"...Mrs. Welles, this is our gift to you. V and I carefully selected it; it's definitely good."
Berry handed the shopping bag containing clothes to Mrs. Welles.
"Hmm, thank you."
Mrs. Welles accepted the gift readily, but seeing the Jinguji logo on the shopping bag, she frowned.
"While I'm happy to receive a gift, you didn't have to spend so much."
Mrs. Welles frowned at Berry and V, her eyes filled with concern.
She knew these two girls lived by risking their lives and that money was hard to earn in their line of work. Therefore, seeing the gift in her hand, she was momentarily at a loss for words.
It wasn't good to scold them, and while she felt happy, she was mostly concerned for them.
After all, as a long-time resident of Night City, she knew what kind of place it was.
"It's fine, we're quite comfortable financially right now."
In response to Mrs. Welles's concern, Berry patted her chest, indicating there was no problem.
Now engaged in the underground industry, her assets were not small, especially since she didn't have to pay taxes.
Mrs. Welles said nothing, just nodded.
"Since you're here, stay a little longer. I'll prepare lunch for you in a bit. Look at you two, always eating instant food, you've gotten thin."
Mrs. Welles looked at Berry's slender arms and legs, her eyes filled with concern.
Although Berry had always been slender, she still firmly believed that these two hadn't been eating properly.
"No problem, we can stay here all day today."
V also nodded and said.
"..."
Jackie, who was wiping glasses nearby, listened to their conversation, intentionally or unintentionally, but Mrs. Welles's gaze shifted to him.
"Jackie, go check the beer in the warehouse and reconcile the accounts. It's time you learned about the shop's work, instead of just standing around all day."
Mrs. Welles handed the bill to Jackie. She had originally planned to do it herself, but now that Berry and V were here, things were different.
"Yes, boss... uh, Mom."
Under Mrs. Welles's raised eyebrow, Jackie wisely corrected himself.
"Alright then, come on, Berry, V, sit down properly, let's chat."
Seeing Mrs. Welles's expression, Jackie immediately understood what was happening.
She just thought his big self was in the way, so he'd better leave.
Shrugging indifferently, Jackie shook his head and walked away.
But who cared? As long as he could slack off, Jackie had already planned where to sneak a few smokes before dealing with the warehouse.
The three sat down and chatted for a while, though most of the time Mrs. Welles was asking questions, and Berry and V were answering.
To be honest, someone with Mrs. Welles's stern demeanor was quite intimidating. Berry unconsciously became more cautious, sitting upright and respectfully as if dealing with an elder, not daring to be presumptuous.
"...By the way, Mrs. Welles, we wanted to talk to you about Jackie."
During a lull in the conversation, V seized the opportunity to bring up Jackie's matter. Now was the perfect time.
"Jackie, hehe, that boy sent you to convince me, didn't he? I knew there was a reason you two were so well-behaved today."
Mrs. Welles looked at V and Berry, a knowing look in her eyes.
"Hehe…"
Seeing that they had been exposed, Berry and V chuckled sheepishly.
"Jackie…"
Speaking of Jackie, Mrs. Welles couldn't help but get a headache.
The eldest son of the Welles family inherited the Welles family's stubborn bull-headedness, which was truly a headache.
Mrs. Welles could actually understand Jackie's dream of becoming a legendary Mercenary in Night City; after all, she used to run the streets herself and grew up listening to the stories of those legendary Mercenaries.
However, she eventually chose to return to her family and live for the entire Welles household. Of course, this was also related to her growing older and tiring of the constant fighting and killing.
Those old dreams, perhaps in an instant, lost all their passion. This is irreversible; once abandoned, it's very difficult to pick them up again.
So, Mrs. Welles understood Jackie's dream of wanting to make a name for himself.
But she also deeply knew that this path of a Mercenary was always accompanied by death, whether for others or for Jackie himself.
As a mother, although she understood, when she thought of Jackie's possible fate—the end of those street Mercenaries rotting in a garbage heap—Mrs. Welles found it hard to accept calmly.
Especially when Jackie was in his teens, half of his skull was blown open, and he was in the hospital for a week before returning from the brink of death. She used her old connections to get Jackie to leave the Valentinos Gang.
But as the saying goes, 'once the wound heals, the pain is forgotten.' Jackie still wanted to be a Mercenary. Without a gang, he'd do it himself, as a lone wolf.
For someone with such determination, any words of persuasion seemed pale.
"…Jackie, he still has Heywood blood in him and a heart that refuses to be ordinary. I know that."
Mrs. Welles said with a complex expression to Berry and V.
"Hmm, never mind. Anyway, he's been locked up for a few days; he must have learned a lesson. Alright, I promise you, and I promised him. Let him pursue what he wants."
With a helpless sigh, Mrs. Welles finally said with resignation.
"Thank you, Mrs. Welles. Jackie will definitely thank you."
Although the plan was achieved, Berry couldn't feel happy.
After all, Mrs. Welles was right; those who work as Mercenaries are destined for no good end.
Even those legendary Mercenaries, like stars in the sky, all came to no good end. Night City is a place that devours everyone's heart.
Perhaps there will be a flash of light, but only for a moment.
"Forget it, let's not talk about that troublesome fellow. Why don't we talk about you two?"
"Us?"
Berry and V clearly didn't expect Mrs. Welles to change the subject to them.
"Yes, indeed. You're talking about Jackie, but you two are also troublesome characters."
Mrs. Welles said venomously.
She also cared about these two Nomad girls.
"We, we're doing fine. Everything's normal."
Berry's heart tightened. She didn't want Mrs. Welles to focus her 'firepower' on them.
Are you kidding? When they used to stay at this bar, Mrs. Welles always wanted them to 'turn over a new leaf' and not mess around with Jackie.
"Hmm, V, especially you."
However, Mrs. Welles also knew their temperaments and automatically ignored Berry's defense.
"Me?"
V, who was drinking beer, didn't expect Mrs. Welles to change the topic so quickly, suddenly aiming the spear at her.
"Yes, of course, it's you."
"Although I know you're a good older sister, you can't always focus your thoughts on Berry, can you?"
"Since you've come to Night City, this is your home. Berry is still young, but you, you're a big girl now. You've been in the city for so long, haven't you found anyone you like?"
Hmm, what is this?
Listening to Jackie's mom's sudden words, Berry expressed her confusion.
How did the topic suddenly jump to this?
"Hmm, this, I haven't considered this aspect yet."
Seeing Mrs. Welles suddenly bring this up, V also found it hard to respond. She could only put down her beer and stammer evasively.
They hadn't told Mrs. Welles about what was going on between her and Berry.
In Mrs. Welles' eyes, they were still good sisters.
"Haven't considered it? Well, perfect, it's time to consider it."
Hearing that V hadn't considered this aspect, Mrs. Welles' tone seemed a bit happy.
Of course, in her opinion, what kind of good people could V find in her social circle? Mostly guys with their brains tied to their waistbands.
But she was different; she had scouted out many good matches.
"V, how about I introduce you? I know many good families."
"Working for corporations, having legitimate businesses, they're all good people…"
Watching the fervent look in Jackie's mom's eyes as she spoke, V immediately knew something was wrong.
She had fallen into a trap.
And Berry, listening nearby, widened her eyes even further.
This, this, this was the legendary 'elder pressuring for marriage.'
And the person being pressured for marriage was her girlfriend—V.
What kind of situation was this?
Immediately, Berry almost spewed out the cola in her mouth.
And V, the person involved, also broke out in a sweat and froze instantly.
What to do? She couldn't just reveal her relationship with Berry, could she?
Was she supposed to tell Mrs. Welles that she, V, had already 'taken down' little Berry?
As an older sister, taking care of her younger sister all the way to the bed.
She would definitely be seen as scum, absolutely.
V suspected that if she told the truth, she would be immediately kicked out of the Wolf Bar.
Especially after subconsciously glancing at Berry, who had fair, delicate skin, a youthful aura, and a childlike face, V felt even more guilty.
What kind of situation was this for her? Living together with her adopted sister and ending up in bed with her. She could already imagine Mrs. Welles' shocked expression upon learning about it.
So, V's face stiffened, and she was speechless for a moment.
Moreover, Mrs. Welles, being old and wise, immediately noticed V's abnormality with her keen observation skills.
Luckily, Mrs. Welles, seeing V's guilty expression, only thought that the girl hadn't thought about settling down yet, so she stopped talking.
"Never mind, V, perhaps you have your own plans. This was indeed inconsiderate of me."
"Hmm…"
V dared not speak, nor even meet Mrs. Welles' gaze.
And Berry, beside her, was playing dead, pretending not to know anything, just drinking cola.
At this moment, she was immensely grateful that she was a bit younger than V, so she didn't have to face this awkward situation, otherwise, she would have died of embarrassment.
Fortunately, fortunately, Jackie's mom didn't intend to dig deeper, otherwise, this sister-controlling V would definitely be exposed.
However, just as Mrs. Welles thought that Jackie must be slacking off after such a long time and was about to go check on him, she suddenly remembered something and turned to V and Berry.
"V, Berry, you two need to be careful in Watson. I saw the news recently; it seems to be quite unstable there."
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!