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After the new place was bought, both sets of parents were invited to dinner at a restaurant to talk over the wedding.
Otto had something come up at the office at the last minute and would be late.
"Eve, what were you thinking? Passing on a real home to buy some cramped, run-down flat?"
Otto's mother, Cicely Cobb, frowned, her eyes full of disapproval.
"That old place can't have cost much, can it?"
"Well, since the flat's such a downgrade, you'll have to make up for it with a bigger dowry."
"That twenty-eight thousand in savings you mentioned before is too little. Let's make it eighty-eight thousand."
"And the dowry has to include a new car. Something worth at least thirty thousand."
Cicely rattled it all off, stone-faced, spit flying.
Clearly Otto hadn't told them the flat had been his idea.
"Cicely, buying that place was Otto's request."
"He said if we didn't buy it, there'd be no wedding. And the old flat cost the same as a new one would have."
The two of them exchanged a glance, both looking like they couldn't believe it.
Just then the door to the private room swung open and Otto came in, out of breath.
He sat down in the seat beside me and took a sip of tea.
"Otto, you're the one who wanted that cramped little flat?"
Cicely's brow knotted, and the lines on her face cut even deeper.
"Mom, I only said it on a whim. How was I to know Eve would actually go and buy it?"
Otto said it lightly, like it was nothing, when at the time he'd flat-out threatened to call off the wedding over it.
"Still, it's done now, so we'll leave it be."
Then he turned his head toward me.
"Eve, I've accepted a dowry that's nothing but a run-down flat. That's good of me, isn't it?"
"Tomorrow's the weekend. I'll take you to buy the wedding jewelry set. But the pieces will stay at my place for now."
"It's part of your dowry too, and you'll be the one wearing it later, so you pay for it."
Before I could get a word out, Cicely jumped back in, debating how much the jewelry set should run.
The three of them, all one family, argued it back and forth with real enthusiasm.
My parents and I sat there in silence, unable to get a single word in.
Then another string of the feed drifted across my eyes.
【Your fiancé isn't working overtime today. He's at the jewelry store picking out pieces.】
【He and Ina Chavez already settled on the styles. They're just waiting for you to come pay tomorrow.】
【After the jewelry, your fiancé will drag you to the dealership to buy a car.】
【Oh, and both the jewelry and the new car will be handed over to Ina.】
【Your fiancé is really giving everything he has to get Ina married off.】
Once the waiter had set the dishes down, Otto's family finally went quiet.
"Eve, it's a hassle going to and from work with no car. After the jewelry tomorrow, let's go buy one."
Sure enough, every word out of Otto's mouth matched the feed exactly.
But I still couldn't understand why he was doing any of this.
If he was still in love with Ina, wasn't it simpler to just marry her?
Instead he was pouring everything into helping her marry someone else.
I tapped my fingertip against the teacup and knit my brow.
"Otto, I just bought the flat. I don't have much cash on hand right now."
"None of this is urgent anyway. I'd rather put the money toward renovations first."
Otto's face went ashen at once, his eyes anything but friendly.
Bang. Cicely slammed her hand down on the table and stood up.
"Eve, just what are you playing at now?"
"First you make us live in that run-down flat, and now you won't even spring for a basic car?"
"Let me tell you, there are plenty of women who'd love to marry my Otto."
"Come on, Otto. This wedding is off."
The words were barely out before Cicely grabbed Otto and marched him out of the room.
