While in the beginning, Yulia cared for him mostly out of pity, eventually, both of them fell in love with each other, not unlike how Gerald and Mila’s relationship began.
However, the Yaleman family was the leader of four large families in Yanken at the time.
Even though her husband had passed on, Gerald’s grandmother, Lady Yaleman, was able to make the Yaleman family even stronger than before. It was because she was the kind of person who was particularly strict when it came to managing the family.
Despite that, even she had a shortcoming, which was what Yulia hated about her mother the most.
Lady Yaleman was a person who strongly valued the opinions of men, yet considered females, in general, to be of lesser importance.
Within the Yaleman family, females would never be given important positions, no matter how hard they worked. Only the males in that family would be given the most advantageous properties to handle.
In a way, she was very traditional-minded, and it wasn’t uncommon for a person with such views to value men over women.
Back then, the Yalemans had agreed with their business partner—without Yulia’s consent—that Yulia would marry their son in exchange for starting a business partnership. The decision was made simply because their business partner’s son was the richest heir around at the time.
Since Dylan was still keeping a low profile back then, nobody knew that the wealthiest person was actually from the Crawford family.
In retaliation, Yulia ran away from the wedding and eloped with Gerald’s father.
However, that incident alone wasn’t the reason why both the Yalemans and the Crawfords ended up resenting each other so much.
Rather, it was because Yulia’s escape had been facilitated by her Fifth brother who had treated her well from her childhood days. As his final brotherly act, he took the blame for the entire incident.
Not only was he severely punished by Lady Yaleman, he was also disowned!
Eventually, the Yalemans started bearing grudges against their business partner as well.
“What happened after that?” asked Gerald, realizing now that his parents had gone through so much more than he had at his age.
“Well, after that, my and your father secretly took care of your uncle. However, it was around ten years ago when your grandma took your uncle back to the Yaleman family!” replied Yulia between sobs.
“So you see, son, you’re the only one who can talk to her now after all that has happened. Only your grandma will be able to persuade the Moldells, and if you succeed, your action will be seen as a great contribution to the Crawford family…” said Dylan.
“I understand!”
“Speaking of which, since you’re already heading to Yanken, you might as well meet up with your cousin, Bea, your fifth uncle’s daughter. Between us, I’ve secretly been supporting her all these years but regardless, with her help, things should go smoother for you. While your grandma is quite the stubborn woman, I believe that she won’t treat you too cruelly. I need to warn you, however. No matter how terribly your grandma’s treated me in the past, you’re prohibited from being disrespectful to her!”
Hearing that, Gerald realized how much his mother must miss her. No matter how much they hated each other, in the end, they were still family.
“Loud and clear!”
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