Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 198

Chapter 198: Cast Out By The Hawthornes
Horace Hawthorne began to pant heavily as though he had run a marathon. Amelia suddenly had a premonition that something terrible was about to happen.

True enough, she had barely taken a step forward before her grandfather collapsed in his seat, clutching his chest with a shivering hand. His eyes were wide with fear, but his gaze was focused on Amelia. He reached out a weak hand, as though wordlessly calling for her attention.

“Grandpa!” Amelia screamed out as she darted down the aisle, and Matteo quickly picked up her long trailing skirt so that his new wife — oh wait, the ceremony was interrupted; she wasn’t technically his wife yet — would not trip and fall on her face. The table was in an uproar, as people began to surround the Hawthorne patriarch in an attempt to check up on him.

Annalise in particular started to scream so loudly that it was spreading panic throughout the room. She grabbed at his collar, and to Amelia’s panicked eyes, it seemed more like she was trying to strangle him instead.

“Father! Father, hang in there! You can’t die!” Annalise wailed, nearly shaking him like a toy. “Father, please!”

Her husband Benjamin whipped out his phone to immediately dial for an ambulance while barking irritably at Annalise. “Let him go! Are you trying to kill him faster?!”

“Move! Give him space!” A familiar voice yelled out, and to Amelia’s surprise, Isaac had rushed over, his tie askew. Dimitri was hot on his heels, ordering people to make way.

Amelia could only watch with horrified eyes as Isaac began to examine her grandfather. It was an all too familiar scene, and Amelia couldn’t help but recall the time her father had collapsed similarly. Back then, it was Matteo who gave him CPR to ensure that he would live.

This time, Amelia tried to take comfort in the fact that a medical professional was doing it for her grandfather.

“What are you doing to him?” Annalise screamed, trying to pry Isaac away, only for Dimitri to grab her arms. “How can you put him on the floor?”

“He’s a licensed doctor. Calm down and let him do his job!” Dimitri scolded.

Isaac had laid the mighty Hawthorne patriarch on the floor, with one of the seat cushions against his head. Then he started to listen for a heartbeat. Finding none, he started to give CPR. Around him was a circle of vultures, waiting to see if the backbone of one of the most powerful families in Solara would fall tonight.

Amelia could only watch helplessly, and Matteo held her tight, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“He’ll be fine,” he murmured in her ear. “This won’t keep him down.”

Suddenly, there was another commotion happening at the other end of the ballroom. Matteo and Amelia whirled around to see Emmeline trying to sneak away, but the media were hounding her relentlessly. Camera flashes went off in rapid unison, and even their guests were recording her.

“Emmeline Hawthorne! You caused your grandfather to have a heart attack! What can you say about that?”

Emmeline tried to shove them away. “Go away! I’m pregnant, you can’t do this to me!”

Annalise, seeing her precious daughter was so close to being pecked to death by the media vultures hurried over to fend them off for her.

Emmeline’s face was wet with tears that were ostentatiously highlighted under the camera lights. “I didn’t mean to! I wanted to let Matteo know earlier, but he wouldn’t listen to me! If I didn’t let him know now, I would have no chance! Please understand, Mom― I never wanted Grandpa to get a heart attack!”

Reporters latched onto the key points of her words. Emmeline Hawthorne tried to reach out to Matteo Montgomery about the issue of her pregnancy, and she was rebuffed! In a way, Matteo Montgomery was responsible for this spectacle today.

“I know, baby, Mom knows you would never jeopardize the family or your grandfather like this,” Annalise said tenderly, brushing away her poor daughter’s tears, the very display of a loving mother. “This isn’t your fault!”

As if to echo her thoughts, Catherine’s voice rang through the hall. “That’s right, Emmeline. A woman cannot possibly get pregnant on her own.”

“Mom! Sit back down― what are you doing?” Aiden exclaimed in embarrassment as people turned to stare at them.

Unfortunately for him, his mother stormed all the way to Emmeline, but her arm was outstretched, and she pointed a nasty finger at Matteo the whole time.

“The fault lies with this scoundrel who took advantage of your innocence and your feelings, and now refuses to take any responsibility for his actions!”

Emmeline began to weep. “Godmother… Can I still call you that? Even if I’ve been thrown out of the Hawthornes?”

“Of course! If the Hawthornes don’t want such a stellar heiress, the Montgomery family will gladly open their arms out for you,” Catherine said, as she enveloped Emmeline in a warm protective hug.

She and Annalise exchanged a wordless glance and Annalise cleared her throat, turning to the reporters.

“Kindly make way for us. We will schedule a press conference with all of you once my father-in-law is out of danger. My daughter is pregnant, and should not have to endure such a shock.”

The reporters wanted to protest, but the security guards moved quickly to create a makeshift barricade to allow them to escape. With the main character of their latest scoop gone, they could only turn their camera lenses on to the next best thing.

Matteo Montgomery, who was standing in glacial calm, unaffected by the mess that was happening around him.

“Matteo Montgomery, what do you have to say for yourself? What are your plans?” They demanded, the bright lights flashing harshly, causing Amelia to squint.

“No comment,” Matteo said evenly. As far as he was concerned, this was another one of Emmeline’s twisted schemes, and he wanted no part of it.

“The paramedics are here,” Dimitri added, with narrowed eyes. “Make way, all of you― or do you want to be complicit in the murder of Horace Hawthorne?”