Mistaken Match: Marrying the Enigmatic CEO by Ruby Fennimore

“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. 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. 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. “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!