Chapter 41
Chapter 41 Marriage License
Looking at Ricky crying desperately in his mother's arms, Draxton felt his heart squeeze in pain too.
He knew Isabella and Ricky were trying their best to accept him, but he failed to protect them from all dangers.
He turned his head and looked at Alan and Martin coldly.
Alan and Martin knelt down, looking regretful.
"Miss Thompson, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have lied to you. I'm willing to take any punishment," Alan said earnestly
Martin said, "Miss Thompson, we did plan this together. We had prejudices against you before, but now, we know we were wrong. We're willing to accept your punishment, but we hope you won't get mad at Mr Lockwood because of our stupid behavior."
Isabella heard their words, but she did not want to answer them. She held Ricky in her arms, and without looking back, she scurried into another room.
She did not spare Alan and Martin any look this whole time.
To her, these two people cannot be unforgiven.
If it were five years ago, she would have been tortured by those men or even be dead by now because she used to have no strength to protect herself.
They might have played with her, like playing with a toy, until she was dead and threw her into a gutter. At that moment, she wore a deadpan expression as if she had never known the word "forgive" since she was a child.
She would never pay any attention to those men who hurt her. She did not even spare them a glance. Their paths would never cross again.
The same went for even the Thompson family. When she learned that they had hurt her, Isabella left the Thompson family at once and never met them again.
And then, there was the Lang family. Since they never accepted Isabella, she decided to never accept them as well.
Life was too short to care about those types of people and things that did not deserve her. She only wanted to try her best to cherish those worthy of her care. Isabella didn't consider herself cold-hearted, but rather, she was just being rational.
Ricky did not pay any attention to Alan and Martin too. He rested in his mother's arms without any worries. Her warm embrace was all he cared about. Isabella and Ricky's attitude dealt a hard blow to Alan and Martin.
With profound regret, they desperately understood that Isabella and Ricky would not forgive them. They did not even want to take a look at them. They felt so ashamed.
At that moment, Draxton found a new aspect of Isabella's personality. He turned to look at Martin and Alan. "Alan, you're suspended from the chief of the Executive Department for the time being. I'll let Silas take your place. From now on, Executive Department will be run by him.
"As for you..."
It was hard for Draxton to make a decision. Though Alan had made a mistake, it could not ignore all his feats before. Draxton was going to say that he would set Alan free and that they had nothing to do with each other. However, before he could open his mouth, Alan interrupted quickly, "Mr. Lockwood, I'm willing to go back to Expendable Camp for retraining. I made this mistake because I wasn't rational enough to see the nature of things.
"I want to go back to Expendable Camp for retraining. If I can come out of there alive, please take me as your employee again. I won't dare to ask you to give me my old job back. All I want is to be your right hand." Alan's eyes turned teary.
If he left Draxton, he would have enough assets to live an easy life for the rest of his life. Also, he was capable enough too. Besides, he already had high standing right now. No one would dare to look down on him.
But he did not want to get kicked out.
He would rather go to Expendable Camp and put his life on the line, in the hope of being employed by Draxton again in the future. Even if he ended up dying there, he thought it would be worth it. Everything he got was given by the Lockwood family. He would rather die than leave the Lockwood family Seeing Alan's imploring eyes, Draxton fell into silence for a while and then nodded.
And then, Draxton looked at Martin.
Before Martin could open his mouth, Draxton said quickly in a cold tone, "You go overseas to get Star of Cold Light back. That'll redeem yourself."
Martin opened his mouth, without any words coming out of it. At length, he had to nod in dismay.
Martin was not demoted like Alan. He was sent to other countries.
Martin might never get a chance to come back because this was a task that he could never finish.
Star of Cold Light was a gem, an heirloom of the Lockwood family.
It was said that that gem had some magical functions, but it was stolen over a hundred years ago by a skillful legendary thief.
Since then, the Lockwood family had been searching for this gem, but to no avail.
Three years ago, they were finally sure that this gem had been taken out of the country, but they did not know which country this gem was taken to.
"You go alone. The Department of War will be run by Daniel for the time being. Once you finish your task and come back, you can still be the general of the Department of War," said Draxton. "Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me this chance!" Martin said. No one knew how bitter he felt.
Martin might never get a chance to come back in his lifetime.
Alan looked at Martin, mixed feelings flickered in his eyes. In the end, he did not say a word. They both made a huge mistake, and he had no room to put in a word for the other.
In the end, Silas walked them to the main gate.
When they arrived at the gate of Northernville Manor, Silas looked at Martin and Alan, feeling the pull of contrary emotions.
"Chief, I didn't expect that Mr. Lockwood would ask me to be the chief of the Executive Department. I hope
you..."NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
Looking at Alan, Silas felt that he had stolen Alan's job.
Alan gazed at Silas, saying, "You're competent enough to be the chief of the Executive Department.
"Well, this is what I deserve when I let my success go to my head for all these years. You must take me as a bad example and never make the same mistake.
"Since Mr. Lockwood thinks much of you, you should try your best to carry out your work. No need to mind
me."
He gave a pat on Silas's shoulder, looking like he had gotten over it, and turned to leave.
Silas gazed after them as they were leaving.
One of them was demoted to the Expendable Camp and the other was sent to go overseas. Only God knew if they could come back in this lifetime.
Looking serious, Silas swiped a strand of hair from his forehead and turned to go back to the estate. Meanwhile, Isabella was holding Ricky in her arms. They were both having a chit-chat upstairs. Draxton was still sitting downstairs, with only Cooper keeping him company.
They looked downcast.
Cooper shook his head as he looked at Draxton. He knew that Draxton would never win Isabella over if they continued like that.
What Alan and Martin had done this time obviously had a terrible effect on Draxton and Isabella's relationship.
Silas came back and reported Alan and Martin's departure to Draxton. Upon hearing Silas's words, Draxton nodded and said, "You can get back to your work now."
Silas nodded.
After Silas left, Draxton hesitated for a long time and eventually decided to go upstairs.
When he got to the second floor, he saw Ricky acting childish in Isabella's arms. Isabella was telling Ricky about her adventure.
Noticing Draxton's arrival, Ricky and Isabella turned to give him a glance, and then, they looked away immediately, as if they had not seen anything
Isabella stayed nonchalant and continued to tell Ricky about how she took down those bad guys.
Draxton sit down beside them and listened to Isabella's story silently.
About half an hour later, Isabella finally made Ricky laugh. Seizing this chance, Draxton put in, "We need to talk"
Isabella looked at Draxton and smiled warmly. "Okay."
Draxton was a bit surprised. Isabella seemed to be very tender. His eyes find her smile so charming. He felt a sense of relief.
He cast a glance at Ricky, who was staring at Draxton, sternly and disapprovingly.
Draxton was a bit unhappy about this and thought, "Well, Isabella sure is cuter than this difficult son."
"It's my fault that something like that happened today. If I'd made my attitude clearly before, they wouldn't have done that to you. I'm so sorry."
He was apologizing to her sincerely.
Those people who were familiar with Draxton would definitely be struck dumb if they heard Draxton's apology. As a domineering and high-handed man, Draxton never apologized to anybody before. It was unbelievable to hear his apology.
"Okay, I forgive you," said Isabella.
Draxton could not love her more for her flat-out answer.
He felt relieved, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "I've punished Alan and Martin. They would never make the same mistake again."
"They're your men. How you punish them has nothing to do with me," said Isabella.
Draxton nodded and said, "My men are your men too. It should be our men. We're married. If they insult you, it means that they're insulting me too."
In silence, Draxton gazed at Isabella with his midnight blue eyes.
Isabella gave a wry smile, unable to find an appropriate answer. "Come with me."
Draxton suddenly took her hand and dragged her out of the room.
Right now, Isabella did not want to leave Ricky alone.
And Ricky was not happy about what Draxton was doing too. He stared at Draxton in annoyance.
Draxton said, "Let's get our marriage license first, then you'll be my legal wife."
Isabella was transfixed.
She looked out of the window and said, "Mr. Lockwood, have you noticed that it's midnight right now?"
Draxton did not know what he should say.
Draxton released Isabella's hand.
"Well, in that case, you and Ricky take a good rest tonight. We'll go get the license tomorrow morning," said
Draxton.
Isabella opened her mouth, trying to see something. She gave him a look of amusement.
Before she could say anything, he left the room quickly. It seemed as if he was afraid that she would refuse him if he did not leave the room in time.
Isabella and Ricky gaped at each other and then lay on the bed. Eventually, they fell asleep while hugging. Isabella did not take Draxton's words seriously. She thought he would forget everything when he got calmer the next morning.
To her surprise, after sending Ricky to the kindergarten, Draxton drove them to the city hall.
Only after reaching the city hall, Isabella finally realized that he was being serious.
Isabella hesitated for a moment. Draxton turned to gaze at her intently. "Are you being afraid?
"Or are you worried about something? We might become a terrible couple, and I will probably treat you so badly. You will never fall in love with me. Are those what you're worried about?"
Isabella remained silent
She was not afraid of anything.
"It's just so sudden.."
"Once we got the license, you will get used to it."
On the matter of getting a marriage license, Draxton was very insistent and refused to hear any objection. Isabella hemmed and hawed, and before she knew it, the license was in their hands. Hand in hand, she was pulled into the car by Draxton and went back to Northernville Manor.
As soon as they got back, Isabella saw a car leaving.
It was someone Isabella had never seen.
That person greeted Draxton and then pulled away.
When they entered the room, Cooper saw the license in their hands. Cooper could not help but smile. "Mr. Lockwood, Mrs. Lockwood, welcome home. The rings have been sent here."
Cooper took a beautiful red box and handed them to Draxton.
He had gotten used to calling Isabella Mrs. Lockwood very easily.
Isabella had mixed feelings about this. She thought this marriage was rushed.
She looked at that red box curiously and blinked.
Draxton opened the box, revealing red diamond couples' rings. Few people had their couples' rings in that
color.
The red diamonds shined unusually under the morning sunlight. Inside the platinum band, the names of
Isabella and Draxton were inscribed.
Isabella liked these two rings a lot.
Draxton said, "I had them make these two rings in a hurry last night. It's just for the time being. Later, we'll choose better rings. The rings you like."
As he was talking, he put the ring on her ring finger.
And then, he handed her his ring, implying that she should put the ring on his finger.
Isabella was amused and compliantly put the ring on his finger.
Gazing at the ring on his finger, Draxton gave a smile unconsciously. He turned to look at Isabella and said, "From now on, we're husband and wife."
Isabella nodded. "We sure are husband and wife."
Draxton's lips quirked up in a smile, and happiness flickered in his eyes. Even his curly hair complemented his smile. Isabella suddenly found his curly hair a little cute.
Draxton bore too many resemblances to Ricky. Isabella could not hate him, no matter how hard she tried. Moments like now, when his ears turned red secretly, were exactly why she found Draxton extremely cute. Looking back at the license in her hand, she could not help but look forward to the future.
The future was full of hope.
Now that they were married, she would love him the way he loved her.
"We should plan our wedding," Draxton said.
"We've got the license. No need to plan the wedding in such a rush. Don't you think so?"
"I don't," Draxton said seriously, gazing at her. "Getting the license is because I want all my family to know. your standing. And the wedding will tell the whole world about your standing. I gotta make sure no one dares to look down on you from now on."
Isabella thought that Draxton was getting cuter by the minute. "Well, have it your way," she said with resignation.
For some reason, Draxton felt that Isabella's tone was very doting as if she was talking to Ricky. He started. to wonder if this was how her tone sounded when she was talking to someone near to her heart. Draxton's ears turned red again, and his mouth pulled to one side of its own accord.
"Bella, I want to take you to meet my family. We can plan the wedding together then. Does it sound good?" asked Draxton expectantly.
Isabella was dumbfounded. "Meet your family?"
"Yeah. I mean, you gotta meet them sooner or later. Don't worry. They're very nice. You guys will get along easily.
"They've known you and Ricky, and they are expecting to see you two for so long. I thought you and Ricky were not ready, so I stopped them from seeing you, or else they'd have come to our house long ago."
The corner of Isabella's mouth twitched. She thought, "Well, it's only a few days since I met this guy, and now, we've gotten the marriage license and wedding rings. And we're even planning to meet his family and hold a wedding and all."
Isabella could not help but think that there was still something she did not tell him, such as the thing about Betty.