The man that stood behind Sabrina was none other than Sebastian.
The man looked at Sabrina with a faint smile. His mellow and warm voice was sensual and enchanting. “Mom needs to rest to recover. Is there anything that you couldn’t come to me for a solution? Why must you bother mom?”
Sabrina was dumbfounded and speechless.
The man put his arms around her and escorted her out before she could say no.
“Son, have a proper discussion about your marriage with Sabrina. You must treat Sabrina well,” Grace shouted behind them.
“Don’t worry, Mom.” the man replied while closing the door to the ward.
Sabrina was dragged by Sebastian and walked a long way.
When they arrived at the end of the corridor, his warm expression on his face had changed to one of icy coldness.
The man aggressively choked Sabrina’s neck and pinned her down to the wall. His gaze was as sharp as a cold sword. “Female prisoner! You have continuously tested my patience, and you dared to appear before my mother now─you are too bold! If anything happens to my mother, I would make you experience things that are worse than death!”
Sabrina’s face turned red from being choked. She said as she struggled, “I…didn’t…know Aunt…Grace is your…mother.”
She finally understood why Sebastian was disgusted by her, but still insisted on getting a marriage certificate with her. Previously in prison, Grace mentioned that she wanted her as a daughter-in-law in the future after they got out of prison.
Sabrina thought Grace was joking with her at that time.
It turned out that Grace was serious.
The man choked her tighter. “Do you think I would believe you? You had been playing hard to get repeatedly, wasn’t that to increase your price? Have you always wanted to marry the Ford family and be a noble lady?”
She did not wish to defend herself, so she just shut her eyes.
Let him choke her to death. With this way, she could be with the baby in her belly forever and even reunite with her mother. How nice would that be?
Tears streamed down the corner of her eyes.
However, the man released his grip. He had regained his composure.
The tone of his voice was still frosty and domineering. “My mother only has two months of life expectancy left. I must fulfill her wish and marry you, but I would not touch you! After two months, I would divorce you. When that time comes, you would get a sizable commission. I warn you not to play dirty tricks, or else I would make your life a living hell!”
‘Aunt Grace only had two months of life expectancy left?’
Sabrina felt a dull pain in her heart.
She took in a few big breaths of fresh air. After a while, she calmly asked, “You want to make a fake marriage deal with me?”
“What else? Do you want to be my real wife instead?” The man sized her up from top to bottom with a disgusted gaze.
Sabrina instantly recalled the day in the room where he had seen her body covered in love bites left by the dead man.
Of course, he would despise her for being filthy.
Sabrina bit her lips and said, “I could take the deal, but I have a request.”
“Speak!”
“Arrange an account for me in a big city─ any city will do.”
If she were to bring her child back to her hometown in the future, the people there would look down on the fatherless child.
She did not want her child to face discrimination in the future.
She wanted to bring her child far away from home.
Sebastian looked at her skeptically. “Only this?”
With strong determination, she said again, “I want 30,000 USD in cash now, as my allowance.”
30,000 USD was enough for a pregnancy check-up at the hospital, expenses during her pregnancy, and and travel expenses for her return to her hometown to pay respects to her late mother.
Sebastian sneered.
Sure enough, this woman was still a greedy person to her bones.
He already told her there would be a divorce settlement fee, but she still asked for a 30,000 USD allowance at one go.
If he satisfied her with 30,000 USD today, then would she ask for 50,000 USD tomorrow?
If he did not fulfill her wish one day, she could disappear and blackmail him into increasing the prices, right?
It would be like filling a bottomless pit. What an abomination!
How many people had been eliminated by Sebastian for being in his way in the past few years? He does not mind eliminating one more person like Sabrina.
However, his mother could not wait any longer.
Sebastian took his phone out and made a call. Five minutes later, his assistant─ Kingston Yates─ came over with an envelope in his hand.
Sebastian took 5,000 USD out of the envelope, handed it to Sabrina, then said condescendingly, “I can give you 30,000 USD, but it must be paid in installments. If you behave well in front of my mother, then I will continuously give the rest of the allowance.”
5,000 USD?
She needed to do pregnancy check-ups, rent a new place to stay, go to interviews, and look for a job. How would 5,000 USD be enough?
“10…10,000! Can’t be any less than that.”
“2,000!” The man’s tone was so cold that it would send chills to the bones.
“5,000, I only want 5,000 .” Sabrina quickly bargained.
“1,000!”
Sabrina bit her lips with all her might to stop herself from crying. She realized if she were to bargain further, the man would decrease more.
At least with 1,000 USD, it would be enough for her to do a pregnancy check-up.
“1,000.” Sabrina cleared her throat and reached out to collect the money.
However, the money was thrown on the floor by Sebastian.
The man said condescendingly, “As long as you play your part right, I would draft the contract for the two-month marriage and send it to you. Once the contract has been fulfilled, your commission would be paid in full. As for the allowance, you would only get it if you behave well.”
Sabrina was only focused on picking up money on the ground, so she did not hear what Sebastian had said.
The 1,000 USD was important to her that she could put her dignity aside. At least it was better than accepting handouts from the Lynn family.
“What did you say?” Sabrina turned up and asked Sebastian after she picked up all the money.
What a b*tch!
Sebastian gave her a sidelong glance. “Come in with me! Remember to play your part right! If you say the wrong things…”
“I won’t say the wrong things,” Sabrina said quietly.
It was not that she wanted to cooperate with Sebastian, but she sincerely felt sorry for Grace.
In prison, they were like mother and daughter.
Now, Grace’s life was about to end soon. She would still do her part even if Sebastian did not make a deal with her.
The two of them entered the room together, and Sabrina wore a big smile on her face. “Aunt Grace, Sebastian and I were discussing getting the marriage certificate just now, you won’t blame me for not accompanying you, right?”
“Silly girl, I was hoping that you would have the wedding soon, then my heart would be at ease.” Grace held Sabrina’s hand and pulled her closer, then whispered, “Sabrina, are you satisfied with my son?”
Sabrina smiled shyly and said, “Very satisfied.”
“Go and get the certificate with Sebastian now, alright? I want to hear you call me mom soon.”
Sabrina gently cupped Grace’s hand. “As you wish, Aunt Grace.”
That afternoon, Sabrina and Sebastian went down to city hall.
They took a picture together, pressed their fingerprints together and took their vows. However, even until their marriage certificate was stamped and completed, Sabrina still could not believe it was real.
She had gotten married.
When they came out of city hall, Sabrina said goodbye to Sebastian. “Mr. Ford, the doctors do not allow visitation in the afternoon, so I would not go back with you. I will visit Aunt Grace tomorrow morning.”
She was a person who knew boundaries of propriety.
When she was not in front of Aunt Grace, she would take the initiative to distance herself from Sebastian.
“Up to you,” Sebastian said coldly.
Sabrina left the place alone.
In the car, Kingston asked, “Young Master Sebastian, aren’t you afraid that she would escape?”
Sebastian sneered contemptuously. “Escape? If she truly wanted to escape, why would she work as a waitress at the restaurant I visit often? Why would she also come to my mother for a loan? She only made the first two escapes to raise her price.”
Kingston said, “Who would say otherwise...”
“Drive,” said Sebastian.
The car drove past Sabrina, but Sebastian did not even take a look at her.
Sabrina dragged her tired body back to her place.
She was stopped by somebody as she reached her door. “Sabrina! You’re really hiding in this area.”
It was Selene!
Two years ago, due to her chaotic private life, Selene was taken advantage of by an old, ugly, and vulgar man. When the man had his guard down─halfway through the intercourse─Selene used her heels and smashed through the man’s head, killing him instantly.
To help Selene get away with the crime, the Lynn family got Sabrina drunk and secretly sent her into the meticulously faked crime scene.
As a result, Sabrina had received a ten-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
Selene, on the other hand, dodged a bullet and was not imprisoned.
Whenever she thought of that, Sabrina wanted to strangle Selene to death.
She looked at Selene indifferently. “How did you find me?”
Selene became more complacent. “Sabrina, do you know what this type of place is called? Urban village. It is the only urban village in South City. The residents here are mostly streetwalkers. You can have a night with a streetwalker for only five dollars here. One busy night can make a hundred dollars, tsk, what a good amount of money.”
“So, you came all the way to show off to me that you made a hundred dollars in one night?” Sabrina asked coldly.
“You!” Selene raised her hand and wanted to hit Sabrina, but she stopped her hand mid-air.
She smiled and said, “I almost lost my composure. Let me tell you, I would be getting married soon and the house needs to be renovated. The maids found a few pictures of you and your mother when clearing the trash…”
Sabrina asked eagerly, “My mother’s pictures? Don’t throw it, I would come and collect it.”
Her mother had passed away, so the pictures that were left behind were extremely precious to her.
Selene asked nonchalantly, “When would you collect them?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow afternoon it is. Otherwise, all that trash would be pollutants if they spend one more day in my house!” After saying that, Selene, surrounded with an air of pride, walked off in her heels.
Not long after Selene left, Sabrina went to bed.
She was now in her first trimester and had an extraordinarily tiring day of rushing around, so she wanted to rest early and get up earlier tomorrow to go to the hospital for a pregnancy check-up.
The next day, Sabrina came early to queue at the ultrasound room in the hospital. When there was just one person left before her turn, she received a call from Sebastian and picked up the call. “What is it, Mr. Ford?”
Sebastian’s usual cold tone could be heard at the other end of the call. “My mother misses you.”
Sabrina saw that there was only one person before her, so she estimated the duration and said, “I would be at the hospital in about one and a half hour.”
“Sure.” Sebastian’s reply was short and brief.
Sabrina cleared her throat and said, “Uh… I would do my best to cheer Aunt Grace up. Could you give me some more allowance? Could you deduct it from the divorce settlement fee?”
“We’ll talk when you’re here.” Sebastian immediately hung up the phone.
He hated people who bargain with him the most!
Sabrina continued to wait in line.
As she was about to enter, an emergency patient was suddenly rushed in to do an ultrasound, which took more than half an hour. When it was finally Sabrina’s turn, only then did she realize that she needed to start a medical record because it was her first check-up. Her ultrasound was delayed for another half an hour.
When she arrived at Grace’s ward, she heard her crying inside. “You unfilial son, are you lying to me? I asked you where Sabrina is!”
“Mom, we already got our marriage certificate yesterday.” Sebastian handed the certificate to his mother.
“I want you to get Sabrina back here now!” The elderly woman relentlessly pushed her son.
“I’ll go find her now.” Sebastian stood up and came out.
At the door, Sabrina met Sebastian’s cold, sharp gaze.
She hung her head, walked to the front of Grace’s bed with a bag in her hand, and said warmly, “Aunt Grace, I’m the one who came late. I remembered you often said that you liked cream puffs when we were in prison, so I bought a box for you.”
Grace stopped crying and smiled, “Sabbie, you still remembered that I love cream puffs?”
“Of course.” Sabrina handed a cream puff to Grace and said, “Have one, Aunt Grace.”
Grace looked eagerly at Sabrina. “Sabbie, you should change the way you address me to ‘Mom’.”
Sabrina said, “… Mom.”
“Yes,” Grace said with a sense of gratification, “With you by Sebastian’s side, I’ll be at ease when I cross over to the other side.”
Sabrina suddenly teared up. “Mom, you’re not allowed to say that. You can live a long life…”
After she managed to coax Grace to sleep, Sabrina came to Sebastian again and bit her lips. “Mr. Ford, could I have some allowance?”
Sebastian’s expression remained unchanged, he only said calmly, “You promised me to reach in one and a half hours, and you only came after three hours. If you let me catch you leaving my mother hanging again, then it wouldn’t only be a matter of money.”
Sabrina suddenly shivered. She could sense the calm murderous aura from his calm speaking tone.
She knew he was not just saying that.
She smiled self-deprecatingly. “It’s not easy to earn rich people’s money. I understand! I won’t ask you again─ I want to confirm with you, you would set up an account in a big city for me, right?”
Sebastian replied, “You won’t receive anything less than the conditions written on the contract.”
“Thank you. I have plans in the afternoon, so I would take my leave now.” Sabrina left in a desolate state.
“Sebastian…,” Grace called out from her room.
Sebastian immediately went into the room. “Mom?”
“I know you dislike Sabrina, but son, a lot of troubles and sufferings that I could not handle in prison were taken care of by Sabrina. I knew her better than anyone else. She is a righteous person who values her family and friends more than anything. With the number of times the Ford family had plotted against the two of us, wasn’t it enough? I want to find you a partner that would never leave you. Do you understand my efforts?”
“I understand, Mom.” Sebastian nodded.
Grace wanted to get out of the bed as she spoke, “I want to personally call Aunt Quinton to ask if Sabrina is staying at your house. I could only be truly at ease if both of you are a proper, married couple.”
Sebastian was speechless.
Right at that moment, his phone rang. He immediately picked up the phone and coldly asked, “What?”
At the other end of the phone, Selene acted in a cute and delicate voice. “Darling Sebastian, I want to invite you to my house to discuss our marriage, could you come? Pretty please?”
“I’m not free today!” Sebastian refused decisively.
Selene could tell that Sebastian disliked her immensely.
She felt as if ten thousand needles were piercing her heart, making her feel pain, embarrassed, and annoyed.
However, she was afraid of Sebastian.
She was about to say a few more things with her fake cute voice, but the phone call ended abruptly.
Selene’s heart sank.
“What’s wrong, Selene?” Jade quickly asked.
“Mom…Master Sebastian…He didn’t agree to come and discuss our marriage─ he…wouldn’t find out about it, right?”
Selene started to cry in fear. “He wouldn’t find out that I am impersonating Sabrina, right? Mom, what should we do? Sebastian has the blood of countless people on his hands, I’m scared…”
Both Jade and Lincoln were scared out of their wits too.
The whole family spent the entire afternoon in fear until a maid came to report and said, “Sir, Madam, Sabrina is here. She said she is here to collect her and her mother’s pictures.”
“Tell her to get lost!” Selene immediately released her anger on Sabrina.
At this moment, Selene could only focus on being terrified. She had forgotten that she had asked Sabrina yesterday to come and collect the old pictures of her mother.
What Selene initially intended was to publicly display her affection to Sebastian in front of Sabrina, so that Sabrina would be upset!
However, she did not expect that Sebastian would reject her invite so decisively.
The maid was speechless.
“Hold on! I will go speak to her!” Selene got up and headed out.
The whole afternoon of crying made Selene’s eyes swollen, and her hair was incredibly messy. She forgot to take a look in the mirror and rushed out.
“B*tch! You’re a b*tch that does that kind of business. You would taint my house again every time you come here, and we don’t welcome you! Get lost now!” Selene said viciously.
Sabrina sneered. “Selene, you’re the one who asked me to come to collect my mother’s pictures.”
“Go! Go! Go to hell! Get lost now!” Selene roared unreasonably.
Sabrina was so angry that she laughed.
She surveyed Selene.
Suddenly, Sabrina realized Selene was throwing a temper tantrum for no real reason.
Sabrina put on an innocent expression and asked nonchalantly, “Selene, I could see your eyes are swollen, and your hair is as messy as a chicken’s nest. Could it be that you got pregnant with a random man’s child but got dumped?”
Selene was so furious that she made threatening gestures and wanted to jump on Sabrina. “I’ll beat you to death...”
Sabrina did not even bat an eye but just calmly said, “You dare to beat me to death in front of your house. Could it be that you also wish to rot in prison?”
Selene yelled, “You…You! You go to hell! Go! Right! Now! Go…”
Sabrina sneered, turned around, and left.
She did not have the time to fight with Selene.
She was hungry and needed to eat.
She got hungry easily ever since she was pregnant. She wanted something nutritious but had no money.
She had no choice but to return to where she lived and bought a few mushroom sandwiches from a stall.
As she was enjoying her sandwiches, a man suddenly stood in front of her.
That man was Sebastian’s assistant, Kingston.
She was stunned for a second, but she continued eating her sandwiches. She walked past Kingston without saying a word and headed back to her place.
Things between Sebastian and her were only a contractual deal. Other than having to act in front of Grace, they had no other relations.
Sabrina had never taken the initiative to form connections just for her benefit.
“Miss Scott,” Kingston called behind her. He did not expect that Sabrina would not greet him.
Sabrina turned around. “You called me?”
“Get in the car,” Kinston said briefly.
Sabrina was puzzled.
“Madam would be calling home to inquire today. If she finds out that you and Master Sebastian were not staying together…”
“Understood.” Once they started to act, they needed to stay in character. Sabrina got in the car.
The place they went was not the Ford Residence, but an upscale neighborhood in the city center. Kingston brought Sabrina to the ground floor of the building, and he left after he handed Sabrina over to a lady housekeeper who was in her forties.
“You must be the new Young Mistress, right?” The lady smiled while looking at Sabrina.
Sabrina felt awkward. “…You are?”
The lady introduced herself, “I am Aunt Quinton, the housekeeper who had been serving Madam for more than ten years. Madam specifically called to inform me and asked that I take good care of her daughter-in-law. Quick, follow me.”
This was a high-class duplex suite, which definitely not something any ordinary families could afford, and the luxurious level of the interior did not need further introduction.
Sabrina asked Aunt Quinton, “This place is…”
“This was the Young Master Sebastian’s former residence,” said Aunt Quinton.
Sabrina understood. It was Kingston who picked her up, so perhaps Sebastian would not come here.
This was perfect. She no longer needed to worry about not having any place to stay anymore.
She planned to bring her simple luggage over from the bed rental place tomorrow.
The landline in the living room rang as soon as she sat on the couch. Aunt Quinton picked up the phone, smiled, and said, “It’s Madam. Yes, she’s here, she’s here. Young Mistress just sat on the couch.”
Aunt Quinton passed the landline to Sabrina. “It’s Madam who’s calling.”
Sabrina picked up the phone and said, “Ah...Mom, are you alright?”
Grace asked gently, “Sabbie, tell me, have you gotten used to the place?”
Sabrina answered, “Very well, I have never lived in such a nice house.”
“Where’s the brat? Is he there with you?” Grace asked again.
Sabrina knew very well that if she was here, Sebastian would definitely not come over. However, she still said, “Sebastian would be back soon. I’m waiting for him to have dinner together.”
“Good, good, then I wouldn’t disturb the two of you. I’ll hang up now.”
“Bye, Mom.”
During the evening, Sabrina had a sumptuous dinner and Aunt Quinton even personally drew a bath for her.
“Young Mistress, these are essential oils, bath milk, and rose petals. Using these to soak in the bath would ensure your skin becomes better.”
“I’ve prepared a bathrobe for you and placed it outside the bathroom. You can pick it up when you get out. I will prepare the bed for you now.”
Aunt Quinton was a thoughtful housekeeper.
Sabrina was a little overwhelmed by the pampered treatment she had received.
Sabrina was attracted to the spacious bathroom, the large multifunctional bathtub, fragrant essential oils, and rose petals.
She was living in only rented beds, so she had to use the public showers whenever she needed to clean herself.
She had not had a proper relaxing bath since she came out of prison.
She would not waste this great opportunity today.
After soaking for some time, Sabrina felt that her whole body was comfortable, and she started to feel sleepy.
In a drowsy state, she climbed out of the bathtub, her body was still wet, and she opened the door to reach for the bathrobe. However, she collided with a tall and well-built body.
“Ah…!” Sabrina screamed at the top of her lungs in shock.