Beside him, Evander Lancaster slowly eats his food. This is dinner made by his mother-in-law; he should eat more to honor her culinary skills.

Sophia Hamilton exhales and says aggrievedly, "Mom, it’s not like he said. We’re not even dating! We..."

"You child, won’t admit it!" Before Sophia can finish, Juliana Lancaster stops her, holding a bowl of rice in one hand and chopsticks in the other, looking disapprovingly at her daughter. "Evander has already told me. You think he’s just a doctor and his salary is low, so you’ve kept him as a backup. Sophia, let me make it clear today: if you don’t properly get along with Evander from now on, I won’t agree!"

Sophia Hamilton...

Faced with such an overbearing mother, she really didn’t know how to explain. She couldn’t just say she was forced by this jerk, could she?

Looking at the situation now, it’s not even certain if her mother would believe her.

Sophia couldn’t figure out how, in just one evening, her mother got brainwashed by this guy?

Earlier this afternoon, Evander called Ewan Zimmerman before leaving work, asking him to make sure Secretary Han works overtime today.

After leaving the hospital, he drove to the mall to buy gift boxes—not too luxurious ones, fearing it might scare Sophia’s mother, as you could tell from Sophia that her mother isn’t one who sees money and acts greedily.

If the gift is too extravagant, it might backfire, especially at first meeting, as the first impression is crucial.

But he couldn’t buy anything too ordinary either. Bringing an ordinary gift box on the first visit shows a lack of sincerity.

After wandering the mall for a long time, with his professional sense, Evander bought a lot of health supplements, since health professionals usually focus on wellness and health.

Things like Wenshan’s Sanqi powder, wild ginseng powder, black goji, donkey-hide gelatin, calcium tablets, protein powder, are all popular among middle-aged women nowadays—not too expensive, but ordinary people wouldn’t dispose to spend on them.

To appear relatable, Evander deliberately swapped cars with a colleague at the hospital, driving a mid-range Volkswagen, a sedan worth about 200,000 yuan—not luxurious, but not shabby either.

Arriving downstairs at Sophia’s, Evander knocked on her door carrying two large gift boxes.

When Juliana opened the door, Evander politely introduced himself, "Hello, Auntie, I’m Sophia’s boyfriend, Evander Lancaster, thirty years old, a surgeon."

Needless to say, Evander’s profession scored him many points. Hearing he was a doctor, Juliana let Evander in without hesitation.

After some conversation, Evander shared his "grievances and helplessness" with Juliana, saying Sophia dislikes his profession and is observing right now, forbidding him to be public about it, and she threatens to break up if her mother finds out...

In sum, Evander made himself out to be worse off than a disgruntled housewife.

Seeing Evander’s elegant speech, modesty, politeness, owning a house, and mainly blessed with good looks, Juliana was more than willing, internally blaming her daughter countless times.

Such a good man, yet she’s undecided. Wait till she gets off work; she’ll have a stern talk with her!

Both being doctors, there were many common topics besides Evander’s ability to play to her interests. Juliana, thrilled, immediately invited Evander to stay for dinner.

The ingredients at home weren’t abundant, and when Juliana planned to go to the supermarket for groceries, Evander volunteered to be the driver, patiently pushing the cart and selecting ingredients behind his mother-in-law. After returning, he actively helped with the preparation...

Through his flattery, the mother-in-law finally defected, the scales fully tilted towards him, no longer believing her daughter.

In Juliana’s mind, her daughter was simply indecisive, finding a good man yet unwilling to settle, treating him like a fallback.

"Sophia, did you hear me? Get along well with Evander. Such a good man is hard to find even with a lantern. Stop being indecisive!"

Juliana continued to sternly scold her daughter, Sophia grudgingly pouted, reluctantly responding with an "Ah," thinking internally, How am I going to deal with you later!

After Juliana finished speaking, Evander timely chimed in, helping Sophia by placing a piece of braised chicken into her bowl while pleading with his mother-in-law, "Auntie, don’t scold Sophia anymore. She’s still young and indecisive; once she’s older, she’ll settle down and won’t be as unsure."

Sophia Hamilton...

Suddenly glaring at Evander, she says bitterly, "Playing the nice guy!"

Evander glances at his mother-in-law across the table, raises a big hand to pat Sophia’s head, speaking good-naturedly, "I was wrong; I shouldn’t have come to meet the family without telling you. Don’t be mad, okay? From now on, if you don’t allow me to say I’m your boyfriend, I won’t say it, alright?"

Evander’s apologetic demeanor again brought another round of reprimands from her mom.

"Sophia, I have to say, we’re just from ordinary families; don’t be so self-willed like those girls on TV, ok? Only Evander has a good temperament to indulge you; if it were another man, he would’ve quarreled with you long ago."

Sophia’s face was full of grievances, while sitting next to her, Evander continued to embellish the situation, lightly placing his long arm around Sophia’s waist, telling Juliana, "Auntie, don’t worry, I won’t argue with Sophia. She’s such a pure girl, and I can’t help but adore her."

"Hey, this child really knows how to be considerate." Juliana sighed and said, "Evander, enough talk, eat your meal, or it’ll get cold and all my efforts will be in vain."

"Hey." Evander enthusiastically agreed and buried himself in his meal.

Sophia felt that if she continued sitting there, she’d either be angered to death or choked to death; this man, so good at acting, even managed to deceive her mother.

She quickly stuffed her remaining half bowl of rice, put down her chopsticks, "I’m done eating, you two continue."

"Sit down!" As Sophia just stood up, her mother snapped her back, displeased teaching her, "Sophia, look at yourself now! Evander is visiting for the first time, and you treat him like this. How can I, as your mother, show my face?"

Sophia grudgingly sat back down again, and Evander pretended to smile awkwardly and said, "Auntie, Sophia has worked all day. Let her go rest first."

"No way!" Juliana was adamant,

"Shut up!" Sophia also snapped, the mother and daughter almost speaking simultaneously. Sophia realized the more this jerk pleaded for her, the harsher her mother’s scolding got, and she knew full well, he was doing it on purpose.

To avoid further scolding, she decided not to let the jerk continue talking. After sitting back down, she picked up the chopsticks again, grabbed a piece of food and shoved it directly into Evander’s mouth.

He had no choice but to open his mouth and accept it all, while Juliana across the table shook her head wryly with a smile.