Chapter 5

Not long after, the door to the private room was pushed open, and two men walked in. One wore a silver mask and slowly strode in under the hotel lights. His eyes under the mask were dark as night, making him seem like royalty. However, he was wearing tight clothing that consisted of a high-necked T-shirt and a long windbreaker that covered him completely. The other man was tall and thin. He had a head of brown messy hair covering part of his eyes. His eyes were beautiful, shining brightly like a light in the night. “Sorry for the wait.” The man with the silver mask glanced at the Martinez family and then shifted his gaze to Lily, who had been leaning against her chair since they entered without even glancing at him. Quickly, he looked away. “We just arrived. Have a seat, Mr. Laurier.” As soon as the man in the mask spoke, the Martinez family stood up, and Julia spoke respectfully. Although they had not seen Loid’s face, rumor had it that Loid was disfigured, so it was no secret that the man wearing the mask was the Laurier family’s eldest son, Loid. “We’ll be family in the future. There’s no need to be polite. Please, have a seat.” Even though Loid was wearing a mask and they couldn’t see his face, the Martinez family still felt immense pressure talking to him. Even Julia, who was well of age, dared not look Loid in the eye. She always felt like those eyes were like a wolf lurking in the night, capable of tearing her apart with just one glance. The Martinez family sat properly with flattering smiles, all except for Lily. “Hello, I’m Shaun,” the other man introduced himself and then remained silent. The expressions of the Martinez family members changed slightly. Shaun was the heir of the Knight family in Bridgeport. They hadn’t expected him to be here at the engagement banquet. The rumors about Shaun’s close relationship with Loid seemed true. After introducing himself, Loid nodded slightly. At first, the Martinez family was too intimidated to speak to him. Susan tugged at Lily’s clothes, indicating that she should initiate a conversation with Loid, but Lily didn’t even spare her a glance. “Mr. Laurier, do you know when your parents will arrive?” Julia, who had waited for a long time and saw no one else coming into the room, couldn’t help but ask. Loid raised an eyebrow, his voice flat. “They have other matters to attend to and can’t make it. It’s okay, let’s proceed with the engagement.” His gaze swept across everyone’s faces and landed on Shannon. His arm rested on the table, and he leaned forward. “Is this Ms. Shannon?” Shannon tensed over as she met Loid’s probing gaze. She nervously lowered her head. Susan thought Loid was unaware of the switch and was worried that he might take an interest in Shannon, so she hurriedly explained, “Mr. Laurier, since Shannon is still under 18, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to be engaged to you. “That’s why we’ve decided to have my eldest daughter, Lily, marry you instead.” “Oh?” Loid’s voice rose slightly. It was just one word and then he fell silent. His eyes, hidden behind the mask, moved slightly. He looked at Julia, seemingly waiting for an explanation. Julia’s heart skipped a beat. “Please don’t misunderstand. Lily may not be related to the Martinez family by blood, but she’s the adopted daughter of our family. She’s just a part of the Martinez family as Shannon.” Shaun, who had been silent, suddenly laughed. It sounded somewhat mocking. “Is that so? How could an adopted daughter compare to an actual daughter of the Martinez? I think you know that Loid’s disfigured and only has two years to live, so you’re simply sending someone to fill that position.” With that, Shaun abruptly stopped laughing. His expression turned cold. “You have some nerve to try to trick us.” As soon as he said this, the Martinez family members were shocked and flustered. They quickly stood up. “We dare not trick you, Mr. Laurier.” Julia’s hands trembled, and her voice couldn’t stop shaking. “It’s just that we don’t have a daughter that’s of age, so we have no choice but to let Lily marry. If the Laurier family insists on Shannon marrying over, we’ll…” Julia glanced at Shannon and struggled to continue, “We’ll wait until Shannon turns 18 before letting her get engaged to you.” Deep down, Julia didn’t want Shannon to marry Loid. After all, Shannon was the best daughter in the Martinez family. Over the years, only Shannon could bring honor to the Martinez family besides Jason. With Jason gone, the future of the Martinez family would be dark without Shannon. However, the Laurier family specifically asked for Shannon, so Julia had no choice but to agree. Later, Susan suggested that Lily could replace Shannon. Julia thought it was a good solution, but unexpectedly, it angered Loid. “Hey! If you’re going to die, don’t bring trouble to the girl. Can’t you see she doesn’t want to become a widow?” Just as the Martinez family was in a state of panic, Lily, who had been sitting in her chair playing with her phone, suddenly looked up and said to Loid in a provocative tone. She sounded like she wanted to challenge him with her words. The Martinez family members were shocked by her words. Susan clenched her fists, furious. She scolded her, “What nonsense are you talking about? Who allowed you to speak? Get out!” Julia was also furious, but because Loid was there, she swallowed her anger. However, Shelby couldn’t hold back and pointed at Lily, reprimanding, “You country bumpkin, you just want to humiliate our family, don’t you? Get out of here right now. We don’t welcome you in the Martinez family.” At this point, the Martinez family could see that Loid didn’t want to marry Lily. They had been holding back their anger toward Lily, and it all imploded at this moment. All of them began to berate Lily, their words sharp and sarcastic. Loid lazily leaned back in his chair with his hands folded across his chest. There was a glint in his eyes as he stared at Lily, somewhat surprised. This woman hadn’t even glanced at him from the moment he entered. Even though the Martinez family trembled in fear before him, she showed no fear at all and was even playing with her phone the whole time. She was seemingly unaffected by everything happening in the room. Everyone around him was always trying to please him or feared him. Only she sat there lazily. She didn’t even bat an eyelid in the face of the Martinez family’s insults. Her red lips curled into a smirk, and her eyebrows under her cap were arched. Those cold eyes looked at Loid, immediately piercing through his heart. The two stared at each other for a long time. Loid withdrew his gaze and looked at Julia, speaking calmly, “How dare you insult my fiancée in front of me? Am I invisible to you?” Julia froze on the spot after she heard that one sentence. What did he mean? Loid called Lily his fiancée. Did that mean Loid accepted Lily? “Shut up, all of you!” Julia suddenly shouted at her family members, her wrinkled face looking somewhat ferocious. “Apologize to Lily!” As intelligent as Julia was, she wouldn’t ask Loid if he had accepted Lily. She just wanted to handle things smoothly and extinguish Loid’s anger.