"Well, nothing you say will shock me," Sabrina said off-handedly. Surely Kavan is too gentle, kind and nice to be hiding some deep dark secret identity.
"I am in hiding from my family," he said, watching her reaction to this. She was slightly surprised but not shocked. A lot of people can't stand their own family so it's normal. Even dragons can't stand their own families sometimes. Maybe he has annoying nagging parents.
She shrugged as if it didn't matter.
"Well, I am in hiding from my clan and I've not seen my family for a few hundred years," she told him in return. "Sometimes, we don't get along with our own family so that's only normal," she added.
He rolled his eyes.
"What I meant is that I had to get away from my family because I don't want to be associated with them,"
She was tempted to ask "And that is a big deal because?" Again, it is perfectly normal for humans, or even dragons, to be ashamed of their own family. If she can help it, she didn't want to be a sea jade clan dragon too. Not that she gets to choose. But that is beside the point. She looked at Kavan encouragingly.
"Is it because they are some big deal mafia gangsters?" she asked.
She can just imagine Kavan as the leader of a gang. The imagery is so hot. She is not one to resist bad boys. She will take him whether he is a gentle yoga teacher or a bad, bad, gang leader. Either one, she is happy with.
"No, they are much worse than that," he said and shook his head.
What can be worse than mafia gangsters? Oh right. Now she gets it.
"Are they politicians? Is that it? One of your parent is a corrupted politician? But that is not on you. I mean what they do has nothing to do with you at all,"
He shook his again again at her guess. Wrong again. What could be worse than corrupt politicians then? She looked at him questioningly.
"Out with it. The suspense is killing me," she said.
"I come from a very rich family, a long line of old money and I am the only heir to the fortune now," he said sadly.
She is shocked. Not shock that he comes from money but shocked that he actually thought being an heir to a huge fortune is worse than corrupt politicians or gangsters. What is wrong with him?
"And that is bad because….?"
"This means I have a duty to fulfil, I must get married and have children to continue the family line," he said.
"That's easily solved. I'll marry you," Sabrina said. She won't tell him about the whole complicated dragon mating and dragon babies thing. At least not yet. Her heart thrilled at the thought of being married to Kavan. It would be bliss waking up with him every day for the rest of their lives. For all of eternity.
"You…want to marry me?" he looked startled, snapping her out of her daydream.
"Yes, of course, I mean, I have never felt like this with anyone and I am sure you are the one for me," she replied. She omitted mentioning the perfect match thing. It might spook him. She didn't want to burden him with the match and destiny thing.
"But…you are still married to Dashen," he said.
"Well, that's easily arranged. I'll get him to divorce me and then we can get married, easy peasy," she said casually. Except that it's not easy. The moment Dashen divorces her, she will be forced to go back to the sea jade palace to slave there. She will have to figure out a way to do this without alerting the clan.
No, she AND Dashen have to figure it out between them. Surely Dashen has ideas. Divorcing her will leave him space to marry Meera. That is if Meera wants to get married. There's also Meera's health condition. She really needs to cure Meera soon. But she is digressing. She turned back to Kavan.
He looked even more troubled now. Does that mean he doesn't want to marry her? Is that it?
"But you don't want to marry me…" she said, the question mark hanging in the air. Her heart dropped. It was as if he had stabbed her. Maybe he doesn't feel the same about her.
He noticed her crestfallen expression.
"No, no, no Sabrina, it's not that," he said. He pulled his chair closer to hers and took her hands in his. "I honestly do like you a lot but getting married after only a few weeks together…that's a bit too fast, don't you think?"
"Well…you are the one who said your family wants you to get married and make more heirs," she pointed out.
He laughed bitterly.
"That's the thing. They want me to marry a certain woman, someone from a reputable family that they want to be linked to through marriage,"
She jumped up.
"What?? An arranged marriage? In this time and age???"
"No, it's not an arranged marriage, I do know her, we grew up together as childhood friends," he said.
She narrowed her eyes. What does all this mean? She is so confused now. She sat back down.
"Please, you are confusing me. Can you please tell me everything instead of telling me bit by bit,"
He exhaled. Then inhaled.
"Okay. So, I am the only son and the only heir to my family's large fortune of several billions. My uncles did not have children. My father is the only one to have a child, me. My grandfather is old and he had stipulated that for me to eventually inherit the fortune, I must get married and have children of my own, preferably as many as possible,"
"And if you don't?"
"Well, then the whole fortune goes to charity, he even puts this condition in his will,"
She shrugged. So, he won't be a billionaire. She can live with that. She doesn't mind living in his tiny flat. Maybe he needs to put in air conditioning but other than that, she is perfectly fine with it.
"I don't mind you not being a billionaire, I mean I met you as my yoga teacher, not a billionaire," she said.
"The thing is, my parents, my uncles, do not want the fortune to go to waste, they want it to remain in the family," he said.
"So, I already offered you a solution. We get married, have some children and your problem is solved…unless your grandfather's will mention that you must marry that childhood friend of yours?" she asked. It will be a bit far fetched for his grandfather to state in his will whom he should marry. "He is still alive isn't he?"
"Yes, he's 90 but still strong and he insisted that I must get married before he dies and he wants me to marry Reesha," he replied.
"So, we get married first and when they find out there's nothing they can do about it, they won't be able to force you," she suggested.
"Well, you have to get divorce immediately then," he said.
Now, she is the one in a dilemma.