The relief I feel when I step inside my grandmother's villa and find her alone with her dog sipping coffee and watching a K-drama is unmatched. There's no Calvin here. No mom to annoy me with questions or try to start a fight. Honestly, I'm tired of battling them.
"Ah, you're here," Grandma pauses her show and turns to face me, petting the cup Pomeranian in her hands. She calls him dumpling because he's small and cute but we all know his name is influenced by her obsession with Asians.
"Hi, grandma."
"Coffee?"
"Nah, I'm good." Grandma pats the couch next to her and I sit.
"Long day huh? Heard you ruined Calvin's blind date."
That crybaby. Of course, he'd tell Grandma. It's another way for him to guarantee my failure. I did make my decision to snatch Lei from him knowing this would happen, but now that it happened, I can't stop myself from feeling a bit scared for myself. But do I regret what I did? No. Given the chance, I'd do it again. That's how much I can't let go of Leilani.
Thanks to that my relationship with her is fixed again. At least that's what I'd like to believe.
"Hmm. I had to ruin it. He was manipulating her."
"You mean discussing business? You need to have the upper hand or you lose everything," Grandma looks at me as she sips her coffee loudly.
Upper hand huh? Just what is marriage to her that she has to say it like this?
"Well, I couldn't let him use her. She's too precious for him."
"Same girl you almost killed each other for back in college, right?"
"Hmm," I reply without thinking before I pause. "Wait, what did you say?"
Grandma chuckles.
"You knew about Leilani all this time?" I ask, turning my entire body to face her.
"Of course I knew. What'd you expect when you two boys almost ripped each other's throats with dinner knives over a girl like horny wolves? My goodness I still remember the murderous looks on your faces from back then," she rubs her arms as if she's cold.
"I almost thought you were going to save me the trouble of choosing a successor you know. If only one of you had been bold enough to kill the other then the deed would have been done just like that. Chop, chop," she adds, making gestures as if she's cutting her head off.
"Grandma you're evil," I grimace at her dark humor.
"You just figured?"
I shake my head more to get my mind in check than reply to her. "When did you research her?"
"That same night. Besides, she's the only grandchild Maria has. Of course, I'd know about her. Maria never shut her mouth about how poorly the girl must be living without her mother you know?"
"Then why didn't she just take her away and take care of her?"
Grandma watches me for a moment before her red lips twitch up into a smile. "You like her, don't you? Getting angry at something so simple."
I clear my throat. Is it that obvious?
"It's written all over your face," Grandma answers my inner monologue her smile widening. "I don't know why Maria didn't take her granddaughter with her though, she's too stubborn for her own good. Even I can't control her, and we've been friends for more than fifty years."
Fifty? Wow, their friendship is goals.
"Anyways, you do know that I can't let you off the hook since you broke your promise to let Calvin have a date with Leilani first, right? You were supposed to let him fail, then take the chance and go on a date with her after."
Dumpling suddenly wakes up and stands the moment grandma finishes her speech. "Aww, my baby is up."
I watch as she pets him a little more, ruffling his fluffy white fur and letting him go on the floor before he disappears somewhere in the room, probably to eat. Then grandma faces me. I do my best to hide the frustration flowing in my very blood and stare back at her.
"I did what I did knowing I'd be punished. I'm willing to take any form of punishment you give me."
"Even if it's removing you from my inheritance list?"
My jaw clenches. I knew this was where we were headed. It's the one threat that has managed to ground both me and Calvin for a long time now—because we both want to see the other shrink beneath our feet and be at our mercy. However, I'm fine with losing Grandma's shares to some degree. Yes, it might be billions, but I'm not that hopeless. I run a secret company that nobody in my family knows about after all.
Nodding at grandma, she watches me for a moment as she sets her mug on the designer wooden table before her, facing me the next moment as I ready myself for the final judgement.
"Did you at least manage to convince her to marry you?"
I blink at her. Where's she going with this mind game now?
"Yes. We're going to meet up tomorrow to discuss the marriage details," I reply, referring to my chat with Leilani where we agreed to meet tomorrow to finalize our agreement.
Grandma pauses for a moment before nodding. "That's good then. It might not be Calvin but marriage with her will be a business pact between both our families either way. Well done."
Umm...okay? So what does this mean?
"You're excused for the moment only because planning a marriage is stressful. Once you're done though, I'll tell you what your punishment will be. In the meantime, go plan the most lavish wedding ever. I want it to be grand."
"You want a white wedding?!" My eyes go wide.
"Yes of course. What? You thought you were getting a court wedding?"
"Isn't that easy with the time limit you and your friend gave us?"
Grandma chuckles. "I once told you, didn't I? That this isn't just marriage but trials to see who'll be the best successor to my company. Working with little time is part of the trials too," she mumbles, fidgeting around her seat until she grabs her phone and starts tapping on the screen slowly. "Now where's Maria's number?"
"What are you planning on doing?" I ask before I can stop myself.
"Calling her and upping the plot of course. This game would be boring if we don't make it a little bit more difficult now would it?"
"Grandma—"
"Don't worry lover boy. I'm just going to tell her one of my grandsons managed to snag her granddaughter. Also, to tell that Leilani of yours she's not getting by that easily without a white wedding."
Great! Just what I needed, more stress between me and Leilani whilst we're still working out the rift between us.
"Giddy up my boy. You've got a wedding to plan in a week."