Chapter 110 The War Has Just Begun
"She went back yesterday." There was a hint of coldness in Zac''s tone. He frowned slightly, as if he
didn''t want to talk about Le.
Essie wondered if he had exined the whole marriage thing to her.
Did he tell Le the truth that they were just acting to put her mind at ease?
''Forget it. It''s none of my business,'' Essieforted herself in mind.
Then, she stretched out her hand to look at the brilliant ring on it. "Is this a crystal or a diamond?" she
asked Zac.
Le must have recognized it at a nce. She was a jewelry designer and a professional jewelry
assessor. No wonder she acted so weirdly when she saw it.
''I really don''t know what''s going on in this guy''s mind. He gave me a diamond ring and made me
showcase it in front of his girlfriend. Is he trying to y a game?'' she wondered.
What was worse, it was a very valuable diamond. How could he let her wear it? Wasn''t he afraid that
she would lose it?
Fortunately, she took it off the day she was kidnapped for fear that the oil and smoke would damage
the ring while she was cooking. Otherwise, Valery would have been even more furious than Le, and
she would have definitely cut off her hand.
"It''s just a stone. As long as you like it, it''s okay." Zac smiled, it was just as she had said to Finney the
other day.
Essie''s lips curled up.
She had said that on purpose that day in order to save his face.
But the value between the two stones were vastly different.
Even if she worked hard her entire life, she would never be able to afford this stone.
It wasn''t a big deal to him because he was rich!
"Well... Should I prepare some gifts for your family?" she spoke in a small voice, mostly because of
how little money she had. She didn''t even have enough money to buy a nice gift for her rich parents-in-
Zac stroked her head in aforting manner. "Don''t worry. I have everything we need."
Essie breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. After all, he knew his parents'' likes best.
The next noon, she and Zac arrived at Dragon City.
While sitting in the car, Essie looked out of the window and into the busy street.
Fifteen years had passed since she left this city.
As the most powerful international financial center in the eastern region, it not only had a rich cultural
background, but it also developed very quickly.
Zac''s family''s house was situated near the mountain and right beside the river. It was a hundred-year-
old house.
In Essie''s memory, she knew that her original family had arge house, but the vi of Zac''s family was
evenrger. It was just like a grand wondend.
After they entered the gate, it took a while before they finally saw the antique mansion.
The butler, Uncle Li, was waiting for them at the door.
"Mr. Zac, you are back. Mrs. Elizabeth and Miss Valery heard that you wereing back and both of
them are waiting for you in the hall." Uncle Li took a closer look at Essie and gave Zac a meaningful
look. His look seemed to be a reminder for his young master to be cautious.
This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.
Zac nodded at him with a smile and took Essie''s hand. "Uncle Li, this is mydy."
''Mydy?''
Uncle Li was utterly shocked. His eyes darted around the house.
Mr. Zac was married?
''Oh my God! Things are going to go out of control now!'' he thought.
"Hello, Uncle Li," Essie greeted him politely.
"Hello, mydy," Uncle Li replied with a smile.
The main house of Zac''s family was a one hundred year old house and was still in the Republic style.
They walked across a small courtyard to get to the main hall.
Zac''s grandfather had six sons and two daughters. The eldest one died at an early age, and the
second, who was Zac''s father, took over the family business and became the new head of the family.
The other sons and the eldest daughter were not there at the moment. Some of them were abroad,
while some were in other cities.
As for Zac''s grandmother, she spent most of her time in Switzend with Zac''s grandfather because of
her asthma.
At present, Zac''s parents, the third son of Zac''s grandparents, and Marci''s family were all living in their
family''s house.
In the hall, Zac''s parents were sitting on one side, and on the other side were Elizabeth and her
daughter. The set up looked like a court trial.
Zac was the apple of his grandparents'' eyes. At the age of five, he had already been appointed as the
fourth head of the family.
His wife, who was the family''s crown prince''s queen, would be the empress of the family in the future.
There were thousands of candidates, and the woman he would end up marrying must not only be
epted by his parents, but also by all the members of the family.
It was not until then that Essie realized that Zac''s family was much moreplex than her original
family. They were almost like a concentrated fogyish dynasty.
Valery, who was born into a noble family, had been regarded as the wife of the crown prince ever since
she was young. And now that she was carrying a baby, they had to get married as soon as possible.
However, the crown prince had unexpectedly found a mistress outside their circle, and his family didn''t
have a clue.
Their family usually turned a blind eye to mistresses. In fact, no one would even care if a man in their
family openly brought a mistress home.
After all, they thought it wasmon for men to have several wives.
And to add to that, their family was also like a miniature feudal kingdom.
However, there was a world of difference between the status of a wife and a concubine. Concubines
could live at home and enjoy their lives, but as long as the wife didn''t make mistakes, there was no
possibility of them marrying the crown prince, and their children couldn''t be the heir.
This was because they had a rule in their family that the heir could only be the one borne by the
original wife. If the first wife could not give birth to a baby, then it was the concubine''s turn to conceive.
To put it simply, mistresses were just toys for the men in Zac''s family to help them release their desires,
and they changed their mistresses more frequently than they changed their clothes.
Valery would never have expected that Zac would bring Essie back to their home, and when she saw
them together, she was so angry that she almost jumped out of her chair. Elizabeth squeezed her
daughter''s trembling hand.
They had no reason to worry. As the old saying went, "Aged ginger is more pungent."
It was not wise for her to teach Essie a lesson in public. It would humiliate Zac and certainly infuriate
him. To deal with this kind of woman, they could either take a knife and get rid of her using someone
else''s hands, or use a soft knife that wouldn''t draw blood to make it seem like she died for no reason.
They had to be careful not to get their hands dirty.
As the master of the family, Albert Rong maintained a very calm demeanor. "It''s good that you''vee
back. Have a seat," he said with a gentle smile. His tone was as soothing as the spring breeze.
It was not the first time that Essie had met Albert. He had a good rtionship with Baron, and often
came to visit him. From what she remembered, he seemed to be calm and gentle all the time.
How could such a kind and amiable father have such a cold-blooded son?
Of course, Essie didn''t know that he was a typical smiling tiger.
A famous writer once mentioned that there were four kinds of people in the world. The first kind was a
tiger with fierce appearance, but whose insides were just as fierce. The second kind was a tiger who
was pig inside—these people were regarded as paper tigers. The third kind was a pig with a deceiving
appearance, and thest kind was a gentle and harmless rabbit who was actually a tiger with sharp
eyes inside.
Zac was the first kind, and his father was thest.
"Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Elizabeth." Zac greeted them briefly before introducing the person beside him.
"This is Essie Yi and she is..." Before he could even finish his sentence, Mary coughed and interrupted
him. "Oh, Zac, you forgot the rules again." Then, she called out to their servant and said, "Anna, take
the guest to the side hall so she can have a rest. She should have some tea first." She emphasized the
word "guest" on purpose. In her eyes, the word "guest" meant an outsider.
Mary was born into an eminent American-born Chinese family. She always behaved in an elegant and
noble manner. All of her words and deeds seemed to be covered by cotton.
But as a matter of fact, she was actually a stranger to Essie. As far as she could remember, Albert
never took Mary to visit Essie''s original family, or maybe she had seen Mary before and she just didn''t
remember.
Essie was just about to leave with Anna when Zac hugged her all of a sudden. There was no doubt that
his intimate behavior was meant to announce the rtionship between the two of them.
Feeling a little uneasy, Essie just let him embrace her and didn''t move.
Valery was so furious that her face turned livid and her whole body started trembling. Elizabeth
squeezed her hand, telling her to be calm.
"Mommy, even though it''s Essie''s first time toe here, she is not an outsider," Zac said. As he
spoke, he sneered at Valery as if to say, "That girl is the outsider!"
Irritated by what his look implied, Valery couldn''t bear it anymore. "If she''s not an outsider, who is?" she
shouted.
Zac held up Essie''s hands and gave them a gentle kiss.
Just then, a ray of sunshine shone on Essie''s hands through the big ss window, and the huge heart-
shaped diamond on her hand glimmered brightly in the light. Everyone in the room gasped in disbelief.
"Is that the family ring?" Mary eximed as the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. That ring was
given to Zac by his grandmother on her 60th birthday. Mary, herself, never even had the chance to
wear it, but now, her son had evidently given it to someone else.
With the sameposed and gentle expression on his face, Albert''s eyes darkened.
Valery suddenly jumped up as if she had just been stabbed by a needle. If she had a knife with her, she
would have rushed over and cut off the tramp''s finger.
Why was she wearing the ring?
How could she be wearing the ring?
That one of a kind treasure belonged to the future hostess of the family, and that was none other than
her.
A crack appeared on Elizabeth''s calm face, and a muscle on her face started twitching violently. Was
Zac actually telling the truth or was it just revenge for her daughter''s impulsive actionsst time?
Elizabeth took a sip of her tea and said slowly, "Zac, your grandfather personally made an engagement
for you and Valery when you were eleven years old. Over the years, we''ve been very strict with Valery,
and we never even allowed her to have a boyfriend. We''ve done our best to keep this promise. Even
though you haven''t had an official wedding ceremony, you are a real couple already. In fact, you are
going to have a baby soon. Shouldn''t you restrain your yful behavior?"
Zac took a seat on the sofa with Essie, then he picked up a porcin cup from the table and took a sip
of tea. "Aunt Elizabeth, if I''m not mistaken, grandpa wanted me to marry your family''s third daughter
Cathy Xu. She is the one who got engaged to me. But after she left with her motherter on, you and
Mommy made the decision to have your daughter take her ce. So, if I really wanted to follow through
with grandpa''s promise, then I would have to find the third daughter of your family and marry her."
Before he even finished his words, Essie, who was sitting next to him, choked heavily. She felt like she
had been burnt to ashes by a thunder that had struck her from above her head.
What? Was it her?
The third daughter?
Did she hear it wrong?