It's Fake

Chapter Two

“Tsk… you fool. Don’t you dare call me that amongst these people?” She growled with a whisper but Jason didn’t stop.

       “Why shouldn’t I call my wife sweet names? Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed by it. I can see the redness on your cheeks.” He taunted and Karen could almost not take it anymore.

       “I am seriously not in the mood for your stupid games. I will not be lumped together with trash like you.” She bellowed and Jason was slightly displeased but didn’t voice it. Seeing this, Karen calmed down before returning to her cold expression, “So, what did you get my grandmother?” She asked.

       “You don’t want to be lumped with trash yet you speak to trash,” Jason replied with a cold expression too and one would notice a vein appear on Karen’s forehead.

“You think you can just speak to me as you wish because I am married to you?! Are you courting death?!” She inched closer to him and squeezed his shirt by the collar. However, Jason remained indifferent.

“What sort of wife will kill her husband?” He uttered with disdain in his voice. He also didn’t like Karen at all, but he enjoyed messing with her.

“We’re about to find out, asshole.” She grunted and tightened her grip on his collar. However, a familiar and angry voice interrupted them both.

 “Do you two mind taking your romantic acts away from this place? I don’t like to see dirt in the house” The person said as he looked disdainfully at the duo. Karen took a deep breath before letting Jason’s collar go. However, the look the latter gave her almost made her shudder. Jason shifted his eyes to the man who interrupted them.

 “And I guess you’re here to rant about how trashy I am as usual, right?” He provoked, his voice filled with a calm sense of hostility.

       “Tsk, you’re just as pitiful as your gift to our grandmother. Tsk… pathetic. I shouldn’t expect something decent from you anyway. Like husband like wife.”

      “And I’m guessing you got something better?” Jason replied and Jared scoffed arrogantly.

    “Of course! Don’t compare me to trash like you two.” 

    “Hey, watch your tongue, Jared,” Karen yelled back at him, drawing some attention to each other. Jason, however, kept a nonchalant look on his face and observed as Jared ranted. To him, Jared was nothing more than a harmless dog trying to prove it was a pit bull. 

       “Oh, and what do you intend to do, sis? I still wonder how Grandpa got you, the damsel of the family, to marry a good-for-nothing Wack job like him.” Jared pointed at Jason with a look of contempt. 

        “Anyways, while your ‘husband’ was getting grandma a low-quality pendant, I got grandmother one of the most exquisite antiques in the state,” he said before clapping his hands. Suddenly a servant began to push a table trolley that was covered in tablecloth with a vase on it. The vase was a bit large a well-shaped with various mosaic patterns on it and a golden Asian drawn inside a small circle in the middle of it. The design and its attractiveness made it look exquisite even from a distance. 

       Karen’s eyes widened as she looked at the antique vase. As a girl from a reputable family, she was sure to know a few exotic antiques and all, and she recognized this one. She felt slightly ashamed that she couldn’t get her grandmother something as good as the vase.

      She naturally knew the price of the vase and she was speechless. Jason on the other hand, didn’t even seem to be bothered at all. To him, it was like he wasn’t even looking at the vase.

     Jared noticed the indifferent look on Jason’s face and was a bit annoyed that Jason wasn’t displaying any emotion whatsoever, unlike his sister. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop taunting them to the best of his abilities.

      “Seeing that look on your face, I guess you can tell what vase this is. I got it for nothing less than thirty million dollars. I believe even you should know of its origins. It’s a Ming dynasty vase that wasn’t even supposed to be for sale but after offering a large price, they sold it to me. I bet that useless pendant of yours is nowhere compared to mine.” he boasted and Karen couldn’t help but shrink back. Truly, this vase surpassed what she could even afford.

       Seeing that his sister was fearful of him, Jared was delighted. “Aww… don’t be sad is. You can regain your former glory with us if you can just divorce that good-for-nothing bastard you call your husband. Don’t you see, he can’t even afford a decent gift for a grandmother on her birthday? What a joke of a husband you have.” He scorned and the people around began to whisper.

        “Wait, so the granddaughter of the late Gerard Marco, the daughter of the Marco family is married to that man? Who is he, I haven’t heard of him before.” a voice whispered to another person.

        “Me neither. But the way I see it, he’s not too well off. What’s he even doing in a party like this?” another person said. Voices around them gossiped and Jared smirked. He was achieving his goal, to destroy Karen and Jason’s image and make Karen leave Jason.

         “Enough, Jared. Enough. We’re all here to celebrate our grandmother’s birthday, not some sort of competition. You don’t have to make a scene and I shall not allow you to call my husband names. Even though he might be trashy, he is still my husband. You don’t have the right to call him those stupid names… I do. I am married to Jason now and that is none of your concern. I will not have you call him names right in front of me.” She yelled at her brother. As much as she disliked Jason, she believed that he was still her husband and he needed to be treated as such. She wouldn’t allow him to be belittled in public by anyone other than herself, as that would also ruin her image.

       Knowing this was her reason, Jason still felt a bit of warmth from her, even though he still thought her a bit foolish. ‘She hates me but still defends me. She’s a good woman… in her childish way that is.’ he thought to himself before standing up from the chair he was sitting on.

       ‘I guess it wouldn’t be fair if I allowed her to fight for me. After all, she’s my benefactor’s son and also my wife. I should defend her instead.’ he said to himself before holding Karen back. He still had an indifferent look on his face and he walked towards the vase. 

      “What’s the matter? Here to admire the magnificence of this antique?” Jared said with a tone of self-appraisal. Jason paid him no attention and instead, looked at the vase and ran his hands around it, feeling its every essence. He would take sniffs of the vase too occasionally and examine it. 

      ‘The designs truly are exquisite. Its smooth and streamlined body portrays how skilled the person who made the vase is, given that its origins date back to the 1300s. The carvings are also perfect, and the artwork truly is admirable. Whoever made this vase is truly a genius in art on the same level as Leonardo Da Vin Ci. However…’ he thought to himself as he studied the vase before suddenly carrying it and throwing it on the ground. ‘…It’s a fake!’