My Child and I Married a Billionaire

I drifted off and took another nap. By the time Amina woke me, the room had been completely tidied up, and even lunch was ready.

Although the room was small and simple, it was spotless. A bit of sunlight spilled in from the window, making it feel very cozy. Zeke Walton felt incredibly refreshed.

Amina had stir-fried some vegetables with tofu and steamed some rice. The moment Zeke Walton sat down, she pushed a notebook toward him. It was neatly filled with an accounting of everything they had bought that morning and the corresponding prices.

"This is how much we spent today. I wrote it all down. See if anything looks off."

Zeke Walton had already forgotten the prices, so it was impressive that she had recorded each item so clearly.

But that wasn’t what was most important. He discovered that Amina’s handwriting was excellent—incredibly neat and elegant. Looking at the script, he could almost picture the serious expression she must have worn while writing.

Remembering how she couldn’t tear herself away from the books earlier that day, Zeke Walton couldn’t help but ask.

"Amina, what’s your highest level of education?"

Amina seemed to avoid this type of question. "Can we not talk about this?"

Zeke Walton didn’t understand. "Why not? Is it something you can’t talk about?"

Seeing how curious Zeke Walton was, and considering he was her only friend in the city now, Amina gave it some thought.

"Alright, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you. I graduated from high school the year before last."

A high school diploma wasn’t that impressive, but coming from Amina, it seemed like a major accomplishment. Zeke Walton was surprised.

"You finished high school, so why didn’t you try for college? You’re so diligent, your grades must have been good, right? Even graduating from a vocational college would give you better job options than this."

Amina blushed again. "Didn’t I tell you my family doesn’t have much money? Elementary and middle school were free, and my grandma protected me, so it was fine. The others would say they didn’t want me to keep studying, but they never really stopped me. But high school got complicated. It was far from home, I needed money for living expenses every month, and I couldn’t help out with work. Besides my grandma, everyone else tried to stop me from going back every time I came home."

Zeke Walton said, "...So you..."

At the mention of her grandmother, Amina’s eyes turned red. "Later, Grandma got sick and was confined to her bed. When I heard college costs tens of thousands of yuan a year, I lost the desire to go myself."

"I took care of Grandma at home for a year. Then last year, when I was nineteen, my grandfather and older brother tried to marry me off. They wanted to use the bride price to find a wife for my eldest brother... But the family they picked was just terrible. The man had a mental illness. I have a classmate from middle school who lives in his village, and she told me that when he has an episode, he runs around the village naked."

"I didn’t want to abandon my grandma and run away, it felt heartless... but if I didn’t, my children would have been born with mental illnesses too..."

Zeke Walton was so stunned by her story it made his skin crawl.

’Her own grandfather and brother were actually going to marry her off to a madman for the bride price!’

"They didn’t know, did they?"

Amina wiped her tears. "How could they not know? It’s exactly because he’s simple-minded that his family offered a higher bride price, so..."

"I actually left right after the New Year. My cousin’s wife got me a job as a waitress. I didn’t have a bank account, so my pay went to her card. It took me a long time to find out that my salary was actually 3,200 a month, but she was pocketing a thousand..."

Once again, Zeke Walton was speechless. "..."

"So, I was really grateful to my cousin’s husband when he convinced her to let me become a delivery driver. But I never expected..."

"So, that’s the gist of it. Please don’t ask about it again. There’s nothing left to do here this afternoon. I’m going out to work. I have to earn money quickly to send back for my grandma’s treatment."

After eating, Amina left. Zeke Walton, with nothing to do, lay back down on the bed.

He had no phone to play with, no TV to watch, and he couldn’t fall back asleep. Bored out of his skull, he took out their money and began to count it.

He hadn’t realized how bad it was, but counting it gave him a shock.

Even though Amina had desperately tried to save money, choosing the absolute cheapest items, after paying the rent, security deposit, and buying all their things, he was shocked to find only 1,100 yuan left.

1,100 yuan. For two people. A wave of panic washed over him.

He thought it over. ’This can’t go on.’ He pocketed the money and took a taxi to his studio.

He figured his parents had already warned the studio employees, and he’d be captured and dragged home the second he was spotted. So, he didn’t dare make a grand entrance, instead lurking furtively by the side door.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, he finally spotted an acquaintance: his studio’s accountant.

Zeke Walton pulled her aside. Seeing him, the accountant was both shocked and delighted.

"President Walton, you’re finally here! What happened? We haven’t seen you in so long! The studio..."

"That’s exactly why I’m here. How much cash is on the books? I have an emergency. Go withdraw fifty thousand in cash for me. Don’t tell a soul, and just have everyone carry on as usual."

Lily looked at him with a complicated mix of emotions.

"There’s not a cent left. Your father dissolved the studio. Today is my last day..."

The words hit Zeke Walton like a physical blow.

’I’ve clashed with my father plenty of times, but it was never anything serious. Why is he being so ruthless this time?’

His father was clearly stopping at nothing to force him back home.

Too bad for him. Zeke Walton wasn’t going home.

He would rather starve to death on the streets than ever step foot through that door again.

Who still had such tyrannical, overbearing parents in this day and age? Living with them meant never worrying about food or clothing, but it was like his spirit was in heavy chains. He refused to endure that kind of suffering ever again.

On the way back, Zeke Walton was in no mood for a taxi. He only had 1,000 yuan left now. ’We can’t actually let ourselves starve, can we?’

Amina once again worked until midnight. When she returned, Zeke Walton was sitting on the bed, waiting for her.

Amina quickly ate a few bites of leftovers, took a shower, then came back into the room. She turned off the main light, switched on her phone’s flashlight, and leaned against the foot of the bed, engrossed in her book.

"You go ahead and sleep," she said. "I’m just going to read for a while. I didn’t get a chance to during the day, and I’ve been dying to know what happens next."

Watching her, so eager to learn, Zeke Walton felt a conviction that she shouldn’t spend her entire life stuck in a tiny room, delivering food.

’She’s young, beautiful, and driven. If she just had a decent degree, she’d be successful in no time.’

"Amina, have you ever thought about taking the self-study exams for a bachelor’s degree?"

Amina’s head snapped up at his question, and she stared in his direction for a moment.

"I don’t have the time or money for that."

"I’ll support you. I’ll save up the money to put you through it."

Zeke Walton took the book from her hands and looked at her earnestly.

"I’m serious," he said. "Delivering food forever is no kind of future. You deserve a better life, and I’m willing to help you get there. Starting tomorrow, you buy the study materials and focus on learning. I’ll go out and make the deliveries."

"What?"

"I know the roads in Veridia much better than you do. I can definitely earn more making deliveries. I’ll support you while you study."

"You..."

"Besides, it’s not like I have a job to do right now."

He still hadn’t figured out a way to get his ID card back, so his options were limited.

"It’s settled."

Zeke Walton pressed all their remaining money into Amina’s hands.

"Take it. This one thousand, after you buy your study materials, is all we have for living expenses for the next month. You’ll have to manage it carefully."

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