Flash Marriage: Shrewd Wife, Devious Husband
Chapter 215: Hardships Made Easy

Chapter 215: Hardships Made Easy

Tony smiled at the crowd in front of him. After his "talk" with his dear wife, he put his soul into his campaign. She gave him the wake-up call he dearly needed.

He had tons of money and he used it. Wherever he visited, he made sure to send his people a couple of days earlier and arrange something in that town for the day he visited.

Today, in this town, they had sponsored the softball league between two schools. The kids were happy with the assortment of refreshments and the parents were happy to have a clear view of the field as the entire area was cleared up. The dads especially were happy for the free beer.

There was a big banner with Tony’s face on it to let the people know who did it. The idea was for Tony to offer the cup to the winning team and to chat with the parents after the match.

They had a pretty good crowd, better than what they had in other towns, even more than the other candidate got. Tony was glad about it. This town was said to be the deciding factor, not because this town had the most voters, but because of a sentiment. From the day this country was instigated, whoever won this town had managed to win the election. He wanted to try his best to get the hearts of the people.

Tony was not someone who grew up in a small town but he had experience in this with Congressman Feinstein’s campaign. With the help of the staff, he trained in the past few days, he managed to run it all smoothly.

The mayor of the town came to him and talked to him for some time. He appeared to be expecting something. The mayor’s wife was in the bleachers. She seemed to be overlooking the refreshments. The ladies talked to her freely.

Tony had a feeling that the ladies were gushing about something; their object of attraction might as well be him, he noticed.

He smiled at a lady waving at him and that was followed by the giggles of the other women around her. Not trying to look at them, Tony talked with the coach and the fathers. He was here trying to get the votes of the people; he cannot be hated by half the population here.

The match was over and Tony handed the trophies to the teams. Slowly, the women approached him. Leading them was a little girl with a peculiar brooch—a hummingbird. He had seen it somewhere!

That girl came to talk to him and he realized that she was the girl his wife talked about a very long time ago. The ladies were all excited to talk to Marcella’s husband.

So that was this all about!

Tony realized it only then. He didn’t know whether she planned it or it happened on its own, but she had already convinced almost 70% of the population to vote for him without him showing his face. They were willing to do anything for Marcella’s husband, mainly to see if he was as capable as Marcella.

He puffed out his chest with pride. The women talked about her pregnancy and asked him not to apologize on her behalf for not being there. Tony was surprised to learn that Marcella stayed in contact with them still.

I married an amazing woman!!!

He left the town happily. In every town he went to from then on, he had a hearty welcome. Some towns had fewer people attending his speeches, but they all liked to hear from him and wanted to see youngsters in the Congress to bring change. Everywhere he went, he had a nice chat with everyone.

A few towns had Mr. Butler’s friends greeting him, bringing him to the pub, and talking to the locals to hear about his campaign. He had high hopes.

He couldn’t chat with Marcella as the first round of his campaign was drawing to an end. But he felt her presence throughout. He was filled with wonder to see how Marcella managed to do half of his job alone, with no instructions.

She was way more suited to be in politics than him. Too bad she was not interested. But in a way, this too was fine. The party cut off his ability to "tweak" the elections and tried its best to hold back on his funding. But they can never take her away from the equation.

She was worth the world to him. Who can stand before her love and wisdom? She had helped him turn the hurdles in front of him into stepping stones.

When he returned, she welcomed him with a bright smile and a tight hug. Although, he couldn’t squeeze her as much as he wanted to because of her protruding belly.

"Were you good to your mother?" he kissed her belly.

"Ah!" Marcella shouted. "Did you feel it? The baby kicked really hard hearing your voice!" Marcella shouted in glee. Her baby was very well-behaved till then. Hearing his father, he mustn’t have been able to contain his glee and kicked her so hard.

Tony stood frozen for some time. "Are you okay?" Marcella asked.

Tony looked at her and his eyes were reddened with tears. Marcella hugged him and kissed him. She knew he was emotional. Also, he was feeling guilty for leaving her alone for so long.

"Joey is asleep. He tried to be awake for you but he couldn’t," Marcella said.

Tony was supposed to be home two hours earlier but because there was an accident on the way, he arrived late.

"Go, change. I’ll reheat the food," Marcella kissed his lips. She had a lot to talk to him. To see him back in their home felt like a great thing then. She wondered how the military wives were handling it. They had it tougher than her.

She grew a great respect for them these days.

Tony went straight to Joey’s bedroom and sat beside his bed. Maybe Joey was not deeply asleep, he woke up immediately as the bed sank.

"Daddy!" Joey jumped on the bed and hugged his father.

Tony hugged him back. "I’m back..." Tony patted the back of the little boy clinging onto him for dear life.