Chapter 3

The information that Corinne provided Marvin clearly showed that all the men were good-for-nothings. On average, their age was around 40 years old, and most of them did not even have a decent job!

Marvin glared at Lilliana unhappily. "Some of the men here are just as old as me. How could you introduce such old men to Corinne?"

Lilliana's expression froze a little. She had gotten someone to doctor the photos and information of those men in advance, so it came as a complete surprise to her that the always-quiet Corinne could find out the true information behind those men.

In an instant, Lilliana played the victim and said, "I have no idea how that happened, Marvin! The men I chose for Corinne were all the cream of the crop! The matchmaker must've given me false information!"

Corinne, however, found it laughable. "Look at you harping on about how they're the cream of the crop without even bothering to verify whether or not the information was accurate. Marriage is a significant part of a person's life, yet you don't seem to take it seriously when it comes to me. Is it because I'm not your flesh and blood? Dad, I don't think you'll feel proud if you saw your daughter marrying someone as old as that."

Lilliana hurriedly tried to get it straight. "No... It's not like that..."

However, Marvin did not want to hear any of it and smacked the deck of files onto Lilliana's face in disappointment.

"Enough! You no longer have to deal with anything involving Corinne's marriage. Your credit card will be suspended this month too. I expect you to stay home and reflect on your actions instead of going out and squander my money!"

Lilliana's face turned pale. "Marvin, this was a misunderstanding..."

Marvin stopped talking to her and looked guiltily at his youngest daughter. "I'm sorry you had to meet all those old men, Corinne. You don't need to go on blind dates anymore."

Corinne smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

After Marvin went upstairs, Lilliana's expression turned fierce as she glared viciously at Corinne.

Sensing Lilliana's burning gaze, Corinne said calmly, "By the way, Aunt Lilliana, I forgot to mention something. I thought that those 'cream of the crop' men whom you chose for me were probably your ideal son-in-law, so I gave them Sherlyn's number when they asked for my contact information. Hopefully, she'll marry one of them!"

Lilliana gritted her teeth angrily. "What? H—How could you have done that?!"

Her darling Sherlyn was a famous celebrity who was far above the level of those losers. They should not even be calling her in the first place!

Corinne could not stand to talk to Lilliana anymore, so she yawned and went upstairs to sleep in her bedroom.

After Lilliana cursed Corinne in a low voice, she planned to head to her bedroom and coax Marvin not to deactivate her bank card when the doorbell rang all of a sudden.

She wondered who could possibly pay their house a visit when it was already late at night.

After she opened the door, she saw a man in a suit and leather shoes. Behind him was a row of more men in black suits. They were all carrying a bunch of stuff, and it was quite an intimidating sight.

Lilliana could not help but get her guard up when she saw all those strangers appearing suddenly at her door in the middle of the night. "Who are you looking for?"

Tommy said, "Hello, ma'am. Our employer has instructed us to present you with betrothal gifts to your daughter!"

"Betrothal gifts? What betrothal gifts? Who is your employer?"

"His name is Jeremy Holden."

Lilliana's eyes widened, for Tommy's answer was like a bolt in the blue for her.

"J—Jeremy Holden?! The Jeremy Holden? From the Holdens? The first-tier family?"

"Exactly."

"You mean, Mister Jeremy has taken a fancy to my daughter?"

Tommy had a rather convoluted expression on his face. He hesitated for a second before saying, "You can look at it that way if you like."

Lilliana was instantly reminded of her daughter, Sherlyn. Being such a popular female celebrity, Sherlyn was a beautiful woman, and it made sense for a wealthy young man to have his eyes on her.

However, the suitor was too powerful this time, and he even sent his men over to deliver betrothal gifts out of the blue!

Upon seeing Lilliana's silence, Tommy asked, "Do you disapprove of the marriage?"

Lilliana came back to her senses and shook her head right away. "No, no, it's just… My daughter isn't at home right now. This is huge news, and it might be better for us to wait until she comes back before discu—"

Tommy interrupted her, "Ma'am, your daughter has accepted the engagement ring from Mister Jeremy. All you need to do now is accept the gifts."

'What?! If Sherlyn has already accepted the ring from Mister Jeremy, could the two of them have been in a relationship for some time now? I can't believe Sherlyn didn't tell us that she had such an amazing boyfriend!' Lilliana thought to herself.

Lilliana did not want to seem discourteous to her distinguished guests, so she hurriedly invited Tommy to come in and have a seat.

Instead of entering, Tommy merely signaled his subordinates to carry the betrothal gifts in. "Mister Jeremy will pay your family a visit in three days to demand your daughter's hand in marriage."

Lilliana was shocked yet again. "What? In three days? Isn't that...a little too quick?"

Tommy assured her, "Not to worry, ma'am. Mister Jeremy has already made preparations for the ceremony. Your daughter deserves only the finest and most luxurious."

'Only the finest and most luxurious?' That was a sure sign that Jeremy was head over heels in love with Sherlyn. When Sherlyn took the Holden surname, Lilliana would be the mother-in-law of the Holden family's young master!

She no longer had to worry about having all the riches and glory in the world; anyone who saw her would have to bow to play up to her!

At the thought of that, Lilliana was overjoyed.

"Alright! We'll use these three days to make the necessary preparations for our daughter's wedding!"

Tommy nodded and bade her farewell. "I'll excuse myself. See you."

Marvin came out of the room when he heard the noise. "Was there a visitor? What are all these?"

Lilliana caressed those expensive gifts as her heart raced speedily.

"Marvin, I've got good news! Jeremy, the Holdens' young master has taken a fancy to Sherlyn. These are all betrothal gifts for Sherlyn from the Holdens, and the quality of these items is just extraordinary!"

Marvin's mind went blank. "What? Jeremy? You mean Jeremy Holden, the president of Holden Group? Who just returned to the country?"

Lilliana nodded frantically. "Yes, that's him!"

Marvin clutched his chest, fearing that his heart would stop beating all of a sudden due to the sheer excitement.

"Oh, gosh! I never expected him to fall for our Sherlyn!" Lilliana could not hide her pride. "You've got to give her mother some credit too, you know!"

"Thank you for giving me such an amazing daughter, Lilliana!"

"Humph, you're praising me now? I thought you said you would suspend my credit card this whole month!"

"Come on, Lilliana. I said that only because I was angry with what you did. Corinne might not be your own daughter, but you can't let her go on a blind date with those old men!"

"But I didn't do it on purpose! Corinne grew up in the countryside, so she's a wild and bad-tempered girl. I only looked for an older man in the hopes that he might be able to tolerate her tantrums! I didn't know the matchmaker would lie about the information!"

"Alright, Lilliana. I'm sorry for blaming you."

Lilliana was feeling particularly smug after successfully swaying Marvin to her side with only a couple of sentences.

A naive little girl like Corinne would never be a match for her!

With Sherlyn about to marry into the Holdens, Lilliana would soon share the good life with her daughter in the future. Corinne would then become an insignificant speck in her life!

Early the next morning, Lilliana called her darling daughter Sherlyn and insisted the young lady return home immediately.

Sherlyn complained unhappily as soon as she entered the house, "What happened, Mom? Why were you in such a rush to ask me to come home? I still have a scene to shoot this afternoon!"

"It's about your marriage with Jeremy Holden!"

"Marriage? What marriage? I don't even know him personally!"

Lilliana's heart sank when she saw her daughter's clueless expression, but she immediately told Sherlyn about the betrothal gifts that had been sent over the previous night. "So, how is it that you don't know him personally? Haven't you already accepted the engagement ring he gave you?"