Faux Vows, True Desires

Chapter 256

Seeing Cecilia coughing badly, Owen's first instinct was to go up and lightly pat her on the back.

But just as he was about to move, he saw Cecilia's mother gently patting her daughter's back while saying, "Take it easy; no one's competing with you for the drink, and no one's cracking jokes; how can you still choke?"

Owen quietly backed off the step he was about to take.

"Mom, I'm fine." Cecilia finally recovered after coughing for a good while.

Taking advantage of her mom's distraction, she shot Owen a deadly glare.

She nearly choked on her milk because of him!

Owen silently accepted her stare.

He felt a little wronged. They were married now; what was wrong with him being friendly towards her mother?

He thought he was doing nothing wrong.

If Cecilia knew his thoughts, she would throw a fit.

Who was it that made her give up years of her youth to repay a favor?

Who said they were only having a sham marriage?

Who told her not to fall in love with him?

Since it was a sham marriage and they weren't a real couple, they should be polite but not overly affectionate!NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.

"Hi, Becca."

Once Cecilia stopped coughing, Owen greeted her again.

Because the Martinez family had tricked the Yates family and conned Cecilia's grandfather into setting up a blind date between Cecilia and Owen, the Yates family wasn't too fond of the Martinezes.

Although Cecilia's mother wouldn't kick Owen out, she wasn't particularly welcoming him, her face devoid of any welcoming expression.

She asked indifferently, "Mr. Martinez, what brings you here today? If it's nothing important, please leave. Our house isn't big; we wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Becca, I'm here to express my gratitude," Owen replied politely, completely devoid of the arrogance of a rich man.

Cecilia quickly finished her breakfast.

Owen had hoped that she could say something on his behalf, but seeing that she only cared about her breakfast, he felt rather frustrated.

Cecilia quickly finished her breakfast, got up, carried her dishes into the kitchen, and kindly reminded her mother, "Mom, he's a guest; we should be nice to him."

"Go wash your dishes," was all Cecilia's mother said.

Then she turned to Owen, noticing the big and small packages of gifts he brought. She pointed and asked, "Mr. Martinez, what's the meaning of this?"

"Mom, Mr. Martinez says Cecilia did him a big favor. He brought these gifts to say thank you. He says the favor was a big one; without Cecilia's help, he would have been left with nothing. He felt obliged to express his gratitude in person."

Hudson explained, politely inviting Owen to sit down.

"You're almost late for work; get going." Devon glared at his grandson and shooed him off to work, then he took a seat opposite Owen.

Becca was a bit skeptical and followed her into the kitchen.

She planned to interrogate her daughter in the kitchen; how on earth was she able to help Owen?

Owen noticed the old man liked to smoke, so he wanted to pull out a pack to offer him, only to find he didn't bring any. He was an occasional smoker himself, only lighting up when he was in a bad mood.

He turned his head and signaled his bodyguards to put the gifts on the table, then whispered to one of them to quickly go to a nearby supermarket to buy some cigarettes for the old man.

He did prepare gifts for every member of the Yates family; he just forgot about cigarettes. Probably because he didn't smoke regularly, he overlooked the importance of cigarettes in certain situations.

Devon's indifference made Owen feel a bit awkward sitting there.

His grandfather had sent him to the Yates family to make his presence felt, but all he managed to do was feel awkward.

His grandfather didn't dare come himself for fear of being kicked out by Devon, leaving him to deal with the awkwardness.

If it were the old Owen, he wouldn't stick around for a minute longer.

However, the current Owen, every time he felt awkward and wanted to leave, would think of Keith.

The handsome guy who had Savannah as his strong supporter, whose aura was no less impressive than his own, and who always made Cecilia smile when they talked.

Owen thought resentfully that Cecilia was never this nice when she was talking to him, always being sarcastic.

After a while, Cecilia and her mother came out.

Cecilia kindly poured him a glass of water and kept winking at him as she handed it over, saying, "I just found Mr. Martinez's black card and returned it to him; it's the right thing to do."

Owen's eyes flickered.

He had thought about using the black card as an excuse when he lied, but he didn't expect Cecilia to think the same way.

Did this mean they were on the same wavelength?

A smile appeared on Owen's face, and he gratefully said, "All my wealth was on that card; if lost or picked up by someone else, I would have been left with nothing. Luckily, Ms. Yates found it and returned it to me; it was a big favor and saved me from bankruptcy. I brought some gifts today to express my gratitude, but it still doesn't seem enough. Ms. Yates, is there anything else you need? Just say it; I will meet your needs."

After he finished, he looked at Cecilia with a smile, almost able to see the expectation in his eyes: Come on, tell me what you need! I'm in a good mood; I'll satisfy you! Money, fancy cars, mansions, I can give you all!

Cecilia: I want a faithful, handsome, and mild-tempered man as my husband; can you satisfy me?

Owen: How do you think I measure up?

Cecilia: Get lost!

"Thanks, but I don't need anything right now."

Becca suddenly asked, "Black card? How could Mr. Martinez's black card be lost? And how could Cecilia find it? How could Cecilia be sure the card she found was yours? Even if your card was really lost, couldn't you report it lost to minimize the loss?"

Owen was speechless.

Cecilia was speechless.

Damn, moms were tough to fool.

Owen quickly shot a look at Cecilia.

Cecilia quickly covered, "I was at the bank that day and happened to see Owen coming out. He was fumbling for his phone in his pocket when his black card fell out. I picked it up and gave it back to him."

Owen agreed, saying, "Yeah, I didn't even know I'd dropped my black card. Lucky for me, Ms. Yates found it and gave it back."

Becca watched the two of them, smelling a rat but without any proof.

In the end, she could only say, "It's no biggie, Mr. Martinez. We're already over the moon with your gratitude. You should take these back."