Chapter 1247

Ariel pursed her lips and asked in a low voice, “Were you with her when that incident happened to you earlier?”

“Yeah.” Marshall responded before continuing, “I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you if it weren’t for her. She saved me.”

The look on Ariel’s face turned somewhat strange. She paused for a moment before speaking again, “I’ll buy something and thank Ms. Jewell personally.”

Marshall waved his hand. ’Mom, it’s fine. I’ll do that myself when I recover.”

Ariel replied concernedly, “Marshall, Ms. Jewell is Keegan’s ex-wife. It’s better not to get too close to her, or people might start spreading rumors.”

Marshall paused. ’What kind of rumors?” he asked in a flat tone.

“They just got divorced a few months ago. People might think that you’re why their marriage failed or that something is going on between you two if you don’t distance yourself from her. You and Keegan are such good friends; rumors like this wouldn’t do you any good.”

Marshall kept quiet for a moment before he said, “Well, I wouldn’t be too bothered by that because… I do like her.”

Thump!

Ariel dropped the fruit knife she was holding, looking extremely shocked. Then, she abruptly stood up after freezing in place for a moment.

“What do you mean by that? Marshall, what nonsense are you talking about? Is there something wrong with your head? How could you like her?”

Marshall looked at how shocked Ariel was, who eventually started panicking. However, he remained unusually calm.

“Why can’t I like her?’

Ariel’s expression turned awful. “What do you think? She’s Keegan’s ex- wife! How are you going to face Keegan if you like her? There are so many other good girls in the world, so why does it have to be her? Did Stella seduce you? I just can’t believe that every time something bad happens to you, she has something to do with it.”

Marshall’s face darkened. “Mom, can you not insult her like that? You have always taught me to respect women since I was a child, yet you just used the word “seduce” to degrade Stella. Do you think what you’re doing is right?”

Ariel’s lips trembled as she spoke, “You can date anyone, but never her!”

Then, she took a deep breath to calm herself down, as if she was worried that she might have triggered her sensitive son. “Even if I agree, or even if you don’t care about what Keegan thinks, your grandfather will never allow a divorced woman with an illegitimate family background to be a part of our family.”

Marshall swallowed as he lowered his gaze and chuckled. “That’s why I didn’t dare to confess. I’m scared that she’d reject me, but even more scared of what would happen if she said yes.”

Ariel cleared her throat as she clenched her slightly trembling fingers. It took her a while to finally sit back down and hold Marshall’s uninjured hand.

“Marshall, you just returned not long ago, and you’ve been too busy with work. You haven’t even met other girls yet. Your aunt introduced plenty of girls to me; you should meet them after you recover. I’m sure that you’ll change your mind.”

Marshall slowly withdrew his hand. “If Ryan were still alive, you’d probably be doing everything you could to support him no matter who he likes, right? II Ariel’s heart ached as her face immediately turned pale.

Her lips trembled again. “It’s not like that…” she said hoarsely.

“Mom,” Marshall interrupted her and said nonchalantly, “I’m tired. You should go now.”

Ariel stood there without moving.

Then, he added, “I’ll meet the girls you mentioned earlier and do what I’m supposed to do. But I need some rest right now, if that’s okay.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Ariel’s eyes turned red, but Marshall shut his eyes, unwilling to continue the conversation.