Everyone began babbling in shock and I couldn't get half of it because of their thick accents.

"Hiz whit?!"

"Finlay?!"

"An American?!"

"But he iz dead- oh! Mither!" One guy who looked Finlay's age screamed.

"He'z nawt dead Angus." She growled at him and then gave an apologetic smile to Dolina. "Pardon."

"It's a'right." She waved her hand in dismissal and glimpsed at me. "Come 'ere, Darlin'."

I stood next to her as she sat on the head of the table with two empty seats beside her left and right.

"How can ye believe whit she'z sayin', Mither?" The light brown-haired woman questioned. She had the same brown eyes as others, so I assumed she was the divorced Aunty. "A girl jus' came tae our door sayin' she'z the fiancée of Finlay who iz in naw shape, to tell the truth-"

"Jessica." Dolina sternly said, making her shut her mouth. "I ken ye all hae questions, and so do ah, but she'z got proof, which iz enough."

"An' whit iz that, my dear Mither?" The Single Uncle I guessed, inquired.

"Thiz." She extended my hand on which I had the ring. Everyone's eyes bugged out as they watched the diamond ring on my hand.

"She migh' have stolen it." Everyone gave Angus a blank look. "Whit? I'm jus' sayin' it'z a possibility."

"Nawt everyone iz like ye, Angus." A little teen girl said, and they began bickering.

"That's my druggie cousin," Finlay said, pointing at Angus. "And that girl is Isla. Aunty Jessica's daughter."

Right... That's a lot of names to remember.

Dolina beside me grunted and Rosa shook her head while his uncle just laugh as both the kid's mothers tried to stop them.

I felt eyes on me and I looked beside Dolina to see the blonde girl who pointed me out, in the beginning, staring at me. When our eyes met, she gave me a warming smile which I returned.

"Ye all er scarin' her." The girl said, making everyone stop. "Come on, sit with meh." She patted the empty seat in the middle of her and Dolina.

"That'z Alistair's seat," Angus smirked. "She can sit beside meh." He dragged his eyes over my body, making me shiver.

Yeah, no way dude.

"Alistair can sit widh ye." She snapped and then peeked at me.

I moved towards Dolina's left and slipped on the seat.

"Hullo, I'm Blair. Alistair's fiancée." She extended her hand, and I grasped her.

"Nice to meet you, Blair."

"Ye toow." She grinned and then examined the ring on my finger. "An' thiz iz a gorgeous ring."

"Um... Thank you." I didn't know why, but I was feeling flustered. "It's Finlay's mo-"

"Granny's, I ken." She beamed, making me frown.

Granny? I thought it was Finlay's mother.

I glimpsed at Dolina, and she smiled.

"Finlay dinnae tell ye about it?"

"No," I answered, suddenly interested in it.

"Thiz ring iz our family heirloom. It'z passed on from generation. Mah mother-in-law gave it to mah husband Henry and on our wedding night, he gave it to meh." She grinned. "Ah gave it to mah eldest son when he married and he gave it to his wife, Amelia."

We turned towards Amelia, Angus's mother, who had tears in her eyes.

"Mah husband died after a few years of our marriage and the ring didn't feel like mine anymore. Ah gave it to Fergus and..." She glanced at Finlay's stepmother. "Ah thought he'll give it to Rosa, but he didn't and never talked about the ring."

"It'z obvious he gave it to Aurora." Aunty Jessica said, eyeing the ring. "That'z how Finlay must have gotten it."

"Whit a disgrace was he." The Single Uncle snorted. "Minglin' widh an American." He side glanced at me. "Like father like son."

"That'z enough, Lewis." Dolina snapped and gave me a sad smile. "She'z a part of our family now."

The double door opened, and two men entered the room.

"Honey!" Blair got up and ran to kiss the man in his late twenties.

The other came forward and kissed his mother's cheek and then Dolina's.

"Ye er late," Dolina grumbled, and he laughed.

"Apologies Granny got held up by some work." He said and his eyes abruptly met mine and frowned.

He looked exactly like Finlay, except that he had his family's brown eyes.

Neil Cockburn.

My suspect.

We finally met.

"Neil, thiz iz Amber." Rosa introduced me as he took a seat in the middle of Rosa and Dolina, right in front of me. "She'z Finlay's fiancée."

"Pardon me?" He scowled, looking between them and me. "How iz that even possible? He never mentioned it to meh." I raised my brows at that.

So they talked?

"I'm sorry Neil." I pouted. "But he never mentioned you, either."

I heard someone laugh, but they turned it into a cough and everyone in the room went silent.

"Tell me, Amber." He said rolling the 'r' in my name exactly like Finlay. "How did ye meet him?" Neil raised his brows.

"I met him at a nightclub," I answered, matching his gaze.

"Night club?" Angus snorted.

"Whit happened?" Isla asked, looking interested in the story.

"I was at a nightclub with my friend," I told the true story of how I met him. "When I got out of the bathroom, he was standing there. We talked and hit off instantly. Then one thing let to another-"

"Wait..." Isla interrupted. "You shag him on the first date?"

"Kids these days." Uncle Lewis grimaced.

"What? No!" I panicked. "I meant we went on a few dates after that."

"Oh..." Their shoulders relaxed.

"When did ye meet him?" Neil interrogated.

"A year ago." I lied.

"He proposed to ye after a year?" Aunty Jessica clicked her tongue. "It will nawt end well. I mean, look at meh. Got married, had a daughter, and then he fell out of love nawt even two years later of our marriage, sayin' it was a mistake."

"Ah dinnae blame the guy." Uncle Lewis smirked. "Ye er hell to deal with."

"Haud yer wheesht, Lewis." She growled at him.

"Uh, dinnae mind 'em." Blair looked at me with her sparking eyes. "How did he propose ye?"

"Uh... Well..." I shifted in my seat as everyone looked at me intensely.

Think of something Amber!

"Tell them when I asked you to wear it." Finlay backed me up.

"We were at his apartment and he showed me, uh... His box."

"Box?" Blair blinked her eyes at me.

"Uh yeah... His mother's things were in it and there was this ring." I glanced at it. "He ah... He asked me to try it on and..." I trailed off, trying to come up with a convincing story. "Then he asked me to marry him and I said yes." I rushed and plastered a smile on my face.

Everyone blinked their eyes at me and then looked at each other.

"Well, tha' was lame." Isla huffed.

"Isla!" Blair scolded, then beamed at me. "It's a cute story."

"Thank you." I scratched my head and then looked at Neil to see him already scrutinizing me.

"Where were ye when the accident happened?"

"We were again at the nightclub and had a minor disagreement." I split the same day into two stories. "I left home with my friend and he went to his apartment and then in the morning I heard the news and..." I wept, trying to shed fake tears.

How do people fake cry? It's really difficult.

"That'z enough, Neil." Rosa stopped her son and gave me a sympathetic look. "Ye dinnae hae to talk about it, dear. Ah ken it hurts."

I sobbed a little and nodded my head.

"Let's have dinner. Ah'm sure ye must be starvin'." Dolina squeezed my shoulders and called Mr. Butler to bring food.

It did not surprise me when dish after dish came into the room. There were so many things to eat that I got confused. Mr. Butler helped me and served my plate, and I thanked him.

"He's staring," Finlay said, crossing his arms.

I nodded my head and darted my gaze to Neil. He had his sharp eyes on me the whole time.

Oh, it's on my brother-in-law.

• • • • •

A/N

What do you guys think of the Cockburns?

Any guesses who is behind this? 👀

And I like using Scottish phrases so for those which have totally different meanings I'll write them down here.

Haud yer wheesht, Lewis - Shut up, Lewis

Ken - Know

Ah - I

Ye - You

Whit - what

An' - and

Tae - to

Hae - have

Mah - My

Meh - Me

Aye - Yes

Naw - No

Dinnae - Don't

The rest is pretty much understandable😂