Chapter 593 Get the Marriage License with Me Tomorrow

• How dare she go eat with another man the second he walked out the door? How dare she blow off his warning like it was nothing? How dare she push his buttons like that? How dare she… grind his real feelings under her heel! Rage spiked through Connor Juniper. He hurled his phone aside, raked a hand through his hair, and stormed around the bedroom, pacing hard. Finally, he stopped, snatched the phone back up, eyes cold, and shot off a message. Then he sat at the edge of the bed and waited. He’d sent that message to Susanna Clarke. He’d made up his mind: if she dared to provoke him like this, he’d go all in too. In the bathroom, Susanna listened to Zoey Zellman’s dramatic wails and stayed unmoved. This was exactly what she wanted—get the meal with Mr. Cabot snapped by entertainment reporters, let it spread, and piss Connor off. She finished her shower, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and padded out. Zoey was still huffy, grumbling, “Told you you shouldn’t eat with Mr. Cabot. Now look, they actually got pictures.” “These people can spin a tale from a single image like they deserve a screenwriting Oscar for pure fabrication.” Zoey fumed. Susanna drawled, “You been in this industry for only a day? They’ll make up whatever they want.” Those reporters’ top skill was turning black to white and fake to real. Zoey stomped. “Seriously, the emperor stays calm while his eunuch panics.” The online comments were vicious. Zoey was ready to blow a gasket, but her boss didn’t even blink. Susanna took the meds Zoey had set out for her and said, “I’m fine here. Go rest. And don’t stay mad all the time, girl. You’ll get wrinkles.” Zoey: “…” If her boss were even a little less stressful, she wouldn’t be smoking from the ears because of the brain-dead nonsense online every day. Seeing Susanna take her pills, Zoey didn’t linger and headed for the door. She had just reached it when Susanna bit out, “Connor Juniper, you bastard!” Zoey jumped and rushed back. “What happened? What’s wrong?” Susanna clutched her phone to her chest and ground out, “Nothing. Go on.” Zoey opened her mouth to push, but Susanna shoved her out and closed the door. Earlier, Connor had been the one pacing like a madman. Now it was Susanna’s turn. She’d just received a photo from Connor that almost made her cough up blood. It was shamelessly suggestive. She was asleep in bed—fine. But look closer and you’d see her head pillowed on a man’s arm. She was fully dressed in pajamas, sure, but that shot reeked of a bed pic. Susanna snapped. She hadn’t expected Connor to take a photo like that while she slept. Despicable. Filthy. Shameless. Low. She cursed him in her head a thousand times over, molars creaking. After a while, calmer—but still burning—she dialed his number and practically growled, “Connor Juniper, what are you trying to pull?” His voice, in contrast, was steady as stone. He said, clearly and slowly, “Go get the marriage license with me tomorrow. Or I post the photo.” He didn’t even try to hide the threat. Susanna’s vision went dark. She almost passed out from fury. She realized it now: ever since he came back to Kingsford, he’d stopped playing nice. The man was unhinged. “Are you sick?” She couldn’t rein in her temper and tore into him. “Never met anyone this twisted. You secretly photographed me sleeping!” “You pushed me to it.” Connor’s tone finally shifted, a tiny crack showing. “Who told you to eat with that Mr. Cabot?” Susanna: “…” Great. She’d basically tripped herself. She wanted to use that dinner with Mr. Cabot to piss Connor off. Instead of killing his mood, she drove him insane enough to use a photo to force her to get the license. She was boiling with regret. If she’d known he’d go full crazy, she wouldn’t have gone to that dinner. Furious, she threw caution aside and snapped, “Fine. We’ll get it!” Screw this. Marrying him doesn’t cost her anything. The ones who’d be fuming would be his parents and his family. She’d always kept her distance because she didn’t want to drag him down, didn’t want her presence to mess up his family life. If he didn’t care, why should she? What was there to fear? And he had the looks, the vibe, the build—all on point. He was the kind of man you couldn’t ignore in a crowd. He said he had no job and was broke now, but she was already sure he had ties to LeviCon Biotech. Even if he truly had nothing to do with LeviCon Biotech, she could support him. She’d built her wealth for years to do exactly what she wanted in the future. Most of all, he was the man who lived at the center of her heart. Marrying him was the scene that had made her wake laughing from countless dreams. No matter how she looked at it, getting that license wasn’t a loss. On the other end, Connor seemed caught off guard by how quickly she agreed. He went quiet for a beat. Susanna snorted. “What? You scared now?” “What would I be scared of?” Connor snapped back to himself, gripping his phone tight. “Tomorrow morning. I’ll wait for you at Jonestown Airport. Book the earliest flight back.” Honestly, he couldn’t wait another second. He wanted to drag her to the Civil Affairs Bureau right now. But it was the middle of the night. Even if he wanted that license, the staff wouldn’t bend for him. Susanna gave him a cold laugh and was about to hang up. She’d agreed—no point chickening out now. Connor hurried to add, “I know you can’t go public with the marriage right away. I’ll take care of the aftermath and have the Civil Affairs Bureau staff keep it under wraps.” “You’ve already pulled the dirty move of forcing a marriage. Don’t pretend you’re considerate now.” Susanna threw that line at him and hung up. Connor didn’t mind her jab one bit. The way she said it sounded like she was pouting—teasing, even. She wasn’t truly mad. He could hear it. She just had to prick him with her tongue. And his mood was sky-high anyway. The thought that tomorrow they’d finally make it official tugged his lips up without stopping. Still, after the rush, he got practical. He called Levi Square and asked him to set up confidentiality with the Civil Affairs Bureau. Over the years, Levi had been swimming like a fish in Jonestown’s business and political circles. A favor like that needed him to make the call.