My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

"Mr. Hawkins, I am not being suspicious of your abilities, I am just trying to cover all the possibilities. What if Kieran's wealth can even rival that of a country's wealth? If his funds never stop coming, perhaps the Hawkins Group will not last until the end."

The group would crumble.

It would signal a total defeat in this trade war.

Ernest smirked naturally and his tone was so nonchalant as if he was singing high praises of the good weather today.

"No matter how much money he has, even if that amount can triumph over ten organizations as large as the Hawkins Group, I will always be able to cover for it."

His careless tone was like a striking lightning in Roan's ears. He was frozen on the spot.

His eyes widened as he looked at Ernest in shock.

Ten organizations as large as the Hawkins Group?

To be able to beat that many companies, the amount of money needed was unthinkable and uncountable.

Despite that, Ernest wasn't fazed at all. If he could fork out that much money with ease, then to say that Ernest's wealth rival that of a nation was just an understatement.

His true ability was lurking below a tip of an iceberg.

This man was a true warrior, and a beast lurking in the shadows.

Kieran naively thought that his financial attack would work, and the Hawkins Group would suffer defeat. At most, he was just having a delusion.

Florence looked at Ernest in confusion and asked in a low voice, "Are you trying to use the Turner family as a back-up?"

Based on her understanding of Ernest, the Hawkins family was always backed by the Turner family.

With how rich the Turners were, the Hawkins Group was just a small peck in their palms.

Ernest smiled lightly, "Do you think that I will be so useless? That I need to borrow money from that family?"

His tone indicated his contempt and disdain for the Turner family.

Although he was the heir, and although those people were begging and crying for his return, he was able to find Florence with the help of the Turner family. After that, Ernest would no longer harbor any feelings for that family. That family wasn't worthy of his attention since it was a cold, cruel place.

Florence gave it a thought and agreed with Ernest. With how aloof and arrogant he was, he would never ask for help from the Turner family.

Therefore, where did he get so much disgusting wealth from?

Florence turned over some ideas in her mind, and her gaze suddenly became sharp. She was burning her gaze on Ernest.

She asked seriously, "Are you hiding money from me?"

Ernest didn't answer her immediately. How should he navigate this?

Roan was so startled that his chopsticks almost fell to the floor.

Was he simply just hiding some money? The amount would be too astounding to be called a personal saving.

Collin leaned back lazily and was chewing some food. He said nonchalantly, "Flory, your partner here has a really depthless background, much more than your imagination. Ten organizations that are as large as the Hawkins Group is nothing but chump change in his eyes."

Florence's eyes were as wide as marbles. She was utterly in disbelief.

Besides the Turner family, Ernest should only have the Hawkins family behind him. Was there something else that she didn't know?

Ernest pressed his lips into a line and combed Florence's hair. He said gently, "I still have a lot of money. You can buy whatever you want."

After a pause, he added in a lower voice, "Or alternatively, after our marriage I will give you my salary statement. You can then see for yourself the amount."

Florence's face turned red. Why did he bring up marriage? And he was proposing to let her hold on to his salary statements.

She didn't plan to marry him because of money.

Wait, it was not like they were at the stage where marriage was in the plans yet!

Florence's face was completely red, and to hide her embarrassment, she buried her head into her plate. She didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Anyhow, Ernest seemed very prepared with anything. She didn't have to worry too much about the Hawkins Group crumbling anytime soon.

...

Hunger.

An audible noise came from her stomach.

Phoebe got up from her bed with frustration and grabbed her stomach. She let out a helpless sigh.

Due to Stanford's departure last night, her heart was in a mess at the moment. She didn't eat anything, and then the whole night she was turning and tossing, which caused hunger to attack her right now. Perhaps due to her bad mood, she needed to eat something to fill in the void in her body.

Therefore, Phoebe decided to get up and wore her pajamas. She went downstairs.

She scurried around in the kitchen to check the ingredients in the fridge. She decided to cook herself some noodles.

She was mincing something and boiling water and just as she was about to dip the noodles into the water, a low male voice came from the entrance of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

Phoebe jumped up in shock and the noodles in her hands fell to the floor, creating a mess.

She turned around abruptly and saw Stanford who was dressed in silk pajamas. He was standing at the entrance.

He was looking at the contents on the floor and frowning, "Noodles?"

Phoebe stared at the ground, her body frozen in place. She nodded awkwardly.

It was in the deep of the night. Why was Stanford here of all places?

And he also happened to see her making supper...

Would he think that she was one greedy pig?

Stanford pursed his lips and asked in a low voice, "Do you mind making another bowl?"

Phoebe was dumbfounded and she replied, "Huh?"

Stanford's expression was unnatural, and his voice was hoarse.

"I want to eat too."

Phoebe was shell-shocked and her feet was glued to the floor.

She then slowly understood that Stanford was coming down to look for food too.

It made sense, since he didn't eat anything at dinner either.

However, Phoebe's heart was like a motor which was running messily. Was she supposed to cook noodles for him too?

She was going to cook noodles for him...

At that single thought, Phoebe felt like it was part of a dream. She was maybe dreaming.

Stanford's expression shifted imperceptibly as he continued to stare at her. Seeing that she didn't budge, he frowned again and asked in a low voice, "You're not okay with it?"

Phoebe snapped back to reality and shook her head hastily, "No, that's not it. Sit down, I'll cook it now."

After saying that, she nervously wanted to put the noodles into the wok of water, but she then realized that she only had an empty packet in her hand. All of the noodles had fallen to the floor. The whole floor was a mess.

Phoebe was besieged by awkwardness and she headed out, wanting to grab a broom.

Just as her hand was touching the broom, a huge and long hand reached it first and grabbed the back of her hand.

The two of them froze.

Phoebe raised her head and immediately met Stanford's eyes.

As if shocked by electricity, she retracted her hands at the speed of light. Her heart was pounding furiously.

"I'm sorry, I-I..."

It was just grabbing a broom. She didn't do get in physical touch with him on purpose.

Stanford's deep gaze swept past the woman's hand, and he could still feel the lingering touch of her soft hand.

He didn't feel repulsed by the touch, but instead, he felt a longing towards it.

Stanford pursed his lips and said hoarsely, "Let me sweep the floor. You go cook the noodles."

After saying that, he carried the broom to the messy floor and start sweeping.

His slightly bent body made him look especially eye-catching.

Phoebe was rooted to the floor and she couldn't come back to her senses at the moment. She couldn't believe that she wasn't having a dream. The high and mighty Stanford was sweeping the floor now? He was wearing pajamas too, and even though he was sweeping up those noodles on the floor, he didn't look out of place at all.

He even lost his usual coldness too, and this image created an illusion, as if he was suddenly approachable.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐