Chapter 119 The Reed Family and the Reeves Family Alliance
Arabella quickly asked, "What happened? Weren't you going on blind dates again recently?"
Philip laughed bitterly. "No need for blind dates anymore. My marriage situation has been solved once and for all."
Arabella caught something off in his tone, and Philip's voice seemed to carry a hint of drunkenness.
She quickly said, "Where are you now? I'll come find you."
"At that club we usually go to," Philip said in despair. "Hurry over. Daisy's almost here too. Today you two have to drink with me until we're wasted!"
Arabella thought to herself—drink until wasted? She was still recovering from last night's hangover.
Besides, Daisy could at least keep up with him for a few drinks, but with her tolerance, she'd just be there for moral support at best.
Even so, she didn't hesitate and agreed immediately. Philip really seemed off, and she was worried about him.
Taking the afternoon off, Arabella took a taxi to the club. As soon as she walked in, she saw Philip in the private room belting out, "I'm so pitiful..."
Daisy sat nearby cracking sunflower seeds like she was watching a show.
Seeing Arabella come in, Daisy lit up and quickly pulled her over, stuffing snacks into her hands. "Finally! You're here. This is killing me."
Philip was still wailing away, and it looked like he wouldn't stop until he finished that song. Arabella ignored him and asked Daisy, "What's going on?"
Philip had sounded like he was dying on the phone, making her think something serious had happened. But judging by Daisy's reaction, it didn't seem that bad.
Daisy grinned. "Remember how his mom was forcing him to go on blind dates with that Gloria from the Reeves family? They ended up falling out, and the Reeves family looked down on his family's status. But here's the dramatic part—Gloria had an incident yesterday, and now the Reeves family has approached Philip's parents about having Gloria marry down to Philip."
Arabella was stunned. She'd known since yesterday from Rachel's call that Gloria had gotten into trouble, not to mention Rachel coming to find her today, wanting to drag her to the Reeves family to apologize.
But she'd never connected this to Philip. How did it suddenly become... Gloria marrying Philip?
"That's so... ridiculous, right? Would his parents agree to that?"
Daisy shrugged. "Of course they'd agree. If Gloria hadn't gotten into trouble, how could the Reed family ever reach high enough for the Reeves family? If Gloria was fine, she'd be marrying into some elite dynasty later. The Reed family taking on Gloria as a hot potato saves face for the Reeves family, and they can ride the Reeves family's coattails to success in Majestic City. It's win-win."
She saw it pretty clearly, even thinking Philip had lucked out this time. Aside from that video of Gloria circulating in high society, this marriage actually had no downsides for Philip.
Philip had finished his tragic song and came over sighing, handing Arabella a bottle and clinking it with hers. He complained, "Arabella, don't listen to her nonsense. I'm dying here. People are going to laugh at me when I go out."
Daisy scoffed from the side. "Oh please, quit the act. Why can't you just admit it? You were looking for a marriage-of-convenience wife anyway. You're not taking responsibility for her, so what does it matter what happened to her? If you ask me, you two are a match made in heaven—one needs to marry down after being violated, the other likes men but needs to marry up. Perfect fit!"
Arabella was convinced too. Really, for someone like Philip, actually marrying a perfectly good girl would be unfair to her.
Better to find someone like Gloria—it would satisfy his parents' requirements while giving him a legitimate excuse not to have a real married life.
Seeing both his friends had switched sides, Philip glared. "Hey, could you guys show a little loyalty? I'm being forced to marry a woman covered in scandal."
Arabella and Daisy shook their heads in unison. "Nope."
His plan to trick an innocent girl into a fake marriage had always been a sticking point for them.
Daisy said bluntly, "Philip, just admit it. Your family knows you like men but still schemes to marry you off to rich daughters while hiding the truth from them. That's just ugly. Gloria is actually your best choice—at least our consciences can be clear knowing we didn't screw over an innocent girl, right?"
Philip got all emo from her words, sighing as he slumped into the couch looking defeated. "I get what you mean. I know I'm being a jerk about this marriage thing, but I really don't want to marry Gloria. Her current scandal is secondary—the main thing is she's too vicious. Think about what she did to Arabella before."
Arabella patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I understand what you mean, but I don't think you need to worry. She's her and you're you. Even if you get married, you'll probably do your own things. It's not like you'd help her bully me, right?"
Philip gave her an unhappy look. "What are you saying? Am I that kind of person?"
"Well there you go," Arabella smiled. "You getting married is just mutual benefit, like me and..."
She'd been about to say like her and Alexander, but thinking of that moment of heart-fluttering last night, she felt inexplicably guilty and swallowed her words, changing course. "Each getting what you want—isn't that perfect? Hell, if you really can't stand it, just divorce in a couple years. I think Gloria just wants to use this marriage to get through the storm temporarily. Once things blow over, she'll probably want to divorce you too."
Philip bit the glass bottle, looking troubled. "But my parents are making me have a kid."
At those words, both Arabella and Daisy fell silent.
Everything else was manageable, but having a kid... that was complicated.
Moreover, selfishly speaking, Arabella didn't want Philip and Gloria to have that deep a connection either.
Daisy suddenly looked at Philip curiously. "Wait, don't you like men? Can you even get it up for women?"
Philip's expression was three parts disdain, four parts pride, and five parts arrogance. "You underestimating me?"
Daisy slapped her thigh. "Oh, so you're bisexual! You don't absolutely need men, right?"
The speaker was casual, but the listener took it to heart. Arabella's heart stirred slightly.
Bisexual—could they like the opposite sex too? Was Alexander purely gay or bisexual?
Philip waved his hand, explaining, "I'm gay, not bisexual. I'm not interested in women, but I have basic male physiological responses, so I can have kids. It's just that touching women makes me feel sick."
"That's so gross," Daisy's expression was indescribable. "Good thing we became friends first, otherwise if I'd met you, I definitely would have slapped you."
Not liking women, finding women disgusting, but wanting women to bear his children.
That was just wanting to have his cake and eat it too.
Philip looked down, rarely not bantering back with Daisy. "Actually, sometimes I really hate this kind of life."
But what choice did he have? The Reed family had reached his generation with just him as the sole heir, and he was gay. His parents had been forced to accept his homosexuality—their only requirement was that he must marry and leave descendants.
If it were up to him, he'd just find some money-strapped ordinary girl to do the deed, give her money after having the kid. Or find a girl for IVF surrogacy—anything would be better than marriage.
But his parents weren't willing to give up the benefits that marriage alliances brought to the family. He was just a good-for-nothing rich kid without the ability to go against his family.
Daisy and Arabella knew his situation, so they both fell silent.
After a while, Philip said, "Actually, I don't have the right to refuse this marriage. Whatever Gloria's situation, she's still the Reeves family's daughter. The Reeves family's status versus the Reed family's status—if they're willing to let her marry over, even if she's damaged goods, my parents would be thrilled. They already set the wedding date last night."
He'd really just called Arabella and Daisy over to vent. Plus he was worried Arabella might overthink things, so he wanted to tell her in advance.
Arabella was quiet for a moment before saying, "Actually, in this world, you can't have everything. You marrying Gloria at least means everything's out in the open from the start—no need to fake some deep love act anymore."
Philip nodded. "I've got it all planned out. After we get married, I'll work hard at baby-making. Once Gloria gets pregnant, I'm going abroad—out of sight, out of mind."
Daisy looked surprised. "You're going abroad?"
Philip smiled bitterly. "Yeah, abroad. Find some school to mess around and get a master's degree. I'll have to take over the family business in a couple years anyway, so I want to go wild for a bit before then."
Everyone had their own fate, and his had been set in stone the moment he was born.
Because of Gloria's situation, this gathering of the three friends wasn't as relaxed as before. When they finally dispersed, Arabella even felt a bit down.
Philip and Daisy felt the same way. But none of them wanted the others to see it, so they all forced smiles.
When Arabella got home and had just changed her shoes, she heard Alexander's voice coming from the guest room. His voice was low and deep. After listening for a while, Arabella realized he was tutoring Becky with her homework.
She walked over, looking at the large and small figures sitting together in the guest room, holding her water cup. She wanted to smile but couldn't.
She found this scene very warm, but this warm life didn't belong to her either. Just like Philip—seemingly happy and content on the surface, but only they knew what lay beneath.
Alexander looked up and saw her, saying to Becky, "I've explained everything I needed to. Do the rest yourself, and I'll check it when you're done."
Becky mischievously winked at him: 'You can't sit still the moment you see Ms. Bourbon back—go on, go on, I get it, you're so obvious.'
Alexander was helpless with this kid. She was somewhat well-behaved in front of Arabella, but with him, she seemed to have figured out his weakness and showed him no respect at all.
He closed the room door and came out, asking Arabella, "Your expression doesn't look right. Did you run into something troubling?"
Arabella was startled, shocked by how perceptive he was. She'd specifically adjusted her mood before coming home, but he'd still noticed.
"Are my expressions really that obvious?" Arabella said helplessly.
Alexander smiled without speaking.
She didn't understand that when someone's heart and eyes were completely filled with another person, they could notice any tiny difference.
Moreover, she really wasn't the type to hide things.
Arabella told him about Philip's situation, somewhat embarrassed. "Actually, I'm not just worrying for nothing. As a friend, I feel like Philip... he deserves better, but we're all powerless against reality."
Alexander raised an eyebrow. "Gloria's marrying Philip?"
He naturally knew Gloria had gotten into trouble. That night when Cassidy had followed Anthony to outside the complex, his people had spotted them. Rachel and Gloria were the mantis stalking the cicada, not knowing he was the oriole behind them.
But what happened afterward didn't concern him, so he hadn't interfered.
The only thing he'd done was have people give that video a little push to spread it around. Anyone who dared covet his woman should pay some price.
He hadn't expected this incident to have such ripple effects.
Arabella nodded. "Yeah, it should be decided. Philip's parents are crazy about expanding their business—they won't pass up such a good opportunity."
Alexander pondered for a moment. "You said Philip wants to find an innocent girl for a fake marriage—that behavior is indeed pretty low-class, but his situation is difficult too. I wonder if he'd be interested in doing asset evaluation abroad?"
Arabella was startled. "Him? Asset evaluation?"
Alexander nodded. "I've chatted with your friend a few times before. He studied finance in college—forced into it by his family, but he didn't like it. I imagine taking over the family business later won't interest him either. When I talked with him, I got the sense he had some interest in asset evaluation. You could ask him—if he wants to do it, I might be able to help a bit."
Arabella hesitated, worried. "Maybe we shouldn't. Even if he likes it, his family won't give up this marriage alliance to support him going abroad. The Reed family wants to climb up to the Reeves family level and get better projects. At this crucial moment, they won't let him go."
Alexander smiled. With her, he always had the greatest tolerance and patience. He suggested, "Ask first—whether it works out or not, at least you'll have done your part as a good friend."
Arabella figured that made sense and called Philip.
On the other end, Philip was stunned after hearing her words. "...Mr. FitzRoy said he could help me?"
Arabella quickly said, "He just said he could help provide connections in asset evaluation, but he can't help with much more. And if you want to go abroad to do this, you'd still have to get past your parents first."
She was afraid Philip might develop unrealistic expectations, so she explained very clearly. "Alex is just a salesman with more connections, but he's not someone who can make things happen with a snap of his fingers. So it would still depend on you."
Unexpectedly, Philip agreed without hesitation. "No problem! Quick, tell Mr. FitzRoy I agree. As long as he's willing to help me, I'll agree to anything!"
Only his foolish friend would really think Mr. FitzRoy was just providing connections.
If that were really the case, Mr. FitzRoy wouldn't have had her ask him about it.
Since Mr. FitzRoy had brought this up, it meant he could not only arrange the overseas work but also help him solve this mess at home and let him escape completely.
Damn, what kind of amazing luck had he stumbled into by befriending Arabella?
No, it should be what amazing luck Arabella had stumbled into by snagging such a big shot to marry! Even he as a friend got to benefit from it!