The story she was telling was finally taking a turn and it was for the worse instead of the better. The regretful look on her face told me that nothing played out as she had planned or anticipated.
“That day things really got out of hand, and I guess I was very emotional when he told me that he would disown me if I didn’t break up with Kyle. I mean, after all that I did for him and all that I had to take from him, how could he say something like that to me?” she said before her voice started to crack up with emotion.
The look that she had on her face told me just how ridiculous she thought her father’s suggestion was. I had no idea what Elizabeth had to go through to live up to her father’s expectations, but I could guess that she probably had been working hard to please him all her life. Elizabeth quickly took a deep breath, and her face became composed again. When she spoke once more, her voice was steady.
“Then a stupid idea flashed into my mind that if Ace could pull that deal off with his father, then maybe it would work with mine too. So, I ended up proposing to my father that I would grow the company to the size of the two combined to make up for the fact that I decided to marry Kyle instead of marrying Ace. Truth be told, Ace wouldn’t have married me even if I had begged him, so I have no idea why my father even thought that that was an option to begin, but anyways…” she said before pausing to let out another sigh.
“You really did that?” Ace asked with apparent surprise.
I guess Ace did not know Elizabeth’s entire story and this was news to him as well. For the first time since the start of Elizabeth’s storytelling, Ace reacted. Just like Ace, I was very surprised at that wild suggestion and gamble that she made with her father. I never thought that she would use Ace’s idea and strike up the same deal with her father.
Had the atmosphere allowed for it, I would have let out a laugh. Unknowingly, Kyle had somehow found himself in a very similar situation as I was in. Marriage clearly did not mean much to Chairman Chase if he did not approve of the groom and it seemed like everything could be undone on his command. At least, the two of them managed to get married. I glanced at Ace and wondered if that day would even come for us and just how much we had to go through to make our future together a reality.
“Yes, I did…” Elizabeth admitted before showing us a tight smile.
She didn’t need to say it out loud for us to get it that she wasn’t at all proud of the decision that she had made. What I couldn’t understand was what she saw in someone like Kyle. He was a deceitful and cheating loser, as far as I was aware. I let out a sigh silently when I thought that maybe other people would wonder the same thing about me if they found out that Ace and I were dating. Maybe they would ask what he actually saw in me.
“Did he end up agreeing to it?” Ace asked.
“Yes, he did…” Elizabeth replied.
“Then, what happened? What your father talked about today did not match with that deal that you made with him at all…” Ace asked, and he seemed genuinely worried for the first time.
I remained silent as my eyes flickered from Ace to Elizabeth and back again as their conversation progressed. It really did make any sense. At first it seemed like Chairman Chase agreed that if his daughter could grow the company, then she could keep her marriage with Kyle. Then, he changed his mind and won’t allow for the merger unless they break up?
“I don’t know what happened. Maybe he changed his mind or maybe he’s just not fine with us taking the approach to merge the company in order to grow it,” Elizabeth muttered before she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
I completely forgot about the coffee mug in my hand as I concentrated on the conversation.
“I guess you didn’t make him promise to accept all methods like I did. Maybe I should have told you about that part as well,” Ace said before shaking his head slightly.
The two of them went silent and the only question that seemed to hang there in the air between the three of us was: What do we do next?
“Well, anyways, that’s why she had a huge argument with her father and…kind of ran away from home…” Ace said to further explain why Elizabeth had ended up at his place.
“I see. Well, we do have a few spare bedrooms for guests…” I said quickly when I finally picked up that she wasn’t just visiting but she would probably be staying the night.
Ace flashed me a look that told me that he was a little more than ‘very sorry’ for this sudden turn of events. I smiled a little back at him to tell him that it was ‘fine’. Needless to say, I never dreamt in my wildest dreams that Elizabeth would ever need to stay the night at Ace’s place like this. The three of us sleeping under one roof just felt extremely strange. Had this happened earlier, I might have died from suffocation; however, after hearing her story and seeing her look so down and depressed, I felt like I would be heartless if I didn’t sympathize with her.
Since I wasn’t born an heiress like she was, it would probably be too much for me to say that I understood exactly what she was going through and what she was feeling. However, her situation with Kyle did seem to mirror the situation that Ace and I were in, at least in some respects, and that made me feel for her.
--To be continued…
