Flash Marriage: My Penniless Billionaire Husband

With that, Grace kept staring at James, and she expected this could force him to pay her the balance due.

She was confident James couldn’t welch on his promise under the watchful eyes of the people, and this calculation, of course, was not a surprise for him.

He said, "Of course, a promise is a promise. But I’ll have to ask for Yvonne’s permission first she’s in charge of our finance now."

With that, he turned to Yvonne, "What do you say, Yvonne?" Yvonne knew what he meant to do and was prepared for that.

She said, "I’ll say no. Your money is earned through hard work, and I’m not gonna give it to somebody else just because they want it. Besides, Aunt Grace had imprisoned me for a couple of days before our wedding, and she owes me an explanation."

Brant got startled at that, and he turned to Grace, "Did you, Grace?" Grace’s eyes swept Yvonne’s face in surprise.

She eventually decided it was better to reveal it now since they’d sooner or later find it out.

And she admitted, "Yes, I did."

"You..." Brant was choked with angry emotion.

Grace went on, "But it was for her own good. You may ask her about it. But for my grounding her, she wouldn’t have got married to Mr. Taylor."

"So you’re saying your illegal imprisonment is a blessing to me, isn’t it?" Yvonne questioned her.

Grace sniffed, "It’s not illegal, Yvonne, it’s just a little punishment. In addition, I’m your aunt, and I did it out of my concern for you. Even though it was wrong in methodology, the purpose was a kind one."

Now Grace had shrugged off all charges against her.

Just then, James gave her a smile and said, "Do you still remember the fraud you committed on me, Miss White?"

"Fraud? What fraud? You’d better watch your mouth, Mr. Taylor," Grace retorted.

In a slow and deliberate way, James took out his smartphone, swiped it, gave it a few clicks, and then there were the voices of a piece of audio.

"Is it true that you made up your mind to marry me, Yvonne?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Tell me, Yvonne, are you in trouble? Did they force you?"

There was a lull in the audio here, but soon there sounded a thin and tender voice.

"What am I supposed to say, Auntie?"

Obviously it was a question to seek an answer to the former voice’s question, and then the tender voice, which resembled Yvonne’s very much, was heard again.

"Nobody has forced me. I just want to marry you."

All the present were struck dumb, for everybody could tell the tender voice belonged to Jeanette, the White family’s fourth son’s daughter.

And she had previously learnt about dubbing before. With all the evidence, one could easily figure out what happened with a simple association.

"Grace, how could you make use of Jeanette to do that?" Jeanette’s father questioned her.

"You’re teaching my daughter how to lie, Grace!"

Jeanette’s mother, who had always been a passive housewife, couldn’t resist the rage within her.

Grace’s face turned deathly pale, yet she never intended to respond to the parents’ charges, and she cast a reproachful look at James.

She never dreamed he’d be so cunning as to record it.

...

James noticed her reaction and said to her, "Ms. White, you didn’t expect this, did you? I had this audio analyzed by some professionals. You could be charged with fraud with this."

Grace scoffed, "With a piece of audio removed the beginning and the end? You think I’ll be scared of you simply because of that? In your dreams!"

"I didn’t say that’s all of it. If that doesn’t suffice for you, there’s a person who has born witness to your crime."

The word "witness" reminded Grace of something terrible and she found herself perturbed.

"Alright, that’s enough," Brant abruptly declared. "Return the five million dollars to James."

Grace hesitated, "It’s a bride price, Brant. We can’t just give it back." "Do as I say, Grace!" Brant intoned.

Grace had to lump it, for were she to keep contending, James certainly wouldn’t let her go, and she’d probably have to deal with legal charges instead of moral ones.

She took out her credit card and said, "The password is six 1s."

She clapped the card onto James’ palm and stepped back.

Brant then said, "James, I ask nothing of you except your patience and tolerance toward Yvonne. Can you promise me that?"

"Of course, father, I promise you I’ll take good care of her," James replied in earnest. With that, he pulled Yvonne closer to his chest. "That’s great."

Brant nodded her satisfaction and then turned to Yvonne, "I have nothing for you now except this small box. There is some jewelry in it. Your mother used to wear it. Now I think it’s time to give it to you. Take it as your dowry, Yvonne."

With that, he took out a delicate box.

There was a lump in Yvonne’s throat as she gazed at it.

She’d never seen or known it.

If it happened earlier, his amorous holding might touch her heart.

But ever since she had read her mother’s diary, she changed heartless towards him.

It was still uncertain whether the relations between him and Grace were more complicated than it appeared, yet one thing was clear: he had to take part of the blame for her mother’s death.

He was, at least, an accomplice.

With that thought in mind, she impassively took the box and held it firmly in hand.

James noticed her emotional fluctuation and patted her shoulder, showing his comfort.

"I’ve got another thing for you."

Brant then took out a document and walked forward. "In the presence of everyone, I’m giving you half of my shares of White Enterprise. This is a dowry from dad."

When he finished it, not only was Yvonne stunned, her siblings were dumbfounded too.

"I disagree. You can’t do this, Brant," Grace stepped forward.

"Grace is right, Brant. The family rules won’t allow it," the siblings echoed her.

"Rules are rules."

However, Brant was rather determined, "Rules can change. And my decision is final."

With that, he handed Yvonne a pen, "Yvonne, sign this agreement and you’ll own half of my shares."

Faced with this sudden agreement, Yvonne was at a loss what to do.

...

What Brant did today was beyond her wildest dreams.

She felt it was all too good to be true.

After all, he never struck her as a good father.

Besides, some mysteries as written in her mother’s diary had yet to be found out, and she decided she couldn’t take his abrupt offering lest she should get hoodwinked by it.

"I don’t want it," she said.

"Yvonne..."

Brant was perplexed.

She blurted out, "I don’t trust you. I don’t know what’s in your mind. Maybe one day you’ll take it all back."

"Is that what you think, Yvonne? I am your father," Brant looked at her in horrified disbelief.

"Yes, that’s what I think. You promised mom you’d pass her shares to me, but what did you do in the end? You took them from me!" Yvonne said hysterically.

Brant paused for a moment and seemed to have realized something as he looked to Grace, "What did you...?"

Grace was candid enough, "Yes, I did it. I did it for the benefit of the company. She was about to get married soon then, and the shares, if given to her, will be gone with her; I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let an outsider hold the shares of White Enterprise and decide what we can do or cannot do, not under my watch."

She said it with the tone of a presiding judge.

Brat got angry at that, "Enough! Grace. Yvonne is family, whether married or not. She’s got the blood of a White in her, and she’ll remain a White till the day she dies."

"I know it, Brant. She’s your daughter and you dote on her. That’s reasonable. But have you ever given a thought to Jeanette? She is also a White, but look, what has she got? Has she a share of White Enterprise?"

"Grace has a point, Brant. My daughter Jeanette deserves some shares too," the third son of the White family chimed in.

Brant was rendered speechless.

"NO! As no as I am alive, she won’t be able to get a single share of White Enterprise."

With that, she stepped forward and tore up the document.

"You..."

Brant closed his eyes as if to alleviate his pain.

"You don’t have to fight for it. I’m not taking it after all," Yvonne couldn’t bear to see the scene and stood out to stop it. She continued, "You’re right about one thing, Grace the White family has had nothing to do with me ever since the day I got married, isn’t it?"

Grace replied, "That’s true."

Yvonne chuckled, "Well, well, now let’s make it clear: from this day on, White Enterprise, whether weaker or stronger, will be none of my concern, and I swear I’ll never come to its rescue when it’s in danger.

With that, she took James’s hand and hurried out, leaving the audience looking at each other.

"Yvonne..." Brant called out.

"Yvonne stopped, cast a backward glance at Brant, and saw the bleakness in his eyes, then she said, "You heard it already, dad. I’m not eligible to be here anymore, and you may keep the dowry, but be reassured, I’ll take good care of mom’s jewelry."

"By the way, here you are."

James showed Brant the credit card Grace had previously returned him.

He continued, "I’ll pay off the balance no matter what. But I need you to keep it for me, father, and it might be of some service when if there is an emergency with White Enterprise. It could at least be used for share repurchase."

"Nonsense!" Grace snapped.

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