As soon as the little girl left the study, Alexander stood up from his seat in agitation and refuted, "I am not marrying that girl. No. Not on your life."
The old man calmly observed, "Now, now grandson, don't be in such a hurry to say no. It is a good match and far above you could ever hope for. I have looked into the girl's lifestyle. She is very cordial and simple-minded. She won't bring you trouble and would help boost your own name if you want to keep on fighting for the things you want."
"Stop with your word games already. Good match? Perfect for me? You must have gone insane to even contemplate such an idea. Have you forgotten my other job? You want to entangle her in my world?" Alexander snarled his words.
"I agree that it would be a slight inconvenience if she came under some harm while in your care but don't forget where your priorities lie."
--------Line Break--------
Alexander's eyes widened at the casual disregard his grandfather had for the well being of an innocent girl he was trying to foist upon him.
But then thinking about it, Brian Donovan had always been a pragmatic, practical man who only worried about the end results and never about the road taken to achieve those results so, it shouldn't have really come as a surprise to him.
Alexander shivered as he recalled the things his grandfather had done in the past and tried to make one last stand.
Even if not for himself, he had to try his best to spare that girl from being pulled into the dirty waters that marred the Donovan family.
"Grandfather, this is completely unnecessary. I don't have any need to be married as of now and moreover, I am unsuitable for her."
He had never really given serious thought to marriage, but he had always assumed that if he ever achieved the wishes of his heart and still lived to tell the tale, then he would marry someone who stayed far away from all these high-society machinations and that he would raise his family in relative peace.
However, if he married that girl then all of his hopes would be dashed.
Firstly, because she was the heir to her company and she had agreed to this union - albeit reluctantly, on the basis that they would help her to take her rightful position when the time was right.
Secondly, because clearly both of them were against this marriage and any relation that was formed forcefully wouldn't stand the test of time and it would be a disaster for him if she ever asked for a divorce.
She had already talked about separation even before marriage.
Who was to say that she wouldn't just pack her things and leave him in a lurch?
Truth was, his life and happiness had never been his own and he had been taught this fact since childhood. His life decisions had always been out of his own hands.
Though the world saw him as a successful businessman whose name brought fear into the hearts of businessmen. The truth was far from it.
Oh! How he wished that his reality was as good as the words written by those tabloids about him, no matter his own dreams and wishes, he could never step off the path that had been set for him since years ago.
If he married that girl - oh! He'll have to stop thinking of her as 'that girl' and try to remember her name.
"You make it sound as if she will definitely go through this farce of a marriage. What is to say that since she is being besieged on all sides, she will not just make a run for it?" He tried to pry into the old man's thoughts.
Even if he knew that he had to give in, he wouldn't do so without making some sort of token protest until the hour of the union.
"I'm certain that she will not run away and that she will decide to go through the marriage. Even if nothing else, you can trust me on my judgement of a person's character. More importantly, you can trust me on my persuasive powers, I am nothing less than diligent when I set my eyes on someone or something." Brian admitted quietly to his grandson.
Afterwards, a few more words were exchanged between the pair before Alexander realised that his fate was sealed.
Brian gently steered his grandson out the door all the while giving him gentle pats on the shoulder.
As the door closed upon Alexander's face, the last thing he saw and heard was Brian Donovan asking the butler to bring a plate of Tiramisu to the study - as if rewarding himself for a job well done.
--------Line Break--------
Alexander paced in his rooms for the next few hours as he sulked about his predicament.
No.
Not sulked.
He was thinking about it.
Yes.
Thinking.
He knew it wouldn't take much for him to dissuade her from marrying him.
He could enact a play of being in love with someone else or try to act completely unreasonable in front of her - to give her the slight push she needed to decline this farce of a marriage.
The trouble was that even if she came to his grandfather screaming and shouting about his unsuitability or their incompatibility, the old man would see right through his tricks and know that it was him trying to push things from behind the scenes and that would bring another heap of problems for him.
Before he could go stark, raving mad thinking about the manipulations of the old man, he heard his phone ringing
--------Line Break--------
A few hours had passed since Anastasia had left The Donovan Mansion in a huff.
She had expected her phone to ring within an hour or so after she had taken her to leave.
After all, it wouldn't be hard for her would-be husband to enquire her personal number from the many connections he had at his fingertips.
However, when she didn't hear the telltale ring of her cellphone or receive a call from Jason or Ivy about the younger Donovan wanting to talk through things with her, she felt uncertain and perplexed.
With every hour that passed, she could feel her anxiety rising. She herself was in two minds - she didn't want to agree to a marriage in name to a stranger but she also knew that she had no other recourse left and wanted to try and see if she and Mr Donovan could exist peacefully.
When it looked as if half the night had passed without any signs from the other person who would be equally affected by this marriage, she finally realised that maybe the other person was waiting for her to take an initiative on her own.
It would make sense, since she was the weaker party in this mess and she was the one who was in need of protection and help.
She felt aggravated to have such a huge decision dumped on her head.
She was only twenty - an age where even though she wasn't painfully naive, she still was innocent to the wider aspects of society.
She couldn't even decide what to do in such a situation.
Though, there was only one real question that she had to consider, didn't she?
Whether she wanted to protect the fruit of her parents' labour or not?
As her answer was yes, she knew what she had to do to achieve that - now that someone was willing to light up her path.
Well, more or less, anyway.
With a deep sigh, she took the plunge and called the number Jason had given her - the number that would help her talk to her future husband.
When the call was picked, she tried to be as polite as possible, "Mr Donovan".
When she heard nothing except silence from the other side, she knew the other person must have identified her as the unwanted burden being foisted upon him.
Well, it wasn't as if she had thrown herself at him.
It was his grandfather who was pushing the bellows from behind, therefore, he couldn't fault her for the actions of others.
With uneasiness creeping into her voice, she asked, "Mr Donovan, I had like to speak to you face to face. Could you spare about half an hour for me?"
She heard a throaty chuckle at her words and then the other person inquired, "Miss Rayburn, do you mean to tell me that you want to meet me at this hour of the night? Forgive me if I am being rude, but you do know that it's past midnight, right?"