Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 153

Chapter 153: First Step for Hope
Carlo’s jaw clicked.

“Daniella should learn how to keep her mouth shut,” Carlo muttered under his breath. He reluctantly reached for the burrito, finally unable to fight against the hunger that was ravaging his belly. As he peeled the wrapper open, he asked, “And what about you? Just trying to use a kid to get back at your ex-husband?”

“I just want to see you succeed,” Amelia said. “If your success brings W&W Industries down in the process, I wouldn’t be particularly against it.”

While all Amelia wanted was to secure these children’s futures and prove that she could bring up what others thought was a hopeless foundation, Caleb’s downfall would be a bonus she didn’t mind.

In order for the Hope for Scholars Foundation to succeed, people need to be willing to donate. Donations would only come in when they see the foundation as an investment they could look forward to reaping the rewards of.

Carlo was someone who had shown immense talent and smarts, according to both Daniella’s notes and Amelia’s recent observations. He would be the quickest one to bring up, and right now, he had the most drive out of everyone in his batch.

Emmeline had abandoned this foundation because she thought they were all good for nothing― in fact, that was what all of them thought. Amelia was determined to prove them — Emmeline especially — wrong.

“Don’t expect me to sell out their dirty secrets. I don’t know anything other than the fact that Caleb Walton is a sack of shit,” Carlo said while eating, sauce gathering by the side of his mouth. He winced as his split lip protested at the strain, but he powered through it anyway. The food was too good to be ruined by a little blood and pain.

“Duly noted,” Matteo said with dry amusement, “I’m not in the habit of making children fight my battles. But reaching top five is not as much of a pipe dream as you believe it to be. If you’re serious, I’ll be willing to get you tutors to help.”

“Like hell!” Carlo nearly choked out. “This will make me look like I paid my way to success. I’m going to do it without your help!”

“We’ll be looking forward to that then.” Amelia beamed brightly and proceeded to wipe the sauce from the corner of Carlo’s lips with a napkin.

Carlo stood up so quickly that he nearly fell over, dropping his precious kebab on the table. His face was flushed, and his eyes were wide with surprise.

“What’s that for?” Carlo was almost a man, hence no matter what anyone said, his voice did not squeak. It was a very manly exclamation of surprise.

Matteo and Amelia begged to differ, and they laughed good-naturedly at him. “I’ll get you a new kebab since the table has eaten this one,” Matteo offered.

“No! This is mine! Five-second rule still applies!” Carlo hurriedly grabbed it up again and stuffed it into his mouth, so he didn’t need to think about his embarrassing moment. “And don’t you dare help me with the exams! Just you wait, I’ll beat them all!”

“Chew your food first,” Matteo scolded lightly. “If you choke and die, that’ll be an absolute pity.”

Thankfully, Carlo did not choke and die on the kebab.

***

He also did not require any help for pre-finals.

Amelia had received the news from Daniella personally; she basically wept in Amelia’s arms in sheer relief. Carlo had made it into the top 5, by the skin of his teeth.

Meanwhile, Carlo was standing by the side, rubbing his nose awkwardly. Daniella had cried all over him, and it seemed like Amelia was following in her footsteps.

“Oi, don’t weep on me,” he said warningly, moving back with his hands up. “My uniform is still wet from Daniella’s tears.”

“I’m not going to cry on you,” Amelia said, drawing him into a proud hug. Was this how parents felt when their babies began to roll on their bellies? “I knew you could do it!”

“Argh, let go! What do you think I am, your dog?” Carlo squawked, the back of his ears burning red as Amelia fussed over him.

Luckily, there were only three people in Daniella’s office, so his reputation as a tough guy was untarnished. He would never live it down if his friends heard him flustered from being praised as though he was a puppy!

“Fine, fine,” Amelia said reluctantly, withdrawing her hands away. However, the proud look in her eyes didn’t fade, and Carlo felt a strange sensation in his chest when he saw it.

Must be heartburn. He knew he shouldn’t have eaten the kebab. Never mind that it was weeks ago.

“Since you’ve held out your end of the bargain, here is mine.” Amelia whipped out a thick envelope from her bag and handed it to Carlo with a flourish. Carlo opened it reluctantly, only for his eyes to bug out at the contents.

The first document was a recommendation letter from the school principal. He was now officially admitted to Solara University.

“How did you even―” Carlo spluttered in shock. “I just got the results today! There’s no way you could have known―”

“What can I say?” Amelia smiled, her eyes turning into crescents. “Matteo and I both knew you would make it, so we made a few arrangements in advance.”

There was no sense in wasting time when Matteo wanted Carlo to start as soon as possible. And what could the dean do in the face of Matteo Montgomery’s will? The moment Matteo knew about the release of results, he made sure to give a call to hasten things.

Carlo’s throat thickened, and he swallowed. This couple really had too much faith in him.

With shaking hands, he pulled out the next document, which was a letter of employment.

Now, he was officially an intern at X’el, starting from Monday. More importantly, his salary was excellent!

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding?” Carlo exclaimed.

“Matteo never lies when it comes to poaching talent,” Amelia said cheerfully. “Now, will I see you at work on Monday?”

“Hell yes!” Carlo whooped in delight. “Money, here I come!”

***

A week had passed since Carlo had received that fateful letter that changed his life. He had reported for work every morning, dressed in neatly pressed slacks and a collared shirt with his fellow interns. There were five of them in total.

Somehow Matteo― wait, it was Mr. Montgomery now. His hotshot boss had sent him to the accounting department first, claiming that he had an eye for details and numbers.

So now Carlo was under the mentorship of Aria Heard, the department head herself. His fellow interns nearly shat themselves with jealousy that a scholarship kid from the orphanage had received such an honor, a fact that made him beam in smug delight.

Who knew all those years of counting pennies and illegal betting would come in handy? Carlo marveled at the direction his life had taken.

Amelia had sent him encouraging messages daily. It was so embarrassing, but Carlo didn’t have the heart to make her stop. His street cred was in the trenches, but then again, office workers didn’t need street cred. They simply needed to hit their targets, and those targets weren’t human faces.

Life was good. Life was peaceful. He was proud of himself.

But of course, it couldn’t last.

“So you’re actually here.” Carlo whipped his head up from his computer screen, his eyes widening in disbelief at the figure standing in front of him. “Matteo Montgomery has truly gotten soft if he’s adopting strays from the gutter now.”

“Will Walton… What are you doing here?”