"Are you mute? You made me eat all those potatoes downstairs! When you marry into the King family, you’d better learn to speak up!"
I’d had enough.
"Jason, we’re not — and never will be — in the kind of relationship you’re imagining."
He ignored me, looked me up and down like an emperor picking a concubine, then took out his phone and sent a voice message to his mom.
"Mom, I met her! Not bad — a bit mouthy, but pretty. Passes the first test!"
After sending it, he suddenly turned pale, ran to the restroom to throw up, then returned satisfied.
"Waiter! Are there more meals? I wasn’t full earlier — bring me ten more!"
I wondered if he was addicted to getting free stuff.
He didn’t finish all ten and even stuffed two quail eggs up his sleeve for later.
"Listen — since we’re traveling together, we follow King family rules. If you get hungry, only eat the potatoes I packed in the outer pocket of my bag. Don’t buy outside food — waste of money."
He patted the potato-stuffed backpack proudly.
I stared at him, searching for a trace of humor, but found none.
King family rules?
Were they about conquering the world with potatoes?
Grandpa’s text came just then:
"Sweetheart, you can’t judge someone’s character after such a short time. Give him another chance."
I gripped my phone tightly and followed Jason off the plane.
"I booked us a place to stay — picked it carefully!"
His “careful choice” turned out to be walking us past a row of luxury five-star resorts.
We squeezed through several cluttered back alleys before finally stopping in front of a crookedly signed budget motel hidden behind a row of hotels.
"Here we are! Not bad, huh?"
Jason lifted his chin proudly, as if he had brought me to a luxury palace.
One look at the peeling paint on the doorframe set off all my internal alarms.
"How much per night?"
"Two hundred eighty."
He smirked.
"In this area, during tourist season? Total steal!"
A steal? More like stolen straight from the city dump.
I swallowed my disgust and followed him through the creaky security door.
The moment it opened, a mix of mold and sweat hit my nose.
The sheets were stained with grease and… other questionable marks.
I took a deep breath, fighting the urge to walk right out.
"Jason, you call this a good place?"
He sneered.