My Secretive Fragile Wife

Chapter 3 I Should Marry You

Emily walked out of the fitting room when she was done changing. She glanced at the other fitting room and saw that the door was shut.

"It fits you very well."

The sales clerk was good at picking out something that fit the person well. With the pale blue dress on, Emily's skin practically glowed. The ribbon around her waist accentuated her figure. She was a little on the skinny side, but her features still looked exquisite.

Seeing that it seemed to fit her well, Mason went to pay. It was only then that he realised that it cost 30,000 dollars. However, at the thought of Emily wearing the dress to meet the Clay family, he gritted his teeth and forked out the money before saying coldly, "Let's go."

Emily had long since known how heartless he could be, but his frostiness still made her heart ache dully.

She got into the car with her head lowered.

Soon, they arrived at the Davis family's villa.

Mason got out of the car when the chauffeur opened the door. Emily followed him.

She felt a little dazed as she stood at the entrance to the villa. While she and Ellen had been struggling to make ends meet because of her brother's illness, her father and his mistress had been enjoying themselves in this beautiful villa.

She couldn't help clenching her fists.

"What are you still standing around for?" Mason turned around when he didn't sense anyone following him.

Emily hurried to catch up with him. When Mason heard from the servants that the Clay family had yet to arrive, he told Emily to wait in the living room.

There was a piano near the French windows. It was a Seidl & Sohn, and Ellen had bought this for Emily's 5th birthday.

She'd started learning how to play the piano when she was 4 years old, and she'd always loved it. However, she'd never touched a piano since she'd been banished.

She couldn't help reaching out to touch it, feeling both a sense of familiarity and excitement.

Emily pressed one of the keys gently, letting out a crisp, melodic sound. Due to the years of neglect, Emily's fingers were much stiffer than before.

"Who gave you the permission to touch my things?" An angry voice rang out from behind her.

Her things?

Emily turned around and saw her half-sister, Rachel Davis standing behind her, looking fierce. Rachel was 17 years old, only a year younger than Emily. She'd inherited all of her mother, Sophie Cooke's strong points, and she was a beauty.

However, the fierce look on her face twisted her features in an ugly manner.

"Yours?"

Rachel and Sophie had ruined Ellen's marriage and were leeching off Ellen's money to this day. Now, Rachel was even going so far as to claim that Ellen's gift to Emily was her property?

Emily slowly balled her hands into fists and told herself repeatedly not to be rash, because she didn't yet have the power to take back everything that belonged to her.

She had to tolerate it!

She was no longer that little girl who could only cry at her father kicking her out. She was now all grown up!

"Wait, you... you're Emily?" Rachel recalled that the Clay family were coming to visit on this day. Mason had brought Ellen and Emily back here for this.

Rachel could still remember how piteously Emily had grovelled at Mason's feet and begged him not to send her and Ellen away.

"You must be overjoyed that Dad brought you back, huh?" Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Emily contemptuously. "Don't be too happy, though. The only reason that you've been allowed to return is so that you can marry the eldest son of the Clay family. Apparently, he's..."

Rachel trailed off and covered her mouth as she snickered.

She couldn't help gloating over the thought of Emily marrying an invalid man who was also impotent.

Marriage was one of the most important chapters of one's life. Wouldn't her whole life be ruined if she were to marry a man like that?

Emily frowned.

At this moment, a servant came over and said, "The Clay family's here."

Mason welcomed them personally.

Emily turned and saw a handsome man being wheeled in on a wheelchair. Despite being paralysed, he still gave off a dominating aura.

Wasn't this the man that she'd seen flirting with another woman in the fitting room?

He was the eldest son of the Clay family?

Emily had seen him standing on his own in the fitting room. He'd even had his arms wrapped around that woman.

What was going on?

Before she could figure out why he was pretending to be lame, Mason called out to her. "Emily, hurry up. This is the eldest son of the Clay family."

Mason put on a respectful look and smiled sycophantically at Dylan. "Mr. Clay, this is Emily."

He couldn't help bemoaning the fact that such a handsome young man was invalid.

Dylan's gaze fell on Emily. She looked young and overly skinny, even somewhat malnourished. He frowned.

This was a marriage that his mother had decided on for him. Now that she was dead, he couldn't possibly renege on her promise, which was why he'd let out rumours that he was lame and impotent after being bitten by the venomous snake. He wanted the Davis family to call off the whole thing.

Unexpectedly, the Davis family hadn't done so.

At Dylan's silence and grim expression, Mason thought that he was displeased with Emily and said, "She's just turned 18. I'm sure that with some time, she'll be a beauty."

Dylan couldn't help scoffing to himself. He couldn't tell whether she'd be a beauty, but he knew something was definitely afoot. Why would the Davis family insist on giving their daughter away to someone who was 'lame'?

His eyes were cold as he smiled pointedly. "I was accidentally injured on an overseas trip. I'll probably never be able to walk again, nor will I be able to carry out my duty as a husband..."

"I don't mind." Emily immediately said.

Mason had promised her that as long as she married Dylan, he would give her back everything that belonged to Ellen. Even if she were to get married on this day and divorced the next, she would still agree to it.

Now that she'd had some time to think about it, Emily understood what was going on. There was nothing wrong with Dylan, but he'd purposely come to the Davis family in a wheelchair. He probably didn't want to get married because of that woman and had wanted the Davis family to go back on their word.

However, he hadn't expected Mason to sacrifice an estranged daughter to hold up their end of the promise.

Dylan narrowed his eyes at her.

Emily felt a chill run down her spine and couldn't help feeling bitter. How could she possibly be willing to do this?

Yet if she didn't agree to this, how could she have the chance to come back here and take back everything that she'd lost?

She forced out a smile. "We've known about this since we were kids. No matter how you are now, I should still marry you."

Dylan's eyes darkened. It seemed like this woman was good with her words.

Mason didn't seem to sense anything amiss and said tentatively, "About the wedding date..."

After a while, Dylan finally settled on a calm expression. "We have to keep our promises, of course. Since this was agreed on a long time ago, we can't just break things off like this."

Emily lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze. It was obvious that he wasn't happy with this marriage.

He was only agreeing to it for the sake of their mothers' promise.

"That's good, then." Mason was happy with this. After all, using a mediocre daughter in exchange for an alliance with the Clay family was extremely beneficial for him.

Though the Davis family was rich, it was nothing compared to the Clay family.

In fact, they didn't even deserve to be compared with each other!

Mason bowed and said lowly, "I've already asked for dinner to be prepared. You should stay for a meal."

Dylan frowned. He was repulsed by Mason trying to curry favour with him, and he couldn't stand Mason being so supercilious one moment and deferential the next.

"No, I have other matters to attend to." Dylan said. Jacob May, Dylan's assistant, pushed him out. When they passed by Emily, Dylan held up a hand and gestured for Jacob to stop. He looked up and asked, "Miss Davis, do you have a minute?"