Chapter 5

Jeremy raised his head slightly and narrowed his eyes while staring at the small empty balcony. After a brief moment, he said, "You can lead the guys in for now." "Well, uhh…" Tommy was surprised, but he did not dare to question Jeremy's order. Therefore, he could only take the order and wave his hand to give the men behind him a signal. "Everyone, come on in with me." The Holdens' wedding entourage was blocked by bridesmaids begging for gifts at the door of the Carews' villa, making for a particularly lively atmosphere. No one noticed that the groom had gone around to the back door of the villa. There, a girl was strolling out of the villa while humming 'Wedding March' happily. She had barely walked far when a hand grabbed the back of her collar. As a result, her entire body had been lifted into the air, and both her feet were dangling helplessly. "Did you think you could just run away?" The man's voice was sonorous. There were strong hints of aggression in his tone along with an undertone of coldness. Corinne was not facing the man, but she immediately recognized Jeremy’s voice. She was surprised that Jeremy had recognized her with just a glance from afar earlier. Even so, she was ready for that eventuality. Corinne turned to look at Jeremy and spoke with a lisp in a feigned tone. She stammered and said, "M—M—Mister? Who are you? Why are you p-pulling me?" Jeremy was stunned when he saw her face. He swiftly let go of her in an instant in shock. The woman in front of him had plenty of moles on her face, a unibrow, sausage lips, and eye shadows in all colors. Her appearance was exceedingly ugly. Corinne's heart filled with glee at the sight of Jeremy's expression after he had been frightened by her ugly appearance. She continued to play dumb and said in a daze, "Mister, you're getting m—married, yes? You went t—t—the wrong way! You need to go the fuc— "I mean, the f—front door! Your b—bride is waiting there!" Jeremy narrowed his eyes, stared coldly at the ugly girl in front of him, and nearly believed her act. His thin lips curled up in a smile and said, "Is that so? Then why are you wearing the Holdens' unique engagement ring?" With that, he grabbed her hand and raised it to gaze at the diamond ring on her ring finger. Corinne was speechless. Her ruse had been exposed! It was not that she forgot to take it off, but the ring seemed to have taken root on her finger. She was unable to take it off, regardless of how hard she tried. Jeremy's charming eyes were dark and discerning. He could see what she was thinking, so he explained it by saying. "You don't need to waste all that effort. This ring is made of platinum that has been mixed with some special materials. The only way to take it off is to lubricate it with a special essential oil." Corinne gritted her teeth. That was some trick he had up his sleeve, and she had to give up running away now. "Now that it's come to this, I suggest that we have a frank conversation with each other. I know that you don't really want to marry me, and that you only need a wife in name for some ulterior reason. Am I wrong?" Jeremy did not answer, but he had to admit that she was a smart woman. Corinne said with a smile, "In that case, my sister Sherlyn is more than willing to marry you. She's more beautiful than me, and her figure is so much better than mine. Everything will work out perfectly if you marry her!" Jeremy narrowed his eyes, wondering if the girl in front of him was that averse to marrying him. In fact, she seemed to be trying to avoid him! It was something that never happened before. All the women he met in the past had tried their level best to get his attention and become his woman. However, he wanted someone who was not clingy. Jeremy pursed his thin lips and said, "I'll only marry the person who's wearing my engagement ring." Corinne frowned. "That should be easy then. Bring me some of that special essential oil. I'll take the ring off at once and return it to you. Then you can just give it to Sherlyn!" Jeremy shrugged. "I don't have any." "Then go buy some!" "Nobody produces it anymore. It's not something that can just be bought." "Oh, I see..." Corinne gritted her teeth. With a forced smile, she suddenly raised her hand and pointed behind the man, "Mister, look! It's a rainbow-colored pig!" Jeremy pulled a long face as the corners of his thin lips began twitching subtly. 'How childish.' The next second, Corinne, who was about to run away, was grabbed by the man again. Jeremy carried her on his shoulder and walked away nonchalantly, despite Corinne's attempts at trying to kick him. - Back at the villa, Tommy had just led the handsome best men into the living room when his phone rang. The caller was Jeremy. Tommy stopped and answered the phone. Then, he turned around and left with the other guys with a serious expression. Upon seeing that, the smug-faced Lilliana went blank for a moment before trotting up to them. She asked, "Where are you going, Mister Tommy? The bride is waiting right inside." Tommy looked at Lilliana and said, "Mister Jeremy has already gotten his bride himself." Lilliana was confused. "He has? But how? Sherlyn is still inside the house!" Tommy frowned. "Sherlyn? Ma'am, you must be mistaken. The woman whom Mister Jeremy intends to marry isn't named Sherlyn!" After that, he walked past Lilliana icily and led his men away without looking back. Lilliana was rooted to the spot, and her face was pale. She thought inwardly, 'What? I'm… mistaken?' All their relatives and friends began to speak in whispers. Everyone was trying to suck up to Marvin earlier, while now he was ridiculed by them. He felt so ashamed, and his expression was incredibly ugly. He turned around and lashed out at Lilliana for causing him to make a fool of himself. "What the hell is going on, Lilliana? Didn't you say that Mister Jeremy was going to marry Sherlyn?" Lilliana put on a helpless look and said, "I... I don't know how this happened! When the Holdens came to deliver the betrothal gifts to us that day, they said it was because they wanted to marry your daughter. They had all the gifts delivered to us! You saw that, didn't you, Marvin?" Marvin gave Lilliana a tight slap. "Our family has become the butt of jokes thanks to you! How could you make all these arrangements without confirming everything beforehand?" Sherlyn, who had been waiting for the groom to come and get her, heard her parents quarreling outside. She walked out of the room and asked, "Dad! Mom! What are the two of you doing?! Where's my groom? Where's Jeremy?" "Sherlyn, Mister Jeremy's people just said that there was a mistake. They've already left with the real bride!" Sherlyn turned pale in shock. "What? How could there be such a huge mistake, Mom? Wasn't Mister Jeremy going to marry me?" Lilliana covered the side of her face that had been slapped by Marvin. "Please don't blame me, Sherlyn. I'm confused, too..." The relatives who had long been fed up with Sherlyn’s and Lilliana's characters began to rub salt into the wound. "No point making a scene now that things ended this way, Sherlyn. When you think about it, it's pretty obvious that someone with Mister Jeremy's status would never want to marry a scandalous actress like you!" "Honestly, I was still trying to wrap my head around how you managed to establish a connection to a first-tier family like the Holdens. Turns out, it was all a mistake!" "You should just go back to being an actress, Sherlyn! After all, that's the only chance you get to marry a rich man! Hahaha!" Sherlyn could not bear the ridicule from all her relatives, so she gave Lilliana a resentful look before dashing off to hide in her room. Their snide remarks were infuriating, and she felt ashamed to face anyone ever again. One question remained unanswered: how could the mistake have happened? 'Didn't Mister Jeremy give me a ring?' She found it hard to accept reality, and she could not believe what was happening. 'What kind of woman did Mister Jeremy bring away and who is she? She has the same surname as mine. Is she also living nearby?'