Chapter 3 Hold Her In His Arms

Maria was anxious and heartbroken. She looked at her father and shook her head. "Dad, tell me that it's not true. You don't owe so much money. You won't destroy my life just to protect your family. You won't be so cold-blooded and ruthless!" she cried.

Davis didn't think his daughter would have reservations about the wedding even after hearing what Chelsea said. As a last attempt, he held his chest and fell on the sofa, as if he was having a cardiac arrest.

Chelsea was well-aware that Davis was only pretending, so as to emotionally blackmail Maria.

She loved Mandy so much, but she ran away at a critical moment. If Maria was given time to contemplate, she would definitely run faster than Mandy.

Seizing the opportunity, she said to Maria, "Look at your father. Do you really want him to die in front of you? If you don't agree, our whole family will die with your father. How will you feel if you are responsible for the death of so many people?"

Was her father really going to die?

The scene of her mother's death flashed through Maria's mind again. She didn't want to lose the only person who was related by blood.

Left with no other choice, Maria nodded slowly. Even though she knew she was going to be part of a great deception, she would marry that man and sacrifice her happiness for the sake of her father.

A smile appeared on Chelsea's face. If this girl agreed to marry Henry, her husband's cosmetics company would not sink and she would also be able to get the money from Henry.

She sat beside her husband, held his big hand, and said excitedly, "Did you hear what your daughter said? She has agreed to take Mandy's place and marry Henry! Now take the medicine as soon as possible. You will be fine after that. Rest awhile, you will feel better."

Maria looked at Chelsea in disbelief, but she choose not to quarrel with her at this time.

After all, she had already promised her father that she would help him out. If she quarreled with Chelsea again, it would only aggravate her father's delicate condition.

Seeing that Davis was stable, Maria asked worriedly, "Henry was going to marry Mandy. When he sees me in a wedding dress in front of him, won't he cancel the wedding? Won't he send us to prison for fraud?"

Chelsea's face darkened at once. She taunted Maria, "It seems that you really want to send our family to prison! If it was so easy to be exposed, do you think we would use this way to solve your father's pressing problem? Although we don't know why Henry wants to marry Mandy, we are sure that he doesn't know what she looks like."

Davis was certain that Henry didn't know what Mandy looked like; that was why he called Maria and asked her to pretend to be Mandy.

Maria took a deep breath and decided to let it go. However, she did take advantage of this opportunity to negotiate with Chelsea. She said resolutely, "Since I have promised my father to get married, you have to promise me one thing. If you don't agree, I won't help you. Then I won't care whether he dies or not. Anyway, my father has abandoned me for a long time, so it won't make much of a difference to me."

Not only Chelsea, but this time even Davis wanted to slap her when he heard that. But he didn't want to be rash and lose his golden goose, so he decided to hear her out. If her request was not too much, he would agree. If she went too far, he would disown her once he got Henry's money.

Davis held Chelsea's hand to calm her down.

Then he turned to Maria and asked, "What do you want? Tell me. If I can, I will certainly help you."

Maria had always had just this one wish.

After two seconds of silence, she plucked up the courage and said, "I want you to recognize my mother as your wife. I want it on her tombstone. My mother's tombstone should be engraved with your name as her husband. Can you promise me that?"

Chelsea could tolerate anything, but not this.

She stood up. Her tone was firm and there was no room for negotiation. "That's impossible. I won't let that bitch marry into the Xue family. I'm the hostess of the Xue family."

Bitch?

Hearing the word again, Maria's patience had come to an end. No one could accept anybody maligning their mother's name, let alone Maria.

Her mother got pregnant before marriage and raised Maria for 17 years all by herself. Maria knew how much her mother had suffered and done for her, so she would never allow anyone to humiliate or ridicule her amazing mother.

Biting her lip, Maria stood up. It was the first time that she had been so presumptuous in front of Davis and also the first time that she had slapped Chelsea. "If you dare to call my mother a bitch in front of me again, I promise to tear your mouth apart," she warned fiercely.

Ethan Xue had been treated like a rare treasure by Chelsea since he was born. Of course, he love his mother deeply. How could he not be angry and defend his mother when his father's illegitimate daughter slapped his mother in front of him?

Disregarding decorum, he grabbed Maria's hand and roared, "Maria, how dare you hit my mother? My mother is right. Your mother was a bitch and she wrecked our home! If your mother was not a mistress, where did you come from?"

Davis now had two more problems on his hand—his hot-headed son and his sharp-tongued wife. He roared at his wife in disappointment, "Chelsea Lu! Do you want to see the whole family break up? It's not a big deal. Why are you yelling at Maria? Yilia is dead. Can't you forget what happened in the past? With a little sympathy, Yilia's dying wish can be fulfilled. The dead are gone and any mistakes should be forgiven."

It was easy for him to say it, but it was not as easy for a woman to forgive her husband's infidelity.

Chelsea closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she had already compromised. She sat back on the sofa mutely.

Relived to see her calm, Davis held Maria's hand and comforted her kindly, "Don't be angry with your aunt Chelsea. She also feels wronged, that's why she quarrels with you. As your father, I will definitely agree to your request."

Hearing this, Maria felt peaceful.

She closed her eyes and said, "Come on, get someone to help me with makeup and change into my wedding dress."

Davis looked at Chelsea, who was afraid that Maria would change her mind, so she immediately called the make-up artist in.

At half-past eleven in the morning, the wedding march played.

Escorted by her father, Maria walked all the way from the lounge to the central garden and passed the arched door decorated with flowers. She reached the front of the crowd and glanced at the guests sitting on both sides of the path. Her vision became blurry and her headache returned with a vengeance.

She suddenly felt dizzy, as if she was going to faint at any time.

As her father, how could Davis not know anything about his daughter? He knew that his daughter would collapse in a crowd. But this was a wedding ceremony and he couldn't allow that to happen!

The Zhao family was very well-known and they would never accept such a humiliating thing.

Davis patted the back of Maria's hand and whispered in her ear, "It's okay. The wedding will be over soon. Maria, please hold on for a while."

Enduring the headache, Maria walked towards the bridegroom with the support of her father.

Hogan, who was seated on the VIP chair, clearly saw that the bride had changed. He knew how the original bride looked. What was more, this bride was the same woman who had sex with him. Yesterday, when she was drinking in the bar, she had made a fuss and proclaimed that she wanted to have a relationship. Then how did she fall in love with Henry now?

Did she skip the dating period and marry Henry directly?

While Hogan was confused, Davis brought Maria to Henry.

Although Henry hadn't met Mandy officially, he had secretly followed her for the last two years. How could he not recognize Mandy?

The woman brought to him by Davis was not Mandy.

Davis didn't notice the difference in Henry's expression. He winked at Maria and sat down on one side.

Henry sneered in his heart and his face turned ugly and ferocious.

When the emcee was about to start the wedding ceremony, he raised his hand to stop it.

Maria was not in the mood for any more drama. The room was spinning now. She didn't know how long she could hold on.

She asked weakly, "Why are you stopping the wedding?"

How dare she ask him that!

She had no right as an imposter.

Henry took out a stack of photos and threw them on Maria's face. "Why am I stopping the wedding? That's the reason. You are a fake! Do you think anyone can marry me?"

Not only Maria, but even the Xue family were shocked. None of them had expected Henry to have photos of Mandy. Was the wedding going to be canceled?

Maria staggered to pick up the photos from the floor. She couldn't even see them clearly. She was going to collapse any minute.

Hogan, who was sitting amid the noisy guests, rushed to Henry and held Maria in his arms.

Her face was pale and she looked terrible.