Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Kimberly was always excited about the weekend. After playing around with Olivia, she couldn’t sleep at
all.
With nothing else to do, she logged on to Skype.
She hadn’t logged in for a while.
After returning to Dellmoor, she changed her phone number and uninstalled. WhatsApp.
However, she did not uninstall Skype as it contained many of her memories. She didn’t expect her
notifications to ring non-stop the moment she logged in. Other than a few system notifications, all the
other messages were from Daniel. They read: “Where are you, Katherine? Have you really divorced
Christopher?” “We’re all trying to contact you but can’t reach your phone number.”
“Please reply if you see these texts.”
“Our family’s currently in a hot mess. Christopher canceled all the collaborations with Xander Group.”
“I understand that we’ve wronged you in the past. For the benefit of our family, we made you marry
Christopher.”
Waves of messages flooded in non-stop. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.
Kimberly briefly skimmed through a few of them.
Daniel Xander was her brother.
In her memory, he was kind to her and treated her well. At least he was not like the other members of
the Xander family who tend to bully her.
She
e remembered that when they were in high school, she was bothered and harassed by a male
classmate.
When that happened, Daniel would appear and protect her from him.
However, Daniel became quiet and moody ever since their mother passed away. situation became
worse when Lucia joined the family.
The
Currently, Kimberly was no longer a member of the Xander family.
153 Mon, 22 Jan
Therefore, whether they were facing a crisis or not had nothing to do with her.
She was curious what the Xander family would do now that Kristin’s pleas were rejected by
Christopher.
Marriage of convenience was a trick that Gregory loved to use.
However, given how scheming a lady Lucia was, she probably would not sacrifice her own daughter in
a marriage of convenience. Especially not now that the Xander family had fallen from grace.
Her daughter wouldn’t be able to marry into a good family if the Xander family was in a bad state.
Thus, they would most likely sacrifice Daniel’s happiness instead..
In the study of the Xander residence, Gregory seemed more cheerful than usual.
He had never thought much of his son. Before this, he didn’t even like Daniel all that much. However,
now he felt like Daniel was a rare and precious gem.
Daniel was smart enough to know that something was off.
Gregory was not usually this warm toward him.
He shot Gregory a look and asked coldly, “Dad, it’s already late. Why did you call me? Is there
something urgent?”
Gregory grabbed him, and the both of them sat on the mahogany couch.
“I’m sure you know about the state our company is in. If we don’t find a solution soon, Xander Group
will vanish from Norham’s business industry. I’m already more than 50 years old and have lived more
than half of my life. However, you and Kristin are still young. I don’t want you to live in poverty in the
future.”
Daniel could tell that Gregory was beating around the bush, paving the way for what he was about to
say next.
It was obvious he wanted Daniel to be me ntally prepared for what was about to come.
Daniel’s patience was running thin. He interrupted Gregory, “Dad, please get straight to the point.”
Gregory felt grateful that Daniel knew what he was thinking. “Lucia and I have been thinking. It appears
that only you can save Xander Group.”
“Me?” Daniel was baffled.
Gregory looked at him and nodded. “That’s right, you. I plan to have you marry
someone from the Coleman family. I hear that Marissa, the daughter of the Coleman family, likes you. I
think that we can kill two birds with one stone. If you marry her, you can save Xander Group as well as
finally start a family of your own. Marissa is beautiful, well educated, and of high status. You two are a
match made in heaven.”
“As expected of you, Dad. First, you sold Katherine off. Now, you’re planning to sell me off as well.”
Daniel was upset at how pretentious Gregory acted.
“I know you’ve already made the arrangements anyway. You can go ahead with it!” With that, Daniel
strode out of the study.
At that moment, he felt emotionally drained.
When he heard that Katherine had divorced her husband and disappeared, he was pleasantly
surprised.
The news was like a spark that ignited a glimmer of hope in him.
Although he knew that the spark might turn into a fire and harm him, he couldn’t help. but feel happy for
her.
He was still frustrated when he returned to his room.
He lit a cigarette and turned on his computer.
Inside, there was a secret folder. He would open and look through it whenever he felt unhappy. It never
failed to make him feel better. It was like an instant drug that could cure him whenever he needed it to.
Inside the folder were pictures of Katherine. They were photographs of her at different stages of her
life.
Indeed, Katherine was the person who occupied the space in his heart.
At first, he refused to come to terms with the fact that he liked Katherine romantically. Therefore, he
was distant toward her.
At times, he couldn’t help but ask others to secretly take photos of her for him.
He was lost in his thoughts and did not notice that the cigarette between his fingers had already burned
to the butt.
The sensation of the cigarette burning his finger drew him back to reality.
These past few days, he had been calling that familiar phone number non-stop. Alas, it was always
busy.
No matter how many messages he sent her, he received no reply. He had no news of her at all.
He could only smile bitterly.
After all, she was determined to leave this place. There was no way she would let anyone find her that
easily.
While Daniel was troubled about the marriage, someone under the same roof was clated about it..
Gregory and Lucia were overjoyed after they got Daniel to agree to the marriage. They were so excited
that they couldn’t sleep.
They acted as if Xander Group had just received a contract worth billions of dollars.
Lucia picked up her phone and dialed Roxy’s number. She knew Roxy from her social gatherings with
the other socialite housewives. Roxy was the only person she knew who could connect her to the
Coleman family.
These women usually showed off their husbands, family backgrounds, and connections. to each other
whenever they gathered.
Gregory listened intently to the call. Lucia said very politely, “Mrs, Falcon, it’s me, Lucia. I talked to you
about mecting the daughter of the Coleman family yesterday. May I know if you’ve contacted them?”
Lucia was an emotionally intelligent woman. She once helped Roxy come up with a plan when the
latter was battling her husband’s mistress.
Therefore, Roxy was willing to help her with this request of hers.
Roxy also knew that if this marriage went well, it would benefit her as well.
She replied politely, “Don’t worry. I’ve already made the appointment. She’s free tomorrow. You should
choose the venue and send it to me. Let’s allow the two young ones to meet first. Then, we can discuss
further after that.”
Gregory had already gotten extremely excited as he listened. It seemed like his plan. would go
smoothly.
As long as Marissa married into their family, she could help Xander Group survive this
crisis.
They would treat her well and never wrong her in any way.
O