"You will listen to me," came the angry response from President Fu-Gan
"I said No grandfather. I have my dreams and no way will I marry as soon as I finish High School."
"You will. Do not forget I have the power here. You will be marrying Daniel Wu, the day after you finish High School. Of every possible suitable male, he has no scandals and I need him backing for my future."
Rebecca jumped to her feet, and as she was doing so, Justin grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to sit all as she spat out "It is all about you, rather than what is needed. Have you no shame in forcing me into a relationship with a person who I have met a handful of times, simple because his brother is my classmate? And were you that blind that you did not realise that he had a wedding ring on last night. You want me to ensure bigamy is committed? Seriously grandfather, I am your granddaughter not a pawn that you can use politically."
Rebecca pushed off Justin's hand and shot him a look as she stood up, and further spat out "You wonder why I convinced Mummy and Daddy to agree to my plan? It is for this reason. I am not someone that can be used as you wish. I am my own person. Other grandparents would be pleased that their grandchildren want to stand on their own two feet, learn, go to university, create a career and find the person they love to marry. You only think about yourself."
President Fu-Gan moved over, slapped Rebecca again, before pushing her down beside Justin again. As he towered over her, he said "Get this through your head granddaughter. I have ultimate power here, and I can make sure that I get what I want. That is you doing what I tell you to do. Your two choices are you do what I tell you to do, and I will graciously allow you to complete high school, before I have Civil Affairs issue your marriage certificate to Daniel Wu, or alternatively you keep this attitude up, and you will not be allowed to leave this house. You will be locked in whatever room I deem appropriate, guarded twenty-four/seven and the day of your eighteenth birthday, your marriage certificate will be issued. Those are your two choices."
Rebecca looked at Justin, who slightly shook his head before leaning in and whispering "Do not say a thing, let me help you, Becca."
As he pulled back from whispering to Rebecca, Justin stood up, and again positioned himself between his sister and grandfather before looking over at his parents who were avoiding watching what was happening to their children.
Justin calmly said "Back off Grandfather…"
"Do not tell me what to do. This is my country, somewhere you have little power."
Justin closed his eyes, before opening them and saying "I am still your grandson. Becca is your granddaughter. We are our own people, and will treat you with the respect you deserve, but that goes two ways. You need to treat us with respect, and not dictate to us what will happen. You only seem concerned about cementing your future, rather than your family…"
"My future is what is important…"
Angrily Justin said "At the expense of everyone else around you? Truly, do you not comprehend what leadership is about? With the time I have spent with mother's family, learning about what my future will bring, I have seen a different side of leadership. A willingness to sacrifice oneself for the betterment of the people that you lead…"
"You call what is happening there, leadership? That screwup who gave up his power to become a figurehead? That is not leadership that is weakness. I will remain president until the day I die and I will do what is needed to ensure that."
"At the expense of relationships that are meant to support you. Grandfather, stop and hear yourself. It is you, you and you. You are asking us to put ourselves so far behind you that we lose sight of what is important. As I have told you, when you keep telling me who I will marry, it is a no. But I have been willing to meet the person to see if we have the possibility of a future, particularly given the pressure my wife will ultimately face as my queen."
"Who cares about that. You must secure and consolidate power, and that means ensuring that my position is secure."
Justin took a step towards his grandfather before saying "Again, enough with the you. Honestly, you are looking to create a public incident where you can claim that your grandchildren have bullied and abandoned you, to play to the public. But I am not going to be a part of that. You told me who you want me to marry over the last few weeks, and you know what I have done. I have gone behind your back and met her. You know what the first words out of her mouth were."
"Who cares. She will do what her family tells her."
Shaking his head Justin said "I do. As I said my bride will have so much more pressure the almost every other bride in the world. When I marry, she will either become the crown princess or the queen. While she will be the most important person in my life, our life will be in the glare of the public. She needs to be committed to making our relationship a success, otherwise there is no hope."
"Screw that. Power is always reinforced my arranged marriages by elders."
Justin shook his head and said, "Not going to happen."