Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption

Chapter 316: What can they do to their matriarch?

Jessica ended the shareholders’ meeting peacefully without a single hitch.

After announcing the close of the meeting, a few of Davis’s minor supporters approached her. Their eyes glimmered with respect and admiration as they quietly introduced themselves, one after the other, offering nods of goodwill before leaving the room.

With the meeting adjourned, Jessica exited the conference hall, carrying a recall guide Davis had given her. She headed to the president’s office. Two guards followed at a respectful distance—not too close to cause discomfort, but not too far to hinder in case of an emergency.

At the president’s office, she gave the door a gentle push. It creaked open, the guards halting just outside the threshold.

Jessica stepped in and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Her eyes swept across the room, taking in the distinct arrangement and decoration of the office. Everything felt familiar.

She could still spot the traces of Davis’s preferences in the decor—the color palette, the particular arrangement of the sofa, the vases of fresh flowers. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a breathtaking, panoramic view of the cityscape, the towering buildings igniting that strange indescribable feeling of being at the top.

"It seems Desmond hasn’t made any changes to the decor," she sighed, a hint of nostalgia laced in her tone.

Taking a few steps forward, she drifted towards the bookshelf lining the left wing of the office. Her fingers trailed along the spines of neatly arranged volumes. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Her eyes soon found the desk, its surface cluttered with a few folders. She quietly flipped through the files. "Nothing much," she murmured, brows furrowed.

Still, that feeling of an unsettling sense of dread tugged at her heartstrings. It reminded her of the same tension she had felt earlier during the meeting, when she had briefly stepped out to call Davis and check in on the situation.

And with his response, she had schooled herself to stay calm. Maybe she was just worried for nothing.

Now, standing alone in the office, that nagging feeling creeping over her again is stronger. She took a deep breath and walked behind the table.

Settling into the CEO’s seat, she closed her eyes and tried to center herself. She slowly swirled the chair, letting the momentum carry her around, her head beginning to throb lightly. She pressed her fingers to her temples.

Then a faint murmur of a scuffle in front of the office caught her attention. Listening to the voice, her lips curled into a smile.

"Quite impatient," she sighed.

After a brief moment, the scuffle paused as one of the guards stepped into the office. "Madam, Vera Louis seeks to see you," he reported.

"Let her in," she chimed.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" he asked further.

Though they had been assigned to stay with her, like their boss, she didn’t like having guards all over her.

"Sure," she answered.

Who was Vera to unsettle her anyway? Jessica had never truly seen her as a threat. A woman too timid to fight for what she wanted when it mattered most did not deserve her attention now.

The guard nodded and stepped out.

She continued swirling the seat around. The door was pushed open and, with a soft click, it closed. She paused her actions, her back still to the door. Her fists clenched and unclenched rhythmically. She kept calm, letting the person walk closer.

The soft padded footsteps walked over to the table and paused. Without turning around, she sighed, "What exactly do you want?" Jessica asked icily.

Vera stood behind her, fists tight by her sides, chest rising with fury. She scanned Jessica’s lazy, unconcerned posture and recalled the composed aura she had radiated earlier during the shareholders’ meeting.

"He must really love you dearly if he went all out for you," Vera scoffed, bitterness seeping from every syllable.

"Of course," Jessica responded, not missing a beat. She spun the chair around, locking eyes with Vera. "Otherwise, what do you think?"

"Are you truly not handing the shares back to him? You do know that they’re the Allen family’s lifeline," Vera pressed, her eyes glinting with unknown light and her voice trembling slightly with restrained emotion.

Jessica took a long breath, her lips forming a slow, amused arc. "Who returns shares that were given as betrothal gifts? Don’t you understand the logic behind ’betrothal’?" noveldrama

Vera took a deep breath, her gaze turning icy, her aura imposing as she leaned forward, placing a hand on the table.

Noting her countenance, Jessica slowly stood up, adapting the same posture as they stared at each other.

"Jessica, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?" Vera said with a saccharine smile, her tone laced with warning.

"Vera, it isn’t in your place to question me," Jessica said coolly. Her voice dropped several degrees lower with threats laced in her words. "And be careful. You wouldn’t want to lose the vice-presidential seat of the Louis family... with a slow smirk "... unless you’d prefer to be cast back into the street, just like you were picked from."

Vera’s face turned crimson. Her hands curled into fists, and her breath came in short bursts. "Jessica Brown!"

"Wrong," Jessica corrected her, her expression calm but sharp. "Jessica Allen."

"Do you think the Allen family will accept a country girl like you?" Vera smirked.

She didn’t believe she couldn’t rustle this lady and possibly test her limits.

Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Are you referring to the second branch?" She leaned in, voice like ice. "They never had a choice. And besides, what can they do to their matriarch?"Jessica taunted.

She truly wished she could peer into Vera’s mind—to understand how a woman who had shown occasional signs of wisdom could descend so quickly into petty arrogance. Jessica had almost respected her once. Almost.

"The second branch," she said, more to herself than anyone, "are just leeches living off what the first branch fought for."

Vera bit her tongue. The fury inside her threatened to explode. She hated Jessica’s calm. Her smug composure. Her unshakable confidence.

She really wished to see how high and far Jessica could fly in the Allen family, which was filled with schemes and thorns.

As if hearing her very thoughts, Jessica stepped closer. "Vera," she said, voice low and commanding, "in the Allen family, and anywhere else, I will soar higher than you can imagine."

She held her gaze.

"Don’t press my wrong button."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

Jessica gently patted Vera’s shoulder nonchalantly and stepped away. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find my husband." Her voice was playful. "Perhaps you could go see Aaron."

Without another word, she collected her clutch and the file folders, then walked out of the office. The door closed with a definitive click.

Vera stood alone, her fists trembling. She took one final glance at the office and bit back a scream.

"Davis... after everything, you’ll be the president, and I’ll be the vice president," she whispered. "There’s still some chance."

She spun on her heel and exited the office, fury burning behind her eyes.