My Substitute Wife Is a Bigwig (Lily Brooks and Loid Laurier)

Without Loid present, the members of the Martinez family glared at Lily. Susan, in particular, lost her temper and charged at Lily. “You wretched thing! I went to great lengths to bring you and your grandmother here, and this is how you repay me? If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you won’t understand how dangerous society can be.” As Susan spoke, she raised her hand to hit Lily. However, before her hand could reach Lily’s face, Lily caught it firmly. Lily raised an eyebrow, her eyes cold and her voice chilling. “Keep your claws to yourself or I’ll cripple them.” “You!” Susan clutched her chest, her face turning pale. “Fine, let’s see how capable you are. Without the Martinez family, how will you afford your grandmother’s medical bills?” Lily sneered, “Do whatever you want!” Did these people think they could threaten her with her grandmother? Nobody could force her to stay unwillingly. Forty thousand dollars a month for medical expenses wasn’t a lot. People would fight to pay her, and it was up to her to accept it. Lily was about to leave when the door to the private room suddenly opened again. Loid, who had just left, returned. The Martinez family members stiffened and quickly masked their expressions. Susan pointed at Lily, about to scold her, but the words got caught in her throat. Loid glanced indifferently at the Martinez family and walked straight to Lily, holding an exquisite gift box. He handed it to her calmly. “I forgot to give this to you earlier.” Lily raised an eyebrow and took the gift box, opening it immediately. The Martinez family members sneered inwardly. This was expected of a country bumpkin. She had no manners. She opened a gift immediately instead of waiting. But when they saw the contents of the box, they all gasped. Someone couldn’t help but exclaim, “Isn’t that Emerald Love?” Someone else quickly chimed in, “Gosh, it really is Emerald Love! This is a necklace designed by the famous designer, Gabriel King. It’s a one-of-a-kind.” Another person added, “Not just that! Two years ago, this necklace was auctioned off for two billion dollars, but no one knew who bought it. Turns out it was Loid.” Someone said bitterly, “Loid gave such a valuable gift to this wild girl. What a waste!” As Shannon listened to the commotion, her expression darkened with jealousy. She felt her heart sink to her stomach. This unique, incredibly precious necklace should have been hers. She had personally delivered this opportunity to Lily. She clenched her fingers tightly and bit her lip. She could feel her heart bleeding. Even if Loid were disfigured and had only two years to live, as long as she was Mrs. Laurier, she would inherit his wealth. Even a tenth of it would be enough for her to live comfortably for several lifetimes. Moreover, the Laurier family had never said that she couldn’t remarry after Loid’s death. A few years later, she could still choose to remarry. But she had let the opportunity go. Shannon lowered her head, unwilling to look at the necklace. The more she looked at it, the more it pained her. Lily glanced at the necklace before closing the box under the envious gaze of others. Her expression remained calm as she looked at Loid. “Do you expect a gift in return?” The Martinez family was so infuriated by Lily’s indifference that they almost choked. It seemed she didn’t understand what was in her hands. Even if she didn’t, she should’ve heard from their loud exclamations, right? Why was she still so calm? From the moment Lily accepted the gift box, Loid had been watching her expressions. She showed no reaction at all. Was it because she didn’t know the necklace’s value or because she didn’t care about it? At this thought, Loid’s cold lips barely curled into a smile. He found her very interesting. “According to tradition, yes,” Loid said, looking down at Lily. “If you don’t have anything prepared, it’s fine.” “Is that so?” Lily’s stroked her chin thoughtfully. She didn’t have anything suitable to give as a gift. After some thought, Lily pulled out a small ceramic bottle from her pocket and shook out a tiny brown pill-like object. “Here, take this.” It seemed rather stingy to give only one. Loid stared at the unknown little pill and was unable to suppress his lips from twitching. This was truly unexpected. Seeing him hesitate, Lily raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like it?” With a cough, Loid took the item from her hand. “It’s quite nice.” Lily said, “My gifts are never subpar. Don’t be fooled by its size. This thing is quite valuable.” Lily thought for a moment and added seriously, “It’s worth more than your necklace.” The Martinez family was stunned when they saw Lily give Loid an unknown item. They stood there dumbfounded. Even Liam, who was usually patient with Lily, looked slightly bewildered. The Martinez family could have prepared one if she hadn’t prepared a gift for Loid. But what was she thinking, giving such a useless item to him? Did she even know what she was doing? “Lily!” Susan snapped out of her shock, unable to hold back her anger. “How much longer are you going to embarrass me? How could you give Loid this as a gift?” What the hell was that? Susan felt like she was about to be driven mad by Lily. Shelby, who already disliked Lily, couldn’t help but sneer. “A country bump—” But before finishing her sentence, she noticed Loid’s glare and stopped just in time. She quickly corrected herself, “Do you know how much this necklace costs?” Lily glanced at her indifferently. “Didn’t you just say it’s two billion dollars?” “Since you know that, why would you give Loid this in return? Is this thing worth two billion dollars? Lily, it’s not like the Martinez family can’t afford a proper gift. You can’t give such a shabby thing to embarrass Loid, right?” Shelby gloated. It would be best if Loid got offended and refused to marry Lily. Then, Lily would have no right to act arrogantly toward the Martinez family. Julia was also furious but managed to suppress her anger. She addressed Loid humbly, “Apologies, Loid. This child just came from the countryside and doesn’t understand the way things are. We’ll prepare a proper gift.” This was her mistake. She had assumed that with such a marriage of convenience, Loid wouldn’t care and wouldn’t prepare a gift himself, so she hadn’t prepared one either. Now, it was truly embarrassing. Lily paid no attention to their words. She looked nonchalantly at Loid. “If you don’t want it, you can give it back.” “Why wouldn’t I want it?” Loid’s interest in Lily grew, and he asked with a smile. “What is it?” “Something that could save your life,” Lily said, staring intently at Loid.

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