"Natasha Harmon! What's wrong with you? Who gave you the green light to c
all off the marriage?" Once Jayla left, Jessica finally unleashed her tem
per. The marriage concerned the fate of their family, and she would not a
llow Natasha to do as she wished.
"Natasha, do you know how lucky you are to be able to marry Tyler Grant?
What are you doing? Calling off the marriage?" Quentin felt like he was s
taring at a fool. Tyler Grant was the cream of the crop of the Southern p
rovince, and the hope of Dragonmarsh. Before he hit thirty, he had been a
ppointed as a general who led tens of thousands of men. Young and talente
d, he was deemed the best bachelor, and women fell on his feet in admirat
ion.
To their dismay, Natasha had no interest in Tyler at all, which everyone
thought was dumb.
"I will have the final say in my marriage. I have no feelings for Tyler,
and I won't marry him," she replied calmly. In the past, she would have a
ccepted an arranged marriage in the interest of the Harmon Family, especi
ally when Tyler was an impeccable candidate in terms of family background
, talent, and potential. He was literally perfect. She would meet everyon
e's expectations by marrying Tyler, but
now, she only had eyes for Dustin.
"You can develop your feelings for him over time. No matter what, you're
marrying him!" Jessica declared firmly. "This is the only way you'll be h
appy, and we will be safe. If you call off the marriage, you'll put your
family in trouble!"
"Right, Natasha! You better not forget about the existence of the Dark Lo
rd. He's a looming threat to our family. Without the Grant Family's backi
ng, the Dark Lord might come for us at any time!"
Quentin warned her sternly.
But she replied with a frown, "I will think of a way to deal with the Dar
k Lord."
"Deal with him? How?! It's been ten years. Every year, one of us Harmons
would be killed for no good reason. Even after your dad and your uncle hi
red experts and gave their best efforts, they have no way to stop the Dar
k Lord, so what makes you think you can take him down?" Jessica
retorted.
"Give me some time. I can do it." Natasha had a determined look in her ey
es.
Jessica shook her head. "There's no time. In seven days, Tyler will show
up at our annual family gathering to ask for your hand in marriage. If yo
u turn him down, our family might as well be
ruined."
Natasha fell into
a heavy silence. She only had seven days left, and she had no idea what h
er fate would be if she could not come up with a solution.
Meanwhile, Dustin was at the Nicholson Villa, where he handed Dahlia a ch
eck. "Here you go. These are the investments I got for you."
"Investments?" She took a better look and froze up. "O–
one billion dollars? Where did you get that money from?"
"I have a friend who works at a bank. I
got him to issue me an interest–free loan. This will tide you
over," Dustin explained. Technically, he wasn't lying because Roderick Br
ooks indeed owned a few private banks.
"When did you have a friend in the bank?" Dahlia looked at him curiously.
The friend practically lost out on the deal if it was an interest–
free loan, and that was a pretty huge favor for Dustin to
return.
"I'm a doctor, after all. I save lives all day, so it's not weird for me
to make friends along the way."
He shrugged.
"That's true." She nodded and beamed at the sight of the check in her han
ds. "I have to say, you really helped me a lot this time. With this one b
illion check, I will secure my position as the chairman of Cardinal Group
."
"A billion–
dollar check? What are you talking about?" Florence and James wandered in
to the room
at that moment.
"Mom, look at this!" Dahlia handed Florence the check. The
latter was overjoyed when she saw the figure on the check. "D–d–
did I see wrongly? This is a check worth one billion!"
"One billion?" James' eyes bulged in shock. He had never seen that insane
amount of money in his
life.
"How's that? It's a surprise, isn't it? Dustin brought me the check," Dah
lia showed off proudly.
"Dustin?" Florence furrowed her brows and examined him from head to toe w
ith doubt. "Are you sure he's capable of this? Is the check a fake?"
"Of course not. I verified it multiple times. It's a real check!" Dahlia
looked serious.
"This can't be right! He's dirt poor. Since when is he loaded?" James rem
ained suspicious.
"I might be poor, but I have a couple of rich friends. If you don't trust
me, just hand the check back to me." Dustin gestured for the check.
"We trust you! Of course, we do!" Florence hurriedly stuffed the check in
to her pocket and squeezed a smile at him. "Oh, Dustin, you've changed in
such a short time! I never thought you'd have a billionaire friend! When
are you going to introduce him to us?"
An extra connection would open up paths. A man who could lend a billion d
ollars in one go was definitely someone remarkable. If the Nicholsons cou
ld get on his good side, they would benefit immensely from this relations
hip in the future.
James protested with displeasure, "Mom, are you seriously falling for all
his garbage?"
"You're the garbage!" Florence spat at him and gave him a good slap on th
e back
of her head. She chided him, "You little brat! Watch your manners when yo
u speak to your brother–in–law! Speak nicely!"
"Huh?" James was caught off–
guard by the sudden change in his mom's attitude. She had been haughtily
pointing fingers at Dustin, but in a matter of seconds, she was smiling a
nd groveling at him.
James thought, "It's shocking how she changes in a blink of an eye! What
a skill!"
"Dustin, are you hungry? Do you want me to cook you some food? By the way
, don't forget to share the contact details of that friend with me. I nee
d to ask him for advice on personal finance matters.
"Florence was practically glowing with
a level of enthusiasm unseen before.
"It's alright. I'm
not hungry." Dustin shook his head. This was the first time he received s
uch warm treatment from Florence in his three years of marriage, and he w
ondered if that was the
power of money.
"Mom, you should go get the groceries. I need to go somewhere with Dustin
, and we'll come home for a meal later," Dahlia suddenly suggested.
"Where are you going?" Florence questioned.
"Of course, we're on our way to make Madam Gloria fulfill her promise. We
now have a billion dollars worth of investments. They have nothing to sa
y, even if they're unwilling to make me the chairman!" Dahlia smiled brig
htly.
"Okay! Go now and have that chairman position secured!" Florence urged he
r daughter to leave with excitement.
Once Dahlia secured the position as the chairman of Cardinal Group, she w
ould be one step closer to becoming the head of the Nicholson Family, and
the rest of them would be elevated to a higher
status as a result too.