Who Cares About Him When I'm Married to the Richest Man?-Chapter 96: Official Announcement: We’ve Registered Our Marriage
Yvette Sommers came out carrying a plate, speaking sarcastically, "Selling insurance, huh? I heard in your line of work you drag acquaintances down, and the base salary is only a thousand or two. How much do you earn a month?"
Elara curled her toes awkwardly, Yvette’s malice was too obvious.
Thinking back to the times she visited Grandma Fitzwilliam, Grandma always welcomed her with a smile, never said anything inappropriate, and was so warm she almost treated her like her granddaughter.
Not wanting to embarrass Zion, Elara responded, "Does it really matter how much one earns? The most important thing is that we truly love each other."
Zion’s cold gaze softened into a hint of a smile upon hearing this.
David Hales pulled Yvette aside, disagreeing, "Exactly, as long as the kids like each other, that’s enough. What’s the point of saying so much? There are more dishes in the kitchen, serve them first."
Yvette got upset upon hearing this, "I’m doing this for Elara’s sake. She’s poor at judging men. She took a big hit with the Jacobs Family; she can’t be so headstrong in a second marriage. Mr. Carter is the director of admissions at a college, earning over four hundred thousand a year, owns a house, a car, and has savings. Isn’t he better than an insurance seller? If she marries an insurance seller, who knows if he’ll coax us into buying insurance!"
Dylan Carter, seemingly a peacemaker, said humbly, "No, no, I’m not that outstanding. Actually, Mr. Fitzwilliam is quite good too – young and promising."
Yvette immediately changed her demeanor, smiling, "Mr. Carter, no need to be modest, you’re way better than that insurance seller."
They were in sync, while a fire burned within Elara’s heart. Zion was an outstanding person, yet Yvette and Dylan belittled him publicly.
She couldn’t quite place her feelings, but she felt her treasure was being insulted, and Zion was enduring this humiliation because of her. She couldn’t bear to listen any longer.
She decided to break off all politeness and said coldly to Yvette, "Just give up, my lifetime partner will be none other than Zion; I won’t marry anyone else. My marriage is solely my decision, abandon your scheming early on.
And you don’t have to worry about us selling insurance to you. My boyfriend deals directly with companies, you know what it means to handle companies? Entire companies with thousands of employees buy insurance from him, not your kind of individual that he personally attends to."
She paused, looked at Dylan, and said with depth, "By the way, he’s not just a regular seller, he’s the sales champion at his company, owning a house and a car, the house is even in the city center. Mr. Carter, mind telling me where your house is located?"
Dylan’s face showed a trace of embarrassment, feeling somewhat surprised; he initially thought Zion was a small-time seller, unexpectedly he’s the sales champion.
Even though Dylan doesn’t fully understand this field, he’s heard of sales champions; a company’s top earner surely earns quite a lot, at least not less than him.
How else could he afford to buy in the city center?
He, nearly forty, only managed to buy a small house outside the city, borrowing two hundred thousand for the down payment, which remains unpaid.
His job sounds glamorous, but honestly, he’s burdened with debt, paying off his mortgage monthly, without a dime in savings.
His divorce was due to his ex-wife’s materialism, she dumped him for being poor.
It’s Yvette who praised Elara as gentle and kind, leading him to visit, thinking she’d be different, yet turned out she’s quite materialistic too.
But upon reconsidering, Zion resembles a playboy, achieving such success at thirty, who knows how he did it? Rich people are truly odd.
Thinking this, Dylan felt balanced again; he replied with a smile he considered gentlemanly, "I’ve relied on myself for many years, couldn’t afford property in the city center, but looking for a partner shouldn’t be all about this, Miss Hale, make sure you’re not deceived by appearances."
Yvette quickly echoed, "Exactly, a salesperson, no matter how successful, is just selling stuff. With this economy, who knows when he’ll be unemployed? How can he compete with Mr. Carter’s stable job?"
Elara was speechless with rage, she had thought Dylan would at least be steady and polite, unexpectedly he’s not much different from Yvette.
Speaking so harshly right in front of people, they’ve let books go to the dogs.
Elara was about to retort when Zion suddenly spoke, "Yes, I’m merely a salesman, my job may lack Mr. Carter’s glamour, but Elara loves me."
He initially enjoyed seeing Elara defend him, didn’t take the two seriously, considering them mere jesters, not even worth getting mad about.
But seeing their remarks become increasingly excessive, he worried Elara might get infuriated to the point of harm.
Zion glanced at Dylan, then at Yvette, smiling coldly, "Besides, we’ve already registered our marriage, it’s too late to say anything now."
This statement silenced the entire room.
Elara was utterly astonished, never expecting him to reveal such a thing!
She had intended to get through this, tell her father they broke up later, their marriage was just a transaction, no need for anyone else to know!
Yvette’s eyes widened, glaring at Elara, sharply asking, "Elara, explain what you mean by saying you’ve registered?"
With things as they are, Elara could only admit, "That’s right, we’ve legally gotten married, we are legally husband and wife."
Yvette staggered, nearly fainting.
A side-raised Dylan stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, picked up his computer bag, and coldly looked at Yvette, "Ms. Sommers, since you lack sincerity for collaboration, let’s forget about your son’s university matter; I’m not some fool to be trifled with!"
With that, he left straightaway.
Yvette turned pale, hurriedly chasing after him, urgently saying, "Mr. Carter, that little liar is lying, she can’t be married, she never said anything before! I was duped by her too! Don’t be mad, let’s discuss Aidan’s matter further..."
She pursued Dylan out, leaving only Elara, Zion, and David Hales in the room.
David’s lips moved, hesitating, then couldn’t help but ask, "Elara, you with him..."
At this point, Elara Hale was already feeling like she should just give up and go with the flow. Not wanting to make her father worry, she nodded and said with a smile, "Dad, he’s a really good person, dependable, ambitious, can cook, do household chores, and he even gives me his entire salary to manage."
Of course, she was making this up, but the older generation cared about these things, so David Hales felt a bit relieved after hearing it. "That’s good, that’s good, you child, why didn’t you even let your dad know?"
Elara scratched her head in embarrassment, "I just recently got divorced and was afraid you couldn’t accept it."
David Hales chuckled, "Silly child, as long as you’re doing well, how could Dad oppose it?"
He wheeled himself into the bedroom, and after a moment, came out and handed a passbook to Elara, reminding her, "Since Fitzwilliam is a good kid, you two should live well. The past is past, don’t keep looking back, look forward, you know?"
Elara quickly stepped back, surprised, "Dad, I understand what you’re saying, but what’s this? I can earn money, I don’t need your money!"
David Hales took her hand and placed the passbook in it, "Back then, we spent all our savings for your mother’s treatment. This is the compensation we got after winning the lawsuit; it’s 200,000 in total."
As he spoke, his eyes reddened, "When you got married for the first time, Dad had nothing, you entered the Jacobs Family with a pitiful dowry and were always looked down upon by them. Take this money, young women have a hard time after marriage. In the future, you’ll need money for pregnancy and childbirth; having some money gives you confidence."
He paused, then laughed, with tears in his eyes as if recalling something, "When your mother married me, it was because she had a substantial dowry, which gave her confidence. Three days didn’t pass without her picking a fight with me and threatening divorce, her attitude was grand."
Elara also thought of her mother. Her parents’ relationship had always been good for all these years, and she grew up in a happy family; she was very fortunate.
Her nose felt a bit sore, but she no longer refused the money. She didn’t lack this money now, but accepting it would put her father’s mind at ease, so she accepted it.
After all, he was her dad; it didn’t matter who kept the money. It could also prevent Yvette Sommers from swindling it away.
She put away the passbook, and David Hales relaxed, looking at Zion Fitzwilliam with tears still in his eyes, "Good kid, treat my daughter well in the future, you understand?"
Zion Fitzwilliam looked serious and nodded solemnly, "Dad, don’t worry; as long as I’m alive, Elara won’t suffer any grievances. Even if I die, I will ensure she is well taken care of."
Even David Hales was stunned, let alone Elara Hale. This sincere promise was far better than what she heard at her wedding.
Although she knew it was all pretend, she was still quite moved.
Zion Fitzwilliam glanced at Elara Hale, speaking softly, "Elara, you go wait in the bedroom for a bit; I want to have some man-to-man talk with Dad."
Elara Hale was shocked by how naturally he called him Dad, not understanding why there were things that couldn’t be said in front of her. But knowing Zion wasn’t reckless, she didn’t ask much and went into the bedroom.
After the bedroom door was closed, Zion Fitzwilliam crouched in front of David Hales, speaking sincerely in a low voice, "Dad, I genuinely love Elara. I’ve had a crush on her for many years. Honestly, our marriage was rushed, and she doesn’t like me that much yet, but I’ll try my best to prove myself."
He paused, then continued, "I meant what I said earlier. I will take good care of her. When she finally accepts me, we will have a grand wedding; she won’t miss out on anything a woman should have. I just worry about scaring her, so we need to wait for now. I hope you won’t blame me."
David Hales looked at him in amazement, not expecting this young man to understand his concerns so clearly and be so honest.
Beyond his shock, he felt gratified, "I believe in you, Elara’s happiness is in the future."
Zion Fitzwilliam saw that the last trace of hesitation in his father-in-law’s eyes had vanished and finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
In marrying Elara Hale, the only opinion he cared about in the Hale Family was David Hales’s. Now that he had accepted him, his only task was to win Elara’s heart.
Thinking of this, Zion Fitzwilliam sighed a bit; the only problem was the hardest, far more challenging than earning a hundred small targets.
If he could exchange a hundred small targets for Elara to love him, he would agree without hesitation. Even a thousand or ten thousand would be fine.
Unfortunately, he was dreaming too beautifully.
Downstairs.
Aidan Sommers came back to find Yvette Sommers pulling Dylan Carter, pleading for something. As he approached to listen, he suddenly became furious, pulling Yvette Sommers away, "Mom, what are you doing? I’ll get into college on my own; I don’t need Elara Hale to do anything for me!"
Yvette Sommers, exasperated, shook him off and started scolding him, "Are you stupid? Don’t you know what your grades are like? It’s senior year, and you’re just barely passing. How are you going to get into college? If you don’t get into college, what future prospects do you have? Do you want to work under the blazing sun doing hard labor?"
Dylan Carter had already taken the opportunity to get in the car and drive off, leaving Yvette Sommers even angrier, she turned and slapped Aidan Sommers hard on the face, "Useless! Why can’t you show some promise! I’m doing this for who? If not for you?!"
Aidan Sommers was stunned; he had been pampered by Yvette Sommers since he was a child. Although he was very averse to her suffocating ways, she had never laid a hand on him.
The words Elara Hale had said to him that day also sunk in. She said, "Your mother might not be a good person and might be using the wrong methods, but she loves you."
He heard it all.
Recently, he had been studying hard, thinking that today, holding his report card, would make Yvette Sommers and Elara Hale happy. But he didn’t expect it to end like this.
At this moment, Elara Hale and Zion Fitzwilliam came down the stairs. After the scene, they didn’t have the heart to stay for dinner, so they greeted David Hales and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, they saw Yvette Sommers and Aidan Sommers downstairs.
Elara Hale looked over, and Aidan Sommers hesitated, feeling embarrassed, looking at her.
Elara Hale knew he wasn’t a bad person and never equated Yvette Sommers’ actions with him. Not wanting him to feel burdened, she gave him a slight nod.
But she ignored Yvette Sommers, and she and Zion Fitzwilliam turned and left.
Yvette Sommers sharply questioned, "Are you satisfied now? Is that it? Aidan’s future is all ruined because of you! If you had married Mr. Carter, he would have taken care of everything; he promised me, even if Aidan scored 200, he could get into his school! I had everything planned perfectly, and because of you! It’s all gone!"
