Jane's lips curled into a subtle smile and she could practically see the shade of doubt disappearing from both Charle's and her father's faces. Mr. Devold poured himself another glass of wine and resumed talking.
"This means that Jane will be spending a rather lonely summer. How about traveling then? I'm sure you can find someone to travel with this summer."
He raised his eyebrows at his daughter who was busy mixing her salad for the tenth time already. When she finally realized that her father asked her a question, Jane let out a somewhat exhausted sigh and offered him another subtle smile.
"M-Maybe. I will have t-to think about it."
"You do that, Jane. I do not want you to spend the entire summer locked up in the house."
Jane loved Charles, but sometimes, recently, more often than not, his rather thoughtless remarks had begun to irritate her.
What was so wrong with spending your vacation resting and doing nothing? Wasn't that the whole purpose of the vacation? Sure, for someone like Charles Chastain, the mere thought of conventional rest was outrageous.
As the future heir to his parents' business, it was crucial for him to realize as soon as possible that "resting" was for those who didn't have to carry the weight of money on their shoulders. But Jane was different. To her, "resting" meant doing nothing, and it was partially her father's fault.
Mr. Devold rubbed his forehead, trying to wipe off a light disgruntled expression from his face, put away his cutlery once again, clasped his hands on top of his knees, and said, his voice unexpectedly enthusiastic,
"Then, how about we give speech therapy another go? You still stutter a lot when you are nervous, right?"
All of a sudden, it felt like even that almost unfathomable dim light that was flickering over their heads and reflecting on all the surfaces, was sucked out of the restaurant in an instant.
Jane lowered her eyes and clenched her fists on her knees under the round table. She hated it. The whole evening was nothing but sheer annoyance, and now her father just had to bring up THAT. She did not want to talk about it but it looked like it was unavoidable.
Mr. Devold, intercepting Charle's worrisome look, fixed his posture and continued, now more affectionately,
"You don't have to do it, Jane, I'm not going to force you, however..."
He looked at Charles one more time and after getting another reassuring nod, decided to finish his thought.
"It has been years since your last try. It will be different this time, so please... Do consider it."
Jane did not know what else to do but nod. It was true that the last time she tried going through speech therapy in order to get rid of her stuttering was more than a decade ago, however, the pressure and humiliation she had to endure back then was still incredibly fresh in her memory, and it was making her skin crawl.
Sure, she knew that it was the only thing that would help her to overcome her disability, however, ever since she was a child, nobody saw any problem in her talking like that, and she, too, grew accustomed to it, and, considering how she never even once asked anyone to treat her differently because of her stuttering, Jane was fine with staying the way she was for the rest of her life. It was a shame that the rest of her environment was adamant that she had to change.
And the worst thing was... That she did not know who was in the wrong––she or the rest of the world.
***
The rest of the evening Jane spent in complete silence while Charles and Mr. Devold were busy talking about the growing business and technological trends, Charle's grandfather's new business ventures, and the upcoming charity event that was held by Charle's mother each year.
From time to time, either her boyfriend or her father would try to involve Jane in their active conversation, but after a few failed attempts that were met with the girl's bored, rather abrupt replies, decided to give up and continue without her.
When the dinner was finally over, much to Jane's great relief, Charles, per usual, offered her a ride home, hoping to spend more time alone with his adoring Princess, however, to his great bewilderment, the girl rejected his offer and chose her father's car as the means of transportation instead.
"Alright then. Text me when you get home, Princess."
"Will d-do."
Mr. Devold turned around, pretending to check his phone, giving the two lovebirds some privacy, and after a few kisses and a brief exchange of affectionate goodbyes, Ian helped his daughter get into the car, then waved his hand goodbye to Charles, and joined Jane in the back seat of his black SUV.
Once the car started moving, the man put his big, warm hand on top of Jane's and when her eyes met his, offered her a smile. After a brief moment of hesitation, the man finally spoke up.
"You were rather quiet and distant today. Is everything alright between you two?"
Jane nodded and smiled as well.
"Yes. I'm just very t-tired."
"It's a relief then. Charles is a very good guy, his background is impeccable and his connections will be of great help to you in the future. And he seems to care about you very much."
"Hmm."
Jane's gaze and attention were now glued to the blur of the city lights behind the car's window and her father, afflicted by the injuries of their past, took it the wrong way.
"Jane?"
Startled by the sound of her own name, she turned her head around and noticed Mr. Devold's worried expression.
"Y-Yes?"
"Do you like Charles?"
"Well, yes, of c-course."
The man let out a somewhat relieved sigh and brushed his free hand over his neatly styled black hair.
"Good. I just... Don't want you to think that you HAVE to be with him simply because he is who he is. Although I'd prefer that you marry someone outstanding, I definitely don't want you to think that because I keep calling you "Princess", I will sell you to a marriage of convenience merely for my own benefit."
Jane looked her father in the eyes and could not help but feel sad. She knew what he meant by that––he was once part of a marriage of convenience that ruined a woman's life, and the girl was happy to know that she did not have to repeat that woman's fate.