Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem



Was her no-good husband actually working at his company? Elysia couldn't track him down to sign the divorce papers, so she was planning to have a word with him, his boss, to put some pressure on that deadbeat?

Tarquin mulled it over for a moment but couldn't quite grasp what Elysia was up to.

He didn't take it out on the security guard either. After all, the guard wasn't aware of Elysia's status; keeping her out was technically the right move.

"Make sure everyone gets the memo. If Elysia comes looking for me again, let me know immediately. Whether I'm in the office or not, she gets ushered into the lobby. We can't have her waiting outside!"

"Got it."

"Did you finish looking into those three women?"

"Yeah, they were here for interviews today, all of them studying abroad, one just got back from overseas. The other two have been back for a couple of months."

Tarquin's expression darkened, "Do any of those three have beef with Elysia?"

"Two of them have no connection to Ms. Thorne, but the one who just got back, Annie, we're still digging into her. There's something fishy about her identity."

The Thorne family were no fools; before heading abroad, they had a hacker mess with their identity records to avoid any blowback if the arranged marriage fiasco ever came to light.

So, when Lowell started digging, he couldn't trace anything directly to her. The investigation was ongoing.

Tarquin frowned, "Send me whatever you've found so far."

"Will do."

After receiving the digital files from Daphne, Tarquin studied them for a while.

There was no mention of 'Daphne,' just an English name: Annie.

Tarquin didn't recall her at all.

When Gideon had suggested he get married, he was abroad. Gideon had indeed sent him Daphne's picture, but he hadn't spared it a glance, merely noting the name: Daphne.

Knowing Gideon was up to no good, he naturally didn't care about Gideon's arrangements.All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

However, upon learning that the woman had been bought with money, he did feel a twinge of sympathy for her.

Two years of marriage, and though he hadn't gone back to see her or paid any attention to her life, he made sure she didn't lack for anything.

They were strangers with no grievances; there was no reason for him to torment her.

Of course, there was no love between them, and he had always planned on divorcing her!

Agreeing to the marriage and even sustaining it for two years was due to timing issues. He was still strategizing, not yet ready to outright confront the Bradford family.

Once he had taken over the Bradford Group and returned from abroad, his first thought was to divorce her.

To restore her independence and compensate her generously.

It was only upon his return that he discovered she was not the virtuous woman he had imagined...

Looking at the file of a woman he didn't recognize, Tarquin frowned and dialed Blossom,

"I'd like to talk about Elysia..."

Elysia's demeanor today had left him concerned, more sorrowful than angry, and he suspected it had something to do with this Annie.

Without Elysia saying anything, he hoped to glean some insights from Blossom.

Twenty minutes later, Blossom showed up at the hotel cafe.

Tarquin was already waiting in the booth, and from a distance, Blossom felt that familiar mix of awe and intimidation.

Not because he was terrifyingly handsome, but his aura was intimidating, radiating a 'keep out' vibe that chilled to the bone.

Knowing he wouldn't hurt her did little to ease Blossom's apprehension.

Sitting down across from him, she greeted him politely, then sat up straight as if she was a middle-schooler in front of the principal.

Her fear was matched only by her eagerness for news about Elysia,

"So, did Elysia and her good-for-nothing husband come to an agreement?"

Tarquin didn't bite, instead signaling the waiter to take Blossom's order.

He had dropped his guard around Blossom, treating her with an unexpected kindness.

Even though he was aware of a potential connection between Blossom and some unknown party, he had come to see her genuine care for Elysia and the kids.

Blossom wasn't the enemy.