Volume 5: Growing Up Chapter 320 This is America!
Tommy and Otilia's wedding was not large, and there were not many guests, less than a hundred people in total. Almost every invited guest had a deep enough connection with the Hawke family. The wedding was held at the Farrell family's estate "Little Snowflake" in Newport.
Father Colin and white-haired father-in-law Mr. Farrell warmly hugged every guest and thanked them for coming to attend the wedding of their son or daughter.
However, after the visitors greeted the old man, they would often choose to go to Tony Leon, who was sitting at the banquet table farther away, to greet him and surround him.
"Bethea called. She's busy in London with the family business. She'll be back for dinner. Ursula called to congratulate me and said she was sorry that she and Jenny couldn't come to the wedding. She had an international conference and Jenny had to deal with a lot of official business." Otilia took Tommy's hand and took photos with several guests. Then she whispered to Tommy, "I'm actually glad that Ursula didn't come because it saved me from being embarrassed. How could you bear to put Jenny in that situation?"
"You have to believe in Jenny. She can solve anything." Tommy patted Otilia's hand that was holding his: "Don't think of her as you, think of her as another me. Even if I'm in heaven, I can turn it into something lower than that."
Ursula mentioned by Otilia is the mother of Jenny's husband. She is from the Albrecht family of Germany and her husband's surname is von der Leyen. She started dating Tommy in 1992 when she accompanied her doctor husband to Stanford University to teach and she was enjoying her housewife life at Stanford University. The other party also gave birth to a son for Tommy, who now bears the surname von der Leyen.
Ursula lived with her husband at Stanford University for five years. Like her husband, she originally majored in medicine, but after returning to her country, she started to engage in politics under Tommy's persuasion that "studying medicine cannot save Germany."
Thanks to Tommy's support, her political career was very smooth. Of course, the main reason was that the United States had troops stationed in Germany. When she encountered some difficult troubles, Tommy's brother Tony could lend a helping hand in time.
For example, in 2010, it was Tony who had American military intelligence personnel stationed in Germany use a traffic accident to resolve several conservatives within the CDU who opposed Ursula's nomination. This allowed Ursula von der Leyen to eventually become the German president in Murdoch's cabinet.
After Ursula stepped down as president, she was nominated by the United States and was successfully elected as NATO Secretary-General as the only nominee. After all, in the eyes of the United States, she is a trustworthy person, and she has indeed made great contributions to the United States' sales of arms to NATO member states. People who work hard should be rewarded.
As for Tommy and Otylia's daughter Genesis, she was introduced by Tommy to marry von der Leyen's eldest son Christian. The two now live in Lower Saxony, Germany, the stronghold of Ursula's mother's family, the Albrecht family .
Jenny has just won the mayoral election in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, and has officially entered politics as a rising political star of Albrecht's younger generation. German newspapers call her a ferocious she-wolf.
Her husband Christian is responsible for managing the Hawke family's business in Germany, which can be seen as Tommy's dowry to his daughter.
So Jenny's current situation is that her mother-in-law is her father's mistress, and one of her husband's younger brothers is her half-sister.
The father-in-law actually knew about what happened between his wife and Tommy, but he didn't care. Or rather, the money Tommy paid to the father-in-law was so much that he couldn't refuse.
For a while, Otilia desperately imagined her daughter's living environment. She felt that if it were her, she would definitely want to end her life by suicide.
Because she was worried about her daughter, she often flew to Germany to visit her daughter during that period, hoping that if her daughter was unhappy in life, she could tell her honestly. She was willing to file for divorce for her daughter, and even if Tommy objected, she would take Jenny back.
But the daughter said that life here was very comfortable, and her husband's family's influence in the local area was enough for her to thrive, not to mention the indirect help from Uncle Tony, which made her life in Germany almost without any difficulties or challenges. On the contrary, returning to the United States would make her uncomfortable because the United States had her damn devil father - Tommy Hawke.
To be honest, Otilia felt that a big part of the reason why she was reluctant to remarry Tommy was because Tommy sent their daughter to faraway Germany. She felt that the so-called family was nothing more than pawns and tools in his hands.
"She knows in her heart that the reason she didn't return home is because her father is entrenched in the United States. She can't do anything if she returns. It will be her turn to stir up trouble after I die." Tommy said to Otilia, "Whether Hilbert is a nerd or not is totally unimportant to me. He likes physics and science, so it's up to him. But our daughter can't do that. She must be a strong person on her own. I want her to have the ability to control her own destiny, because I'm not sure if her husband can take good care of her like I took care of you."
"Is this considered a love word?" Otilia smiled with emotion: "You haven't said a love word to me in many years."
At this time, Stephen, who was temporarily acting as the emcee, had already called Tommy to the stage to greet the guests. Tommy let go of Otilia and walked towards the stage: "Do you want to hear some sweet talk?"
Tommy stood on the stage, looking at the guests below who were looking at him, and said with a smile:
"Time flies. Forty-two years have passed since Otilia and I first met. I was still a high school student then, and she had just graduated from college. To be honest, I hate Lincoln High School because even though Otilia and I donated a lot of money together, they only hung Otilia's picture. They would rather hang pictures of dogs or other animals next to hers than put mine together. They mocked me, saying, 'You should be aware of your identity. You are just a pet store owner. How can you be equal to a female Supreme Court Justice of the United States?'"
"So I was furious and was going to ask my lawyer to sue the school until it closed down. Otilia stopped me and said, 'If you do that, I will stand against you and defend Lincoln High School.'"
"I told Lincoln High School about this. I thought they would be thankful that they survived the disaster, but do you know what Lincoln High School said? They said that this just proved that their decision was absolutely correct. You are not worthy of being hung next to Otilia's photo."
"Later I thought about it, and it was true. I remember when Otilia and I were dating, our friends would always curiously ask her, did Tommy like you in high school? Then Otilia explained very seriously, 'No, there were many boys who liked me at that time. They would look for opportunities to approach me and chat with me, but Tommy was not one of them. He was only interested in studying. In order to study, he even gave away many of his favorite beauty magazines and movie posters that he had accumulated for a long time to other people to avoid distracting his attention.'"
"Every time I heard Otilia say this, I just smiled and said nothing, but today, I want to say, how is it possible?"
"I was a normal teenage boy at that time. How could I not like Otilia? Like Dennis, Pam, Sean and a dozen other boys from Lincoln High School, I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. Yes, teenage boys' love is so superficial and straightforward. I still remember that scene. Teacher Ronnie Williams called me to his office. I walked over, opened the door, and saw an angel standing in the office."
"I don't remember anything Mr. Williams said, and I didn't want to hear it. My first thought was, I'm so lucky, I met my girlfriend when I was just 18 years old, and my second thought was, you have to get rid of all the 18-year-old idiots who met her at the same time as you, like Dennis, like Pam."
"When it comes to relationships, adolescent boys tend to be selfish and sinister, so bastards like Dennis and Pam often tell Otilia about my feat behind her back and slander me. Of course, I did the same thing. I gave them the posters and told Otilia to study hard."
"Otilia didn't realize that I liked her. As she said, Tommy was only interested in studying and making money, but I want to say that was the only way I could pursue her at the time. I have never been a fan of fairy tales. Stories like the daughter of a rich man marrying the son of a shipbreaker and living happily together are not suitable for me. Although I like to provide everyone with the opportunity to realize the American dream, I am essentially a pessimist. I clearly understand that if I want to pursue her, want to help her wear a wedding dress, put on a diamond ring, and add Hawke's last name in front of her name, it is not to go to her every day to create encounters and chat with her, but to become outstanding, even more outstanding. You have to do it. Even if other men fall in love with her and pursue her during the time when you are trying to evolve alone, when you are finished evolving and reappear in front of her, you can still make her believe that choosing you is the most important and correct choice in her life."
"So, looking back, isn't it interesting what Otilia said to her friends? How could I not love her? It's because I love her that I keep moving forward."
"In fact, before my first official date with Otilia, her father, Mr. Farrell, approached me privately and had a serious conversation with me."
"Don't look at your father in surprise, Otilia. I would do the same if I were you. And I'm not as gentlemanly as Mr. Farrell. Let's talk about that conversation. Mr. Farrell was very sincere. He told me why he only had Otilia as his daughter. The moment he and his wife took this lovely little angel from the nurse's hands, he knew that he could not share his love with other children. She is my daughter, and I want to give her everything I have."
"Mr. Farrell said that when he found out about me, he panicked because he realized that his daughter was going to be taken away by a jerk like me, and there was nothing he could do about it."
"He talked to me about his panic for a long time. He said that Otilia was raised very innocently by him and his wife, and she still believes that those beautiful fairy tales are true. If you love her, please let her continue to believe that the world is as beautiful as a fairy tale, and everything will have a happy ending."
"I told him that from my personal experience, the world is not a good place at all. And his answer was very frank. He said that's the meaning of your existence for her."
Tommy said this and looked at Julian Farrell who was holding Otilia's arm and preparing to hand his daughter over to him. "I think I took good care of your daughter?"
Julian smiled and nodded. Tommy had brought his daughter from an ordinary rich girl to the seat of Chief Justice of the United States step by step. He knew that the bloodiness and darkness hidden under the glamour of his daughter's journey were all borne by Tommy alone.
"So, Father-in-law, can you please take the Pinkerton detective away from me?" Tommy joked.
Julian said humorously: "Of course, they have already withdrawn. From now on, my daughter will be the one to monitor you personally."
"I made many promises to Mr Julian Farrell and I can now say that all of them have been fulfilled, including the last one - family first."
"So, you can rest assured to hold Otilia's arm and hand her over to me again, and this time, I will not let go."
Julian took Otilia's arm and slowly walked towards Tommy. Looking at Otilia getting closer and closer, Tommy said:
"I want to say that when you know who you want to spend the rest of your life with, you will look forward to starting the rest of your life as early as possible. And I have been looking forward to it since I was 18 years old. Now, I have settled all my work. Next, I will return to my family and be a real man."
When Julian handed Otilia's hand to Tommy, there was warm applause from the audience. The warmest applause came from old Colin, Tony, Ashley and Tommy's mother-in-law of the Hawke family. After all, the shame of the Hawke family in their eyes had finally grown up, achieved success late in life, and understood the responsibilities of a man.
Otilia turned her face to let Tommy kiss her cheek, then looked at the visitor:
"Many people think that I must have been very sad when I left Tommy more than a decade ago. I know that when we broke up, Colin bought a plane ticket to California and gave Tommy a lesson as soon as he knew about it. Tony and Ashley came back from overseas to comfort me. In fact, I was not very sad. I just thought one thing through clearly at that time."
"My Tommy, when I met him, he was a man far beyond his peers. He knew more, thought more, and saw more than me. He deserved all the praises given to him. In fact, many people also thought so."
"But after living with him for so long, I realized that he was an ambitious and energetic boy who didn't know how to stop. He didn't know how to cherish or love. So after reading a lot of parenting books, I decisively left him."
"I need him to realize this problem himself. 99% of the men in this world are not smarter than my Tommy. He is really, really smart, but when it comes to relationships, he is more like an irresponsible child. If you want him to grow up, you have to let him lose something."
"But it will be very difficult for a smart kid like Tommy to grow up again, because he is already very good. And we also know that single wealthy young men will never feel lonely. They have countless ways to vent when loneliness is about to appear, such as dating, working, spending, traveling, etc. All I can do is to grow myself and wait patiently."
"Grow myself up to the point where he realizes that I am qualified to talk to him on an equal footing and discuss my views on certain events, and wait for him to grow up."
"In this way, when he finds that dating, traveling and other methods can no longer bring him comfort, he will realize that his life needs a formal and responsible relationship, which is what we often say, the prodigal son returns."
Otilia looked at Tommy beside her tenderly: "I think my Tommy is ready to accept that relationship now, right Tommy?"
"How did you know?" Tommy asked curiously.
Otilia kissed Tommy gently and said, "Don't forget, I am your teacher. This is your last lesson in growing up. Now, get out of class is over. Say goodbye to your teacher and say hello to your wife."
With everyone's blessings, the small wedding ceremony ended perfectly. After the ceremony, most of the guests were led by Julian to visit the manor, while Tommy and Otilia were chatting with Susan, Sofia, Diane Lane, Ginny Bullock and other women. At this time, their son Hilbert came over and whispered to Tommy:
"I want to leave for a moment, father."
Tommy looked at his son: "What happened?"
Otilia and several other women also looked over with concern.
"Uh... my girlfriend Connie's mother is pregnant. She has been feeling a little unwell since she came here. I guess the flowers and plants at the wedding scene might have made her allergic, so Connie and I want to send her to the hotel to rest first." Hibbert said awkwardly.
Tommy nodded in understanding. "Connie and her mother also came to my and your mother's wedding? I'm so sorry, I didn't notice them. Where are they? I'll go over and say hello to your mother, or I'll arrange for someone to accompany her to the hospital for a checkup."
He thought that the other party was upset because he didn't say hello, and that it was indeed his fault for not hosting him well, so he explained it to his son seriously.
Otilia and Sofia asked in confusion: "Connie's mother is pregnant? Isn't she divorced?"
Tommy stood up and looked around for his son's girlfriend Connie. He was ready to ask for her forgiveness for the poor hospitality after seeing her clearly. However, after seeing her and her mother clearly, Tommy immediately sat back in his seat: "No wonder I feel uncomfortable... Shit... Son, I feel uncomfortable too. You take them to the hotel. I'll visit them after I'm done. Paige, take Hilbert and the others to the hotel."
After Hilbert left, Otilia stared at Tommy's face: "What happened?"
"It was an accident. I didn't know she was Connie's mother. That day at the Eagle's Nest, I thought she was just a neighbor from Germany... and she wasn't wearing a wedding ring. I hadn't returned to my family at that time, so..." Tommy buried his head on the table and said depressedly.
Otilia held her forehead and said speechlessly: "Before it was Ursula, now it is Hilbert's mother-in-law... Why is it that in order to marry you, Tommy Hawke, the sacrifice is so great that you even make the other party's mother pregnant?"
"It was really an accident, I swear, I didn't need to do it on purpose, and I didn't need Hilbert to go abroad..." Tommy defended weakly.
Otilia stood up and walked towards Colin in the distance: "I want Colin to have a serious talk with you."
"I can't believe that you've almost made Ottilia, such an intellectual and elegant woman, lose her composure." Diane Lane said from the side.
"Don't worry about Otilia, Ms. Lian En. If I were you, I would start worrying about Archie's marriage right now." Sophia reminded from the side.
Diane Lane shrugged: "It doesn't matter. Archie's Canadian girlfriend is from a single-parent family. Her mother died of illness and now she only has a father."
In the distance, Colin, who learned that his son had helped the family to have more children, shouted for help, regardless of the fact that some guests had not left the venue: "Martin! Martin! Come over here and help me restrain that bastard Tommy. I want to castrate him!"
Martin, the miller, who was talking to someone in a suit in the distance, heard Colin's roar, tore off his suit, pulled out a large electric shock device from his waist, and walked towards Tommy with a vigorous movement that was not in line with his age:
"Boss, don't blame me. The Godfather asked me to subdue you. I've wanted this day for a long time. This thing that old Page left me, I used it for the first time today..."
There was a crackling sound of electric shock, and Martin fell in front of Tommy. Tommy picked up the electric shock device that was modified by Paige and discharged electricity from the handle: "Yeah, Paige must be very happy that he can shock you again after so many years of his death."
Dennis, Pam, Stephen, Jason, Jim and other friends who had not yet left the scene also looked towards Tommy, curious about what had happened. Tommy took a deep breath and said to them loudly:
"It's no big deal. It's just a trivial matter for the great United States of America. I accidentally got my son's mother-in-law pregnant."
Several people were stunned on the spot. Pam said in shock: "Marrying your daughter to the Hawke family, and asking her mother to sleep with the boy's father? This custom is too obscene..."
"Which state still retains this custom? I want to try it too." Stephen asked curiously.
"There will definitely be a chance." Tommy looked at his best friends:
"After all, this is America."
(End of the book)
