Chapter 17
Both Cordelia and Marcus were startled. Marcus exchanged a glance with Cordelia, signaling for her to stay inside while he went to answer the door.
Outside stood Seth, looking anxious.
“Marcus, I heard you beat someone up…” Before Seth could finish his sentence, he noticed the bloodstains on Marcus and gasped. “Oh my god, it’s true!”
“It was just a few thugs,” Marcus replied nonchalantly. “I didn’t hit them too hard. They won’t die.”
“Didn’t hit them too hard?” Seth pulled him aside and whispered urgently, “You crushed their organs! They need to be sent to the hospital now!”
Marcus raised an eyebrow, his expression unfazed. Those men had been asking for it, and he didn’t feel guilty. If they had died, it wouldn’t have been too much of a loss.
“Right, there’s one more man whose leg you broke, right?” Seth’s panic grew. “Do you know that the guy’s father is—”
“What does his father have to do with me?”
“Bro, they’ll come after you for revenge, for sure!”
Marcus tossed his bloodstained shirt aside and started changing into a clean one. He knew those guys came from powerful families—one was the village head’s son, another the town leader’s nephew—but they had been trouble for far too long, and he had been wanting to teach them a lesson.
“You know what, why don’t you leave with your wife first? Hide somewhere?” Seth suggested. “These people aren’t easy to handle. Wise men know better than to fight when the odds are against them. Don’t get into a fight with them!”
Marcus was about to refuse, but his eyes caught Cordelia standing by the bedroom door, looking at them.
“I think… it’s not necessary for us to hide,” she said softly.
Marcus looked at her in surprise. “Why?”
“We’re not the ones in the wrong,” she said firmly. “Those guys harassed me in broad daylight. They provoked us. We were just defending ourselves!”
Marcus gazed at her with admiration, not expecting her to be so independent and fearless, despite her soft exterior. He smiled.
“I know it’s not your fault!” Seth replied weakly. “But their families have power and influence…”
“I don’t care,” Cordelia said with a smile. “Besides, they can’t possibly be unreasonable even if they’re influential, right?”
“Well…”
“Hmm, my wife is right.” Marcus nodded in agreement, turning to Seth. “This is how my woman should be.”
Cordelia blushed, ducking her head shyly.
Seth sighed, clearly frustrated. “You two…”
“It’s fine. Thank you for your kind warning,” Marcus said, patting Seth on the shoulder. “Do you want to stay and eat with us?”
Seth quickly waved them off.
Although Marcus wasn’t scared of those men coming after them again, he did consider moving out of the village. After his fight with the thugs, they would surely realize he wasn’t the Marcus Grist they used to know. Gossip in the village spread fast, and his identity might get exposed. It would be better to leave sooner rather than later.
…
A few days later, Marcus and Cordelia moved to the city center of Jangasas. Cordelia was puzzled by the move, but Marcus explained that there were more opportunities in the city, so she didn’t press him further. Plus, the city would be closer to the hospital, making it more convenient for her to take care of her mother.
They rented a small apartment. Despite its modest size, Cordelia made it homey—tidying up, buying new blinds, and changing the sheets. The dining table had a cheerful checkered apple-green tablecloth, and a few stalks of tulips were arranged in a glass vase by the window.
Marcus glanced around, thinking of his past life. The Hamerton mansion, grand and sprawling across tens of thousands of square meters, perched on a hill like a castle. Everything about it screamed luxury—from the finest chefs to the most opulent furnishings.
But none of that compared to this—this simple, clean, warm space, and the meals Cordelia cooked for him. It felt more like home than anything he had experienced before.
“What’s up?” Cordelia asked, noticing his gaze. “Is the food not to your taste?”
Marcus smiled. “It’s alright.”
“Have more then,” she urged. “Oh, Linda got me a job. It’s a sales position at the company she’s working at. I start tomorrow.”
“So fast?” Marcus raised an eyebrow. “Is the company listed? What’s its annual sales volume? Who runs it?”
The barrage of questions caught Cordelia off guard. She hadn’t thought much about the company, since she was just starting out as an entry-level saleswoman working on commission. Who cared about the company’s bigwigs?
“Uh… I’ll ask when I start work.”
What Cordelia hadn’t anticipated was that her superiors would be Jesse Ford and Karine Carmichael.
Jesse, her senior from university, had once pursued her relentlessly, but she had rejected him. At the time, her mother’s illness had been her priority, and Jesse’s snobbish attitude had repulsed her.
As for Karine, she had been Jesse’s rebound after his failed pursuit of Cordelia, and that had bred resentment toward her.
Now, the realization that she would be working under both of them at the same company was a shock.