Chapter 197 The Wedding Officially Began
In the private estate, Pearl spotted a familiar car from afar. She nudged Amelia. "Hey, you see that Maybach over there? Is that Louis?"
Amelia glanced over. "Yep, that's him. Didn't think he'd show up this early."
Louis got out of the car and made a beeline for Amelia and Pearl. Seeing just the two of them, Louis frowned a bit. "Paige didn't come?"
Amelia shrugged. "Nah, it's just us. We're here for the fun."
Louis looked a bit bummed out. Pearl asked, "Your mom didn't come to the wedding?"
Louis nodded. "Yeah, she and my grandpa aren't coming."
Meanwhile, in the lounge, Lily was all dolled up, just waiting for the wedding to kick off.
Raymond rolled over, holding a fancy little box. He opened it and handed it to Lily. "Didn't have time to get a custom ring 'cause the wedding was so rushed. We'll have to make do with this."
Even though he said "make do," the diamond was massive and sparkled like crazy. Lily's eyes widened at the huge diamond ring. "Wow, you got this in such a short time. Raymond, I really love you."
After her initial excitement, Lily asked, "Raymond, aren't wedding rings supposed to come in pairs? This looks like a single ring."
Raymond scratched his head. "First time having a wedding. Should I have someone go buy another one now?"
Lily shook her head. "It's probably too late to get another ring now. We'll have a big wedding back in Arcadia, and we can sort it out then."
Lily wasn't too fussed about the details. What mattered was that after the wedding, Raymond would have to treat her as his wife. By then, she could get everything she wanted.
Raymond praised her for being so understanding, and Lily smiled, sitting quietly in the lounge, waiting for the wedding to start.Then Charles came in with some news. "Mr. Carnegie, Ethan and Francesca didn't show up."
Charles's words made Raymond's face darken. "How long until the wedding starts?" Raymond asked.
Charles replied, "Less than an hour, Mr. Carnegie."
Raymond said, "We're not waiting for them. The wedding goes on as planned. If Ethan doesn't come, tell him I'm not coming back."
Lily immediately stood up to calm him down. "Raymond, it's my fault. I was so eager to marry you. I haven't even met your dad yet. It's understandable he's upset and didn't come."
Lily tried her best to play the role of the perfect, understanding wife. But Raymond was still fuming. "I sent him an invitation. It's his fault for not showing up. He's already messed with my marriage once; he's not doing it again. Tell him, no way! I've decided to marry Lily, and that's that."
Raymond was so mad, and Lily kept trying to soothe him.
Outside, the few guests felt the wedding had a weird vibe. After all, this was Raymond's wedding. The venue was borrowed, and the wedding felt more like a casual get-together.
Without the fancy decorations, no one would even believe it was a wedding. Except for those who'd seen Raymond with Lily at the club before, others who hadn't heard any news felt like this wedding came out of nowhere.
With guests already at the wedding site, and some high society folks in attendance, the news spread like wildfire. Even the Sackler family caught wind of it.
Margaret and Xena had been stressed out by the constant hits to the Sackler Group, but Xena couldn't help but chuckle at this news. "Grandma, don't you think Paige had it coming? She was so smug around us, and now Raymond's already holding a wedding to marry someone else without even ending their marriage. He still doesn't care about her status as CEO of Universe Group."
"And with Paige's personality, if Raymond doesn't care, will they keep butting heads afterward? If their issues mess up the relationship between Hawke Corporation and Universe Group, leading to opposition..." Before Xena could finish, Margaret seemed to catch onto something.
"Opposition? Hawke Corporation and Universe Group?" Margaret muttered to herself. Her mind was racing, like she'd found a way to save the Sackler Group.
She whispered a few words to Xena. Xena looked up. "Grandma, will this really work?"
Margaret nodded. "Only Luna and I know the ins and outs. Now, she can't say anything. Just do as I say. After the wedding, I'll personally reach out to Ethan. He has to acknowledge it, even if the other Carnegies don't, right?"
Even though Raymond's wedding didn't invite many people, the whole upper circle knew about it.With less than ten minutes to go before the wedding started, at Willow Crest Estate, Paige was holding an eyebrow pencil, feeling pretty pleased with her freshly drawn brows.
At the wedding site, guests were being ushered to the main venue to take their seats, waiting for the ceremony to kick off in the last few minutes.
Pearl kept checking the time. Amelia sighed. "There are only a few minutes left. Xanthe probably won't come. She could still make it if she arrives now. Otherwise, it'll be too late once the wedding starts."
Sitting next to Amelia, Louis also kept glancing outside. Five minutes before the wedding started, Louis sent a message to Raymond.
Amelia caught a glimpse of Louis's message. [If you really marry someone else, I hope you won't interfere in my relationship with Paige in the future.]
Amelia quickly looked away, pretending she hadn't seen it. After sending the message, Louis looked at Amelia and said, "The person I was originally engaged to was Paige. Raymond was the one who stepped in later."
Meanwhile, Paige was already driving, one hand on the steering wheel, the other putting on a Bluetooth headset, looking cool and confident.
Five minutes later, the wedding officially began. As the wedding march played, Charles wheeled Raymond onto the stage.
On the other side, Lily stood beside Oliver as a tall door opened. A smile spread across her face. She gently placed her hand on Oliver's arm and walked step by step towards Raymond.
The wedding went on as planned, and just before the vows, Lily suddenly asked Raymond, "Raymond, you'd agree to any wedding gift I wanted, right?"
Raymond nodded. Lily smiled gently. "I want..."
