The Royal Contract-Chapter 1311: Stand in the way of love

He loved his wife. He adored her and would have spoiled her rotten to the point that he would like to give her the world if only she would let him.

However, he had no idea what he wanted to do with her. She did exactly the opposite of what he asked her to do.

"I told you to wait for me." Marcus chastised his wife as soon as they were back in the privacy of their room.

After their unplanned meeting with Haley, he had to excuse themselves from her sister, feigning that Jacky might be exhausted from the trip.

He could see that his wife disapproved of his action, but he had to get her away from his sister before she messed up the plan.

"It was not my fault that I bumped into my friend, and we started talking." Jacky acted innocent, pretending she had met with Haley by pure accident.

However, he was not buying it. He knew his wife from the back of his hand. She was a great actress, but she would not fool him.

Nevertheless, he knew she would not lie to him intentionally. She was only fighting for what she believed was the right thing to do.

"Bump or seek her out?" He asked exasperatedly, but he could bet his fingers that it was the latter.

It did not matter since he arrived on time to stop her. He could understand her concern. But he also believed that the initial plan was better.

"You know she has a right to know the truth." She spoke to him, determined to make her point. "You know she will hate us if we keep this from her."

He could tell she had a good argument. But hating him was a chance he would take to keep his sister alive.

"We don't know how she would react if she learned the truth about Gerald. With her condition, I only want to protect her." Marcus had to make his wife understand that this was the better choice.

They had to keep the secret of Gerald as he had promised him. Besides, he knew he would only put his sister's life in danger if she knew the truth.

Too many variables could go wrong if he did not stick to the plan. So far, he believed it was better to let his sister think Gerald was dead.

"I know if I am in her position, I don't want you to leave me in the dark." Jacky insisted.

He agreed with her if that was their situation. He knew he could not stay away from the woman he loved.

However, Gerald and Haley's condition was different. They were in a life-and-death situation. He could not risk his sister's life and his future nephew or niece just for them to get back together.

"I wish for another way, but we should respect Gerald's wishes." For the first time, he agreed with that man's plans.

He still hated Gerald's guts. But he appreciated what he did to protect his sister from those who would wish to hurt her, and most especially, his father.

He knew he could never love and respect Alfred. He might be his biological father, but he never acted like one to him.

"Besides, we still had to find proof of my father's involvement in these criminal activities." He added before his wife could start protesting again.

Truthfully, he had never thought of his father as the leader of an illegal syndicate. He never expected him to be that evil.

But he guessed he had given his father more credit than he deserved. Now, he could not even imagine what his sister might be going through.

She always thought so highly of the man that had raised her. She worshipped the ground he walked on. It must have been a great disappointment for her to know that their father was no saint but quite the opposite.

"We still have to ensure Haley is safe from his clutches." One thing he knew about his father, he was relentless.

He always assumed his father had achieved success and recognition because he was a stubborn man who never accepted defeat. However, he never thought his father had acquired his massive wealth illegally.

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Then, he also had to guarantee that his family would be safe from his father. He did not want to be in the center of this situation without being prepared.

"I guess you are right. But I still feel bad that we are keeping Gerald's status a secret from her. They are about to have a baby." Jacky had a few tears watering the edge of her lids.

He knew how emotional she could be about this kind of situation. Being abandoned at a young age and not experiencing what it was like to have a real family, Jacky swore never to let her child suffer her same fate.

She always said that children deserved to have parents by their side. A family that would love and support them as they grew up.

"I know. But Haley and her child should be our priority. Besides, I am sure Gerald had other plans to make things right." He wished to reassure his wife that this was for the best.

However, even the most well-thought strategies were bound to fail for one reason or another. There had never been guarantees of a full-proof plan. No matter how carefully and perfectly executed it was.

Still, he would fight hard to protect his family, including his sister and her child and his wife and their child. He would never let anything harm them.

"But what about Haley?" Jacky asked, still showing concern for her friend. "How are we going to help her get through this?"

He had thought about it a hundred times, going through the plans repeatedly in his mind. But as of now, this was what he and Gerald had come up with.

"We will take Haley under our wings. For now, she would stay here where she would be safe." He knew that bringing him back would only create chaos.

She was better off staying on the island where their father could not find her. And where they could control the people who had access to the place.

It was the reason Gerald sold the place to Alex. At least, no one would trace the island back to him. He would make sure to erase all the tracks that lead to him.

"For now, you have to stick to the plan. We are here on business and pleasure. We should not let anybody suspect anything else." It was their cover-up.

He knew that his father might be watching his every step. He could not let them guess that he was hiding her sister.

"Then, after..." His wife asked, still unconvinced about their plans.

"We will help Haley in whatever she decides to do with her life." He believed that his sister would have plans of her own.

He just wanted the chaos to die down a notch until they could find a way to control the situation. Then, maybe Haley could return to take hold of her life.

He always believed that Haley was tough than she thought of herself. She would pull through this without a doubt in his mind.

"Ok. Fine." Jacky finally conceded to the plan. She promised to keep Gerald's situation a secret for now. "I will cooperate with your plan."

He felt relieved because he did not need her sister, demanding to find Gerald. As of now, he had no clue where he had gone hiding.

Besides, he was still unconvinced that Gerald would be an ideal partner for his sister in the long run. He still had not seen enough to prove he had truly changed.

For all he knew, Gerald only used this situation to regain his power from the people who took it from him. Then, afterward, he would go back to his wayward ways.

"But I need you to give Gerald a chance to prove himself. I know what you think of him. But I believe that he has changed for the better." Jacky looked him in the eye, reading him like a book.

He guessed she also knew him too well. She could see through him just by staring at him. She knew his thoughts by the tone of his voice.

"He is trying to be the best version of himself for Haley. You must try to see that." Jacky still advocated for the man he only saw as a criminal who needed to be behind bars for all his crimes.

Could he believe that such a man was capable of changing? He had seen so many criminals inside the courtroom who had never known remorse in their entire lives.

They could act innocent or guilty of their criminal act, but at the end of the day, deep inside, they never knew shame. In truth, they took pride in their heinous accomplishments.

"I am trying." He admitted to his wife, knowing he could not lie to her.

He wished that would be that easy. But he did not have a heart of gold like his wife. He could only deal with the facts and not his emotions.

However, if Gerald could show him a reason to believe his good-boy act, maybe he might reconsider what he thought of him.

"That is all I ask." His wife knew that he was not that easy to convince. But for her, he would do the impossible.

But he also thought of Haley, who was devastated to lose Gerald. He could not imagine the pain that she was going through, thinking that she would never see him again.

Could he see her suffer like this, believing that the man she loved and the father of her child would never return?

Could he truly stand in the way of love?