But there was one thing that hadn’t changed between Giorgio and Ilya: the way they quarreled while holding a proper conversation.
If they had one thing in common, it was the way they completely ignored people whom they weren’t interested in.
It was a side effect caused by their lack of patience and courtesy to maintain a relationship.
However, their current behavior showed that Giorgio and Ilya were unable to ignore each other despite their hate for each other.
Woo-Jin was looking at the two through the eyes of Lansky for a moment. His lips twitched and tried to form a smile, and it took all of Woo-Jin’s strength to squeeze them tight to prevent them from rising.
Even though they had grown and gotten old, Lansky’s grandchildren were still as cute as ever.
{Please stop it, the both of you. Don’t forget that we have a guest with us.}
Although Selena had said ‘both of you’, she was fiercely glaring at her father.
{Guest? If he’s having dinner with this bastard, he isn’t a guest anymore.} Giorgio remarked.
He knew better than anyone that Ilya wasn’t the type of person to dine with guests.
Even though Ilya cared about Selena, if she brought guests without his permission, Ilya would leave the restaurant without hesitation.
In other words, Chae Woo-Jin couldn’t be called a guest, he was someone much closer to them.
{What sort of ill fate got you involved with someone like that?}
Giorgio realized that there was some sort of relationship between Woo-Jin and Ilya and looked at the actor with a newfound sense of interest.
At first, he thought Woo-Jin was here simply because he had passed the audition, but the more Giorgio thought about it, the stranger it was for Ilya to be with the actor.
{This is a good and constructive relationship rather than an ill-fated relationship.}
Woo-Jin knew that Ilya and Giorgio’s relationship was worse than he had imagined, but in his eyes, they were just two immature and unruly pranksters nitpicking at each other.
A pleasant smile naturally formed on his face when Woo-Jin looked at Giorgio.
{Do you even know who I am?} Giorgio asked.
{Yes, I am aware that you are Miss Consccia’s father.}
Woo-Jin emphasized on Selena’s last name to imply that he truly knew who Giorgio was.
Giorgio was about to ask Woo-Jin how he could continue smiling like that even when the actor knew who he was, when he suddenly recalled a similar incident in the past. A long time ago, a certain boy had smiled at him in the exact same way.
{Come to think of it, haven’t you filmed a movie with Dustin as well? Is he doing well these days?}
Since he was interested in Dustin and always researched about the actor, Giorgio knew a lot about Dustin’s life.
{We talked over the phone for a bit before coming here. He seemed to be quite depressed.}
Dustin was overjoyed that Woo-Jin had defeated Christopher and got the part as Lloyd, but he was gloomy and depressed about not being invited to dinner.
{Depressed? Just because he can’t see you for a single day? What an amusing guy.}
{Father!}
Selena responded immediately to her father’s words which was directed at her.
Recently, she and Dustin had been seeing each other more frequently than ever before. In the past, Dustin used to distance himself from Selena out of consideration since she was avoiding him. But nowadays, he had kicked away that consideration and was proactively approaching her.
And Selena did not reject Dustin’s calls and advances.
They called each other whenever they had time and met up to hang out. They were at a stage where it ambigious if they were dating or not.
But what was clear was that Selena’s feelings for Dustin were growing by the day since they saw each other so frequently.
And at some point, her trust in Dustin had grown so strong that her fear of the future had faded.
Giorgio’s words just now implied that he was aware of the frequent encounters between Selena and Dustin.
Selena then got angry because she could infer that her father was investigating and monitoring her actions.
Conversely, Giorgio asked why she was getting so mad about something she already knew. In fact, he acted with even more confidence, saying that any father would monitor their daughter if they loved her.
{Is Selena dating someone?}
The usually ignorant and naive Amanda was quick to notice the hidden messages behind the father and daughter’s conversation.
She was always interested in topics like romance and dating, and Selena’s daily life was something that raised her curiosity, so she couldn’t ignore it.
{Yes.}
Even though she had been wondering whether they were dating or not until moments ago, Selena stared directly into her father’s eyes and declared it confidently.
She was a little apprehensive about it at first, but after hearing her own reply, Selena became more convinced about their relationship.
Even her father was dating women left and right in the name of love, so if her relationship with Dustin wasn’t considered as dating, then nothing in this world could ever qualify as such.
{Why are you looking at me like that? You must’ve expected this when you proposed that bet to me, father.} Selena spoke calmly to the bewildered Giorgio.
It was none other than Giorgio who had first brought up the topic of marriage by using their bet as an excuse. So it didn’t make sense that this was an unexpected situation since one usually had to date the partner first before getting married.
{That’s…! Let’s talk about that when it’s just the two of us.}
Giorgio did not want to continue talking about his daughter’s private life in front of outsiders.
In particular, it was risky to continue this conversation in front of Ilya because the latter was holding the key to the results of their bet.
However, Giorgio’s wish to change the topic did not come true.
{Oh my, is she dating someone you’re opposed to, darling?} Amanda asked.
{He’s not totally against it since he gave me a condition to fulfill in order to marry him.} answered Selena in her father’s stead.
There was nothing as interesting as other people’s love affairs and marriage issues. Especially so if it involved someone you treated like your own daughter, or your great-granddaughter from your previous life, or the real daughter of your boyfriend.
And among these three, Ilya had the strongest right to voice his opinion, and he criticized Giorgio first.
{If you’re going to allow it, just let her do it. Why place a condition? You really can be stingy and annoying at times.}
{I’m doing this because I want my daughter to live a happy life, so why don’t you shut up and leave our family matters to us?} Giorgio fought back.
{And who is to set the standards of her happiness?}
{I’d acknowledge those words if anyone else said it. But don’t you realize you sound ridiculous when you say that?}
Giorgio shot back, commenting that Ilya didn’t know what marriage entailed since the writer had never tied the knot. Ilya was unable to respond to that, so he just sipped on his glass of water.
Feeling more confident, Giorgio turned to Woo-Jin since the actor was good friends with Dustin.
{What would you do if your parents opposed your marriage?}
{If my parents are against it, they must have a good reason for it, so I wouldn’t get married.} Woo-Jin replied.
{Right?}
{Yes, but I don’t think my parents will ever be opposed to person I love.}
{Even if they can clearly see a miserable future waiting for you after the marriage?} Giorgio asked.
In his past life, Woo-Jin himself had allowed Giorgio to get married despite foreseeing how it would end. The actor stared at his grown-up grandson.
Giorgio was very different from what Lansky remembered.
He was confident, childish and self-indulgent as usual, but his eyes were lonely and cold.
It was true that Giorgio was cold-hearted and terrifying as a businessman, but it was frustrating to see him behave like this even when his lover and daughter were next to him.
Giorgio never had such lonely and empty eyes when Lansky was alive.
{Until that miserable future arrives, there’s nothing a parent can do if they know the initial married life would be the happiest times of their child’s life. At the very least, Dustin is someone who will do his best to prevent that miserable future from arriving with all his strength.}
Selena’s mother—to whom Giorgio was married to first—was weak and kind. She was not suitable at all to live with the Consccias. And she didn’t particularly try to actively become a Consccia either.
But Dustin was different.
His future with Selena could quite possibly end up differently. It all depended on how much effort they put in to make their marriage a success. There was no reason to be anxious or raise doubts at this point in their relationship.
{You sure trust your friend a lot even though you haven’t known each other for long.} Giorgio remarked.
{I don’t know him as well as a parent would know their child. Since you can’t trust Dustin, why don’t you try trusting your daughter?}
Giorgio smiled bitterly at the cheeky young actor.
Anyone with common sense could say such cliché words. It was always easier to make assumptions and say whatever one wanted when it came to other peoples’ issues.
But Giorgio was still reluctant about the marriage since he had heard a similar conversation in the past.
{Then let me ask you, and try to answer sincerely. If you were me, would you allow this marriage?}
Selena felt a strange aura from her father and stared at him from the side.
The father she knew would never have listened to someone else’s nonsense for so long.
But surprisingly, he was having a very serious conversation with Chae Woo-Jin.
If it were the usual Giorgio, he would’ve treated Chae Woo-Jin as a lower-class citizen whom he would simply ignore.
Her father wasn’t the kind of person who would ever take other people’s thoughts into consideration.
{Of course I’d oppose it.} Woo-Jin replied.
{That’s strange. Aren’t you contradicting yourself? You were talking about trusting my daughter just a moment ago.}
{I had no choice but to support Dustin as his friend. But if I were the father, I would not be able to deny the fact that Miss Consccia is wasted on him. So I do understand your objection to some extent.} Woo-Jin explained.
{That’s right. You’re very sharp.}
Giorgio wasn’t objecting to the marriage just because his daughter was wasted on the man, it was just one of the reasons.
Giorgio glanced at his daughter with affection and pride in his gaze.
Woo-Jin finally recognized Lansky’s grandson in Giorgio’s current attitude. He sighed in relief and continued.
{But…}
{But?} Giorgio repeated.
{If you have already given conditional permission, you must keep your word. I don’t know what the condition is, but you must’ve pondered about it for a long time before coming up with the condition with good reason and determination.}
In other words, Giorgio could not get angry or oppose Selena dating Dustin.
Since he had added a condition, he had basically given them the possibility of getting married.
{I was a bit too impulsive and sentimental that day.}
Giorgio had given his daughter such a condition because he was feeling sentimental that day after recalling his grandfather. To think that his own actions and words would come back to bite him today.
{What on earth is the condition?}
Ilya finally broke his silence and asked Selena as he couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer.
She hesitated for a moment, before turning to her father and smiling.
{If I figure out the password for that place and tell him, he’ll allow the marriage.} Selena replied.
{Ah, that?}
Having realized that he was holding the key to everything, Ilya turned to Giorgio and smirked.
{Oh no, does it mean Selena’s marriage depends entirely on me?}
Wrinkles began to form on Giorgio’s previously relaxed expression. For some reason, the tides had turned against him.
But he was worried about how Ilya would react, so he couldn’t just leave the room.
{Will you tell me?}
Selena asked with a slight blush.
She always watched her manners and was respectful around Ilya. Normally, she would never have asked him the question so blatantly.
But since her father was next to her, she was acting a little pampered and cutesy.
Despite their arguments, she knew her father truly loved her, which increased her confidence.
{No.}
However, Ilya immediately refused without hesitation.
{See? I told you this bastard would never do anything good for me.} Giorgio exclaimed.
{What is it exactly that is good for you?}
{That’s…}
Giorgio bit his lips at Ilya’s question.
Learning the safehouse’s password would no longer be a good thing for him since it would allow Selena to marry Dustin.
But if he said that out loud, he felt like Ilya would change his mind and actually tell Selena the password. Giorgio’s impulsive nature had certainly made this issue into a big deal.
As Giorgio shut his mouth reluctantly, Ilya simply ignored him and explained his thoughts to Selena.
{I don’t intend to keep it a secret forever. As I’ve said before, I plan on telling you if the day ever comes when I must reveal it. But today is not that day. You’re still young, so have fun dating people for now. And if you ever find someone whom you really can’t live without, come back and ask me again formally. Just because you’re dating someone doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily marry them, so there’s no need to be in such a rush.}
Ilya glanced at Giorgio and Amanda and sneered. The best example of a couple who would end their relationship without getting married was right in front of Selena.
{If getting married makes you unhappy but breaking up would also make you miserable, you could just remain at the dating stage forever.}
Selena and Giorgio were both relieved by Ilya’s words.
It was a fair bet where neither side had the advantage.
Selena had no intention of getting married right away. She had just started a romantic relationship with Dustin, so marriage was still a long way off.
In that sense, Giorgio also decided to turn a blind eye to their relationship as long as it was strictly at the dating stage.
If the reason why he opposed the marriage was revealed, the two would naturally separate in the end, so it wasn’t a bad idea to leave them alone for now.
But Amanda was staring at Ilya with a glum expression.
Perhaps she was dissatisfied by how the novelist had stated the advantages of dating over marriage.
It seemed that her goal was not to simply remain as Giorgio’s girlfriend, so she was quite frustrated by Ilya’s and Giorgio’s negative views on marriage.
In the meantime, Woo-Jin was holding back his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.
Like father and son, Giorgio’s current appearance was the same as his father’s in the past. Lansky’s son had objected to Giorgio’s marriage and had even threatened him, but to no avail. As a last resort, he came to Lansky asking for help. And Giorgio’s current state was the same as his father back then.
But back then, Giorgio also came running to his grandfather and begged Lansky to take his side.
In the end, Lansky sided with his beloved grandson.
