Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Her Uncle Called As she met Julian’s earnest gaze, Annalise almost agreed to his suggestion. However, she immediately regained her senses and rejected coldly, “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.” She would think of a way to get back the inheritance left for her by her mother, which her uncle, Kent Barton, had seized from her.

When the elevator reached the first floor, she pushed Julian’s hand aside. However, he moved quicker than she expected, quickly pulling Annalise and trapping her against the elevator’s wall again. Then, he reached out his hand and pressed the button for the twentieth floor. The elevator went up slowly again.

Annalise was infuriated as she cursed inwardly, “This bastard. You asked for it, so don’t blame me for what happens next!” She was just looking for an outlet to vent her anger. Twisting her neck left and right, she released popping sounds from her neck joint and raised her knee abruptly. However, the image of him hunching over in pain upon impact did not greet her eyes. Instead, Julian swiftly dodged Annalise’s attack. Annalise’s eyes instantly turned serious, and she immediately elbowed Julian’s chest. “Ugh!” he grunted painfully, as he did not manage to avoid the blow this time. Bam! Annalise showed no mercy as she struck him on the chest with her other elbow. “Ouch!” Julian groaned, clutching his chest. Annalise warned, “Be more polite when you treat women in the future. I was pretty lenient on you this time. Next time, you won’t be so lucky if you meet someone who has a bad temper.”

“Hey, you should consider my suggestion! We will help each other out for just three months. Besides, since I obviously won’t be able to win against you in a fight, you won’t have to worry about me taking advantage of you either,” Julian said, still clutching his chest. “Huh! This woman’s more interesting than my report showed,” he thought. Just then, Annalise frowned as she recalled what Abigail had said to Benjamin earlier. “What if she found out that everything you’d done for her was actually to help me get the shares her mother left her?” Abigail had asked Benjamin. Then, the words Benjamin had spoken to Annalise flashed across her mind as well. “Annalise, your family has a marriage contract with the son of the Parks family of Jadeborough. If Abigail does not marry him, then you will have to…” There was no way Annalise would marry a fifty-two-year-old man. However, Benjamin had a point. Moonlight Group, which was left for her by her mother, was now managed by her uncle, Kent. Thus, Annalise had limited access to it. If Kent were to use the company’s shares to threaten her into marrying the eldest son of the Parks family. Annalise would undoubtedly be manipulated by them. As she thought of that, her eyes turned grim. “Instead of letting others control me, I might as well take charge of my own fate,” she thought. With that, she looked toward Julian. “May I know how I should address you?” “Julian Parks,”

he introduced himself, stretching his hand out to Annalise. “I’m Annalise Barton, Annalise uttered as she shook his hand, thinking it was quite a coincidence that his last name also happened to be “Parks.”

She could already imagine Kent’s reddened face when she showed him the marriage certificate.

Pleased with that thought, Annalise asked, “When will you be free for us to register our marriage?” Now that she had made the decision, it would be best to settle the matter as soon as possible. After all, the marriage was only supposed to last for three months. “I’m free right now. What about you?” Julian asked. “So am I,” Annalise replied. After removing her name from her household registry with her family last week, she now owns her own account. Luckily, she had it with her in her bag. “Glad to hear that.

Let’s head to the City Hall now, then,” Julian replied. Annalise drove while Julian played on his phone.

He sent a message on WhatsApp swiftly. It read: “Have my household registry sent to the City Hall at once!” Two hours later, they received the marriage certificate. Seeing the last few digits of Julian’s ID card printed on the marriage certificate, Annalise looked at him in surprise. “You’re not from Horington?” “Uh-huh,” Julian answered. “Can I look at your ID card?” Annalise inquired. She did not notice that when they had registered their marriage earlier. He handed her his ID card without hesitation. “You’re from Jadeborough?” she asked, as his address was an address of Jadeborough.

With that, Annalise questioned in surprise again, “Are you related to the Parks family of Jadeborough?”

“Yes, I’m from the Parks family,” Julian replied. “Hmm,” she hummed in response before returning the ID card to him. Since they had already registered their marriage, it was meaningless to care where he was from at this point. The marriage was only for three months anyway. In the meantime, Annalise would claim back the company her mother had left for her as quickly as possible. Once three months were up, they would go their separate ways. On their way back, Annalise asked Julian, “Should I’drop you off at the hotel, then?” “No. Let’s go to Golden Lux instead,” he stated. Golden Lux was the biggest jewelry franchise in Chanaea. Annalise did not ask him why he wanted to go to Golden Lux. She just drove toward the biggest Golden Lux located in Horington immediately. “We’re here,” she announced.

“Let’s get out, then,” Julian said. “I’m not going,” Annalise rejected. Just then, she thought Kent might possibly suspect that the marriage certificate was fake. Thus, she asked, “How long will you be staying in Horington? Are you free tomorrow? If you’re free, can you accompany me to meet my uncle? You just need to tell him that we have truly registered for our marriage, and that’s it.” “Okay. Get out of the car now,” Julian reiterated. “I said I’m not going,” Annalise refused again. Glancing at her bare ring finger, Julian said, “We have registered for our marriage, yet you don’t even have a ring on you. Do you think your uncle would believe you?” Thinking about that for a mornent, Annalise realized he had a point. “All right.” She got out of the car with Julian instantly. As long as she paid for it with her money, there should be no problem. Julian went to the section of the shop displaying matching diamond rings.

“Do you like this one?” he asked, pointing at a set of rings worth over 135 thousand dollars. “You don’t have to mind me. I’m good as long as you like it,” Annalise uttered. Since it was only a front meant to fool Kent, she thought it did not matter what kind of design they chose. As for the price, she could afford it.. “We would like to have a look at this set, please.” Julian had the shop assistant take out the rings. Then, he tugged Annalise’s hand, trying to test the ring on her. However, she retracted her hand immediately. “I’ll do it myself.” Just when she was about to slip the ring onto her ring finger, Julian snatched the ring and grabbed her hand. “The husband has to put the wedding ring on his wife.”

Annalise fell speechless. “Has this guy gotten addicted to acting? Forget it. I’ll just let him be, then,” she thought. Thus, she let him put on the wedding ring on her finger. Watching how sincerely he did it, she suddenly felt an inexplicable pang in her heart. She never thought breaking up would be so painful. No matter how hard she tried to divert her attention, it was still agonizing. Even though Benjamin was an utter jerk, her heart still ached when she thought about him. “It looks good on you,” Julian complimented, observing the ring on Annalise’s finger with a look of satisfaction. Then, he pushed the box of the wedding ring toward her before stretching his hand out. Annálise quickly snapped out of her daze upon seeing his long and slender fingers in front of her. She took the men’s version of the ring from the box and slipped it onto Julian’s ring finger. Afterward, Julian tugged Annalise’s hand, clasped their hands together, and took a picture. “I’d like to take a picture as well,” stated Annalise. However, just as she was about to take out her phone to snap a picture, her phone rang. It was a call from Kent.

Annalise’s face fell instantly. “What is it, Uncle Kent?”- Kent’s voice came on the phone. “Anna, when are you coming back? There’s something I need to talk to you. about.” “I’ll be back at night,” she replied coldly. “All right. You continue with what you’re doing. Be sure to come back early.” With that, Kent ended the call. “Was that your uncle?” Julian asked. “That’s right.” Annalise nodded. “Later, we should learn more about each other’s particulars over dinner. We can’t call each other wrong names in front of your uncle, can we? I’ll see your uncle tomorrow morning,” he suggested. “All right,” Annalise concurred. She couldn’t agree more with what Julian just said. They should indeed learn more about each other’s backgrounds first. Then, Julian handed his credit card to the shop assistant to pay for the rings. Annalise swiftly took out her own card as well upon seeing that. “I’ll pay for the ladies’ version of the rings.”