Chapter 3

After leaving the marriage registration office, Louise's new husband casually asked if she needed a ride. She turned him down, and he just got in his car and drove off. Apart from the marriage certificate in her hand and his freshly saved phone number, she didn't know a single thing about him. But that was fine. She needed someone willing to marry her, and clearly, he needed a marriage just as much. This was nothing more than a deal - both sides getting what they wanted. Did she still dare hope to marry someone she loved? Louise let out a self-mocking laugh, flagged down a taxi at the curb, and got in. Since the certificate was in hand, it was time to get the rest of the paperwork sorted. By the time she got back from work, it was already late at night. But stepping out of the cab and feeling the leftover heat radiating from the ground didn't make her any less irritated. When she walked into the villa, the lights in the living room were still glaringly bright. She swept her eyes across the room quickly, the sharp clicks of her heels echoing as she walked over and sat on the brown leather couch. "You're back, Louise." Sophia Reese greeted her with a polished, fake smile. Louise glanced at the well-dressed woman. Even though Sophia was over forty, she still looked impeccable, almost untouched by time. No wonder her sleazy father had rushed to marry this woman less than six months after her mother passed away. Louise looked at her once, then shifted her gaze away, letting her eyes drift down to the coffee table. Jane, always clever, poured her a cup of rose tea. "Miss, it's freshly brewed rose tea." Sophia's fake smile twitched a bit at being ignored. She discreetly pinched Samuel Bennett, who was sitting beside her. Looking uncomfortable, he spoke up, "Louise, here's the thing. Jessica's just finished college, and your I want her to start helping you out at the company." Louise sipped her tea slowly, the corners of her mouth curving into a faint smirk. So this whole late-night ambush was to talk about this? "Sure, why not." Sophia's face lit up. "Great. So, when are you planning to hand over half of your shares to Jessica?" "Shares?" Louise calmly set her cup down and cast her stepmother a sharp glance. "If she wants to join the company, she can start from the bottom. If she's got the skills, she can climb her way up. If she doesn't, it's fine-I don't mind paying her salary. After all, she's Dad's daughter, and we wouldn't want people saying I'm being heartless as her sister." Sophia glared at Samuel, who cleared his throat awkwardly. "Louise, look, I know you're worried Jessica might not be ready to manage things, but she could be a VP or something. And if you don't feel like giving her your shares, that's okay-just transfer the 20% that belonged to me." "I've been running around all day and didn't get a chance to say this-I dropped by a few law offices and had everything notarized. The company was Mom's, and the will made it crystal clear: all the company shares go to me." Sophia's calm façade cracked. "Louise, you can't just say stuff like that. Before you got married, you only had fifty percent. That extra twenty percent belonged to your father!" "You're right." Louise pulled the marriage certificate out of her bag with a steady hand and tossed it lightly onto the table. "But as of today, other than the 30% spread among smaller shareholders, the rest of the company-all 70%-is mine." "No way. That can't be real! This marriage certificate must be fake! How could you suddenly be married?" Jessica Bennett yelled, her voice rising with panic. She couldn't accept that the company she thought was almost hers had just slipped through her fingers thanks to a few words from Louise. Louise shot a cold look at the furious Jessica curled up on the couch. Her expression was icy, not a shred of emotion in her eyes. "You sure you wanna say it's fake?"