Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
Eustace nodded and solemnly said, ‘Rest assured, Graham. With me around. I’ll make sure no one dares to bully Danika.”
Not even he was allowed to do that.
The ceremony began. Eustace had planned everything, and it was undeniably touching. Danika almost burst out in tears from feeling touched several times.
In the audience, there were many others whose eyes watered emotionally, just like hers. Stephanie was happy for Danika, but she noticed another person sitting in a corner with teary eyes-Jolene.
Right now, she was still living in James’ villa. Danika’s wedding was exactly what she’d once yearned for. Sadly, James would never hold such a wedding for her.
Sensing her tearing up beside him, James glanced at her and asked,” What’s the matter? Are you feeling jealous and hate Danika for having the perfect wedding?”
“No, I’m just a little envious.” Jolene wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, speaking the truth. She meant what she said. Danika had the person who loved her by her side. Not only that, their parents watched over her and gave her their sincerest blessings.
But what about her? In the end, she was left with nothing.
“It’d better be as you said. If you dare to think or do anything to harm Danika, I won’t spare you,” James warned her.
Jolene’s back stiffened upon hearing his threat. She bit her lip and couldn’t help but ask, “James, what am I to you?”
Previously, she chose to stay because of her mother’s words. She thought that James would one day fall for her. That was why she didn’t leave.
However, despite staying with him for so long, she still hadn’t won him over or gained his affection.
More than once, she thought it would have been better if she’d left with her mother back then. That way, even if she couldn’t have James’ love, she would still have her freedom at least.
But now?
She had nothing; all she had was an unspoken identity that was in no way legitimate.
“What are you to me? What do you think you are?’ James sneered. Even when he saw that Jolene was evidently hurt, he didn’t relent in his choice of words. After all, she was the one who climbed into his bed in the first place. Later on, she made the decision to stay. James felt that he was blameless under any circumstance.
“Do you really have no feelings for me at all? We were together for-“
“What a joke! Do you think I would develop feelings for a calculating woman like you? You must be dreaming,” James cut her off.
“If you have no feelings for me, why didn’t you get married? Why did you let me stay in your villa?” By now, the whole of Bardoff City was aware of Jolene still living in James’ villa. No decent girl would be willing to marry James, knowing he had a woman living with him.
Her words caused James to frown; he was evidently displeased. “Do I need to inform you why I’m not getting married to anyone else? Mind your own business. It’s not in your place to worry about anything else.”
He was genuinely irritated, and Jolene could tell. But she couldn’t fathom the reason behind his sudden anger.
At the same time, Melanie also looked at Eustace and Danika, who were on the stage, enviously. “I really hope my wedding will be grand like theirs in the future.” As she said that, she couldn’t help but sneakily glance at Paul sitting next to her.
Unfortunately, Paul didn’t pay her any attention. Instead, he looked toward the other side as if naturally drawn to something over there. Melanie followed his gaze, and as she expected, she saw Stephanie.
Bitterness enveloped her heart in an instant. Although she and Paul had publicly announced their relationship, Paul didn’t consider her his girlfriend at all. He only took her out when he needed to put up a front. Melanie felt hurt but didn’t dare to speak up for herself. She was afraid she wouldn’t even be able to hold on to her fake relationship with Paul in the end.
“No matter what, I’m still his girlfriend now, right?” she comforted herself inwardly.
She’d heard that Stephanie and Leonard would start preparing fortheir wedding after Danika’s. Once they got married, Paul wouldn’t keep holding on to any hope of rekindling his relationship with Stephanie. By then, it would be Melanie’s chance to step in and perhaps claim his heart.
Paul had no idea what she was thinking. If he did, he would probably mock her for her unrealistic thoughts. He didn’t have any feelings for Melanie. Regardless of whether Stephanie got married or not, he would not develop any feelings for her whatsoever.
The wedding ceremony ended quickly, and then came the toasting session. Eustace went table by table, toasting merrily with Danika by his side. Danika didn’t drink much; it was mostly Eustace downing the alcohol. He didn’t mind it one bit because he was genuinely exhilarated.
After the toasting, Danika returned to the resting room, and Stephanie followed. ‘Danika, I can see that Eustace has put a lot of effort into this wedding.”
“I know, right? He handled almost everything, so I hardly had to worry about anything,” Danika agreed contentedly.
“Well, I’m not sure what to do for my wedding after seeing yours. We definitely won’t be able to match yours in terms of grandeur, so we’ll have to think of something unique instead.” Stephanie sighed, feeling a bit troubled.
Danika laughed in response. “Are you trying to compete with me?”
“No, it’s not that. Leonard and I are ordinary people, so there’s no need for us to have such a grand wedding like yours.” Many people attended
Danika’s wedding that day. Besides Eustace and Danika’s friends, a majority of the people present were business acquaintances. The guest list for Stephanie and Leonard s wedding wouldn’t include these people. Hence, their wedding shouldn’t be as large in scale; it could be a more intimate affair.
Danika listened to her woe like a true friend would, but she had no useful suggestions for Stephanie. “You figure it out yourself. I don’t have any good advice for you concerning wedding arrangements.”
“You’re super fortunate, Danika,” she said with a sigh. She wished to be carefree like Danika, but when she thought about Leonard…
If she didn’t take the helm, Leonard probably wouldn’t know how to make such arrangements either. Moreover, he was busier than her. She could foresee that the wedding preparations would probably become her responsibility.
“Now that you and Eustace are married, when do you plan to have children?” Stephanie asked an astute question, catching Danika completely off guard. She was so surprised that she paused in motion halfway through removing her makeup.
She turned to look at Stephanie disbelievingly. “Seriously? Are you urging me to have kids already?”
“To be fair, I thought we could discuss it later. We could get pregnant together. If we happen to give birth to a boy and a girl, they can become childhood sweethearts. If they’re both the same gender, they can become best friends too. Wouldn’t that be great?” Stephanie couldn’t help but fantasize about that. It seemed like a wonderful scenario to her.
Danika laughed reflexively but refused Stephanie’s proposal outrightly.” Sure. But well have to see how it goes. I’m not in a hurry to have a child, anyway.”
She was still young, after all. She felt she would be tied down and lose her freedom if she had children now.
After the wedding ended, Danika and Eustace saw everyone off and thanked them for being there on their big day. After that was done, they instructed their driver to take them back.
Eustace was so exhausted in the car that he slumped heavily against Danika’s shoulder. Nevertheless, there was still a smile on his lips as he suddenly said, “Wifey.”
Danika was taken aback for a moment when he addressed her like that.
“My wife,” Eustace spoke up again, opening his eyes and looking intently at Danika beside him. “I love you.”
Danika was someone who didn’t handle romantic gestures well. When Eustace said he loved her, it didn’t evoke the warm, mushy feeling that it should. On the contrary, it made her hair stand on end, and she even had goosebumps.
“You’re drunk. Go back and get some rest,” Danika replied, allowing Eustace to continue leaning on her to rest.
But resting wasn’t exactly at the forefront of his list of priorities right now. Holding Danika’s hand fondly, he said, “Tonight is our wedding night. How can I rest?”
Danika was a little speechless at this.
“It’s not that big of a deal, is it? It’s not like this is our first day living together.” In fact, they’d been cohabiting for a long time, and they’d already stayed countless nights in their wedding suite. For Danika, the only difference that day was that they held a wedding ceremony. Besides that, there wasn’t much difference from before.
Not caring how she put it, Eustace insisted on his desire. Not long after that, the car pulled up in front of their villa, and Danika supported Eustace as they made their way to their room.
As soon as they stepped into the bedroom, Eustace took control in a flash and lifted Danika off the ground into his arms. “It’s getting late, Danika. We should get some rest.”
Blushing intensely, Danika let out a little yelp of surprise and scolded,” You’re incorrigible.”
“I’m your husband. If I were still all proper and unfazed in this situation, then something is not right.” Without wasting a minute, Eustace carried Danika to bed.
Moonlight streamed through the windows into the room, casting the shadow of the newlyweds’ intertwined and entangled bodies on the floor; it was both magical and intoxicating. The passion and romance in the room went on until the early hours of the morning.
The next day, Danika woke up early in the morning. They’d made plans to celebrate their marriage with their close friends that day.
Just as she tried to get up from the bed, pain and soreness coursed through her whole body, rendering it impossible for her to get up. Irritably, she glanced at the person lying next to her.
“It’s so early. Let’s sleep a while more.” Eustace reached out and pulled her into his embrace.
“No way. Steph and the others will arrive soon.’ Danika pushed him away. It was evident she wasn’t going to continue lazing in bed.
Upon hearing her words, Eustace remembered that he’d invited Paul and the others to come over. Their friends hadn’t been to their marital home yet, so Eustace intended to show everyone around their new place as a form of celebration. Therefore, even though he and Danika were reluctant to leave the warm confines of their bed, they somehow got up with determination.
Danika instructed the household staff and chefs to start preparing lunch. Because many people were coming, Danika and Eustace settled on having a barbeque so everyone could join in on the fun. On top of that, it wouldn’t be so boring.
Around 11 am, the first person to arrive wasn’t Stephanie or Paul but Old Mr. Quincey. He didn’t return to the house with Eustace and Danika the previous night. Instead, he stayed at the hotel where they had their wedding. He didn’t want to be in the young couple’s way on their first night as husband and wife.
“Grandpa,” Danika greeted, feeling a little bashful upon seeing the old man.
Old Mr. Quincey cleared his throat and pretended not to notice Danika’s apparent embarrassment. “Where is Eustace? Why are you the only one busying yourself here?”
“He’s upstairs,’ Danika answered.
As they were talking, Eustace came downstairs and greeted his grandfather.
Just a while later, Stephanie and their friends arrived. There was Paul and Melanie, Jade and Max, and several others they considered close friends. The villa suddenly became lively. With everyone helping and doing their part, the food was ready quickly.
“You must be very pleased right now, Eustace,” Max teased as he approached Eustace playfully. After all, Eustace finally got to marry Danika. He could imagine Eustace being on cloud nine at that moment.
Eustace was grilling some buffalo wings when he heard Max’s comment. He couldn’t help but raise a brow. “Why? Are you jealous of me?”
“What the heck should I be jealous of? I’m already married myself,” Max replied. Besides, it was not like he really liked Danika back then. He was just curious about Eustace’s feelings toward the whole situation.
“Why are you asking so much, then?” Eustace rolled his eyes at him. “By the way, when do you and Jade plan to have children?”
Eustace’s question came when Max least expected it, so it startled him for a moment. “Why are you asking me this? Don’t tell me you and Danika plan to have children already?”
“Isn’t it too early forthat?” Max thought.
“We haven’t made any plans yet. That’s why I’m asking you,” Eustace replied. He couldn’t get a grasp of when would be the perfect time to have children, so he decided to gather some information from others.
Max pondered what Eustace said seriously for a moment and finally answered, ‘Well, Jade and I aren’t in a hurry to have children at the moment. Having a child would spell the end of our perfect little world where there’s only the two of us.”
Truth be told, he hoped to enjoy a few more years with Jade alone-just the two of them. Having children wasn’t that important to him, as he wasn’t that fond of children to begin with.
Hearing Max’s reply, Eustace realized having a child would definitely disrupt the private time they had with each other. As a result of that, he dismissed the idea immediately. Initially, he’d considered having a child while Old Mr. Quincey was still around because that would make his grandfather very happy. However, after the short chat with Max, he didn’t think that way anymore.
If they had a child, Danika’s focus would undoubtedly shift her attention to caring for their baby. By that time, she wouldn’t have enough energy to tend to Eustace.
“You’re right. We’re not in a hurry to have children either,” Eustace expressed with one final nod. After that, they didn’t dwell on the topic.