Marriage is a serious commitment, and now that we're married, we need to discuss how we will approach a certain aspect of married life.
"Heh... Just as I expected from a man," Mackenzie responded with an eye roll.
I knew it! Men and women truly have different perspectives!
I'm concerned about our life as a married couple, but he seems to be solely focused on our physical relationship!
"Unless you can genuinely win my affection, you shouldn't even think about any physical intimacy," Mackenzie declared.
"Very well," Emmanuel responded, appreciating Mackenzie's direct and concise reply.
He never believed that a dense man like himself would be able to win the heart of an ice queen like her. While it was true that she could get his heart racing with her beauty, that didn't mean she would turn him on.
In fact, he even thought he was unable to be turned on
by women.
Hence, one of the main reasons he didn't want to get
married was that he was afraid of not being able to
satisfy his wife sexually.
As such, Mackenzie's refusal to have sex with him came
as a huge relief.
Mackenzie, however, wasn't too pleased with his
response.
What the… This b*stard! I can tell he's not faking it! I
know that most men wouldn't dare express their
interest in me because of my cold personality, but that
doesn't mean they don't lust over me! I know I'm a very
beautiful woman, so why doesn't this b*stard even
want to have sex with me? Is it because he's a
gynecologist? I hate this so much!
The two then headed their separate ways after they
had made their terms clear with each other.
Emmanuel saw Milani at his doorstep with a basket of
fruits the moment he got home.
She looked like a completely different person with that
sweet smile on her face.
4/16
Disgusted by her pretentious behavior, Emmanuel told
her the truth right away.
"What? You rejected all of the gifts?"
Milani was shocked to the core when she heard that
he had returned the gifts worth ten million.
Oh, my goodness! Why would he do something so
stupid? Does he think he's all high and mighty for
turning down those gifts? Ugh! Now I see why he's so
unsuccessful in life! No one in their right mind would
ever want to marry a guy like him! They'd be poor for
life!
Alessandra came out of her room when she heard the
commotion. "Ah, Milani, you're here! Come on in!" She
welcomed Milani excitedly when she saw the latter
standing at the door.
After all, that was the first time a woman had come to
see her son.
Alessandra was so desperate to marry Emmanuel off
that she didn't even care if Milani's family were a bunch
of horrible people.
To her surprise, however, Milani's attitude changed
instantly.
"Sorry, but I'm really busy! Also, you can forget about
having me marry your son! He isn't even worthy of
being my footstool, let alone my husband! I bet he'll
never be able to find himself a wife! Goodbye!" Milani
shouted and stormed off immediately after.
Honestly, I don't even know why my mom wanted me
to come visit him! This was such a huge waste of time!
Alessandra was left speechless by her sudden
outburst and change of heart.
What just happened? Why would she change her mind
so suddenly? Did she bring those fruits here just to
insult my son? What is wrong with her?
Emmanuel knew full well that Milani's response was
due to the ten million that he gave up on.
Naturally, he had no interest in a gold-digger like her
either.
"My goodness! What a crazy woman she is!" Roselynn
exclaimed angrily when she came out and saw Milani
leaving.
She then turned toward Emmanuel and tried to
comfort him, saying, "You need to stay away from
women like her, Manny! Don't take her words to heart!"
To her surprise, however, he didn't seem to be
bothered in the slightest.
"Mom, Roselynn, I'm already married, so you two don't
have to worry about me anymore."
Alessandra and Roselynn were so shocked that they
both screamed in unison, "What?"
Roselynn's voice was so shrill that she nearly shattered
the glassware in the house.
"Did you just say you're married?"
"Who are you married to?"
"You're not messing with us, are you, Manny? If I recall
correctly, you never had a girlfriend!"
Alessandra and Roselynn both fired questions at him
one after another.
Instead of trying to convince them, Emmanuel simply
whipped out his marriage certificate and showed it to
them.
The truth spoke for itself, leaving the two women
wide-eyed with shock.
Although the woman on the marriage certificate
looked gorgeous, they were still worried about her
personality.
"She looks hard to get along with!"
"Are you sure this isn't some kind of scam?"
Emmanuel could understand their concerns, so he lied
to reassure them. "Don't worry. She's a woman I met
while I was a soldier at Northern Region. She's a strong
woman and a perfectionist who cares a lot about her
image, so she didn't want people to know about our
relationship. That's why we've been keeping it a secret
all this while."
"Ah, so that's what happened…"
That explains why he refused to get himself a girlfriend
all these years! Turns out, he already had one all
along!
"I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you two for so
long! I only did it to protect her career. Anyway, you
two no longer have to worry about me getting married.
Mackenzie and I will surely live a happy life together,"
Emmanuel reassured them, but they were still worried.
Roselynn was especially suspicious of his explanation.
If Manny already had a girlfriend all along, then why
did he wait until now to tell us about it? Why did he
waste his time attending those eighteen matchmaking
sessions? Oh, well… He must have his reasons for lying
to us, and I don't want to make Mom worried by
exposing him.
"What does she do for a living, Manny? Why didn't she
come home with you now that you two are married?"
Alessandra asked curiously.
No mother wouldn't be curious about her
daughter-in-law, and Alessandra was no exception.
Emmanuel knew she would surely ask about
Mackenzie's background, so he had prepared himself
to answer her questions.
"Mackenzie is a high-level executive in a huge
company, Mom. That's why she can't come home with
me."
"What? Where will she stay, then?" Alessandra pressed
"She bought a house of her own, Mom. Now that we're
married, I'll be moving in with her soon."
"…"
Alessandra's eyes teared up all of a sudden.
Roselynn didn't want Emmanuel to leave either, but
she tried to comfort Alessandra anyway. "Manny is a
grown adult now, Mom. It was only a matter of time
before he moved out. You want to have grandchildren,
don't you? It'll be hard for that to happen if he stays
with you all the time!"
Of course, Alessandra understood that very well. After
all, no woman would want to live with their in-laws
these days. It would be very inconvenient for them to
have sex at night, too.
Even so, Alessandra's tears still refused to stop flowing.
"I won't object to your relationship if you love her,
Manny. I just have one request. Could you bring her
over so I can have a look at her? Also, I want you to
arrange for both our families to meet each other."
Alessandra's sincere requests were actually very
simple ones, but they were incredibly difficult for
Emmanuel to fulfill.
There's no way a woman like Mackenzie would be
willing to visit our house! I don't know what her job title
is, but her attire and attitude alone show that she's no
ordinary woman. I doubt I can even afford to pay for
the dry cleaning if we end up getting her clothes dirty!
As for meeting her parents, that's practically never
going to happen. She said she only agreed to marry
me to satisfy her grandfather, so getting her to show
up here and put up an act for me is simply asking for
the impossible. What do I do now?
"I'll tell you about it after talking it through with her, Mom."
Emmanuel decided to leave things be for now.
Since he couldn't agree or refuse, he had no choice but
to take it one step at a time.
"All right, then," Alessandra responded. "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 on her own! Take good
care of her. Do you understand?"
Wedding night? Emmanuel scoffed internally.
If that hadn't even crossed his mind, then Mackenzie
certainly wouldn't have thought of it either.
The woman had never even thought about
consummating their marriage.
There's just no way it'd ever happen!
Still, he nodded at his mother and sister. "I'll be off,
then. Take care of yourselves. Call me whenever you
need me."
That alone was enough to make Alessandra and
Roselynn tear up again.
Given how Emmanuel's father had died young, and the
two women had watched Emmanuel grow up, seeing
the only man in the family leave home made their
hearts heavy.
"Don't cry, Mom. How are you going to have grandkids
if Manny doesn't stay with your daughter-in-law?"
Roselynn urged, even though she couldn't stop crying
herself.
The women spent a long while helping Emmanuel
pack his valuables.
Alessandra shoved a bank card into his hands just as
he was about to leave.
"What are you doing, Mom?"
The man hastily gave it back, knowing that his mother
only had one card. It was baffling that she was
handing him her social security fund.
There was no way he could accept it.
"Take it," Alessandra insisted. "Your wife agreed to
marry you without you giving her any betrothal gifts.
She even bought a place for you two so you could live
together, so don't let her down. Give her everything she
deserves! There are about sixty thousand on this card.
Go buy your wife a ring and some jewelry. Do you hear
me?"
Upon hearing that, Emmanuel felt his nose 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 shot him a glance.
The young woman knew her mother well, so she was
aware that Alessandra would surely fear her
daughter-in-law leaving if Emmanuel didn't do as she
asked.
Hence, the man had to take the money to ease her
mind and present 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 take a look at
her," Roselynn added.
In truth, she had her doubts. Her brother had gotten
into a blitz marriage, after all.
"I understand."
With that, Emmanuel spun around and left quickly.
It wasn't that he had no emotions; he just didn't want
his family to see how red his eyes had become.
He felt so, so guilty now.
His mother had always wanted him to have a blissful
marriage, but instead, he had found himself a random
woman to take part in a mere act.
"The truth can never come to light-at least not until
she's left this world," the man muttered to himself,
feeling terrified all of a sudden.
There was no way Alessandra would be able to handle
it if she found out that this was all a show.
After leaving home, Emmanuel headed over to Yociam
Residence as instructed by Mackenzie via text
message.
The place was an upscale area in Yeringham and cost
over ten thousand per square meter.
There were many buildings there, but Mackenzie had
only told him that the apartment number was 1701
without mentioning the block number.
Good thing I had the sense to get her WhatsApp
contact outside City Hall. I'd better ask her now.
Thus, he left Mackenzie a voice message.
Yet, despite it being six in the evening, Mackenzie was
still in the middle of a meeting at work.
As the CEO of Terence Group, she never checked her
messages during meetings.
After waiting for a long while and not receiving a
response, Emmanuel figured that the woman's current
circumstances didn't allow her to listen to his voice
message, so he sent her a text message instead.
There was still no reply. The sky had turned dark, and
Emmanuel's empty stomach ate at his patience.
Ultimately, he decided to video call her.
The man knew how aloof Mackenzie was and didn't
really want to speak to her.
Mackenzie hadn't added him to her contacts when
they exchanged numbers earlier. At present, she
suddenly heard her phone ring and glanced at the
screen impatiently.
This was an extremely rare occurrence.
10/17
Those who knew her understood that she would reply
to every text that mattered to her, but when it came to
people whom she didn't bother responding to, not
even a video call would change her mind.
11/17
Seeing someone with the username Covertly
Magnificent with an unfamiliar profile picture call her,
the woman frowned and blocked his number instantly.
Strange. When did I ever give this person my contact?
From how she hung up, Emmanuel knew Mackenzie
had her phone with her and tried redialing her number.
Yet, he received a notification: This user only accepts
calls and messages from friends.
What the hell?
Emmanuel stared at the screen in a daze for a long
time.
She's not messing with me, is she?
Thankfully, the man was smart enough to remember
that Terence was her grandfather.
Even though he didn't have Terence's number saved,
the latter had called him earlier this morning, so all it
took was a quick look at his call history to find it.
Candy Crush
12/17
13/17
"Hey, Gramps, what's up with your granddaughter? She
told me to live with her at Yociam Residence, but she
ended up blocking my number! Are you guys just
playing around with me? Is this some sort of marriage
scam? It's not like I have anything you can take from
me!"
Terence was instantly bereft of words.
She really does hate men…
"Calm down, young lad. I'll call her right now!"
He tried his best to console Emmanuel, worried about
losing his new grandson-in-law.
The Quillen family was so powerful that even Terence
didn't know how many more businesses Mackenzie
had established out there. He had to find out from her.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie was about to resume the
meeting when her phone rang again.
She wanted to hang up, but upon realizing that it was
her grandfather, she had no choice but to answer.
"What is it, Grandpa? I'm in a meeting now. 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 block it is!"
Oh, right.
Mackenzie finally recalled that she had gotten married
today.
Darn it! What was his name again? Seriously, men are
such a pain!
"Tell him we're staying at Block B, Grandpa."
Right after saying that, Mackenzie hung up so that her
grandfather wouldn't be able to tell her to contact
Emmanuel herself. She didn't know how to, anyway.
Upon hanging up, the woman noticed all the subtle
glances coming her way.
Of course, given that she was Terence Group's CEO, no
one dared utter a word-except for a young lady who
leaned over with a giggle.
"Was that your husband, Mackenzie?"
Mackenzie shot her a glare, causing her to shut up
immediately.
The woman was none other than Mackenzie's sister,
Beatrix. She was secretly glad to be the younger
sibling. Otherwise, she would have been the one
marrying that fine specimen of a man who had just
called her grandfather.
At the same time, she was also curious as to who on
earth could have the courage to take her
man-loathing sister as his wife.
Hehe. I wonder how long he'd be able to put up with
her temper. Three days? Or maybe he'd be done and
move out by the second day!
Candy Crush