Chapter 6

“I’ll tell you about it after I’ve talked it over with her, Mom,” Emmanuel said, deciding to leave things be for now. He couldn’t agree or refuse, so he had no choice but to take it one step at a time.

“All right, then,” Alessandra replied. “Well, how about you move out and go live with her today? Girls love it when guys are romantic. It’s your wedding night, so you’d better not leave her alone! Take good care of her. Do you understand?”

Wedding night? Emmanuel scoffed internally. If it hadn’t even crossed his mind, Mackenzie certainly wouldn’t have thought of it either. The woman had never even considered consummating their marriage. There was simply no way it would ever happen.

Still, he nodded at his mother and sister. “I’ll be off, then. Take care of yourselves. Call me if you need anything.”

That alone was enough to make Alessandra and Roselynn cry again. Given that Emmanuel’s father had died young, and the two women had watched him grow up, seeing the only man in the family leave home weighed heavily on their hearts.

“Don’t cry, Mom. How are you going to have grandkids if Manny doesn’t stay with your daughter-in-law?” Roselynn urged, though she couldn’t stop crying herself.

The women spent a long time helping Emmanuel pack his belongings. Just as he was about to leave, Alessandra thrust a bank card into his hand.

“What are you doing, Mom?”

He hastily returned it, knowing she only had one card. He was baffled that she was giving him her social security fund. There was no way he could accept it.

“Take it,” Alessandra insisted. “Your wife agreed to marry you without receiving any betrothal gifts. She even bought a place for you two to live together, so don’t let her down. Give her everything she deserves! There’s about sixty thousand dollars on this card. Go buy your wife a ring and some jewelry. Do you hear me?”

Hearing that, Emmanuel felt his face burn. I’m such a horrible son. This is her retirement fund! She’s already fifty-seven. What is she going to do if I take all that she has left?

“Take it, Manny. It’s what Mom wants,” Roselynn said, giving him a knowing look. She knew her mother well; Alessandra would surely fear her daughter-in-law leaving if Emmanuel didn’t comply. Therefore, he had to take the money to ease her mind and give it to Mackenzie—whether she wanted it or not.

“If you really want to thank Mom, come back here with your wife as soon as you can so we can meet her,” Roselynn added. In truth, she had her doubts. Her brother had entered into a whirlwind marriage, after all.

“I understand.”

With that, Emmanuel turned and left quickly. It wasn’t that he lacked emotion; he just didn’t want his family to see how red his eyes had become. He felt incredibly guilty. His mother had always wanted him to have a blissful marriage, but instead, he’d found himself participating in a mere act with a random woman.

“The truth can never come to light—at least not until she’s gone,” he muttered to himself, suddenly terrified. Alessandra wouldn’t be able to handle it if she discovered this was all a sham.

After leaving home, Emmanuel went to Yociam Residence, as instructed by Mackenzie via text message. The place was an upscale area in Yeringham, costing over ten thousand dollars per square meter. Many buildings stood there, but Mackenzie had only given him the apartment number (1701), not the building number.

Good thing I had the sense to get her WhatsApp contact outside City Hall. I’d better ask her now.

He left Mackenzie a voice message. However, despite it being six in the evening, she was still in a meeting at work. As CEO of Terence Group, she never checked messages during meetings.

After waiting a long time without a response, Emmanuel figured she couldn’t listen to his voice message, so he sent a text message instead. Still no reply. The sky grew dark, and his hunger gnawed at his patience. Ultimately, he decided to video call her. He knew how aloof Mackenzie was and didn’t really want to talk to her.

Mackenzie hadn’t added him to her contacts when they exchanged numbers. Suddenly, her phone rang, and she glanced at the screen impatiently. This was extremely rare. Those who knew her understood that she replied to every text that mattered, but for people she ignored, not even a video call would change her mind.

Seeing a call from someone with the username “Covertly Magnificent” and an unfamiliar profile picture, she frowned and immediately blocked the number. Strange. When did I ever give this person my contact?

From how she hung up, Emmanuel knew she had her phone and tried redialing. He received a notification: This user only accepts calls and messages from friends.

What the hell? Emmanuel stared at the screen, dazed. She’s not messing with me, is she?

Thankfully, he remembered that Terence was her grandfather. Even though he didn’t have Terence’s number saved, the latter had called him earlier that morning, so he quickly found it in his call history.

“Hey, Gramps, what’s up with your granddaughter? She told me to live with her at Yociam Residence, but she blocked my number! Are you guys playing some kind of joke on me? Is this some sort of marriage scam? It’s not like I have anything you can take from me!”

Terence was speechless. She really does hate men…

“Calm down, young man. I’ll call her right now!” He tried to console Emmanuel, worried about losing his new grandson-in-law. The Quillen family was so powerful that even Terence didn’t know the extent of Mackenzie’s business dealings. He needed to find out from her.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie was about to resume the meeting when her phone rang again. She wanted to hang up, but realizing it was her grandfather, she had no choice but to answer.

“What is it, Grandpa? I’m in a meeting. Don’t you know that?”

Like I care about your meeting! That’s not as important as giving me a great-grandchild!

“Mackenzie, didn’t you ask Emmanuel to live with you? He’s already at Yociam Residence, but he doesn’t know which building!”

“Oh, right.” Mackenzie finally remembered she’d gotten married that day. Darn it! What was his name again? Seriously, men are such a pain!

“Tell him we’re in Building B, Grandpa.”

Immediately after saying that, she hung up to prevent him from telling her to contact Emmanuel herself. She didn’t know how, anyway.

After hanging up, she noticed subtle glances directed her way. Of course, as CEO of Terence Group, no one dared speak—except for a young woman who leaned over with a giggle.

“Was that your husband, Mackenzie?”

Mackenzie glared, silencing her immediately. The woman was Mackenzie’s sister, Beatrix. She was secretly glad to be the younger sibling; otherwise, she would have been the one marrying the man who had just called their grandfather. She was also curious who would dare marry her man-hating sister.

Hehe. I wonder how long he’ll put up with her temper. Three days? Or maybe he’ll be gone by the second!

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