When Ruby saw Ian standing outside, he subconsciously sprung upright in his seat and rolled down his sleeves, as if he hadn’t said anything provocative at all.
Amber noted her brother’s disappointing behavior from the corner of her eyes and gave him a supercilious look.
Then, she amiably said to Ian, “Come in.” She pulled a stool over for him, let him sit down, and then asked, “Why are you here?”
Ian responded by looking at Ruby.
Ruby quickly said, “I invited him over.” But when faced with his own sister’s gaze, he coughed somewhat uncomfortably before continuing, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Mom wanted me to call him over to discuss his marriage with you. After all, our parents are still working. Thus, it’s a bit inconvenient for them to be here.”
Ian looked at Amber.
“Marriage?”
This time, it was Amber who was uncomfortable. She gave her own awkward cough before trying to brush it off. “That … well … old folks are always more impatient, you know.”
Ian nodded in agreement. “We should talk about it.”
Ruby looked at him in shock.
Ian restated, “We should indeed plan out our marriage.”
Ruby’s mouth was now open so wide that any more and his jaw would just drop off of his face.
And then Ian said, “After all, you’ve already made love to me.”
Amber: -_-||
Ruby: o
Ruby weakly asked, “Director Axton, surely you mean, I’ve already made love to you?”
Ian’s tone was cool as he replied, “No, I don’t. I’m living at her place, it’s not her living at mine.”
His logic was so formidable that Ruby actually couldn’t refute it. He immediately said to his sister, “Since you’ve already made love to him, then you should take responsibility and ouch!”
Amber had forcefully pinched him under the table.
His sudden shout and distorted face made Ian look at him curiously.
Ruby tried to hold back his tears as he randomly said, “Oh, oh, oh, I just remembered. My money isn’t ready yet, so don’t have the ceremony too early.”
Ian nodded slightly. “Perhaps in the fall. It’s too warm in the summer, and as for spring. We probably wouldn’t make it in time.”
Ruby was like a little chick pecking at grains as he repeatedly nodded up and down. “Fall is good. Fall is quite good.”
And so, the two of them settled the issue just like that. They even decided on when the two parties’ parents would meet before the two men asked Amber as a superficial courtesy, “Is that alright?”
Amber had just been eating her dinner while they had conversed. “Heh, congratulations to the two of you. I hope you’ll have a long-lasting marriage and give birth to a child soon.”
“Feh!” Ruby almost choked on his soup when he heard Amber’s sarcastic jab, whereas Ian looked at her calmly. “You don’t want to get married.”
He was certain, it wasn’t a question.
Amber knew that he was being serious, and so seriously responded, “No. I just feel that we don’t have to be in such a rush. What’s more, after we get married, our lives will only get more troublesome.
For example, there’ll be more events that both of our families will have to attend, and if we end up getting a divorce, then the division of our assets will also be problematic.”
“Why would we get a divorce?”
“I’m just saying, if we do.”
“There is no if.” Ian’s tone wasn’t intense, but he spoke as if it were a self evident truth. “As long as you can be faithful in our marriage, I won’t ever divorce you.”
At this point, even Ruby couldn’t accept his logic, and on behalf of his silly little sister, he argued, “And what if you don’t?”
“Then there won’t be any division of assets.” Ian looked him square in the face. “Before our marriage, I’ll itemize my entire estate, and if I’m disloyal, then all that I own will go to her.”
Upon hearing his drastic words, Ruby quietly clicked his tongue, and rubbed his jaw as he did some mental calculations. ‘What a profitable venture! If Amber marries into this family, then regardless of what happens, she’ll take over at least half of Axton Corporation!’
While his eyes turned into dollar signs, he heard Amber ask, “And what if I’m unfaithful?”
Ian’s voice, as still as water, resonated within the room. “Then I’ll take your life.”
His voice wasn’t loud or fierce, but it was precisely his calm and unwavering tone that scared Ruby so much that his mental abacus cracked. He pondered over what he should say for quite a while before finally gently consoling, “That isn’t fair, is it? If you can’t do it, then all you have to do is pay some money, However, if she can’t, then she has to give you her life?”
Ian capriciously replied, “If you can take my life, then feel free to do so.”
Ruby was at a loss for words. “…..”
Damn, for a second, he had actually thought that Ian was being serious. This guy was really horrifying, huh? He threw a glance at Amber, wordlessly asking, ‘This guy’s joking, right?’
Amber ignored him, because Ian was still talking. “If we get married, then we’ll sign another contract. This time, it’ll be much harder for you to breach the contract, so I’ll give you some time to think about it.”
And then Ruby saw his silly sister think about it for a moment before decisively nodding. “Alright.”
He was about to cry himself to death!
After dinner, Ruby dawdled around until Ian left, and then rushed up to Amber and asked with trepidation, “Sister, the contract that Director Axton’s talked about, when he said that he wants your life … that’s all a joke, right? The law doesn’t allow for such a thing, right?”
Amber didn’t think at all that Ian was joking. Would a man like him even care about the legality of such a contract? But when she saw how serious Ruby’s anxiety and fear was, she didn’t want to scare him, and so she said, “It’s true that he doesn’t want to get married, but all of you are forcing it.
Are you actually scared of the conditions that he proposed? If so, then be nice, go back home, and tell mom not to push us that hard. I’ll figure out my own affairs on my own.”