Chapter 63 Fooling Him into a Marriage
Sebastian raised his eyebrow. “Why would you ask about that?”
“There’s no reason…” Madeline muttered. “I just… feel like you don’t have much to do…”
“…I had been working for three years without a holiday up until I met Joel and Quincy,” he replied while looking at her. “So, don’t have to worry about me. I’ve accumulated all my past holidays, so I can be on holiday for at least two to three months! Oh, I forgot to tell you that I have a brother, Lucas, who’s my assistant in the company. He can be rather lazy sometimes, but he’s useful when you need him to be. So, if I have other important matters to handle, I can afford to be away from the company for about six months to a year.”
“A brother?” Madeline was puzzled. “A-Aren’t you an only child?” The family portrait in the house clearly showed a family of three with Sebastian and his parents in it. “Oh, Lucas isn’t a biological son. My father adopted him,” Sebastian explained.
“Oh. Doesn’t he live here?” she asked.
“He does. But he went overseas a few days ago, so he’ll only be back in about two days. He’ll come back to stay here once he returns to the country,” Sebastian replied.
“Oh…” Madeline nodded. She looked especially obedient when she nodded while saying ‘oh’. She was like an older version of Joel, and Sebastian felt his hands getting itchy when he noticed how adorable she was. He longed to ruffle her hair.
Sebastian had never been one to limit himself, and he did whatever he wished to do. So, Madeline was attacked with a sudden stroke on the top of her head. She turned and eyed him puzzledly.
“It’s nothing.” Sebastian gave her a pleasant smile. “Your hair was just messy,” he replied. She didn’t know what to say. My hair’s messy? Isn’t he making it messier by ruffling my hair?
Michael couldn’t stop himself from clearing his throat. How dare he touch my daughter right in front of me? Does he have any respect for me at all? Sebastian gazed in Michael’s direction before smiling. “Do you have a sore throat, Mr. Wendel? Here. Have some tea!”
Michael was speechless. I hate that I wasn’t the one who taught my daughter as she was growing up. Otherwise, Sebastian wouldn’t dare to act so wild and recklessly in front of me! Michael raised his teacup and sipped on it while looking at Sebastian. “I still don’t know what’s the situation between you and my daughter,” Michael uttered.
“It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it short.” Sebastian gave Michael a brief explanation of his relationship with Madeline before he wrapped an arm over Madeline’s shoulders. “So, now, Madeline is my son’s mother, my legal wife, and the main woman of the Hart Family.”
Michael gazed at Sebastian before looking at Madeline. He had a lot of things to say, but he didn’t know where to begin. Right then, he felt… rather uneasy. He hadn’t even cared for his daughter for a single day, yet she had already turned into someone else’s wife.
In other words, even though he had just taken his daughter under his wing, he wouldn’t be able to spend most of his days with her. He wouldn’t be able to build a bond with her. His daughter was married, and she would be living in her husband’s house…
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He cleared his throat and stared at Sebastian before speaking in a stern tone. “Mr. Hart, I’m really grateful for your act of giving Joel and Quincy a proper title as your son. However, the most important thing in a marriage is that both parties love each other. You and Madeline won’t be happy if you guys don’t love each other. If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring Madeline, Quincy, and Joel back to the Wendels’—”
“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Sebastian rejected him without any hesitation. “If you bring Joel and Quincy away, my dad will definitely stop you. Do you want to fight my dad?”
Michael was speechless. There were a limited number of people in this world who would dare to go against Philip. “But don’t you think that’s unfair to my daughter? My daughter’s still young; she can’t sacrifice her whole life for the sake of Joel and Quincy—”
“I can.” Madeline was the one who interrupted him this time. She gazed at Michael before giving him a slight smile. “I don’t think it’s a sacrifice. When I see how happy Joel and Quincy are with Old Master Hart, I feel happy myself.” She hadn’t been in the Hart Family for long, yet she felt like this was the most secure and happy period of her whole life.
If Joel and Quincy could continue living such a stable life for the rest of their childhood, there was nothing more she could ask for. Michael, on the other hand, was speechless. Fine. Just assume I never brought this up! “There’s a question I’d like to ask you, Mr. Wendel… Are you planning to reveal my wife’s identity once you bring her home?”
“Of course!” Michael replied. “I’m going to bring her home and pick a date for her to announce her identity and reunite with her ancestors! We will invite all of the Wendel Family’s good friends and business partners over for the event where Madeline announces her true identity.”
“What about Angie? Will her identity be revealed?” Sebastian asked.
“Well…” Michael hesitated for a moment.
“What is it?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow as he stared at Michael. “Don’t you want to get revenge, Mr. Wendel? If you don’t reveal Angie’s true identity, how are you going to put Cameron behind bars?”
Michael clenched his fists. “There are a lot of ways to ruin Cameron’s reputation. We don’t have to bring up the past…”
“But would that be fair to my wife?” Sebastian clutched Madeline’s hand before wrapping his fingers tightly around hers. “My wife was stolen by Cameron and switched out. If Cameron doesn’t get punished for her crimes, how are you going to make up for all the suffering my wife has been through?”
“Well…” Michael didn’t know what to say.
“Mr. Hart.” Jonathan, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke up. “Our whole family hates Cameron for what she did. However, Angie is innocent. If we reveal what Cameron did in the past, this would also expose Angie’s true identity. Angie’s at the age where she should be getting married. If this information gets out now, it’ll ruin Angie’s life…”
“Oh? Are you saying that… you guys are planning to fool someone into marrying Angie?”
Michael nearly choked on his own saliva. “T-That’s not what I meant!”
“What do you mean, then?” Sebastian curled his lips. “Angie is Cameron’s biological daughter. This is a known fact, yet you guys are choosing to hide it just to get Angie to marry a good man. Isn’t this fooling someone else into a bad marriage?”
Michael had no way of arguing against Sebastian. Why does it sound like we’re actually trying to scam a man? But… we just don’t want the past generation’s deeds to impact Angie’s marriage. We’re not fooling anyone.
Michael turned to Madeline. “What do you think, Madeline?”
