The rest of the dinner was boring, everyone buried their faces in their food stealing glances at eachother once in a while. Soon, they were all set to leave.
"I want a word with you Ryan" Lord Aredian called out to Ryan as he made his way into the mansion. Sitting at the bar section of the living room, he poured himself a glass of wine. Ryan joined him but refused the glass of wine Lord Aredian offered him.
"I know you drink quite a lot, why pretend in front of your father?" he asked grinning but Ryan kept mute
"you've been in charge of my club house, but never for once have you left there wasted, how's that possible?" he asked again as he placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder
"are you here to ask me mind questions father?" Ryan asked as he shook Lord Aredian's hand off his shoulder.
"why are you so rigid son? why are you so cautious around me?" Lord Aredian asked.
"why ask such a question when you know the answer father!" Ryan spoke sternly.
"you placed your men everywhere to spy on me and give you reports at the end of every month, tell me what kind of father does something of that nature to his own son?" Ryan yelled
"A good father!" Lord Aredian replied calmly
"you're my son Ryan..." he said
"I allowed you all these years to study, and live the kind of life you wanted, hoping that one day, you could finally assume your position as the vice chairman in the family business. I have raised you up to be spotless and virtuous, because I need a reliable heir to the Aredian's chain of businesses, not some kind of unrefined man who only focuses on his love life and not the realities of the world!"
"what are you driving at father?" Ryan asked in rage
"relationships come later! what's more important right now is the family business, I'm getting old Ryan, I need a successor! how much longer would you shy away from me?!" Lord Aredian yelled
"as long as you keep interfering in my life father! I will keep running away from you!" Ryan yelled back
"I'm tired of being told what to do, You're turning me into a sadist father, you don't care about the things that makes me happy, all you care about are your selfish gains!" Ryan cried
"I only want Catherine nothing else, I don't care about your chains of businesses or your fortunes I just want my peace of mind" he said getting up to leave.
"you cannot marry Catherine Ryan!" he blurted out. Shocked, Ryan stopped dead on his tracks
"why?" he asked furiously
"business before pleasure son" Lord Aredian spoke rather calm
"Sophia Walker, I bet you know her, I'm to sign a business deal with her father, and in return I promised him marriage to his daughter. You're the best man for her. This is a deal worth billions, and you can't mess this up."
"w...what are you saying dad?" Ryan asked alarmed
"if you behave yourself and get her to like you, just until after the deal is signed, then you can do whatever you want, but for now, you must prepare yourself to meet Sophia."
"no... don't do this dad"
"how am I supposed to deceive two women? please don't put me in such a fix" Ryan pleaded
"I won't let you marry Catherine if you don't do as I say" Lord Aredian spoke calmly.
"The ball is in your court, you can start now to woo Sophia, so you can get back to your darling Catherine soon."
He stood to his feet, and walking to face Ryan he said
"You know I'm a man of my words, and I can go to any length to make sure I get what I want, if you don't want to be separated from your lovely Catherine, you do as I say. See you around" he said again as he touched Ryan on his shoulder. Ryan stood still in frustration, and when he couldn't hold it in anymore, he smatched the wine bottle on the floor, and punched the marble in rage. As blood trickled down his fists, he loosened his tie with his other hand.
"I won't let you get away with this" he muttered to himself in pain
Meanwhile, Kyla took her parents home, and after they had settled in, Mr Jordan, called her.
"Kyla my dear, I'm so happy I got to have dinner with my boss today" he said
"it's ok dad, it was Ryan's doing not mine." she replied with a broad smile
"yes, that's my point Kyla" he said as he held her hand.
"what do you mean dad?" Kyla asked in confusion
"did you say it is Gregory you're in love with? R...Ryan would have been a better choice d...don't you think so too hun?" he asked, but Kyla withdrew her hand in dissapointment.
"what did you just say dad?" she asked
"what's wrong with Greg? why are you suddenly talking about Ryan?"
"my dear, listen to me" he said
"If you marry Ryan, you'd be placing your daddy at a better position in the Aredian Smith Defence, who knows, I might even rise to the position of a CEO one day. Don't you want your dad to..."
"enough daddy!" Kyla yelled on top of her voice
"how could you be so selfish? I'm in love with Greg and nothing you say can change my mind!" she said and hurried on to her room.
"Darling you've become greedy, how could you think of trading your daughter's happiness for a position at ASD?" Mrs Jordan spoke with so much resentments in her tone.
"This isn't about greed Jenny, sooner or later you'd understand exactly what I'm trying to do here" Mr Jordan said as he stared into space.
The next day, Ryan called Catherine, to know how she was fairing, but her response made him realize there was trouble ahead.
"it's my mom Ryan, she doesn't seem to like you at all, she won't even let me talk about you even once" came Catherine
"I'm really sorry but I'm kinda stressed out right now, how about we talk about this some other time?" she asked
"yes, that's a good idea, I also want to see you to discuss something important with you" he said
"alright then, I will meet you tonight" Catherine replied
"my house, same time" Ryan concluded
Greg wasn't finding it easy on his own end either. His mom kept talking about how decent and easy-going Catherine was the night she met her
"oh...how I wish Greg" she said
"Catherine would have made an excellent daughter-in-law, I mean she has all the qualities any man could fathom about and more. She's even from a wealthy home Greg, that could make our lives much better" she said
"mom are you seriously telling me this?" Greg asked very much irritated
"son, I'm not forcing you to marry Catherine, I mean it's already too late, and she's already engaged to some other man, but..."
"mom, that "OTHER MAN" is my best friend, please take note of that"
"don't make me feel like a failure mom, you know I work hard everyday to make sure you and dad are comfortable, you don't need a wealthy daughter-in-law to live well, please" Greg said.
"I dislike that Kyla of yours, she looks vicious Greg, please think about this" she said but Greg walked out on her.
"why doesn't she get this? Catherine belongs to Ryan and can't be mine? what exactly is going on here?" Greg asked himself in frustration