The second the door opened, the entire room froze.
Immediately each head turned toward the entrance, their eyes on the tall, good-looking stranger walking in.
At that moment Abigail's breath caught in her throat at once.
The strange man looked familiar somehow.
She couldn't remember where she had seen the face before.
Then she remembered when she fainted outside her apartment building.
The stranger, she remembered seeing someone before everything went blank. Was he the one?
She tried to remember his face, but her mind was too hazy, everything that has just happened had left her disoriented
Then the man fully entered with a
bouquet of flowers in his hand, his actions was slow, relaxed—and full of confident.
The manner in which he walked caused everyone to stiffen in curiosity.
None of them know who he was? Why did he come there?
But something happened and everyone was taken aback.
He walked towards Abigail directly, his eyes softening as he gazed at her.
Then—he talked.
"My Lovely wife… are you all right?"
There was silence. Total silence.
It was like the whole world had frozen.
Immediately Abigail's eyes widened.
Owen's smug grin vanished.
Amelia's jaw dropped.
Even Penelope's face shook with disbelief.
At that moment—Owen burst out laughing.
A thunderous, mocking laugh that echoed through the hospital room.
He couldn't believe Abigail was seeing another guy too, how is that even possible, but he knew something was wrong, he had been with her for long, and he knows Abigail would never cheat, she was too proud and full of hate.
"Wow," he mocked, shaking his head.
"What a show you're putting on here!"
His laughter thundered louder as he gazed at Abigail.
"So this is your new trick?" he taunted.
"Seriously, Abigail? You have to be kidding."
He gestured in the direction of the man standing with her.
"You actually think presenting some stranger to claim you as his wife is going to hold us back?"
Owen shook his head at that point, crossing his arms.
"Try though you may,"he sneered. "This little show won't do anything."
" Your Grandmother told you to get married," Owen continued, his tone loaded with amusement.
"But she didn't say a word about a boyfriend."
Having listened to what Owen had just said the good-looking man cast his gaze on Owen, his sharp eyes loaded with an air of cool authority.
His voice was firm, unshakeable.
"What is this guy saying?" he asked, his tone close to boredom.
"Why is he attacking me."
Then he face Owen.
"Do I know you, have we met before?"
He continued, his lips twisting with a small sneer, " You're here calling me her boyfriend, when we are already married?"
At that moment there was an awful silence in the room.
Immediately Owen stiffened.
It was then Amelia's eyes grew wide, she too couldn't believe it.
Penelope's face twitched with shock.
The motion shocked everyone to the core.
Abigail, dazed and weakened, took hold of the man's hand immediately.
Her fingers trembled as she looked up at him.
"Are we really. married?" she asked, her barely above a whisper.
Then the man smiled feebly, his grip on her hand strong but gentle.
"Of course," he answered suavely.
Then he extracted a crisply creased document from his greatcoat pocket.
"Our marriage certificate is right in this room."
Hearing what the man just said, the mood of the room changed in an instant.
It was as if the earth had gaped open at their feet.
Abigail's step-family remained immobile, their white faces drawn.
"Enough of this folly!"
Amelia's outraged shriek split the silence.
She stamped ahead, her face contorted in rage and disbelief.
"There is NO WAY Abigail could've married!" she spat.
Her chest was rising and falling as she struggled to breathe.
"Not yesterday… and DEFINITELY not earlier because—"
She stopped.
Then her mouth was open again, but nothing came out, she didn't want to say they planned this to her, not in front of a stranger.
The truth hit her like a truck.
At that moment Owen's face twisted with rage.
His hand curled into a fist.
He turned on the handsome man, his face red with fury.
"You lie!" he screamed, pointing a shaking finger directly at him.
"You think you can just come in here and make up an untrue marriage?I know you're been paid, so tell me how much money did she pay you to act this lovely but boring drama." Owen's rage quivered even more as he spoke.
"You should leave now!"
At that moment Mrs. Penelope took a deep breath, her face serene, but her eyes shone with triumphantly.
Then she stepped forward, her heels clicking against the cold hospital floor as she approached the handsome man.
"Young man," she said sweetly, though the curiosity in her tone was impossible to miss.
"Whatever Abigail promised you," she continued, tilting her head slightly, "I'm afraid it won't be fulfilled."
Abigail's fingers tightened around the hospital blanket.
Penelope's lips curled into a cruel smile.
"See here," she continued, her voice smelling of self-content, "Abigail no longer has control of anything, she must have said to you."
She made the words ring out, then continued, her hands closing themselves neat on their fronts.
"If she told you about her Grandmother businesses, well I'm afraid to inform you, they are all in our hands now," she stated.
Then her voice came a trifle louder, a trifle stronger.
"That is to say—Abigail is broke."
She stamped the foot on the ground.
"The family business belongs to us now," she said firmly.
"We are the only ones who have the power over those companies."
Her words hung in the air, thick with finality.
Owen smirked. Amelia crossed her arms, looking pleased.
For a moment, they all stood there, expecting the handsome man to crumble, to admit defeat, and expose everything.
But instead—He laughed.
It was a deep, rich chuckle, completely unbothered by their arrogance.
Then, his eyes sharpened.
"You're all ranting nonsense."
His words cut the air like a blade.
Immediately the smug expressions vanished.
"What did you just say?" Penelope's face twisted with irritation.
However the man did not give her notice.
Instead, he gave his full attention to Abigail.
He leaned in and brushed a hair from her face, his motion light, but deliberate.
Then he spoke again, this time loudly.
"Abigail, my wife is the rightful owner of the company."
His intense gaze fell back on Penelope, challenging her head-on.
"Because she married before turning twenty-five."
At that moment Penelope stiffened. Owen's sneer dropped.
Amelia's jaw fell a little, comprehension starting to click.
The handsome man shifted. Unruffled. Controlled, though Abigail doesn't say much to him, but he heard her babbling in her sleep last night about how she had to marry before 25 , but now she had failed.
Now hearing her so-called family making fun of her now, all was making sense to him now.
At that moment he reached across to the drawer beside Abigail's bed.
And in a single sweeping motion—He produced the documents.
The room fell into stunned quiet.
No one stirred. No one breathed.
Everyone's eyes were on the special document held by Jerry Brown.
It wasn't any document.
It was from the Marriage Registry
A formal, legally binding certificate for married couples.
But above all, what caught everyone off guard— was the signature of blood at the bottom.
A red smudge, unmistakable and clear.
Not ink alone.
Not a scribbled signature on paper.
It was signed in blood.
A union agreement so solid there was no disputing it.
Jerry's hand didn't tremble as he raised the document for everyone to view.
"Look at that," he said, his tone firm but resolute.
Then his sharp eyes swept the room, resting on each of them—Penelope, Owen, Amelia.
"If you can still see," he continued, "then you can see that Abigail is actually married, and the date showed it was yesterday."