Impulsive Vow to an Enigmatic Husband novel Chapter 742

After all these years, he'd been itching to see Cornelia, but he was still stuck with these two pains in the neck.

Talk about bad luck!

Roman didn't want to dredge up his cruddy past, but he was here now and he was going to take Cornelia out for a meal if it killed him.

He asked, "Cornelia is working at the Hartley Group now, right?"

Abigail was a bit thrown, but remembering that Cornelia's husband was the president at the Hartley Group, she regained her nerve. "How do you know Cornelia is working at the Hartley Group?"

Roman scoffed, "I told you before, there's no stone unturned for the Padilla family in Riverton. Ask her if she wants to keep her job. Plenty of folks who'd jump at the chance if she doesn't. If she does, she can join me for a meal, and we'll talk about the past."

"What the hell do you want with Cornelia? I'm warning you, if you lay a finger on her, I'll knock your lights out." Zack didn't know much about Marcus, some from Cornelia, some from the grapevine.

Zack heard the rumors about Marcus first and received a lot of information from outside sources. As a result, his inner inclination led him to believe that Marcus might not be a good person.

When Roman brought up the Hartley Group again, Zack got antsy.

But Abigail was more sure-footed. She was a die-hard fan of Cornelia and Marcus and believed Marcus was head over heels for Cornelia.

When Roman made this threat, she thought it was a laugh. "If you are so awesome, why don't you just introduce yourself as one of the Padillas instead of constantly dropping the Hartley name? Your names have nothing to do with each other, stop riding the Hartley's coattails."

"I'd go as far as to say we're like family with the Hartleys." Abigail's comment hit Roman where it hurt and he started to scramble.

The Padillas had always been small potatoes, living off the Hartley's for decades. Marcus' grandfather was always good to the Padillas, lending a hand whenever they needed.

But when Brennen took over the group, he didn't give two hoots about his mother's wishes, only caring about skirt-chasing, and turned a blind eye to the Padillas' needs.

During Brennen's reign, the Padillas lost a lot of deals and their shot at being top dogs in Riverton. So they went downhill, each day worse than the last.

But when Marcus took over, the Padillas saw a glimmer of hope, hoping the kid they knew would heed his grandmother's words and lend the Padillas a hand.

And the kid did, but his help was making the Padillas fend for themselves, which was not what they wanted.

The Padillas had been leeching off the Hartleys for years; they'd lost their ability to make a living, only hoping for handouts from the Hartleys.

Marcus didn't directly give money or possessions, which led the Padilla family to rely on themselves to make a living.