Taking Over The Dynasty

Chapter 8

After a good of 20 minutes of crying, there were only muffled sounds, and my nose was runny. I gently pushed my body away from Nick's strong embrace, and I washed my eyes, trying not to stain my makeup as much, though, most probably, my makeup was not all gone.

"This is not what I want," I said again; this time, I was saying it to Nick.

"What do you mean...?" Nick's voice trailed off.

I was still wiping the tears on my face, and I could not help but smear my makeup a bit since the tears were all over my face. "I don't want to get married..." I said, then continued crying in silence in front of him.

"But why..." Nick asked in a low voice. I could feel him looking down at me since he was taller than me.

"Because I don't even like you! Why would I marry someone I don't like" I said between the sobs.

There was a moment of deafening silence before Nick spoke up, "Do you think I want it too? To get married to you? Even if you are the last woman on earth, I would never marry you," Nick said bitterly, then he stomped off, getting out of the bathroom. 

I didn't understand why that Nick guy was getting emotional, but then again, I couldn't care less. I only have time to care about my problem and this new engagement problem. Everything is too fast; I can't take it all out at once. 

Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened with a loud bang, which made me startled. I looked at the door, and my father was looking at me directly in the eye. He was fuming with anger, and his face was bright red. I was starting to cringe at the corner of the bathroom as I averted my gaze to the floor, avoiding his daggering stares. 

"What did you do?" He asked.

There was a moment of silence, and I didn't know what to answer him. 

"What the hell did you do?!" My dad shouted in anger at my face.

"I don't know!" I blurted out.

"You don't know? Are you telling me you don't know? That damn Nick has called off the engagement in front of all the guests, and yet you said you don't know anything?!" He shouted, and then a super hard slap landed on my right cheek.

"Honey, don't!" My mother shouted, holding on to the tuxedo sleeves of my dad's. "We are still at someone else's place, don't do this, please."

"Until when are you going to stop slapping me!!" I suddenly shouted back at my father. This time, I was angry, and I am letting out every piece of pent-up anger in me. "I am still a damn 21 years old girl! I am still young! My life, or who I am marrying, is none of your concern or the family's business!" I shouted in between my tears. My voice ended up croaking at the end, and tears were still falling from my eyes.

"You are unbelievable," My dad said with disappointment in his tone. He instantly walked out of the bathroom to who knows where and my mom chased after him as she gave me the pity look.

I ran my fingers through my hair and finally fell on the bathroom floor, sobbing non-stop. I am so, so tired of everything.

The following day, I woke up from bed, and I could still see the puffiness in my eyes. Last night was a whole disaster. Not only my family's name is being humiliated by everyone at the banquet, but the Everdeen's must also've felt all the shame because it is their annual banquet. For them, it is essential. I mess everything up, and I hate myself. I had no energy left to reply to Lily's texts, and she kept bugging me with missed calls. So I end up turning off the phone for the time being. 

The day was still early, and I had nothing to do. Then I suddenly remembered my favorite Ragdoll cat at the cat cafe near my neighborhood. The one that I always visit with Lily. This time, I want to go there alone, and usually, at this time of the day, there would rarely be any customers so that I could feel at least a bit comfortable.

I took my car keys and climbed don the stairs. The living room was empty and dark, as if no one was around, but it was expected. My dad is probably sulking or still angry, so he prefers locking himself up in his study room. My mom seemed like he fought throughout the night with my dad as soon as we arrived at the house.

I got inside my car and quickly drove away from my house. As soon as I reached the cafe, there were almost no cars around the parking lot, so I parked somewhere near the restaurant. I entered the restaurant and greeted my favorite Ragdoll cat, "Snow! I've missed you!" I said as I picked him up and cradled him with my hands.

"Welcome, Caroline! You came quite early. Is there anything wrong?" Mrs. Anne said as she welcomed me into the cafe.

"No, everything is fine; I just want to hang out here with Snow," I said, smiling at Mrs. Anne. As soon as she pardoned herself into the kitchen, I made my way to my favorite seating round table at the corner of the cafe. 

Suddenly I spotted a guy looking down at his iPad, and he was sitting at the table beside me. I took a seat first and sneakily tried to examine who he was, and to my surprise, it was Oliver Woods.

"Oh! It's you, Oliver Woods, right?" I asked, and then Oliver's headshot back at me.

"Oh! Caroline! What brings you here?" Oliver asked, smiling at me charmingly.

"I like to be here during my free time, I have always been here, but I had just seen your face recently. Have you taken a liking to this cafe?" I jokingly said at him.

"Yeah, I love this place! And I am quite new here. My parents lived around the neighborhood for years ago, and I had just arrived here from work trips. I usually had to travel around to take care of a few things, but I wanted to focus on my dad's business around this area. You're... the daughter of the Heart, yes?" He asked.

"Oh... yeah, I'm Caroline Haart" I chuckled a bit.

"Though I am super sorry that I didn't get to introduce myself to you properly before since I was in a bit of a rush," Oliver apologized, but I quickly stopped him.

"No, no, please don't apologize. It's normal, and it is completely understandable," I said, and I didn't notice that I had been smiling at him since the beginning. I laid my eyes on him.

Since we were the only customers at the cafe, we instantly hit it off because Oliver really carried out the conversation smoothly, and somehow I liked talking to him. He was soft-spoken, yet he made a lot of jokes that were funny to me. I rarely heard about his family's business, the Woods, but it seems that Oliver belongs to a powerful dynasty. Although we talked for the first time, I could feel that he was just like me. I think we could mix well, and not to mention the likes cats too! 

"Oh, I wanted to ask you, but I'm afraid that it might seem too personal for you..." Oliver said as he asked for my permission.

"Sure, just ask me anything," I said.

"About your engagement with the Everdeens... are you okay?"

"Well... I didn't know the news flies quite fast around the circle, huh" I said jokingly, and my voice trailed off for a moment, "It was too quick. I didn't want to marry him, and Nick made such a huge favor, and he called off the engagement himself. But thankfully, he did that, though. I  tried talking my way out of the idea of marriage with my dad, but my dad didn't understand me. All he knows is that he wants our family's business to expand more by making a solid connection with the Everdeen's."

"So all your dad wants... is for you to marry someone from a rich family?"

"Yeah... kinda, yes," I said and sighed.

"Then marry me." 

"Yeah..." Then I realized what he said, and I shot my head at him, "What?"

"Marry me. But don't worry, you can do anything afterward, and I won't stop you, trust me," Oliver said with a confident smile.

"You're joking, right..."

"Nope, not even one bit. I think you are a nice person and I would love to make you my wife. Besides, I could feel the connection with us, and I like it!" He said enthusiastically.

I thought I would be depressed at hearing the offer, but instead, it made butterflies go crazy in my stomach. Maybe this is the perfect solution for me. I looked back at him, meeting his eyes, and I could feel we were thinking the same thing. I was smiling from ear to ear, and I could feel a heavy burden had just been lifted off my shoulder.