"That's it for today, Silas," Misty said, parting ways with Silas on the street corner.
"Okay. Do you have a bodyguard taking you home?" Silas asked.
Misty wanted to say yes, but her body instinctively shook her head. "No."
"Then let me walk you home. It's too dangerous for you to go alone," Silas wasn't comfortable with Misty going home by herself.
Misty nodded happily. "Great! We can even have dinner together."
"Is that alright?" Silas wasn't mentally prepared to meet Misty's father yet.
"It's fine," Misty quickly said, waving her hand.
Just then, BEEP BEEP BEEP!
A bodyguard drove up next to Misty, rolled down the window, and said, "Miss Misty, are we ready to go?"
"Go away..." Misty pointed ahead with a dark expression.
Seeing Misty's darkened face, the bodyguard suddenly realized he had made a mistake and said awkwardly, "Miss Misty isn't here... I'll check up ahead." Then he drove off.
"Uh... maybe that was someone else named Misty," Misty stood rooted, nervously rubbing her skirt, feeling a bit helpless.
"Maybe." Silas naturally knew it was Misty's bodyguard, but he needed to save Misty's face.
Misty felt relieved when Silas seemed to believe her. She smiled and said, "Then let's go to my house. I'll lead the way."
"Mhm," Silas agreed.
The two walked along the evening streetlights, talking and laughing. The bodyguard quietly followed behind in the car, ensuring Misty's safety.
After walking for about half an hour, the bodyguard couldn't stand it anymore and called Misty.
Ring-ring-ring~
"You should answer that," Silas said when Misty's phone rang.
Misty picked up the phone, saw it was labeled "Bodyguard One," and turned to look at the bodyguard with a puzzled expression.
The bodyguard in the car pointed at the phone, signaling Misty to answer.
"What is it?" Misty answered the call and asked.
"Miss Misty, at the speed you're walking, you won't reach the manor for another half hour," the bodyguard said.
Misty hung up the phone. She wanted to ask Silas to get in the car but didn't know how to say it.
"What's wrong?" Silas casually glanced at the bodyguard following behind and then at the phone in Misty's hand. He seemed to understand.
Finally, after ten minutes, the bodyguard drove them right up to the house.
"This is my house. Come in," Misty said with a smile.
Silas looked around Misty's house and realized it wasn't the luxurious home he imagined for a wealthy family, but a normal residential house.
Misty seemed to guess what Silas was thinking and said, "This is my home. My mother likes this kind of cozy house, so we don't live in the manor."
Misty stepped forward and rang the doorbell. After a moment, the door opened, and a middle-aged man in an apron, holding a plate, appeared:
"My dear Misty, you're finally back. Look at the steak Daddy made for you..."
Misty's father noticed Silas standing next to Misty. His gentle tone suddenly changed, becoming stiff. "Misty, who is he?"
"He's my classmate, Silas Parker. I invited him for dinner," Misty explained to her father, then turned to Silas. "Silas, this is my dad, Hugh Barron."
"Hello, Uncle Hugh," Silas extended his hand and said.
Hugh didn't say much. Instead, he said, "Hello, Silas. I apologize, but we haven't prepared any extra food."
"It's okay, Dad. I can share half of my steak with Silas," Misty said. Then she told Silas, "My dad's steak is delicious."
"Thank you, Misty," Silas replied.
"Wait!" Hugh suddenly changed his mind. "I just remembered we have extra ingredients."
"Perfect! Silas, let's go in." Misty happily led Silas inside.
She completely ignored Hugh, who was standing at the door with a dark expression.
"Oh~ Misty, who is he?" Misty's mother arrived.
Misty quickly introduced Silas again. "Silas, this is my mom, Lydia Barron."
"Hello, Aunt Lydia," Silas said respectfully.
"So you're Silas," Lydia said warmly. "Misty talks about you often. And thank you so much for helping her get her bracelet back. It was a birthday present from her grandmother when she turned ten."
"It was nothing, just a small favor," Silas smiled.
Silas noticed that Misty's mother was quite approachable, whereas the father at the door seemed hard to get along with.
Lydia pulled Silas to the sofa and talked for a while before Hugh called out, "Dinner's ready!"
Everyone went to the dining table. Misty looked at the lavish dinner in front of her and questioned, "Dad, didn't you say we didn't have extra food?"
Hugh said without blushing, "I just had someone go buy the ingredients. Please, everyone sit down and eat."
The family sat down and began their dinner.
"Go ahead and eat, Silas. Don't be shy. My dad's steak is delicious," Misty said, her eyes shining.
Misty thought: Dad's golf game is terrible, but his steak is pretty good. This flavor will definitely leave an impression on Silas.
Silas was not at his own house, so he couldn't completely relax. He slowly cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth to chew.
"Hmm?!" Silas's eyes widened. The intensely spicy flavor of the steak exploded on his taste buds. If it weren't to save Misty's face, he would have spit it out.
"How is it?" Misty saw Silas's wide eyes and thought he was shocked by the deliciousness.
Silas forced himself to swallow the steak and put on a smile that looked worse than a grimace. "Delicious..."
"Haha! It's delicious, so eat more." Misty was delighted to hear Silas liked it.
Hugh chimed in, "Yes, yes. If it's delicious, eat more, Classmate Silas."
Hugh deliberately emphasized the words "Classmate Silas."
Silas immediately understood. This steak was definitely Hugh's doing. He had wondered if Misty's family just had extremely strong taste buds.
"It's good that Silas likes it. When Hugh was courting me, he didn't have much to offer, but his steak skills won me over," Lydia teased.
Finally, to save Misty's face, Silas forced himself to eat the impossibly bad steak, which impressed Hugh immensely.
"Since dinner is finished, I should head home now, or Uncle Ben and Aunt May will start to worry," Silas said, standing up.
"Then you should go quickly, or your elders will be very worried about you," Lydia said.
Hugh firmly scraped his knife and fork together. "I hope Classmate Silas can come again next time."
"Then I'll thank Uncle Hugh in advance. Thank you for your hospitality today!" Silas said, and then left.
"Hmph! That Silas. He comes and doesn't even bring a gift," Hugh couldn't help but complain once Silas was gone.
Lydia retorted, "I don't remember you bringing anything when you came to my house for the first time."
"That's—" Hugh was cut off as the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~
Hugh walked to the door, opened it, and saw no one. He was about to close the door when he noticed a bouquet of fresh flowers on the ground.
Hugh picked up the flowers and closed the door, returning to the dining table.
"Where did the flowers come from?" Lydia asked.
Hugh was also confused. Misty took the flowers and found a card on them. She read aloud: "Thank you for the dinner, especially Uncle Hugh's steak—Silas."
"See? He's a thoughtful young man," Lydia said.
On the Street
Silas was utterly impressed with himself for being able to eat such a terrible steak. He wondered why Hugh felt the need to mess with him when they had only just met.
"Oh my god, I will definitely repay you for this steak, Uncle Hugh," Silas was not the type to let an offense go unreturned.
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