Chapter 416

Marriage Certificate

“W-What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Matthew said with a cold chuckle. “Get it yet?”

“You—For crying out loud, Matthew, you call yourself a human? You’re no better than an animal, f*ck
you! Veronica must have been kicked in the head to fall in love with someone like you!” Xavier snapped
incredulously. Then, he threw his head back and laughed maniacally. “But now that I think about it, I
can see why you’re so obsessed with her. She has incredibly soft skin and there’s a certain part of her
body that’s… Well, let’s just say it’s deliciously tight, shall we? I’m guessing you didn’t get that far with
her yet, huh? She’s practically untouched!”

Men often lost all sense of reason when their rage was at its peak and Xavier was downright furious
after seeing the humiliation his sister had been put through. He wanted to probe Matthew’s anger and
see the man snap.

Unfortunately for him, Matthew had no plans to let him have the satisfaction. Granted, his fingers
tightened on the cigarette he was smoking, but there was hardly a trace of emotion on his handsome
face as he raised his free hand to signal the bodyguards. The bodyguards understood what he meant
and within the next second, Xavier was dragged before the guards and had his clothes shredded on
the spot.

He tried to struggle, but he was no match for the guards who eventually pacified him and reduced him
into a defeated heap.

Grunting, he then spat out menacingly, “Kill me if you’ve got the guts, Matthew! Come on, do it!”



Presently, he was pinned in the most embarrassing position against the chair. One of the bodyguards
held Xavier’s hands firmly on his back and held his head in place by grabbing a fistful of his hair. One
of his legs was broken, so he could not retaliate even if he wanted to. He suffered in silence while the
guards had their way.

Having never witnessed something like this before, Melissa started crying and whimpering as she lay
on the ground like a pile of trash. Her legs were untied and now that the other guards had turned to
target Xavier, she was left alone. She scooted into an upright position and used her knees to pull the
rag out of her mouth. Now that she could speak again, she shrieked miserably, “Why are you doing this
to him, Matthew? Let him go! Please, you can’t do this to him!”

She tried to crawl over to Xavier, but just as she was about to throw herself over him to shield him, one
of the guards kicked her to the side.

“Ow!” she yelled as she fell backward. When she hit the ground, the impact seemed to have rattled her
brains and her whole body ached.

“Your sibling bond is the stuff of fairytales,” Matthew drawled sarcastically with an insidious smirk,
though there was hatred and contempt in his eyes.

He never considered himself a nice person and he had already let the Crawford siblings off the hook for
Veronica’s sake. Since they had not appreciated his mercy then, they could only reap what they sowed
now.

“It would be unkind of me to deprive these siblings the chance to show how much they care for one
another,” Matthew added icily with a humorless smile. Then, he rose to his feet and gave Troy a
pointed look.

“Yes, sir,” Troy said with a nod while a chill ran down his spine when he felt the air around Matthew
grow cold. As harsh as the punishments were, he had to agree that Xavier, Melissa and Tiffany all got



what they deserved.

The trio were admittedly birds of the same feather; they all resorted to underhanded and ruthless ways
to get what they wanted and they were used to plotting against others as well as scheming. It was only
too bad that they picked on the wrong person this time!

Matthew walked away and ignored the torrent of abuse and howls of agony which echoed after him.
Xavier and Melissa should have known that things would not end well for them and no one could be
blamed for their lack of better judgment.

Tiffany, on the other hand, could not die just yet. If she did, then no one would go to Africa with the
Crawford siblings.

That afternoon, Centian Group officially went out of business. Hendric tried to look for Xavier and
Melissa, but when he could not find them, he decided to rally the other family members and left
Bloomstead.

The company might not have cash or capital, but Hendric had been in the business world long enough
to know how important it was to save up for a rainy day. He knew that his life would be a mess if the
company crumbled and the debt collectors started calling round the house to demand payment with
interest, so he packed up and left the city with his savings.

Matthew did not say anything upon hearing this and decided that he would not go after Hendric
anymore.

The next day, Matthew was with Veronica when he got a call from Troy, who cut to the chase and
stated, “The Crawford siblings are on their way to Africa right now.”

The siblings had lasted torture from yesterday afternoon all the way until this morning, which to a
certain extent was impressive, given the number of people who were there to dole out their



punishments and the amount of time it would have taken for the deed to be done. It was tough, but
Matthew knew Xavier and Melissa would not die; indeed, their deaths were never part of his plan to
begin with.

“Got it,” Matthew answered.

…

Three months later, Veronica finally recovered from her broken arm, which had been grievously injured.
During the time of her recovery, she stayed at Twilight Condominium where Matthew took gentle, loving
care of her and they were clearly crazy about each other.

Yvonne had been staying with Veronica at first, but eventually she got sick of seeing Veronica and
Matthew acting all lovesick and moved back to her own place out of frustration.

As for her baby, Yvonne had made up her mind to keep it and she was already six months into her
pregnancy. Veronica thought she was being rather stupid to insist on giving birth to the child, but at the
same time, she could not help admiring her for her strong sense of responsibility. It took a lot of
courage to prioritize an innocent baby and bring them into the world, even if it would be at the expense
of one’s long-term happiness.

Early one morning, rustling sounds and soft panting filled the bedroom. Veronica was starting to get
used to Matthew’s certain morning activity.

When the deed was done, she lay in his arms and wrapped a slender arm around his waist, then
closed her eyes as she caught her breath.

Matthew pinched her nose lovingly and said, “You know how the doctor said you’ve recovered
completely when we went for the appointment yesterday? Does that mean we can get our marriage



certificate tomorrow?”

“No!” Veronica turned him down flatly.

He looked grim as he gently pinched her cheek with his right hand and asked warningly, “What did you
just say?”

She opened her eyes and smiled coyly. “I said, I don’t want to go and get the marriage certificate with
you.”

“Why? Are you regretting your decision?”

“A little,” she said playfully as she moved to ease herself onto the bed, then drew circles on his chest
lazily. “I just figured that there’s some good sense in not having a marriage certificate between us, you
know? If I was to put our marriage on record, then I wouldn’t be able to seduce the other gorgeous men
out there. I don’t think I want to tie myself down to one guy for the rest of my life, not yet, anyway.”

When he heard this, Matthew slid his arm around her waist and flipped her so that he was on top of
her. He growled, “Say that again.” He was sufficiently provoked.

Trying to keep herself from laughing, Veronica feigned seriousness and said, “I’ve been with you for
three months now and I’m getting bored.”

“Rosalie. Murphy!” Matthew bit out. “You’re just asking for trouble.” He gave her a hard slap on her
bottom, then leaned down as though he was going to show her who was in charge.

However, when she saw that he was falling for her lies, she laughed and said, “I was only kidding,
grumpy-pants.” She reached under the pillow with one hand while wrapping her free arm around his
neck. “Here you go!” she sang as she proffered a folder. “I’ve already got my official paperwork sorted
out yesterday. Now, we’re all set to get our marriage certificate today!”



Matthew narrowed his eyes at the plot twist, then said, “Too late.”


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