Chapter 497: Marriage
The President's Office of the Lumina Group.
Adelaide was originally here representing the Martinez Group to discuss a partnership with the Lumina Group.
Before coming, she had mentally prepared herself that even though she and Matthew had a past relationship, work was work.
Personal feelings and business shouldn't be mixed.
She also believed that, given Matthew's character, he would never deliberately make things difficult for her.
At first, Matthew acted professionally, which made her let her guard down.
But as they talked, Oscar somehow left without her noticing.
In the huge office, only she and Matthew remained, and the atmosphere instantly became a bit strange.
Adelaide felt uncomfortable all over, but for the sake of securing the partnership, she couldn't just leave.
When Matthew stared at her with his intense gaze, she felt a bit lost.
"Mr. Moore, the terms we've offered are enough to prove the Martinez Group's sincerity. What do you think?"
Matthew kept staring at her without saying a word.
Adelaide's face gradually flushed, and her heart started beating uncontrollably.
She couldn't take it anymore and glared at him angrily: "Matthew, I'm talking to you!"
Matthew suddenly smiled, and his handsome face seemed like melting glaciers, with a touch of warmth.
"Adelaide, you look better when you're angry, much better than just now."
Adelaide's all-business attitude earlier had made him unhappy.
Adelaide froze, feeling like she'd been played. She stood up from her chair and walked toward the door.
Seeing that he'd upset Adelaide, Matthew quickly got up and grabbed her arm.
Adelaide stopped and glared at him again: "What exactly do you want? If you don't agree to the partnership, don't waste my time. I still need to talk to other companies about partnerships!"
Matthew's eyes narrowed slightly, and he pulled Adelaide into his arms.
Adelaide had a great figure, curvy in all the right places, with a slender waist he could wrap his hands around.
Matthew's eyes darkened, his voice low and husky, "Don't go."
"I can stay, if we partner up. Deal?" Adelaide looked up at him.
Matthew had already lost his composure. Adelaide was the woman he'd been thinking about for ten years.
From the moment she returned to the country, his dark and colorless world was filled only with her.
He didn't immediately answer Adelaide's question, but stared at her intensely: "Adelaide, I've been waiting for you all along."
Adelaide's heart suddenly ached, "We ended a long time ago."
"Do you have another man?"
Matthew frowned. According to his observations during this time, Adelaide hadn't been in contact with any other men.
"I don't!" Adelaide retorted.
Matthew's stern expression slowly relaxed, "So you haven't forgotten me?"
Adelaide laughed coldly: "Stop being so full of yourself. I just want to focus on my career, I don't want to date!"
"Career and love don't have to conflict. Want to... try again with me?"
Matthew held Adelaide's waist, his movements seemingly gentle but actually forceful.
Adelaide tried to struggle, but he held her tighter.
She was so angry, she wanted to hit him: "Matthew, I'm here to talk business."
Matthew said seriously, "But I only want to talk about dating you."
With that, he lowered his head and kissed Adelaide's lips.
Her lips were soft, with a sweet fragrance from her lipstick, extremely alluring.
When they were dating in middle school, they had never done anything beyond holding hands.
He thought he could forget her, but when they met again, he realized that some feelings couldn't be erased even by time.
"Matthew, you're a jerk!"
Adelaide angrily slapped Matthew hard, the crisp sound echoing.
Adelaide froze, frantically pulling back her hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Matthew touched his slapped cheek and sighed helplessly inside.
"It's okay."
He had been too impulsive just now, hadn't controlled himself.
He lowered his eyes and said gently to Adelaide: "I know you still have feelings for me. Why are you resisting me so much?"
This was the question he couldn't figure out.
Adelaide's eyes clearly told him she still loved him.
But her resistance wasn't fake either.
"I..."
Adelaide's mind went blank, her lips still tingling.
She couldn't help but blurt out, "Mr. Moore, I'm the only daughter of the Martinez family. Even if I get married in the future, the man would have to join my family."
With that, she left without looking back.
She wasn't lying.
Right now, she was the only one holding up the Martinez family.
That's why she was forced to take over the Martinez Group.
There were too many people with bad intentions these days.
She truly couldn't forget Matthew, but if she wanted to protect the Martinez family, she could only have a man join her family.
With Matthew's wealth and status, how could he possibly join her family?
And what man would willingly accept a wife who couldn't have children?
From the moment she learned she couldn't have children, she had stopped hoping for love.
However, she had overlooked Matthew's feelings for her.
Two days later, when she came home from work, she found Matthew had come to the Martinez Villa. He and Tobias were having a pleasant conversation.
In her memory, since Preston became seriously ill, Tobias hadn't been this happy in a long time.
Hearing footsteps, Tobias waved at her: "Adelaide, come here."
"Grandpa." Adelaide walked over reluctantly.
Tobias pointed at Matthew: "I heard you two know each other, so I won't bother with introductions."
Adelaide frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Matthew smiled and handed her a document from the coffee table, "Take a look."
Adelaide took it suspiciously and glanced at it casually, but when she saw the contents clearly, her pupils suddenly contracted.
"Are you crazy?"
Adelaide's hand holding the document trembled slightly, unable to believe what she was seeing.
He actually drafted an agreement that if she agreed to marry him, he would join the Martinez family.
He also promised that after marriage, he would help her manage the Martinez family's business for free for life.
That wasn't all - he would also transfer all his assets to her name.
This included all his shares in the Lumina Group.
If it were just his personal assets, that would be one thing, but the Lumina Group was built by Matthew from scratch.
Naturally, he held the largest share, worth hundreds of trillions of dollars at market value.
Matthew... had really gone crazy!
However, Matthew just smiled lightly, "These are just material things."
What he wanted, from beginning to end, was only Adelaide.
What Adelaide and Tobias worried about was just the future development of the Martinez family.
So he would help them manage all the Martinez family's assets for free.
They worried that Adelaide's future husband might betray her for money, so he would show his sincerity by giving all his assets to Adelaide.