Chapter 418 You Cannot Marry Him
“I’m making you my wife, not my maid or nanny. You don’t need to be a pro in the kitchen or be reasonable and mature all the time. You only need to be yourself,” Matthew said warmly. There were butterflies in her stomach when she heard this, and she felt like her heart could melt.
Unable to help herself, she smiled and leaned forward. “You’re wonderful, Matt.” She pressed her lips to his and pulled him into her arms afterward. “It’s my greatest honor to have come to know and love you.”
“Silly girl,” he said affectionately, chuckling as he tousled her hair. “Come on, we should get going before the Civil Affairs Bureau closes,” he reminded her.
She gasped. “You’re right! We have to leave now or we won’t get our marriage certificate today!” With that, she pushed him aside and quickly settled back into the passenger seat. As she fastened her seatbelt, she prompted him to hurry and hit the gas pedal.
Matthew’s handsome face lit up with a smile when he glanced at the ring on her finger, then at his own. The glimmer in his eyes was unmistakably that of a man in love. He did not pull away from the curb until after a second or two.
The fiance-to-be in the passenger seat had nothing to do while they were on the way to the Civil Affairs Bureau. When her eyes fell on her ring, she pulled out her phone and searched up the meaning behind a briar rose.
As it turned out, a pink briar rose symbolized a true, sweet love unmarred by time; like a promise of eternal happiness. Her fingers clutched her phone even tighter after she read this, and she could not help turning to look at the man behind the wheel.
He was dressed in a well-pressed suit today with his leather shoes and his hair was combed up to reveal a neat and precise side part. He looked immaculate under the afternoon sun and it warmed her to think that he was dressed up nicely so that they could take a good couple’s photograph later at the registrar.
Matthew was oblivious to the lethal effect he had on women with his roguish air and his chiseled features. One could easily drown in his obsidian eyes or become mesmerized by his long eyelashes and he had a nose that looked like it was a work of the high heavens; his lips had a devilish curl to it too as though forewarning someone of his sharp wit and even a sharper tongue.
Whenever she looked at him, Veronica would feel as if she was looking at a young Johnny Depp. They both shared a cold, brooding sort of elegance that made them stand out in a crowd.
She thought about the first time she met him and how she had found him distant and reserved. She had believed that would be one of the few times she would ever encounter him, like two strangers who happened to walk past one another every once in a while, but never did she imagine she would marry him.
She also did not expect a man as stoic and unfeeling as Matthew would turn out to be the warmest and most loving person she had ever met. He was kind beyond imagination, and it was hard not to like him.
Granted, he was a man of few words, but he certainly got the job done. He was reliable like that and he had demonstrated how much thought he put into what he did just from picking out their wedding bands; she would be lying if she said she was not touched.
“Hey, Matt, has anyone ever told you how sweet and thoughtful you are?” Veronica asked curiously.
Matthew put one elbow on the edge of the car window so that he could prop his head up, then gazed at her sideways in amusement as he drawled, “Sweet and thoughtful?” He chuckled, sounding a little flustered.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I’m so used to hearing others say I’m a cold-blooded devil who acts without mercy that I can’t believe someone would think otherwise,” he confessed.
“You are not cold-blooded!” Veronica said. “I don’t know where they got the idea from…” She was about to say something else when she remembered that she had called him something along the lines of a cold-blooded devil when they first met. Feeling sheepish, she added helpfully, “But I guess only those who truly know you will see how wonderful you are.”
Hearing this, Matthew beamed in satisfaction.
They pulled up outside the Civil Affairs Bureau ten minutes later. They had only just started to queue up when Veronica’s phone suddenly rang.
She glanced at the screen and turned to say to Matthew, “My mom’s calling. Take a seat, Matt. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She handed her queue number to him and headed out of the building. In truth, she knew how easy it was for a man of Matthew’s status to obtain a marriage certificate, but she had insisted on a secret marriage and he happened to want to experience what it was like for ordinary couples to wait in line at the registrar’s office, so he chose not to pull strings at the bureau.
Had he chosen to pull strings, then they would not be standing here in line patiently waiting for their turn.
Having gone out of the lobby, Veronica picked up the call and greeted, “Hey, Mom.”
“Roni, where are you?” Daniella asked immediately.
Veronica pursed her lips and started fidgeting uneasily. She had only just returned from Bloomstead the day before and she secretly took the family records with her. She had been worried that her parents would find out what she had done; being questioned by her mom right now had put her on the spot.
“Uh…” She was at a loss for words.
Before she could say anything, Daniella asked, “Let me guess, you took the family records with you. You’re planning to marry Young Master Matthew behind our backs, aren’t you?”
Veronica’s fears came true so quickly she barely registered it. She patted the back of her head as though to give her mind some encouragement to scramble for an answer, but she was entirely speechless. At last, she began to say, “Mom, Matthew and I—”
She was just about to confess and ask for her parents’ blessing when Daniella cut her off, “You cannot marry him.”
“Why?”
“Master Crayson, your father and I are on our way to Bloomstead right now. If you’ve already married him, then have the marriage nullified before we get there. If you have yet to marry him, then wait for us at home,” Daniella ordered gravely on the other line.
At that moment, Matthew walked over to her and came to a halt behind Veronica, then asked, “What is it?”
She stared at the blank screen of her phone. Her mother had just hung up on her and she frowned in distress as she said, “My mom, she… She and my dad know that I took the family records and they’re on their way here.”
She could not understand why her family and Master Crayson were so against their marriage.
“I’ve already told you that while a secret marriage is an appealing idea, we still need your family’s blessings before we can proceed with it,” Matthew said, pulling her out of her thoughts as he tossed the number ticket into the trash can. “Come on, let’s head home and wait for your parents to arrive.”
“Huh? But, we’re already here. We might as well just go in and get the certificate,” Veronica countered while tugging on his hand as she caressed her thumb over his ring. ‘I mean, we’ve already got our rings. We ought to make this official, right?”
“Good things come to those who wait,” he comforted. He took her hand and brushed the back of it gently with his thumb, then added gently, “Besides, we can’t avoid this forever. They must have their reasons for not wanting you to marry me and we have to persuade them otherwise before we can become husband and wife. You’re my woman now and your happiness means the world to me. We must have your parents’ blessings.”
He was so thoughtful that it was almost heartbreaking.
Pursing her lips, Veronica considered what he said and stared into his eyes for a long moment. At last, she threw her arms around him and said, “You’re the best, Matt.”
“Come on, let’s go home,” he said while taking her hand and leading her out of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Veronica kept looking back at the building even as she walked down the front steps of the hall. “For some reason, I keep thinking that we won’t be able to get our marriage certificate if we don’t get it this time,” she pointed out dejectedly.
Matthew tightened his grip on her hand. “I’ve already put a ring on you, so it’s not as if I’d let you go now.”
He regarded her with a warm smile, but deep down, he could not help feeling a little gloomy as well.
Three months ago, when she had just come out of surgery, Master Crayson caught a glimpse of her birthmark. He had been actively protesting her marriage to Matthew ever since and Matthew suspected it had something to do with Veronica’s true identity.
Following that, Matthew took the time to head to the underground chamber and went into that particular room once more, whereupon he found the ‘Secret Affair of the Hidden Clan’.
