?Chapter 1039:


    Their dramatic entrance caught Joellepletely off guard. “What is this? We came here to have a proper conversation!”


    “Yes, yes, yes,” Gracie said, blinking rapidly to summon a few tears. “It’s all my son’s fault. But Joelle, you know how it was when we were young, right? Couldn’t we have handled things better as adults? Isn’t that why they’re in this mess?”


    Adrian retorted, “Are you ming us?”


    “No!” Fred grabbed Adrian’s hand, and the fact that he wasn’t immediately brushed off suggested there was room for negotiation. “Adrian, what my grandfather said before he passed away doesn’t speak for our family.”


    “Oh?” Adrian raised an eyebrow, a trace of sarcasm in his tone. “Wasn’t he part of your family?”


    Fred retorted, “We are family, but not all of us agreed with his views. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. We should’ve patched things up long ago. If we had, maybe the kids wouldn’t be caught up in all this now.”


    Adrian and Joelle fell silent, their faces unreadable as they made their way to the gazebo.


    Dunn stood quietly to the side, doing what he knew best—waiting patiently. He wasn’t to speak until he was called upon.


    Adrian crossed his arms, his fingers drumming a rhythmic impatience. “Let’s not sidestep the issue. Regardless of our families’ history, I do not approve of them being together.”


    Gracie nced at Joelle, an awkward smile tugging at her lips. “Joelle, what do you think? I know our Dunn isn’t perfect, but haven’t they earned a chance to be together?”


    Dunn tightened his lips, his eyes fixed on Joelle, hoping for her words to tip the bnce.


    She brushed the dust from her skirt and looked up at them, her voice calm but firm. “Adrian’s opinion is mine. Aurora is still young; it’s simply too early for her to be in a rtionship.”


    Anyone with a brain could hear the unspoken message in Joelle’s words. The rejection was as clear as day.


    Dunn dered seriously, “Mrs. Miller, my feelings for Aurora are genuine.”


    Fred and Gracie, having watched their son blossom from a boy to a man, saw Dunn as the epitome of emotional stability—calm and collected, someone who had never before acted on impulse. It was the first time he had asked for the hand of the woman he loved. As parents, their hearts ached for him.


    But before they could interject, Adrian retorted, “Can love put food on the table? She’s got plenty of admirers. Save your sweet nothings for someone who might actually buy them.”


    With that, he rose to his feet, taking Joelle with him. There was no room for debate; it was a non-negotiable decision.


    “Mr. Miller!” Dunn called out.


    Adrian, never one to mince words, asked, “What makes you think you can bring her more joy than her own father? Dunn, to be blunt, your so-called ‘love’ is not worth a hill of beans in my eyes.”


    Compared to a man in his forties, the twenty-year-oldcked the experience, the sess, and even the mental fortitude topete. Dunn was destined to lose. His constant, confident pronouncements made him seem like a naive, callow youth.


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