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Chapter 2 It Will Be You

  • Evidently, Constance's words could not stop her son from continuing forward.
  • His interest was truly piqued by the fifth daughter of the Hoult family.
  • Rumor was that the youngest daughter of the Hoult family had gone to Mount Malachite to live with her grandmother.
  • Supposedly, she was ugly and a stutterer.
  • However, the way she had spoken earlier was clear and fluent. Thus, Lucien could not help but wonder if the rumors had been wrong.
  • Inquisitively, Lucien slowly went on the stage.
  • None of the guests had expected him to do that, so they were all watching him with slack jaws.
  • Right then, the woman said, “Father, let's continue the wedding.”
  • Now that Lucien was close to her, he realized that her voice had a crystal-clear quality to it. No matter how he mulled over it, he could not believe that voice belonged to an ugly stutterer.
  • “I...” The Salisbury family was the one who had hired the pastor, but the bride herself was asking for the continuation of the ceremony. The pastor had no idea whether to heed her words or not.
  • “Listen to her. Please continue,” Lucien uttered as he flashed a smile at the pastor.
  • “Mister, may I know your name?” Evidently, the pastor did not know who the stand-in groom was.
  • “Riviere. Lucien Riviere,” the man replied.
  • At that, the crowd gasped again.
  • Lucien Riviere? How can anyone in this city not know this name?
  • The Riviere family would emerge as the top family, even among the four prestigious families. They had been a wealthy family for at least a hundred years. Furthermore, there was only one male in every generation of that family, and it was the same even when it came to Lucien's generation.
  • If one were to ask how rich and influential the Riviere family was, the answer would be that the combination of the three other prestigious families would still fail to be on par with the Riviere family alone.
  • Furthermore, the current chairman of the chamber of commerce was Lucien's father, Guillaume Riviere.
  • Therefore, everyone was stunned silly when they heard that the stand-in groom of the day was none other than Lucien Riviere.
  • However, the bride seemed completely unfazed.
  • Afraid that the atmosphere would turn awkward again, the pastor relented and began reading the vows.
  • “Mr. Lucien Riviere, will you take this beautiful woman as your wife, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
  • Lucien hesitated for two seconds before replying, “Yes.”
  • “This boy of mine... How can he mess around like this?” Constance could feel her blood pressure rising as she watched her son abruptly marry someone.
  • Although the Salisbury family, too, found the whole situation preposterous, they were guilty of making things turn out this way. Hence, none of the Salisburys made a voice of protest.
  • After all, the second son of the Salisbury family was the one who had run off from the wedding, and he was the main character in that scandalous video earlier. That was how a proper wedding between two prestigious families had become a laughable moment.
  • The pastor then glanced at the bride before asking, “Ms. Seraphina Hoult, will you take this man in front of you as your husband, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
  • The bride's reply came almost immediately. “I do.”
  • “All right. From today onward, Mr. Lucien Riviere and Ms. Seraphina Hoult will be husband and wife. Dear guests, family, and friends, please put your hands together to cheer and bless them for their merry days to come.”
  • It took three seconds before unenthusiastic clapping echoed throughout the hall.
  • The reason for it was simple—no one could come back to their senses yet.
  • “Zachariah, this... this...” Elizabeth never thought that things would end up this way, and she was speechless.
  • On the other hand, Zachariah was calm and collected as he consoled his wife, “We're not losing out on this. For her to marry Lucien is a much better deal than Denver. Denver is just a good-for-nothing Salisbury. The Riviere family, on the other hand, only has one son—Lucien. In the future, Lucien will be the one to take over the family business. We, the Hoult family, are the winner today.”
  • A father who was concerned about the wins and the losses of a marriage instead of the happiness of his daughter was not a particularly good father. Nevertheless, that was how the wealthy families worked.
  • Right then, the voice of the pastor sounded out again. “Now, let us have the bride and groom to kiss as a sign of their love.”
  • Although Lucien had mentally prepared himself for that moment, he was still nervous when the time came.
  • It was his first time kissing a woman in over twenty years. Indeed, it was Lucien's first kiss.