"You already know who she is. Why you are making such a huge deal out of this is beyond me."
"She is a huge deal, so it's a big deal. Dan, you really need to understand how crucial a stellar reputation is for individuals like us by this point in your life."
"I am not like you, mother. I'm not interested in whatever bizarre things you and Dad do to maintain everyone's goodwill."
"Yes, but what you do affects both your father's company and ourselves. You cannot be together with a Cox. Social suicide is that."
After seven days, Daniel was pacing the hotel room he had come to detest. He would be able to resume ignoring his parents for the foreseeable future after his flight, which was scheduled to depart in a few hours.
"If Nicole hadn't gone through my phone and come racing to inform you, we wouldn't even be having this talk."
"Nicole has every right to be aware of what her fiancée is up to."
"We are not engaged mom!"
"And that is because you haven't asked her yet."
"Mom, I'm not giving her your grandmother's ring. We've already discussed this. Nicole is not someone I want to marry. She is an utterly horrible person. Why would you ever want me to be permanently bound to that woman?"
"Marriage is not about love, Dan. As you are aware. It's a business transaction. Now, your father and Mr. Dickson made the decision to combine the two businesses when you and Nicole got married a long time ago. Your dad is prepared to retire. It's time for the two of you to take control and advance the situation."
Daniel was destined to become ill. He never paid his folks a visit because of conversations like these. He couldn't take hearing about marriages for financial gain and obligations. Everything turned his stomach. He adored his mother, but over the years, brainwashing had reduced her to a shell of a person. In all seriousness, that was depressing. She had no idea how to live without her husband's guidance, and she anticipated that he would do the same to his wife in the future. That could never take place. In contrast to his parents, he never wanted money.
"This conversation is over for me. After a call from the front desk, my replacement phone showed up. I'm going to go down and get it before I drive to the airport. My flight takes off in a few hours. I'm just going to go there early."
"Does your dad know you're not coming on the jet with us?"
"I don't care, you can tell. I'm about to leave, so say your goodbyes."
He hugged his mother and made promises he wouldn't keep, like coming over for supper the following week and calling more frequently. Anyone would go crazy after the week's events because there had been such a string of them. He was tired of everything by the time the she-devil showed up and his mother's incessant matchmaking. He felt like they were kids again when Nicole reached for his phone at breakfast like she was a young child and then read his messages to his mother out loud. It fell to the ground while texting Maria as he struggled to wrest it back from her. Since there was nothing he could do until the phone company sent a replacement to the hotel, she probably believed he had ghosted her.
He was finally traveling alone to the airport with his phone in hand and his luggage safely tucked away in the trunk of a rented car. Until he was back at his house and away from the lunacy that was his family, he wouldn't feel like he could take a deep breath.
"That's it. I don't have a wedding date, but I do know that there is a perfect man out there who will never speak to me again. I'm at fault."
"Oh, stop being melodramatic, please. You haven't heard from Mr. Perfect for a good reason, I'm sure of it."
"Like what?"
"Maybe he's sick and his finger fell off."
"Yes, you are correct. That's it, I'm positive. The fact that a woman he just met asked him to attend a family wedding in another state less than a week ago has nothing to do with it. It sounds ridiculous even to say it allowed."
"You are not crazy. If you can recall, the dating site's sole objective was to locate a wedding date."
"Which I still don't have. What about your cousin?
"Logan? I don't think his husband would like you taking him to a wedding in New York."
"How do we not know anyone who would do me a favor and come with me."
"Why can't I just come with you? We could definitely be like lesbian lovers."
"Yeah starting off with lies to my new family is a perfect plan. I'm just going to call Matthew and tell him I can't make it."
"No, you have to go. I'm living off your wonderful fabulous life. My very own romance movie."
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Maria
RomanceYou have always been told that money can be the root of all evil. But is it really? Daniel Richardson has always been around wealth. Having been raised by rich strangers, living in a home where he was only spoken to when he was seen. Years later, th...