Godfather Of Champions

Twain had his arm around Shania’s slim waist as they stood before their new house. Neither of them said a word as they quietly admired the three storey mansion that they will call their home henceforth.

The house had white walls and a red roof. The exterior of it looked asymmetrical, but there was something charming about its asymmetry. It looked vibrant under the sunlight, as though the house had a life of its own.

Shania fell in love with the color of the house at first sight. It looked pure and clean.

The place they were currently at is known as Mapperley Park, which is located in north-eastern Nottingham. It sits on a small hill, and there was a road that gently led up to their neighbourhood and stretches all the way to the northern part of Nottingham.

Mapperley Park is a well-known luxury neighborhood in Nottingham, and it is also the place that many rich middle-class choose to live in.

The end of May is a time where the color green becomes the most prominent in Mapperley Park. Greeneries will encompass the neighbourhood, and the residents will also get to wake up each morning to the twittering of birds and the fragrance of flowers. The mansions, each with its own distinctive appearances and colors, look like villas surrounded by a vast garden.

Their house faced the street, and behind them was a garden that connected them to the Mapperley Golf Club.

All they could see around the house was a sea of green. The view was pleasant and made them feel invigorated.

Not too far away from the front of the house was a sports club. It had a standard-sized football pitch that people could use to play football matches.

Twain could not help but be amazed. The Beckhams really know how to enjoy their lives.

Their new living environment could not get any better. The only downside of the house was how it was located a considerable distance away from the club’s training grounds.

However, the long distance does not put Twain off. He has a car after all.

The Beckhams bought this three storey mansion for 2,700,000 pounds, but Beckham sold it to Twain and Shania for only 1,000,000 pounds after living in it for a year. The economic crisis had certainly influenced the price of the house, but offering the house at a low price was intended as Beckham’s wedding gift to the couple as well.

Beckham generously indicated that they were free to keep the furnishing of the house if they liked it. If not, they could change it as they pleased.

There was nothing that needed to be changed about the furnishing, however. Beckham’s taste suited Twain perfectly. The house had everything they needed and there were only a few minor arrangements that they needed to tweak for the furniture. Nothing major had to be done to the house. It was a house that Twain and Shania could start living in straight away.

Twain accepted Beckham’s magnanimity without feeling ashamed. After all, he was the one who gifted Beckham his final glorious moments at the end of his footballing career.

Beckham’s commercial value has gone on the rise due to his good performance in Nottingham Forest and the fact that he won the Double with the team. He has nothing to worry about financially even if he has to face the economic crisis.

“Do you like it?” Twain lowered his head to ask Shania who was cradled in his arms.

Shania nodded her head. “Yes!”

Twain raised his head again to look at the mansion before him and then lost himself in his thoughts. He started to think about the dream that he made when he was unconscious, and also thought about the kind of person he was in the past.

He could not afford a decent house in the past, much less a mansion like this.

What do the Chinese pursue throughout their lives? To settle down, to start a family, and to have a successful career. But, the irony is, how can you start a family without a house to live in?

It is very difficult to purchase a house that you can call your own in China. His biggest desire back then was just to have enough money to buy a one-room apartment in Chengdu. He never would have dreamed that there would come a day where he could live in a mansion with a 100 square meter garden, with a golf club to the back and a football pitch to the front.

My destiny… Has changed.

I have gained a lot of things that I could never gain in that world, but I also lost some things as a result. Do I regret?

No.

This is my road. This is my life. This is my story.

“Uncle Tony?” Shania shook Twain’s arm after seeing that he was in a daze.

“Hmm?”

“Aren’t you supposed to go to Wilford? Why aren’t you leaving?”

“Oh… Ah! I almost forgot! I got carried away after seeing the house… Haha!” Twain laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

Shania had just reminded him of something important. He was indeed supposed to make a trip down to Wilford. Today is the last training session for this season. The players would be enjoying their holidays all over the world so as to rest up for the next season after the training ends.

He has an important thing to announce today before they depart.

※※※

“Lads, have you all thought about how you are going to spend your holidays?”

All the players, including Beckham who was on his way out of the team, were seated on the pitch in their training grounds at Wilford. They looked at Twain who stood in the center.

“Regardless if you have or not, I hope you can cancel or delay your plans.”

Beckham smiled after hearing what Twain said.

“I’m inviting all of you over to Brazil for a holiday!” Twain waved his hands. “I’m paying for all your plane tickets, accommodation and food!”

An uproar ensued.

“Brazil’s a good destination but… Why, boss?” Eastwood asked loudly. “Sabina and I had made plans to go to Spain for a holiday! We even bought our plane tickets…”

“Cancel your flight. I will reimburse the money that you spent for them, Freddy. You have to come over to Brazil!”

His comments made everyone even more curious. They had to ask Twain what was going on.

Twain waited till the clamor died down before he flashed a mischievous grin, “I’m inviting every single one of you to my wedding!”

A rowdy commotion broke out on the pitch.

“Wedding?!”

“Boss… You mean you and Miss Shania? That’s way too fast!”

“What’s with this surprise attack, Boss? How do you expect me to prepare a gift for you now?”

“Wedding? Wedding? Ah… Boss, so you weren’t gay… Er, no, so you were just single all along…”

“Quiet down! Quiet down! Just tell me if you are going or not! I’m telling all of you, it’s very common for a player to invite his team mates to his wedding, but it’s not every day that your manager will invite you to his wedding. This might be the only chance in your life to attend one!” Twain cocked his head upwards and said proudly.

What he said made sense. Football managers who have not gotten married in the world are probably even rarer than the Tibetan Antelopes. 99.99% of football managers are married and have their own families. After all, it takes time for them to make their way up to the managerial position and lead a team.

There might be a few of these managers who only get married after they have taken up the role as a manager, but even then, they would definitely not invite their own players to their wedding, due to reasons such as wanting to maintain his authoritativeness and mystique.

Twain did not care about those things. He felt that this was the biggest and happiest occasion that will happen in his life, and he definitely had to share his joy with the people around him, which is why he has invited almost every single person that he could think of.

Besides these players of his, Twain had also invited renowned actor and film producer Tom Cruise, as well as well-known fashion designer Giorgio Armani to his wedding. Twain’s tuxedo and Shania’s wedding dress would both be designed by Armani himself.

How great it is to have such celebrities as my friends. I don’t need to pay for the tuxedo and wedding dress…

“I’m going! The Boss is getting married, of course we are going!” Eastwood’s voice was the loudest amongst the players. He began gesturing about animatedly and had completely forgotten about how he said he wanted to accompany his wife to Spain for a holiday earlier.

The other players followed suit and began shouting that they will attend his wedding as well.

Twain smiled at the sight of his players getting so excited.

Initially, he did not wish for his wedding to be too complex. He wanted to be like other celebrities and just hold a simple wedding at a secluded and quiet location. However, after seeing how well he got along with Shania, he changed his mind.

This is the biggest occasion of my life, why should I hold it secretly? Am I scared of the media taking photos of us? You must be kidding, I’m just getting married, there’s nothing I should feel ashamed of! It’s not like I’m having an affair!

I have to publicise my wedding with Shania and let the whole world know that we are getting married.

Twain was not scared of getting criticised for ‘robbing the cradle’ once news of their marriage begins to spread. His relationship with Shania has already met with much censure ever since they publicly confirmed it. He was not concerned about breaking the hearts of Shania’s numerous male fans either.

Who cares about whether or not they are upset at the fact that we are getting married?

I am the one who should be upset over how they constantly have sexual fantasies about Shania…

Twain shared his sentiments with Shania, and told her, “I want to openly let the whole world know that I, Tony Twain, love you, Shania, and that I want you to be my wife.”

Shania was so touched that she almost cried, and that was how they came to the decision to hold a high-profile wedding ceremony instead.

※※※

After the team dispersed, Dunn flew back to China to help Twain invite his parents over to the wedding.

Before he left, Twain repeatedly exhorted Dunn to get both his parents over to the wedding either by hook or by crook.

Twain knew his parents well. When he was working at Chengdu in the past, he had hoped to bring his parents over to live in Chengdu as well, but his parents were unwilling to leave their little town in the South Sichuan countryside. They told him that there was no place better than home, and also complained about the traffic congestion and high cost of living in the big city. They said that it was more comfortable to continue staying in their little town in comparison.

Dunn just smiled and reassured Twain, “Their son is getting married. It doesn’t matter how far it is, they’d definitely be there.”

Twain patted him on the shoulder and said nothing.

※※※

Lisa Aria was still working for a small news agency that primarily published gossip news in Nottingham. She was the one who first found out and took photos regarding the love relationship between Twain and Shania, and was also the reason behind why Twain decided to publicly acknowledge his relationship with Shania.

Twain suffered a heart disease but gained a lover as a result. There was a positive change in his life. Unlike him however, nothing about Lisa’s life has changed.

She was still working as the chief editor for the entertainment news section. Her future looked bleak with no prospects in sight.

Revealing Twain’s love relationship with Shania did not lead to any significant financial gains for her.

She had hoped to be able to obtain more sensational stories about Tony and Shania’s relationship that would help draw readers in to read their newspapers. However, Twain has been evading reporters ever since he has been diagnosed with a heart disease. They managed to locate Shania’s house that was situated near the Lace Market, but the windows there were shut 24/7.

The only news and photos they were able to take were of the couple leaving and entering their house. But, there are no readers who would be interested in news and photos of Twain and Shania going in and out of their house.

And so, everything about her life is still the same. Nothing has changed.

That is, until today.

She suddenly received a call from Twain.

“Hello, Miss Aria. Can you guess who I am?”

“Mr. Twain, please do not use such dumb questions to irritate me when I’m working, okay?” Lisa Aria was not in the mood to entertain Twain given how she was going through a rough time at work and had a bleak future ahead of her.

Twain coughed twice on the other end of the phone. “I have good news for you, but if you don’t want to hear it then forget it. I, Tony Twain, never begs anyone to do anything for me.”

“If you have something to say then get on with it. If it’s an exclusive scoop I am interested.” Aria’s fingers never stopped typing away even though she was on the phone with Twain.

“This is indeed an exclusive scoop, and a big one to boot. Hmm… Where should I start though? There might have been some misunderstandings between us, Miss Aria, but I intend to give you this scoop for free as a form of sincere apology to you, and also to thank you for what you did.”

Aria scoffed, “Looks like your relationship with Shania has been going very well! Who was it who said that I knew nothing in the first place?”

“… Let’s let bygones be bygones… The reason why I called you today is to give you the exclusive rights to publish stories about my wedding. I’m getting married to Shania. Note, I’m giving it just to you…”

Aria’s fingers stopped moving. She thought she had misheard him, and quickly interrupted Twain, “I’m sorry, Mr. Twain… I just heard that you want to give me the exclusive rights to publish stories about your wedding?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. And I’m not providing the rights to the news agency that you work for, just you. As for how you want to report on the wedding, or which media outlet you get to report on it, that’s entirely up to you and is none of my business.” Twain laughed after saying those words.

“I hope you understood everything that I told you, Miss Aria?”

Aria did not display her excitement straight away, even though the joints on her fingers had already gone white from her clenching her hands too tightly.

She asked in a steady voice, “Why are you giving it to me?”

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you earlier? It’s a gift to thank you and to apologise for the misunderstanding between us from before. I have to thank you because if it weren’t for the constant news stories that you published about us, then I wouldn’t have been able to get close to Shania as quickly as I did… Also, I have really benefitted from the words that you said to me previously. You said ‘It’s not a shameful thing to admit that you are in love’, and so I have not only admitted my love for Shania, I want the whole world to witness our wedding. That’s all I want, and it is also why I am handing the job of generating publicity to you, Miss Aria. After all, you are the one who brought us together. How can you not be there to witness the moment when I put the ring on Shania?”

Aria went into a daze. She did not know what to say. She already knew, based on rumors and her personal experience dealing with Tony Twain, that the man is an unreasonable monster. How is he capable of saying such words?

She might have a lot of doubts about what was going on, but there was one thing she was certain of.

She could quit this meaningless job right after she gets off from work.

No… Perhaps she could do so right away.

Before she did that however, she asked him one other thing that was on her mind. “Should I thank you, Mr. Twain? I do hope that this isn’t the last time I’m working with you however…”

“As long as you don’t barge into my house and take photos of us before our bed, everything else is up to you.”

Aria smiled. “That does sound like something you would say, Mr. Twain. I gladly accept this gift of yours.”

Twain and Shania’s lives both changed when they became an item. It is only natural for change to happen for Lisa Aria as well, given how her fate is intertwined with theirs.

When Aria first published stories exposing Twain and Shania’s relationship, neither she nor Twain would have foreseen what was in store for them in the future.

A blissful marriage for one, and a successful career for the other.

A win-win situation for both.