Emma was utterly smitten with Tom, seeing him as the perfect partner. Though she hoped to marry him, her father didnt approve of her choice. Her mother, on the other hand, warmed to Tom the moment he turned up with an enormous bouquet of flowers at their first meeting. Still, Emmas father remained sceptical. He noticed that, despite Tom inviting Emma out to a restaurant, she ended up footing her own bill when Tom claimed he didnt have enough money on his card. Moreover, Tom was out of work, insisting he was looking for a job but making no real headway.
Despite all this, Tom proposed to Emma, and she accepted. With her mothers help, she eventually gained her fathers blessing. Even so, he warned her that she would be the primary breadwinner, since Tom was unlikely to be a reliable provider. He made it clear he would not offer financial support to her husband.
Ignoring her fathers objections, Emma pressed on with the wedding. Her father contributed to the celebration, giving them half of a car and agreeing to pay their rent. Emmas friends were quite envious of her fathers generosity. For the first two months after their wedding, everything seemed peaceful, but problems surfaced soon enough. Tom still couldnt find a job, and, as her father had predicted, Emma became the sole earner in the family.
At one point, Emmas mother-in-law suggested to her father that he find Tom a good position at work. Emma brought the idea to her father, who reluctantly hired Tom as a steelworkers assistant. However, Tom couldnt cope with the job and quit after just ten days. He confronted Emma, complaining that her father was belittling him by offering such menial work, claiming he was worthy of a management position.
Emma turned to her father for advice once more, and he questioned Toms qualifications. It turned out Tom hadnt even finished university, blaming his misfortune on disagreements with his lecturers. Nevertheless, he still believed he was fit to run any company, despite lacking both the education and the necessary skills.
Emmas father was furious at the situation, reminding his daughter that people spend years working their way up to such positions. He told her he couldnt appoint someone unqualified to a management role and refused to give Tom any more assistance. He cautioned Emma again, but she chose not to heed his advice.
Later, Tom revealed his true intentions to Emma, admitting he never even loved her and had always viewed the marriage as a temporary arrangement. He hinted at the possibility of divorce and told Emma to prepare to split any shared assets. However, he was foiled yet again: Emmas father, foreseeing potential trouble, had made sure the flat was registered in his own name, making sure to protect their interests from the very beginning.
