over twenty years; she knew Jessie’s guilty expressions and tone like the back of her hand.

"Did you two have a fight?" Lynn asked, getting straight to the point.

Quincy Sterling also stared intently at the screen, looking as if she would charge upstairs the moment she saw Jessie nod.

Jessie Sterling: "...No."

"Then why are you so reluctant to contact him?" Lynn didn’t give Jessie a chance to dodge the question.

Jessie Sterling: "..."

’Having a childhood friend who knows you inside and out is so annoying!’

"If you don’t say anything, I’m calling my brother-in-law," Quincy Sterling said seriously.

’Our family’s princess is marrying into Aethelburg, not to become some pushover.’

’At home, she calls the shots and gets whatever she wants. It should be the same after she gets married. Otherwise, what’s the point of marrying if it’s just to make her life difficult?’

"We didn’t!" Jessie said, rushing to speak before Quincy could follow through on her threat. "I’ve just been really busy lately, so we haven’t talked in a while."

"Well, isn’t now the perfect opportunity?" Lynn asked.

Jessie flopped onto her bed and rolled over. "He’s not contacting me, so why should I be the one to contact him? I’m not going to!"

The other two on the video call: "..."

Lynn looked at Quincy. "Let’s just call it a night."

Quincy nodded in profound agreement. "Sorry you had to witness my sister being such a drama queen."

Jessie protested, "Hey, you two, I’m still on the call! If you’re going to talk trash about me, could you at least try to be a little more subtle?"

"Is it not the truth?"

Jessie Sterling: "..."

"Of course it’s not! It’s not like I’m afraid to message him!" With that, Jessie picked up her phone in front of her tablet and aimed it at the camera. "Watch carefully. I’m messaging him right now!"

As she spoke, she had already found her chat with Victor Morgan.

They hadn’t chatted in a while, and the conversation thread had nearly sunk to the bottom of her list.

Quincy shook her head in resignation. ’Her sister is so easily provoked. She’s a hopeless case.’

After Jessie opened the chat, she realized it wasn’t true that there had been no contact between her and Victor Morgan. In fact, there had been.

In the first few days after she got back from abroad, Victor Morgan had sent her messages. But she had probably gotten busy and forgotten. She’d glanced at them, planning to reply later, but never got around to it.

Victor Morgan had sent three or four messages in total, but then he stopped.

Realizing she was the one who had left him on read, Jessie suddenly felt even more guilty.

’Normally, I’d just play dead. But now, in front of Quincy and Lynn, I’ve already pulled out my phone. If I put it away now, wouldn’t that make me look like a total coward?’

Jessie braced herself. Her face felt like it was on fire, especially when she saw the message Victor had sent her ten days ago: "If you run into any problems with the wedding planning, call me."

[Jessie Sterling: Do you have any thoughts on the wedding favors?]

As if accepting her fate, Jessie sent the message, tossed her phone onto the bed, and collapsed back onto her pillow.

’He’s not going to reply,’ she thought.

’If the roles were reversed and I was the one repeatedly trying to be friendly only to get the cold shoulder, I would have blocked him ages ago and sworn to never speak to him again.’

But now...

Jessie sighed.

But before Jessie could even finish her sigh, her phone started ringing.

It wasn’t the sound of a message notification, but a call from Victor Morgan.

She stared at the caller ID in surprise. Then she remembered that day, back when she was still abroad, when Victor had explained that calling was more efficient and convenient than texting. Jessie felt that familiar sense of exasperation welling up in her chest.

’This infuriatingly practical man!’

Despite her internal grumbling, she still had to answer the phone.

"Hello." As Jessie answered, she glanced at the video chat. At some point, Quincy and Lynn had both left the call, leaving her alone in the room.

"It’s me, Victor Morgan."

The man’s voice and his introduction seemed to always be the same: deep, cool, and unchanging.

Jessie said, "Oh. I know."

Victor Morgan: "You asked about the wedding favors. Are you deciding on them now?"

"Mhm," Jessie hummed. She sat up in bed, phone in one hand. With her other hand, she couldn’t stop herself from lifting her fingers to her mouth and starting to bite her nails.

Jessie was trying to figure out how to explain leaving him on read multiple times. The truth sounded like a lame excuse, and she worried Victor would think she was treating him like an idiot.

"You’ve been busy, haven’t you? That must have been tough." To her surprise, Victor spoke before Jessie could even come up with an excuse.

Jessie froze on the bed. "Huh?"

From the other end of the line, Victor felt he could perfectly picture Jessie’s stunned expression. "Too busy to even look at your phone," he said.

Jessie laughed sheepishly. "You knew? I thought you were going to be angry and give me the silent treatment."

"Why would I be angry? I know you’re busy with the wedding too," Victor said. "But if you’re getting overwhelmed, you can delegate some of it to me."

’How could she possibly do that?’

The things she was responsible for were all minor details; her workload was already much lighter than the average bride’s. "Should I bring you along to look at jewelry, too?"

"You can."

"Won’t it get in the way of your work?"

"A wedding only happens once. I’ll have many more years to work. For now, you come first," Victor said, his voice deep and steady.