#THE_LAST_MINUTE_GROOM_S3
©Sir_Zach
EPISODE 6
After she left, the first thing Emilee did was to run to the window and immediately pull the curtains together before she hurried back to her seat and tried to catch her breath.
Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as her heart beat fiercely against her rib cage, forcing her palms to produce sweat under duress.
‘That was a close call,’ she thought.
After a while, she started to relax and the fear that had gripped her a while ago began to diminish.
She fixed her gaze on the door and slowly whispered through gritted teeth. “Jeslyn, you shouldn’t have–”
The door was pushed open, startling Emilee into jumping up.
“Ma’am?” Her Assistant walked in with her brows furrowed at Emilee’s reaction.
Seeing who it was, Emilee breathed a sigh of relief before a storm brewed in her eyes. “The next time you barge into my office without prior notice, you’ll leave as a corpse, now get out!!”
The Assistant wasn’t sure what she had done wrong. Every time she knocks once before entering, today wasn’t an exception. What other way does her boss want her to enter her office?
Nevertheless, the Assistant bowed and apologized before dropping the documents on the desk and leaving.
“Jeslyn, you’ll pay for this,” she said under her breath before grabbing her phone to dial a number. “Do it,” she commanded and dropped her phone.
By the time Jeslyn got out of Yu’s company, Maverick was already waiting for her. They got into the car and left.
…
The next morning, Emilee woke up early to attend the rare meeting that takes place at the Yu residence once every two years.
When she arrived in her elegant black gown, a servant worked her to the ancestral hall before leaving.
Inside the hall were old and young men and women of different sizes, sitting there with condescending looks as some glared at others while others were murmuring and speaking in hushed voices.
But when they heard the clicking sound of heels on the marble floor, everyone turned to look at the door.
Lo and behold, it was the enemy of the family that they can’t touch or show their discontentment to.
Most of them flashed their teeth in wide grins as they welcomed Emilee. Although their hearts were bitter, they had no choice but to show courtesy to a stranger.
“Emilee, welcome, please have a seat, have a seat!” An elderly man gave his chest to Emilee in a bid to win her favor but Emilee, with her stone–cold face, blatantly ignored the man and sat on the head seat, ignoring the vacant seat that was close to the head seat.
The head seat used to be Damien’s while the vacant one was Ruben’s.
Taking that seat made a lot of people dissatisfied but because of the benefit she is about to bring to the family, no one said a thing.
“Welcome, CEO Emilee,” they greeted.
Emilee nodded stiffly with her nose tossed into the air, accompanied by a haughty expression.
“Now that everyone is here–”
“Are you starting a meeting without your head? The nerve of you all!”
Hearing that voice, everyone froze like thunder had just struck.
That voice!
Emilee knew it too well. She remembered it more than her own voice.
Damien! What is he doing here? No, when did he come out from hiding? She stationed people around all the entrances and exits of this Country, leaving an order to ki|| him on sight. Now what happened?!
On second thought, Emilee took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She stood up from the chair and turned around to face her nemesis.
“Damien, long time no see,” she forced a smile like nothing happened.
“You’re hale and hearty. That’s great. I would have been disappointed if I didn’t come back to meet you alive.” Damien responded while walking to his seat.
On getting to the head seat, Damien mercilessly shoved Emilee out of his way before sitting in his rightful seat. He rested his elbows on the handle of the seat, leaned forward, and smiled at everyone.
“Who missed me?” He asked but of course, nobody answered.
“Damien, why are you back?” A middle-aged man asked with a frown.
“Yes, you should have remained where you were.”
A few nodded and others turned their faces away.
“Hahahahaha… interesting.” he cackled like a crazy person. “Emilee, you did a great job. You didn’t disappoint me.” He smiled once more at Emilee.
“It’s only right that I pull the family out from falling out of the ranks.”
Emilee has indirectly reminded everyone of what Damien had done to the family months back.
“Damien, when you were the head, you didn’t do much for the family. However, thanks to Emilee, our Yu family will be taking part in the harvest of the Rainborite stone!”
“That’s right! Our Yu family doesn’t care about who the head is. What we care about is the person’s intention towards the family and Emilee has proved beyond doubt that she’s qualified to be the head of the Yu clan!”
“Yes!”
Different voices continued to echo their support for Emilee, indirectly telling Damien to scram!
Emilee, on the other hand, was smiling as she stood by the side to watch the show.
She never intended to tell the family about the Rainborite stone until Jeslyn started to make her move.
When her father was ki||ed and they sent his dead body back to prison with a letter that had the ink washed away by rain, she immediately knew that it was Jeslyn who did it.
She didn’t take the matter to heart because that spineless man indeed deserved to be ki||ed by whoever cared to.
When Emilee panicked and immediately informed some of the powerful elders of the Yu family about the Rainborite stone, was the time that Maverick eradicated the Wu faction in one day.
Although most people had no idea who the perpetrator of such a great disturbance was, Emilee pieced the puzzle and concluded it was Maverick.
Since it appeared that Maverick had begun to seek revenge for his wife, she needed all the power she can get to counter Maverick, so she thought of winning the Yu family to herself so that they could help her bring Maverick down before he strikes because once he strikes, there won’t be another chance to strike back.
Even though half of the people were in support of Emilee and voicing their opinions, Damien’s smile didn’t falter. His squinted eyes swept through the room and they rested on the three oldest men sitting behind some people in the room.
Damien’s pupils shrank. What are these deities doing here? He thought while his heart took a dive. When he entered, he didn’t notice them…
Not just him, even Emilee didn’t notice them when she entered, that was the reason why she was so arrogant earlier.
Every powerful family in Country M has some old figures that the family treats as ancestors.
To become a living ancestor of a family, an infant is taken at birth from a family member and sent out of the family into seclusion, together with the living ancestor who would nurture the child and teach him/her what to believe.
Because the child is not open to the ways of the world, they grow up with one judgment and mission; which is, the betterment of the family.
If the family isn’t falling, or there’s a matter that would raise the family’s status, those living ancestors will never show up.
To get to the level of an ancestor, one must be free of the desires of the world, have sound and unbiased judgment, and must not have direct offspring.
For the past decade, these three old men hadn’t gotten involved with the Yu family’s matters. Even when they were informed that Damien had forcefully taken over the head of the family, they didn’t come out.
When the news that an outsider had gained the support of the Elders to rule over the Yu clan got to them, these three old men didn’t make a move until they heard of the Rainborite stone.
While Damien was lost in thought to know why those men came out of seclusion, Emilee broke the silence and asked; “Damien, how is your health? Have you found a cure for the ATOM in you?” Emilee asked like she really cared. Meanwhile, it was another plan of hers to get those three old men who hadn’t said a thing since the meeting started to speak up.
The three old men spotting a long white beard sat in the room like they weren’t involved in the meeting. Those three Elders were the most feared and respected men in the Yu family. Even Damien and Ruben wouldn’t dare to batter words with them, because a command from any of them cannot be questioned or fought against.
These men hardly say a thing but wh@ťěver they say, must be approved as their words hold weight.
When Emilee suddenly became the Yu family’s head, they didn’t voice their approval or disapproval. Emilee did all she could to get them to approve, but still, nothing worked until she told them about the Rainborite stone.
Although they didn’t say anything, being in the meeting today means that they were interested in the Rainborite stone, so Emilee was elated.
After Damien was reminded of the virus in him, plus the appearance of the living ancestors, his nonchalant smile disappeared before he replied; “Thanks to my good friend, Lu Ren, I’m not dead.”
While saying that, Damien’s eyes were fixed on the living ancestors.
When the three men heard the name, Lu Ren, they slowly raised their heads to look at Damien for a fleeting second before looking away.
Of course, the people in the room know who Lu Ren is, except Emilee.
Aside from the Lu grandfather and Madam Caroline, no one else addresses Maverick by that name, which is why the majority doesn’t know him as Lu Ren.
The minority who know Maverick as Lu Ren are his friends, those in Organization, and the old people from the families that mattered, which included the living ancestors.
“You sought help from the Lu family? An enemy of our Yu family? Damien, what is your intention towards the Yu clan?” Emilee asked. When she worded it like this, what she meant cannot be more obvious.
The Elders, as usual, started glaring at Damien while grunting and gruffing in displeasure.
Because the three living ancestors naturally have a relaxed aura with calm personalities, people instinctively forget they are nearby. This is why, although they are sitting behind them, the Elders could behave as they want.
Damien shifted his gaze from the three old men to Emilee and asked with a smile on his lips. “What is the difference between seeking help from an enemy and having a stranger rule the clan? Hehe,” he chuckled.
“I’m a stranger without bad intentions!” Emilee h@ťěs it to her core when she’s reminded that she’s a stranger in this prosperous clan.
“A stranger without bad intentions caused the downfall of her own family, ruined all the small factions she joined previously, then schemed to get rid of the head of the clan just so she could be the new head.” Damien nodded. “I see you have no bad intentions.”
The three old men didn’t show any reaction even when they heard that because they already knew everything about everyone in and out of the Yu clan.
Emilee glanced at the people in the room. Most of them, if not all, already knew about her and everything she had done along the road to success but none of them cared about it. However, now that Damien was saying it again, she feared that the people would start to get ideas.
Forget the Elders. She was most concerned about the opinions of the three old men. Seeing that none of them spoke after a few minutes, Emilee breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Damien.
“I learned that from you, Master.” she smiled with her lips sealed. Of course, she didn’t want the people to forget what kind of person Damien is.
“Hahaha… you finally remembered I’m your master?” He leaned back in his seat and got into a lazy posture. “The Yu clan has a book of rules, written by the first ancestors of the Yu family. Although the book has been locked up in a section of the ancestral hall, this one was fortunate enough to come across it and read some chapters of it.”