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“A few months,” Ace replied casually.

“Have you gotten bored of her yet?” he asked emotionlessly.

My eyes widened at his question. Clearly, he was referring to me; however, how can he ask something like that when I was sitting right next to Ace.

“We’re in a relationship. I’m serious about her,” Ace replied without hesitation.

His words warmed my heart. He sounded so sincere and honest that I dared hope that his words were true. Without knowing it, I had started hoping desperately that our relationship would have a future.

“Serious? Do you even know what that word means in this context?” his father asked as he arched an eyebrow curiously at Ace.

Well, based on his dating track record, I guess that question was only fair.

“They say time will tell, don’t they?” Ace replied with a confident smile.

.....

Nothing that the Chairman said seemed to surprise Ace or have any impact on him. It made me realize that this pair of father and son must have had this kind of conversation quite often. The atmosphere between them was bordering on being hostile and they did not seem like father and son at all.

“Does she come from a wealthy family?” his father asked.

“No,” Ace replied.

“Didn’t think so. Does her parents own a company of a decent size? Or any business...” the Chairman asked as if he was trying to put together my financial background.

“Why are you asking if you already know?” Ace replied with a question of his own.

Of course, I didn’t have any wealth or much money to my name. Definitely nothing close to what the Chairman would consider to be of value. A knot formed in my stomach and I started feeling unwell. The overwhelming stress of the situation was getting to me. He’s going to force us to break up now, isn’t he?

It was strange how much it affected me although I had prepared myself countless times for this. All along, I knew that our relationship couldn’t last. Everything was just wrong and twisted about our relationship.

“Since you’ve decided to turn down your engagement with Elizabeth and we cannot merge our companies together, I’ll have you take full responsibility,” the Chairman said after heaving a sigh.

“How so?” Ace asked.

Isn’t that unfair to Ace?

It wasn’t just Ace who didn’t want to get married. Elizabeth didn’t want to marry him either because she was already dating Kyle and wanted to marry him. In the end, Elizabeth and Kyle really did end up getting married, although her father was displeased with her decision.

“You will grow our company to be as large as the size of the two combined. I give you three years, if you can’t achieve this, I will never acknowledge your relationship. That will also mean that you will keep your relationship a secret until then,” the Chairman demanded.

“You can’t exactly force me to break up with her,” Ace pointed out.

“Sure, I can’t force you. However, I doubt that she would feel the same way...” the Chairman said before his cold eyes shifted to rest on my face.

I winced at his sharp gaze and the meaning behind his words. He may be right. Even if Ace doesn’t want to leave me, I wonder what I would do. Would I choose to stay by his side at the cost of everything including my own career and dreams. My desires aside, I wasn’t sure if I was suited to stand at Ace’s side. He’s got so much potential, and I would only be in his way. I could see why the Chairman and Elizabeth’s father thought that the two of them were a perfect match.

“Father...” Ace said with an edge to his voice.

“Even if Elizabeth chose to marry someone else, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other suitable women who are willing to marry you with the benefit of our companies at heart,” the Chairman stated with confidence.

It didn’t come as a surprise to me that the Chairman viewed his son’s marriage as a union to benefit the future of the company. Many wealthy families had this line of thought. However, the Chairman was being very open and strict about this. Unfortunately, I knew that he was right. Even I think that there are countless women who would want to marry Ace. My mind went to the many women who were vying for his attention at the party that we attended together.

“I have three conditions, if you can agree to them then we have a deal,” Ace said calmly as if he had thought about this before.

“Which are?” the Chairman asked with a calculated smile.

“First, you will not interfere with my management of the company no matter what. Second, Karina gets to keep her job. Last, I will marry Karina immediately after the company size exceeds the set target,” Ace stated his conditions confidently.

Did he just say...marry?!

We’re going to get married?

I have not heard anything about this before. Why didn’t he say anything about this to me before?

Wait, as far as I’m concerned, we’re not even dating properly so what is this about us getting married?

“Deal. I guess if you can make that company that big, I don’t need you marrying an heiress...” the Chairman said with a satisfied smile.

“That’s all you ever care about...” Ace muttered with apparent distaste.

“It’s my job to care about the business and it is your job as well. Now that that is settled, how do you suppose we settle this matter with the public?” the older man asked.

He was obviously referring to the misleading photos taken of Ace and me together. Well, the photos were probably only half misleading because the angle made it looked like he was kissing me when he really didn’t kiss me in public on that day while we were dancing at the event. However, considering that we were involved intimately, the photos weren’t completely misleading. What will Ace choose to do?

–To be continued...