I had just returned from the confidential project when my mother told me that she had arranged a marriage for me.

She said the man was handsome, came from a good family and most importantly, had never been in a relationship before.

That was the most important thing to me, so when she said that, I agreed.

As soon as the news spread, my direct supervisor immediately approved a wedding home, saying it was a wedding gift for me.

My fiancé said he had helped decorate the wedding home and all that was left was for me to move in after the wedding.  

The night before the wedding, I returned to the wedding home to retrieve a document.

As soon as I opened the door, I was stunned by the interior decoration. White curtains adorned the room with floral wreaths and in the centre was a black-and-white portrait photo cut from my wedding dress.

The original decoration had been discarded, replaced by a room full of white candles.

It did not look like a wedding chamber, but more like a funeral hall.

I thought someone was deliberately sabotaging the wedding, so I quickly stopped the workers who were setting up. 

Just then, Eric Morton's childhood sweetheart walked in. She stopped me angrily, “Who told you to touch my arrangement?”

I suppressed my anger and retorted, “I'm getting married tomorrow and you're decorating it like a funeral hall. Is that appropriate?”

But she said disdainfully, “So what? Eric said that I can decorate however I want. If you're unhappy, go complain to Eric. Let's see whose side he takes.

“If you dare to tear it down now, I will make sure you can't even get married tomorrow.”

I sneered and immediately called Eric, “Eric, I don't have a fetish for getting married in a funeral hall. Come over here right now and take your people away.”

——

My wedding was tomorrow and many leaders from our company would come to see me off.

If they walked in and saw that the specially approved wedding house had been turned into a funeral hall, it would cause a huge scandal.

Eric's cold voice came through the phone, “I don't have time to listen to your nonsense.”

I swallowed my anger and tried to reason, “Eric, I appreciate you sending people to decorate the wedding house, but she turned my house into a funeral hall.

“I don't need her to do any more work now. Please have her and the workers leave immediately.”

But before I could finish my words, the person on the other end hung up the phone.

I stood there in a daze.

Was that the kind-tempered, good match my mother was talking about?

Laura Chavez beside me sneered, “Did you hear that? Going to complain won’t do you any good. Eric doesn’t even bother to acknowledge you.

“If it weren’t for the little tricks you used to deceive Mr. Morton and force him to marry you to Eric, someone like you—a city bumpkin who came out of nowhere—wouldn’t even be worthy of marrying him.”

As she spoke, she eyed me up and down—I had just returned from collecting samples in the field, covered in mud and looking dishevelled. 

The contempt in her eyes was almost overflowing.  

“To put it bluntly, Eric has always loved me from the beginning. Having me decorate the wedding room today is just a way for me to vent my frustration.

“If you don't want tomorrow's wedding to be cancelled, then get out of my way and stop interfering with my renovations.”

I took a deep breath, my tone turning cold as I said, “No matter what your relationship with Eric is, the wedding house is mine. I don’t need you to decorate it. Now, take your workers and get out, or I’ll call security.”

Laura huffed, “Don’t listen to her, keep decorating for me!”

“Her house? Where did she get the money to buy a house in the city centre? This house was clearly bought by Eric.”

“Today I am going to turn this wedding house into a funeral hall. Let's see who dares to stop me!”

I was so angry that I was shaking all over.

I had worked so hard on research projects in the field for so many years that even my superiors who were used to making big scenes were polite to me. 

I had never seen such a crazy woman who threw tantrums and acted like a spoiled brat.

I didn't feel like wasting my breath on her, so I pulled out my phone and dialled the security office, “Come up here and get rid of her.”

Laura's almond-shaped eyes widened and she suddenly jerked the dog leash in her hand as she yelled, “You little bitch, how could you dare to defy me?!”

As soon as she let go, the dog, which was nearly as tall as a person, lunged at me, knocking me to the ground and biting me.

In the intense struggle, blood gushed from my body and the pain made me roll on the ground.  

Laura clapped her hands and smiled excitedly.

I managed to get up with great difficulty and took a few steps forward, but the security guard rushed in and grabbed me from behind.  

I screamed out in pain, “What are you doing? I am the resident here! She was the one who broke into my house and let the dog bite me!”

The security guard looked unconcerned as he tried to persuade me while dragging me away, “We only follow Ms. Chavez's orders. She asked us to ask you to leave and we had no choice.”

Neighbours gathered around, whispering among themselves.

“How dare she? Ms. Chavez is Mr. Morton's childhood sweetheart, his precious treasure. Does she really think that just because she's marrying into the Morton Family, she can challenge Ms. Chavez?”

“This house definitely belongs to Mr. Morton. He's just letting her stay here. She really thinks she's a resident now.”

“He is just let Ms. Chavez decorated it as a funeral hall to vent her frustration. What's the big deal? 

“Can't she just endure it. At least she’ll get a free house. If she keeps causing trouble, she might not even be able to get married tomorrow.”

Laura grew even more arrogant, crossing her arms and speaking with contempt, “Did you hear that? I’m giving you one last chance. Kneel down and apologize now. Admit you were wrong and I might consider forgiving you.”

“Otherwise, you won't even be able to have your wedding tomorrow!”

I found it laughable.

“Ms. Chavez, you are the one who is wrong now, not me. I will say this for the last time. Take your workers and leave my house immediately.”

Before I could finish, she raised her hand and slapped me several times.

“You little bitch, you're still so stubborn!”

I dodged while gritting my teeth refusing to strike back.  

It was not that I dared not touch her, but the organization had strictly ordered me to have no conflicts with ordinary civilians.

That was a line I had to draw.

After all, this was just a private matter. I did not want to escalate things over such trivial emotions and tarnish the organisation's reputation.  

I broke free from the security guard's grip and was about to grab Laura's hand, when suddenly, a powerful force struck me from behind.

I was pushed away, colliding heavily with the cabinet by the door. My vision went black and my bones were almost broken.

A furious growl echoed in my ears, “I wonder who dares to touch her!”

I clutched my arm, which was throbbing so badly that I could barely feel it, gritted my teeth and struggled to my feet.  

The ones who had pushed me aside were a group of bodyguards in black. They escorted a man who strode in confidently.

The man strode directly toward Laura, his voice low and laced with concern. “What happened? I heard someone dared to mess with you—who was bold enough to try that?”

Standing nearly 1.9 metres tall, dressed in a sharp suit, with a handsome face, he was indeed striking.  

Laura turned around, glaring at me defiantly.

Eric followed her gaze, his eyes cold yet scrutinising.

I swallowed my anger and tried to reason with him, “You are Eric Morton, right? I am Margret Dean, your grandfather’s chosen fiancée. The person who called you earlier was also me. Ms. Chavez….."

“Shut up!” He frowned, raised his hand to interrupt me and spoke impatiently, “I don't care what happened and I don't care who you are. Now, kneel down and apologize to Laura.”

I was speechless for a moment, then laughed in anger.

The marriage was arranged by the Morton Family and nominally I was his fiancée.

Yet that moment, without even figuring out what happened, he was demanding me to kneel down and apologise?

“Eric, although we have no emotional foundation, perhaps you prefer Ms. Chavez more, but I am your legitimate fiancée. At the very least, you should show some respect, right?

“Besides, she's the one at fault, not me. You didn't even bother to ask for the details, yet you want me to kneel? On what grounds?”

“On what grounds?” He raised an eyebrow, his eyes brimming with contempt and arrogance. “Because you are so persistent and insist on marrying into the Morton Family.

“If it weren’t for my grandfather’s condition—that I must marry you to inherit the Morton Corporation—I wouldn’t even spare you a glance.  A wild girl from some backwater slum, you’re revolting to even look at.”

He glanced at me with disgust, his gaze landing on the mud stains on my clothes.

“Don’t think that marrying into the Morton Family gives you the right to bully my people. If you dare to upset Laura, I have a hundred ways to make you leave the Morton Family.”

I was speechless, “Eric, please understand that it's not that I have to marry you-- "

“Look how ungrateful you are!” Laura interrupted me, smiling smugly, “Wait until Eric really won't marry you. Let's see if you'll cry and beg for mercy.”

“You should feel so grateful to be able to marry into the Morton Family, until you don’t dare to call off the engagement, right?”

Watching the two of them banter back and forth with a condescending expression, I sneered, “Morton Family? What's so special about them? Do they really think they're some kind of treasure? Do they think every woman in the world is desperate to marry them?”

The onlookers outside the house erupted.

“Has she lost her mind? This is the Morton Family, the wealthiest family in this city! How dare she say the Morton Family is nothing?”

“Stop pretending. Who doesn't want to marry to Morton? The wedding house has been given to her and the wedding arrangements are all set. It’s just that the wedding house decorations are a bit intimidating. Just endure it for now.”

“Exactly. What's wrong with letting Ms. Chavez vents her frustration? Just endure it for now and enter the family first.”

Listening to those nonsensical comments, I found it ridiculous.  

The Morton Family is indeed wealthy, but so what?

They were just relying on government projects to make a living. 

Ten years ago, they obtained the ten-year usage rights to our laboratory’s research project and made a quick fortune.  

But those usage rights would expire in a month.  

Without getting new authorization, the Morton Family’s former glory would crumble overnight.

That was precisely why the old man from the Morton Family, despite his age, kept coming to our office every day, bowing and scraping before the leaders, begging for a contract extension.

He knew that I was the project manager and was single, so he blocked my office door every day and begged me to consider his grandson.

When I did not budge, he turned to my mother.  

My mother was so swayed by his flattery that she decided to just do it without consulting me and settle the marriage right away.

To put it bluntly, this marriage was beneficial to both parties.

From a project perspective, if I married into the Morton Family, it could help stabilize their domestic investments, which would also be good for research. 

Therefore, the higher-ups were also waiting and watching to see whether to give the Morton Family a more long-term cooperation.

But then it seemed the marriage that Mr. Morton fought so hard to secure was likely to be ruined by his grandson himself.

Those thoughts flashed through my mind, but in Eric and Laura’s eyes, my silence was interpreted as guilt.  

Eric spoke impatiently, “I’ll give you one last chance. Kneel down and apologize to Laura. Otherwise, the wedding will be cancelled.”

I looked up at them and spoke calmly and clearly.