You have always been told that money can be the root of all evil.
But is it really?
Daniel Richardson has always been around wealth. Having been raised by rich strangers, living in a home where he was only spoken to when he was seen. Years later, th...
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"Don't you think the wedding was lovely?" As Angela and Maria ate from the buffet the following morning, Angela remarked. Thankfully, the majority of the visitors had already departed, and only the family was gathering for brunch. Over the course of twenty-four hours, Maria had more encounters than she had in her whole life. For the wedding, Jonah and Cleo's clientele as well as their friends attended. There were several unscrupulous persons who worked for her cousin Ethan, as well as old family friends who knew her father. The wedding was wonderful, although there were several guests. She could hardly hold her head up by the time she and Daniel returned to their room. He still made love to her despite that, but it wasn't an all-night affair. It was indeed so nice that the remaining butterflies in her stomach did flips.
"It was truly fantastic, but I'm exhausted. When do you two depart?"
"The jet is actually waiting for us right after this. Matthew wanted to start going over everything tonight because we have a huge meeting in the morning."
"You people work a lot, don't you think?"
"We do, but he and I both adore it. Without that, we wouldn't bother. "
"I suppose. Simply put, it looks really stressful. "
With a smirk, Angela remarked, "Only the good kind. Listen, I know it's not my place to meddle in your partnership with Matthew and Jonah, but I just wanted to express how happy I am that you did. They both find it to be very important, but I think they did a terrible job of conveying it."
After turning, they moved toward the table. "They did first, but last night I discovered that perhaps we aren't so dissimilar after all after knowing more about them. None of us appeared to have had a particularly happy childhood."
"No, they most definitely did not. Matthew keeps saying that he wants you to know, but he also doesn't want to hurt your perception of him, Jonah, or the family."
"That seems reasonable, I suppose."
When they rounded the corner, Maria came to a complete stop. They weren't more than five feet from the table, where Daniel was seated with a stunning blonde hanging all over him. In full view of her relatives.
"Who's that?" Maria was roused from her disbelief when Angela posed the question.
"I... I'm not sure."
As Angela gently prodded Maria to move forward, Maria felt a hand on her back. " Come on, I'll check."
Angela set her meal down as they drew near the table, but Maria was unable to make it to her seat. She was obstructed by the woman who was standing close to Daniel. Even the word "standing" wasn't appropriate. As she giggled, she leaned into him and wrapped her arm into his.
"Dan, stop being so foolish. Simply introduce me to your local little buddies."
Both Jonah and Ethan squirmed in their seats in response to the "little" remark. Daniel looked dejected when his eyes met Maria's, but he moved away from the blonde, took her plate, and drew out a chair so she could sit.
His focus was drawn back to her by the nasal voice lady, "Dan?"
"All right, everybody, this is Nicole, an old buddy from my childhood. This is the Cox family, Nicole. This weekend, Jonah and Cleo are getting married, and I'm a guest there. "
While Cleo glared at the woman with a dagger in her eye, Jonah gave her a curt nod.
"Childhood friend? Dan, be sensible. We're getting married. Long-standing relationships exist between my family and the Richardsons, and shortly we will merge the businesses of our fathers to more than double the size of Richardson Properties. Don't you think, honey, that we should move this renovation up the list of projects now that we have seen it in person?"
Maria was speechless with shock. She felt Daniel's hand on her shoulder being swatted away by her cousin's arm as it reached behind her. Married? He was going to marry, and why did she decide to elevate this property up the renovation priority list?
Alongside his two closest buddies, Sebastian and Bruno, Ethan remarked, "I think you should leave."
"Leave? I believed breakfast had just begun. I'll signal the waitress to bring me another place setting."
Sebastian placed his hand on his belt and said, "He wasn't talking to you, but you should go too."
"Hold on, wait. Before we leap to assumptions, maybe Daniel should explain what's going on," Angela said, standing with her arms out. "Everyone just calm down for a minute. Perhaps this isn't what it appears to be."
Right, Matthew said, "Perhaps there is a perfectly logical explanation why a woman is standing in front of us claiming to be Maria's boyfriend's fiancée."
"Boyfriend? You two are dating? Dan, you could do so much better, please. With that hair and being a Cox, she reminds me of a guy. You know your mum was right about what she said about them. If you want to mess about, go ahead, but at least act with some respect."
Daniel practically dragged the woman from the restaurant as he yelled, "Nicole, that's enough." He grabbed hold of the woman's arm.
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