His Real Wedded Bride novel Chapter 456

Anthony and Craig maintained complete silence while they drove back home. Anthony parked the car and led Craig inside the house. There was still no exchange of words between the grandfather and the grandson. Craig could not understand what made Anthony so angry. And Anthony found it so terribly difficult to explain why he could not get married to Lisa.

Once inside the house, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and then looked at Craig. "Grandpa, please try to understand. I am a grown up now. I know what I am doing and what I should do. If you keep forcing me to get married, I..."

"What do you want to do then?" Craig stopped him in the midway and asked,"Anthony, why are you so stubborn? Why are you so resistant to Lisa? I think she is a beautiful and good natured girl. And what is most important is that she loves you so much!" In just a matter of a brief encounter, Craig developed a fondness towards Lisa. He believed that she would make a good wife for Anthony.

"Grandpa, it is my business. You are able to understand me." Saying this he immediately checked himself and lowered his voice. He pleaded,"Grandpa, it is not possible for me to be with Lisa. Please just don't force me to get married to her." He felt helpless as he could not explain it to his grandpa why he could not marry Lisa.

Craig looked into his eyes and sensed the earnestness in his voice. But Anthony's words stung him too hard. He could not utter a single word. He walked out of the door with a straight face and slammed it right behind him. Anthony kept staring at the closed door as he watched his grandfather walk out of the house. As soon as Craig came out of the house, his phone rang. The moment he glanced over the phone, the name that flashed on a screen brought smile on his face. He loosed up his facial muscles as he answered the phone. It was Arthur on the other side. "Craig, when did you get back? Why didn't you come to meet me? It is so nice to see you back!"

Craig felt light after hearing Arthur's voice. He heaved a deep sigh to lighten up his mood and said,"It is a long story, my friend! Well, are you free now? Let's have a drink together."

Arthur reciprocated with equal excitement and said,"Okay. When shall we meet? I will come over soon." As soon as he hung up the phone, Arthur looked all charged up. He changed his clothes and got ready to go out. Amy was taken aback to find her husband being up and about in such a hasty manner at such a late hour. She expressed her concern as she asked,"Where are you going? It is already so late."

"Craig is back," Arthur replied promptly. After a while he explained,"Craig sounded like he was in a bad mood. He called me to have a drink with me. I will be back soon. You don't worry about me and don't wait for me. Go to bed on time."

"Okay, take care of yourself." Amy knew that when it came to Craig, no one could stop Arthur from being with him. She just nodded her head gently to express her consent to her husband.

The two friends met at a small roadside stall. They used to drink in roadside stalls in their younger days, but as they grew elder they rarely visited this kind of places. Sometimes such places made them feel like coming back home.

By the time Arthur reached, Craig had started drinking all by himself. Seeing Arthur coming in, Craig raised his glass and welcomed him with a laugh. It felt like the good old days when they were in their thirties. Life had come a full circle as their families from children to grandchildren. But even now, when the two friends met, it made them feel young. Good friends were like old wine. It only got better with time.

Craig gestured him to take the seat in front of him. "Arthur, come. Sit over here!" Craig was new to the Y City and just happened to find a place drink peacefully. So he entered this restaurant. But to his surprise, a small restaurant like this had a upgraded food offering.

Craig could not get over Anthony's behavior that night. It wrenched his heart each time he thought about him and how he reacted towards Lisa. Hence, he ordered himself some white wine even before Arthur arrived.

Arthur looked at Craig and spotted the gloom that he was trying to hide behind his smile. "What's wrong with you? What happened? You look so upset," he asked. "At this age, you should just relax and enjoy. But you are trying to drink it down. What's the matter?" Arthur asked with concern in his voice.

"It's quite a long story, my friend." Craig looked at Arthur and thought how lucky he was. He let out a deep sigh and lowered his eyes. Then he looked up at Arthur and said,"I am jealous of you, my friend. Your granddaughter is happily married now. You have nothing to worry about. But my grandson..."

As Craig mentioned Anthony, his eyes mellowed down into an unexplained gloominess and he let out another sigh. Then he said,"He doesn't even have a girlfriend. He has reached marriageable age. There is a beautiful foreign girl who likes him a lot. But he just refuses to be with her as well. I don't know what I should do to help him."

Saying this, Craig heaved a sigh and looked at Arthur's face once again. "You are free from such worries, Arthur. I am happy for you. But even I want to play with my great grandchild. But with Anthony not consenting for marriage, I have no idea if my dream will be fulfilled in my lifetime."

Arthur patted Craig on his shoulder and tried to reassure him. "Craig, I think you don't have to worry about this at all. Anthony is an adult and after a certain age you can't force your wishes on the youngsters. You have to let them be. We are getting older, but they are still young, so it's better if you let them to take their own decision." Arthur uttered the words with a lot of concern towards Craig to make him feel better. He became silent for a while and then he started again. There was a sudden gloom in his voice that Craig could not avoid noticing. "You are right to say that Autumn is married. But.." said Arthur, his eyes filled with gloom. After a small pause, he added,"Yes, she is married and is also on family way. But every happiness comes with a price for her. Do you know? Someone tried to poison her! And she had just conceived. She has not recovered from it completely. How can you say that I have nothing to worry about?"

As he finished speaking, his lips curved into a painful smile. He had never spoken about this with anyone. But now that he was sitting with his close friend, he felt like pouring his heart out. There were not too many people you could share your thoughts with. Craig, a childhood friend, was the kind of person with whom Arthur could speak without any inhibition.He could never express the sore and guilt that he felt for Autumn in his heart. Even Craig was aware of that.

Though he never revealed it in front of anyone, he secretly blamed himself for not being able to protect his granddaughter.

Thinking about the hardships that Autumn had to face in her growing years, he felt like a knife cutting through his heart. He remembered her smile that remained constant despite all the debacles that took place in her life. Thinking of her kind and gentle nature made him feel more miserable.