Chapter 779

"You have one month to get the marriage license. Otherwise, we have plenty of ways to ship him overseas, and trust me, he will never step foot in this country again!"

Throwing down her ultimatum, Mrs. Stapleton hurried off, terrified that Natalie might change her mind.

Honestly, if she had walked just a little slower, Natalie really would have backed out. Marrying a mess like Marico was worse than throwing her life away.

But before she could even process it, Marico exploded.

"Who said I was marrying you? Do you think you're some kind of goddess, and anyone you point at has to wed you? Are you out of your mind? Let me make this clear-I am never marrying you. Not a chance in hell!"

Natalie flared up instantly. “You're the psycho! I was just trying to help you. Your parents were seconds away from exiling you!"

"I'd rather be exiled than marry you!"

"You!"

Natalie gritted her teeth. "Fine. You said it. The day you change your mind, you're a spineless coward!"

"I'll bow down to you if I do!"

Natalie nodded sharply. "Then I'll be waiting!"

Fuming, she stormed out of the room. It wasn't until she stepped into the elevator that reality caught up with her. Marico adamantly refusing to marry her was exactly what she should have wanted. Why did it suddenly feel like she was the desperate one?

Marico spent another week in the hospital. Once his mobility was somewhat restored, Linda couldn't hold back any longer and hauled stacks upon stacks of documents into his room.

"You need to review this proposal personally. Please read it right now and give your approval ASAP. If you delay any further, the sales department won't have time to draft the second-half strategy, which will ruin the company's annual revenue."

"Also, these are the minutes from several critical meetings over the past three weeks that you were supposed to attend. I've organized the notes, and you need to finish reading them tonight. Pay special attention to the land bidding proposal. The city is opening the public auction soon, and because you missed the strategy sessions, the team was too scared to set a high budget. It might cost us the bid."

"Additionally, Zenith Group's island resort needs a budget increase for extra staff and supplies before peak tourist season hits the regional

manager is waiting on corporate approval to handle the incoming rush."

"And there's..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Marico's head was spinning. He waved his hands frantically. "I'm

still a patient! Can you pretend to care whether I live or die?"

Linda simply dropped another stack of files in front of him, looking utterly exasperated. “Please care about whether the company lives or dies."

Marico rubbed his temples. "Is this how Theodore worked for the past ten years?"

Linda shook her head.

Marico slapped the mattress. “I knew it! No human being could survive this kind of workload!"

"What I meant is that Mr. Stapleton handled a significantly heavier workload than you do, yet he still managed to clock out on time. He even took occasional days off, came in late, or left early."

"Then why can't I?"

"Because your efficiency is terrible."

Marico glared at Linda. He

desperately wanted to lie back, wash his hands of everything, and give up. But the memory of Theodore calfing him useless trash that couldn't molded into anything worthwhile stung his pride. He wanted to prove him wrong.

The price of proving him wrong, however, was agonizing exhaustion. Supporting his aching ribs, he groaned silently while wading through the paperwork.

He worked until past two in the morning, barely managing to clear the most urgent items. Judging by the deeply conflicted look on Linda's face, his decisions were far from stellar.

Showing a rare shred of mercy for his injured state, Linda finally told him to rest, promising to return promptly at ten the next morning to supervise him.