Chapter 6
The next morning, news of my marriage to a disabled and impotent Italian mafia boss blew up online.
At the same time, scandalous pictures of Eiden and Lillian were splashed across major media outlets.
Just like I hoped, the Patnick Woodworks‘ stock kept dropping.
I finally felt a bit of relief.
While I was getting treatment in Italy, I had already sold all my shares to cover my medical costs.
Thanks to the information gap between here and abroad–and none of my freeloading relatives knew how to manage a company–no one found out about it until now.
The remaining shares, the majority of which belonged to Eiden and Lillian, with a few still owned by my parents.
They must’ve thought I’d eventually hand over the company, so they dumped all their money into it.
This time, they really lost everything, down to their last set of clothes.
Before going abroad, I handed over the Patnick Woodworks‘ board rights to Eiden just to make things easier.
Technically, I could take back the shares by suing for patent rights, but let’s be honest–in a world where scammers have the upper hand, I’m stuck watching him cling to his title while I can’t do a thing.
This time, though, things were simple. Once the company crashed, they’d be desperate to find someone to fix the mess.
I just had to wait for them to come begging.
Just as expected, it didn’t even take half a day before my father called.
He didn’t waste time and went straight into blaming me, “Margaret, you’ve gone too far. You humiliated Lillian at the party and even made the company’s stock drop!
never should’ve let you go abroad. I figured the hospitals there would help you more, but look what happened? You ran off and messed around! You even got secretly engaged. What about us? The kids are crying, ́saying you’ve abandoned them. You’re being selfish and disgraceful!
“Hurry back and explain everything on a livestream. If our company’s stock keeps dropping, your mom and I will be out on the street.”
I cut him off with a flat tone, “Dad, don’t get worked up yet. There’s still
more to come.
“What…”
It was the first time my father had heard me speak to her like that. He looked stunned and asked, “What did you just say?”
Eiden let out a sigh. “Margaret, are you out of your mind? That’s your father you’re talking to!”
I held back a laugh.
We were married for a few years, after all. I knew how he thought. I could already guess that he had convinced my father to call me.
He must have told him exactly what to say.
“Margaret, even if you’re trying to piss me off, you shouldn’t marry some useless cripple. You’re my woman. That guy looks like a sick dog. How could he ever satisfy you?
“If you really want to marry me that badly, I’m in. Come to the press conference this afternoon. I’ll marry you on the spot.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I replied coldly.
“Marry whoever you want, go ahead and marry Lillian. The two of you deserve each other. Maybe you’ll stop ruining everyone else’s lives.
“I’ve already mailed over the custody papers. The kids are yours now, and so my parents. I hope your happy big family stays together forever.”
are
After saying that, I ended the call.
“Useless cripple?” Alvaro murmured in a low, raspy tone as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
His thin fingers lightly brushed over the marks he’d left on my neck.
“Sick dog?”
He gently bit my ear and raised his brows with a playful smirk.
“Honey, do you think I can’t satisfy you?”
His touch made my knees weak, a shiver running through me. I turned to him with a sweet, playful smile. “No… You’re amazing…”
Alvaro rested his chin on my shoulder and let out a small laugh.
“You’re too skinny right now. I don’t want to push you too hard. Once you’re fully recovered, we’ve got plenty of time to enjoy our moments…”
He stretched out the last word with a teasing tone.
I glanced at his perfectly fine legs as he stood tall, and the hands that couldn’t seem to keep off me.
I cursed in my head. This sly fox! He totally tricked me.
Who the heck spread the lie that Alvaro was disabled and impotent? If I ever find out, I’ll punch his face in.
