Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 203

Chapter 203: Share Transfer Agreement
“What took you so long?” Catherine snapped the moment Matteo entered the front doors, held open by the family butler.

Matteo merely gave her a side-eye before he headed straight for his father, who sat on the armchair. Aiden stood in a corner and leaned against a wall. For the first time, there was no smirk on his face― his expression was equally grave.

“What is it?” he asked, completely ignoring Catherine’s aggravated groan in the background.

Charles Montgomery slowly looked away from the tablet in his lap. On it, Matteo could see a video playing. The angle and people in it told him that this would’ve most likely been CCTV footage from the hotel where he and Amelia held their wedding. There he was on the screen with Emmeline Hawthorne.

“Have you lost your mind?” Charles Montgomery coldly said. “You told Emmeline Hawthorne to abort the child?”

Matteo frowned. He did, that was true. But that was not information his father should’ve gotten, especially when it just happened at the hospital less than an hour ago.

“Where did you hear that from?” Matteo asked.

“See it for yourself!”

Matteo took hold of the tablet his father held out and rewind the video back to the start. Then he pressed the play button.

The CCTV footage was not the clearest by any means. However, it was impossible to mistake them for anyone else. After all, Matteo was already dressed in his wedding suit, while Emmeline was wearing the same dress she wore while attending their wedding.

She stepped closer to Matteo, and Matteo stepped back to create some distance. That was when the audio played.

‘Please… I love you! You know I always have, Matteo! If you marry Amelia, what about me? What about our child?’

‘Emmeline, be reasonable here,’ Matteo said in the video. ‘I wouldn’t get together with you. I have no intention of having a child with you, to begin with. You’ll be having a child out of wedlock.’

‘You…’ In the video, Emmeline lurched forward once more, trying to hold Matteo’s hand. He managed to evade it, and in the process, Emmeline nearly fell before she caught herself against the wall. ‘How could you treat me so heartlessly?!’

‘Having a child with you would not make me love you any more,’ Matteo said. ‘If you wish to inflict this brand of suffering on yourself, be my guest.’

‘I’m carrying your child!’ Emmeline cried. ‘Not only are you offering me any support, you’re leaving me in the lurch?’

‘Frankly, I would rather you abort it,’ came Matteo’s cold reply. Then, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Emmeline alone. She collapsed to her knees, her face in her hands.

The video ended there.

“This video is manipulated,” Matteo flatly said.

After all, those words had just left his lips less than an hour ago. There was no way the CCTV would’ve caught all those words too even if it was actually from the wedding― they were speaking so softly, with silence surrounding them most of the time.

“It doesn’t matter,” Charles Montgomery said. “What matters is that people think that is what you said― that you’re refusing to take responsibility after your night of fun. You knew about Emmeline’s pregnancy and yet you still carried on with your wedding with another woman.”

“Night of fun?” Matteo echoed before he coldly laughed. “Have you forgotten? The only time anything could’ve happened between Emmeline Hawthorne and me would be the time she drugged me. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t go anywhere near here with a hundred-foot pole.”

“The stocks for X’el have been dropping ever since the tabloids updated the news of Emmeline’s pregnancy announcement,” Catherine said, sitting down on the couch with one leg crossed over the other. She leisurely picked up a glass of wine and sipped.

“We’ve had a discussion with the board of shareholders,” Charles said. “You need to step down from the role of CEO.”

Matteo scoffed. “And what? You return to the helm? I doubt they will be too happy to see you back after you nearly led X’el to bankruptcy a decade ago.”

“I am too old for this,” Charles said. He then gestured to Aiden, who had been quietly watching this unfold from a corner. “Aiden will take over as the new CEO of X’el.”

With his name called out, Aiden suddenly straightened to attention. “Dad―”

“Have you forgotten?” Matteo said, “I own the majority of the shares. I make the decisions for X’el.”

“Either you marry Emmeline Hawthorne and fix this mess or you sign this,” Catherine said. From her purse, she brought out a stack of documents and slid it across the coffee table.

Matteo could see the title as clear as day― Share Transfer Agreement.

“You will be transferring your portion of the shares to Aiden,” Catherine said. “We’re not asking for everything, of course. Emmeline’s baby will still need its father and even if you don’t plan on marrying her, it’s only right for you to offer her some monetary support after she has been kicked out of the Hawthorne family.”

Matteo’s eye twitched. “You raised me very well, Catherine,” he snubbed. “I am not planning on taking care of a child that’s not mine.”

She laughed, waving Matteo’s comment off and ignoring the fact that he had addressed her by her given name. “Just forty percent of the total company shares will do,” Catherine said. “You’re still left with twenty; that should be enough to give you a high standard of living. I’m sure you have some savings as well from all those years managing X’el.”

Matteo reached for the documents and prepared to rip them into shreds. However, Catherine’s next words stopped his actions, causing his blood to turn cold.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Catherine said. “Either you marry the girl or you sign the documents. Otherwise, you can prepare yourself a nice scuba costume and a fishing boat that will send you to the Pacific waters.”

The corner of her lips curled up sinisterly as she threw the pen on the table.

“Your mother’s ashes will be scattered there, along with that precious bangle of hers.”

The pen rolled to the edge of the table, stopping right before it could fall off.

“It’s your choice,” Catherine said. “I heard that the bangle belonged to her mother, and her mother before her. Quite the family treasure, isn’t it?”