Chapter 2

Hearing that someone actually believed her nonsense, Emerald’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

“Jonathan, hurry up and contact the hotel staff. Ask them to bring out the food we originally ordered. Have them serve all the good food they have.

“We won’t hold this against you. After all, Amelia loves you.”

The muscle in my cheek twitched, although I forced a smile.

“Does she even deserve to enjoy all that good food?” I thought.

“Sure. As long as you pay the bill, you can eat whatever you want.”

Amelia dug her nails into my arm, and her face was filled with fury.

“Jonathan, have you lost your conscience?”

I smirked and pried her hand off.

“I think you’re one who’s lost yours!”

“Your mom only gave me 1,000 dollars for the banquet, yet she told everyone it was 100,000 dollars.

“Why should I pay out of pocket just to protect your family’s dignity?”

When Emerald saw me blurting out everything, she panicked and shouted at me, “What nonsense are you spouting, you jerk?! I really did give you 100,000 dollars. Don’t even think about denying it!”

Amelia looked at me with disappointment.

“This is my wedding, and my mom isn’t my enemy. Why would she give you only 1,000 dollars for the banquet to embarrass me?”

The guests thought she made a good point.

A proper feast for a family of four or five already cost around 1,000 dollars. How could anyone host a wedding banquet with that amount?

The guests criticized me again, “People get married to build a life together. You got married just to scheme against your mother-in-law, didn’t you?”

“If everyone could get a million dollars just by getting married, why bother working? They might as well get money by taking a wife.”

Their gazes were as sharp as blades that could kill.

“A man as wicked and cunning as you would’ve been beaten to death back in the old days.”

I did not bother arguing with them anymore. Instead, I walked over and turned on the giant screen in the banquet hall.

Everyone could see the record of Emerald’s transfer to my bank account as well as our chat history.

It was a fact that she had given me only 1,000 dollars for the wedding banquet.

Emerald was the kind of person who wanted to spend the least but earn the most praise.

The very first time I met her, she had deliberately given me 101 dollars.

However, she went around telling people she had given me 10,001 dollars as a show of respect for me.

At that time, Amelia comforted me and told me that her mother was short of cash. She did not want others to think that they did not take me seriously.

Later, she made up the difference, so I let it go.

However, when it came time to discuss marriage, Emerald’s behavior only worsened.

Whenever money was involved, she would quickly transfer money to my bank account.

When I bought my wedding suit, she only transferred 100 dollars, but she told everyone that she had spent over 10,000 dollars on it for me.

After that, she exaggerated the money spent for my wedding gift and car. She made everything up.

I complained about it a few times, but she said matter-of-factly, “I’m just making you look good. If they hear that your wedding gift’s worth 880,000 dollars, they’ll be so jealous.

“Our relatives will also see that we respect you, and they won’t look down on you.”

I told Amelia about it, and she promised she would talk things through with Emerald.

However, she ended up believing her mother’s lies instead.

The guests exchanged looks in shock.

“Mrs. Jones, it clearly shows a transfer of 1,000 dollars to his bank account. That’s very dishonest of you.”