America 1982-Chapter 671 - 11: this is America!

Tommy and Odelia’s wedding wasn’t large in scale, and there weren’t many guests, all told less than a hundred people. Nearly every invitee had a deep bond with the Hawk Family. The venue for the wedding was at the Farrell Family’s Newport estate "Little Snowflake."

Old man Colin and his father-in-law, Mr. Farrell, with white hair, warmly embraced each guest, thanking them for attending their son’s or daughter’s wedding.

However, after greeting the elderly, most people would opt to walk farther to sit at the banquet table in front of Tony Leon, engaging in small talk and gathering around him.

"Bessie called, she’s busy with the family business in London. Once she’s done, she’ll come back for a meal together. Ursula called to congratulate me, saying she’s sorry that neither she nor Jenny could make it to the wedding. She’s got an international conference to attend, and Jenny has a mass of official duties to deal with," Odelia whispered to Tommy, holding his arm, after posing for photos with a few guests. "Actually, I’m somewhat relieved that Ursula didn’t come; it spares me some embarrassment. How could you bear to let Jenny be in such an environment?"

"You have to trust Jenny, she can handle anything," Tommy patted the hand Odelia was holding onto his arm. "Don’t see her as yourself. Think of her as another me, who could turn even heaven into hell."

The Ursula Odelia mentioned was Jenny’s mother-in-law, from the German Albrecht family, with the surname Von Thalrin. She dated Tommy during her time living as a housewife at Stanford University in 1992 while accompanying her doctor husband who was teaching there, and she bore Tommy a son who now carries the Von Thalrin name.

Ursula lived at Stanford University for five years with her husband. She was originally, like her husband, medically trained. Yet, under Tommy’s persuasion that "studying medicine won’t save Germany," she began a political career after returning to her country.

Thanks to Tommy’s support, her political career went smoothly. Of course, a major reason was that the United States had military forces stationed in Germany, and when Ursula faced some tricky troubles, she could count on Tony, Tommy’s brother, to lend a timely hand.

For instance, in 2010, it was Tony who arranged for U.S. military intelligence personnel in Germany to deal with a few conservative members within the Christian Democratic Union who opposed Ursula’s nomination, using traffic accidents as a cover. This led to Ursula Von Thalrin finally becoming President in the Murdoch cabinet of Germany.

After her presidential term, Ursula was nominated by the United States and successfully elected as the Secretary General of NATO, running unopposed. In the eyes of the United States, she was a trustworthy insider, and indeed, she had made commendable efforts for the United States in selling military equipment to NATO member countries. Those who work hard should get rewarded.

As for Tommy and Odelia’s daughter Genesis, she was married off by Tommy to Von Thalrin’s eldest son Christian, and the two now live in Ursula’s family home—the Albrecht stronghold in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Jenny recently won the mayoral election in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, stepping into the political arena officially as a young political star of the Albrecht generation. German newspapers referred to her as a female wolf with a fierce momentum.

And her husband Christian was in charge of managing the Hawk Family business in Germany, which could be seen as the dowry Tommy gave to his daughter.

So, the environment that Jenny found herself in was that her mother-in-law was her father’s mistress, and one of her husband’s brothers was her half-brother with the same father.

Her father-in-law, in fact, was aware of his wife’s affair with Tommy, but he did not care, or rather, the hush money Tommy paid to the father-in-law was so substantial that he could not refuse it.

For a time, Odelia imagined her daughter’s living environment with despair; she thought if it were her, she would definitely want to end her life through suicide.

Fearing for her daughter, she often flew to Germany during that period to visit, hoping her daughter would confide in her if unhappy so she could suggest a divorce on her daughter’s behalf, even if Tommy opposed, and bring Jenny back to the United States.

But the daughter expressed that life there was very comfortable. Her husband’s family’s power locally was enough for her to thrive; not to mention Uncle Tony’s indirect help, which made her life in Germany almost without any difficulties or challenges. In contrast, returning to America would make her uncomfortable, for America had her damned devil of a father, Tommy Hawk.

Honestly, Odelia felt that one of the main reasons she was reluctant to remarry Tommy was because he sent her daughter to the distant Germany, making it feel as if so-called family members were nothing more than pawns and tools in his hands.

"She’s clear in her heart; the reason she doesn’t come home is because her father is entrenched in America, she can’t do anything if she returns. It’s only after I die that it’s her turn to cause trouble," Tommy said to Odelia. "Whether Hilbert is a bookworm or not, doesn’t matter to me. He likes physics, he likes science, let him be. But our daughter can’t. She must rely on herself to be a strong person. I want her to have the power to control her own destiny, because I’m not sure if her husband can take care of her the same way I take care of you."

"Is that supposed to be a love statement?" Odelia said with a sentimental smile. "You haven’t spoken sweet nothings to me in many years."

At that moment, Stephen, who had been temporarily acting as the master of ceremonies, called Tommy up to the stage to give a speech to the guests. Tommy released Odelia’s hand and walked toward the stage. "Do you want to hear sweet nothings?"