Chapter 41 Better Than Money Falling Out of the Sky
Madeline was speechless. Wouldn’t it have been better to get one of his bodyguards to queue for him? At least people wouldn’t pay so much attention to him then. They queued for a long while before it was finally their turn. The workers at the Civil Affairs Bureau followed their regular procedures to check if Madeline and Sebastian were both willing to become each other’s spouses. This made Madeline more nervous than ever—her head was practically spinning as she and Sebastian went through the whole process.
When the workers handed her the marriage certificate, she was still in a daze. She took the papers and walked out into the sunlight, still struggling to regain her senses. Am I… married? Do I legally have… a husband? My kids have a father and… a home? She couldn’t explain what she was feeling at that moment. I’m excited, I’m emotional, I’m confused, and… I feel uneasy and worried about my future. But regardless, my sons now have a father, both legally and biologically. This is something worth celebrating!
She turned around to look at Sebastian with her marriage certificate in her hand. “Mr. Hart…”
“It’s odd for my wife to call me Mr. Hart,” Sebastian replied with a smile. “You can call me Sebastian, Seb, or Sebbie.”
Sebbie? The corner of Madeline’s lips twitched. That’s too cheesy! I think I’d rather call him Sebastian. “Sebastian…” She felt rather awkward calling him that way. “I just wanted to tell you that I’ll remain loyal to our marriage. As long as we’re legally a married couple, I’ll never date another man.”
“Of course. It’s the same for me,” he replied matter-of-factly. “This is basic respect, and I believe both of us are decent individuals who can stick to such rules.”
“Are… are you willing to do the same?” Her heart was racing.
“Hmm?” He glanced in her direction. “Willing to do what?”
“Stay… loyal to the marriage?” she asked in a weak tone. Their marriage felt a little more like an act, after all. Madeline had agreed to obtain the marriage certificate without naming any other requests apart from turning her sons into legitimate children. After collecting their marriage certificate, she regretted not having communicated her other wishes. She had hoped that they would both stay loyal to the marriage while they were married—she didn’t want… a third party.
However, she wasn’t sure if it’d be considered cheating for Sebastian to fall for another woman while they were married. Their marriage wasn’t entirely legitimate, after all. However, she still hoped that he wouldn’t date another woman while they were married. If he did fall for another woman, she wouldn’t mind getting a divorce. Once they got a divorce, they’d be able to date whoever they wished to.
“Of course!” He pointed at the marriage certificate in her hand. “What do you think this is? It’s a marriage certificate, right? With this, you’re my wife. It’s a man’s most basic responsibility to remain loyal to his wife!” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you questioning my morality right now?” he asked.
“No, that’s not what I meant.” She quickly shook her head. “I just thought that…” I just thought that this marriage was an act for Sebastian to give his sons a legitimate identity. I didn’t think he would take this marriage seriously. If he doesn’t take this seriously, then he wouldn’t think it’s wrong to date other girls while we’re still married.
“Now I know why Joel’s so insecure,” Sebastian said with a faint smile on his face. “He’s just like you!”
Madeline was stunned for a second. “You… can tell that Joel’s an insecure child?”
“It’s really obvious, isn’t it?” He smiled. “Don’t worry. Marriage is a sacred thing, and I promise you that I’ll stay loyal to the marriage as long as our marriage certificate is still in our hands. I’ll stay loyal to you. There’ll be no such thing as a third party in our marriage!”
“Sebastian… Thank you!” Madeline thanked him sincerely. Both her and Sebastian had only gotten the marriage certificate for the sake of their sons. Logically speaking, she had no right to criticize him even if he were to date other women during their marriage. She personally didn’t see anything wrong with it as well. However, she had to consider her sons. Although both she and Sebastian knew that the marriage was an act, their sons weren’t aware of this. If Sebastian fell for another woman and dated her while they were married, their sons would be really sad once they found out about it.
“Don’t worry about it. I should thank you instead. I haven’t done anything, yet you gave me two adorable geniuses as my sons. This is better than having money fall out of the sky!”
Madeline didn’t know what to say. This is a compliment, isn’t it? But why does it sound so awkward? She was about to say something when her phone rang. It was a video call invitation from Phillip. The kids must be awake! Madeline thought.
She hastily picked up the call to see a young boy who looked half-awake lying on the bed. Young Joel began wailing into the phone. “Mommy, where did you go?” Madeline couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the adorable young boy. “Daddy and I went out to buy some stuff.” This was the story that Philip, Sebastian, and she had agreed on.
In the future, they would tell everyone that she and Sebastian had obtained their marriage certificate a long time ago. That way, Joel and Quincy would be their legitimate sons. As long as she remained as Sebastian’s wife, it didn’t matter when they obtained their marriage certificate—Joel and Quincy would still be their legitimate sons, and others wouldn’t be able to spread rumors about the two young boys.
However, Philip insisted that they told the public they had obtained their marriage certificate a long time ago. Philip wanted them to say that they obtained the certificate before the boys were born. They were to tell the two boys the same story. Sebastian tried to go against Philip’s idea, but Philip was a stubborn man, and Sebastian had no choice but to give in and agree in the end.
Madeline wasn’t the most compromising woman, but she was used to giving in after living with the Taylor Family for so many years. She was willing to compromise as long as it meant that her sons weren’t hurt.
Furthermore, Philip was genuinely doing it for her sons’ own good—he wanted both her sons to have a proper status within the family. Madeline was thankful to Philip for thinking on behalf of her sons, so she didn’t argue against Philip’s way of doing things. Instead, she went according to his instructions, and she lied to Joel and claimed that they were out to buy things. She didn’t mention anything about them collecting their marriage certificate.
Hmm. I’m not technically lying. I’ll definitely buy some gifts for the kids later. I simply omitted the part where we went to collect our marriage certificates, she thought. “Did you and Daddy go shopping?” Joel pouted. “Why didn’t you bring Quincy and me along? We want to go shopping too.”
