Getting Married

Daniel, hearing those words felt relief, and looked to Uncle Cole before saying to Abigail "Are you sure on this?"

Abigail looked between her grandfather and Daniel before saying "As certain as I can be. Grandfather, I know that you only want the best for me, and this is how you think it will be achieved, but honestly, I cannot stay with my parents. They are making my life miserable. I thought where I grew up was bad but now understood that much of what happened there was reflective of where I grew up and what was expected to be done by boys and girls. But…"

Cole interrupted seeing that Abigail was getting upset saying "They are acting as if you are still back there and expecting you do more than you ever did in the family you grew up in, despite them having a house full of servants."

Cole paused, looked at Daniel who said, "Are you certain that you want to agree for that reason?"

Abigail nodded and said, "I just want to get this over."

Taking Abigail hand, Daniel calmly said "Before we go in, sign the documents I know your grandfather has for us to sign and get our marriage certificate, could I have one brief word."

Looking at her grandfather who took a couple of steps away, Abigail turned to Daniel saying, "My grandfather is giving you the option."

Daniel closed his eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them and looking directly at Abigail and stating "Just believe in yourself, and things will go well from there. But remember that what is revealed is up to you, but your choice has consequences."

Abigail nodded, before saying "Let us go and get this over with."

As he reached out his arm, for Abigail to take Daniel suspiciously looked at the young woman about to become his wife. There was just something that told him there was a lot more to her that Uncle Cole had told him, and what his investigations had revealed. The question is what was that?

As she placed her hand on Daniel's arm Abigail noticed that he slightly tensed up. As he did so, she started to question herself about his reaction. Why was he reacting so? Did he really want to do this or was there something else.

As she went to open her mouth, Cole said "Come on you two, we cannot continue to stand out here, if this is what you want to do."

Daniel chuckled as Abigail shook her head and said, "You sound shameless Grandfather."

With a wide smile, Cole quipped "And you know, there are times I do not care. Now is one of those cases as I can be certain regardless of what comes for me, I know you sweetheart will be taken care of."

Without waiting for a response, Cole moved quickly to the entry of the the Civil Affairs Office, where one of his guards was waiting, with the door open wide. Daniel, calmly led Abigail to the entry and followed her grandfather in.

At Cole's signal, they were whisked into a nearby office where Cole placed a stack of folders, which Abigail realised were the same ones she saw in the car, before saying "I arranged for the officials to witness your signature on all the documents."

For ten minutes, the folders were passed around as Abigail and then Daniel signed the documents, and they were witnessed. At the end of the process, Daniel quietly said "Thank you for doing that."

The official nodded before saying "If you can come with me, we can take your photograph and sign the paperwork needed for your marriage. CEO Wu, your assistance brought your documents in earlier, and Chairman Meng, do you have your granddaughter's documents?"

Cole nodded and reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope handing it to them to the official, who went through the bundle writing on the paperwork in front of him, before handing them back to Cole and saying "Thank you. Now, please follow me for your photograph to be taken."

Daniel quickly stood up and reached out his hand to carefully help Abigail stand. Rather than letting go of Abigail's hand, Daniel interlaced his fingers with Abigail's before slowly following the official slightly pulling a stunned Abigail with him. He paused, and quietly said "We do not have to do this if you do not want to."

Abigail, slightly shook her head before saying, "Sorry I was lost in thought."

Smiling Daniel said, "You will have to tell me what you were thinking about," before turning and continuing following the official into another room, where a camera was waiting to take their photo.

For a few minutes the stood in front of the Camera, following the direction of the photographer, before the official, returned with two red books, and a register and an inkpad in his hand, before reaching over taking Daniel and then Abigail's right hand and placing their thumb prints on the two red books and the register before handing them some wipes to clean their hands.

He finally said, "To finish this process, I need you to sign these documents."