Shawn's POV
Shawn sat at the minibar in his penthouse, tipping whiskey from a decanter into his glass, swirling it around to let it breathe, then sipping gradually. His mind was still reeling from the night's events.
It wasn't like he had had any high expectations for the night, no. On the contrary, he had expected to go there, meet whatever shameless social climber his dad planned for him, politely reject her, and leave. But what he hadn't prepared for was how infuriating and bratty the woman would actually be. And woman? He didn't know if 'woman' was even the right word. More like 'girl'.
Shawn took another sip in frustration. The worst part is he didn't even know why he was so angry. She was young, yes, but younger had gone after him before. There was just something about the hard set of her chin, and the look in her eyes that just seemed to spark something in him. He couldn't read her, and he didn't like people he couldn't read. It was just better to stay away from her from now on.
He was just thinking this when the intercom from the reception buzzed, and the voice of the receptionist came across.
"Sir?" he said, "Sir, Mr. Gold is here to see you. He's already on his way up, I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry, sir."
Shawn sighed in annoyance. That annoying old man. What did he want now? He closed the decanter and set away his glass, only managing to close the cabinet before his father was being deposited by the private elevator into his living room. Shawn almost regretted giving him the codes.
His father glanced at him, then wordlessly turned and deposited himself on a chair, crossing his legs. Then, he smiled at Shawn.
"Are you proud of your little display earlier?" He asked him, deceptively calm. "Strutting around the place like a scornful princess?"
Shawn clenched his jaw in annoyance. He knew his father was just saying things to taunt him, and goad him into being angry. But once he got angry, he had already lost. "Are you proud of your little lie?" he asked instead.
"No lie," said his father unrepentantly, "Just a little omission."
"I'm not getting married to a highschooler."
"You're lucky, then, if you were listening to her at all you'd know that she was in her final year of school. But of course, you were too busy thinking up what scene to make next."
Shawn was outraged at this. "If you didn't want me to make a scene, you could have informed me before hand! Is that too much to ask, dad?"
His dad got up now to match him inch for inch. The man had once been a very tall man, afterall, even though he was now droooed with age. But even if he weren't, Shawn prided himself in that he still had a good few inches on his old man.
"We both know it would have made no difference," his father said. "You will marry that girl, Shawn. And that's that."
Shawn's blood boiled. Part of him had always seen this coming, so why was he fighting it so hard now? It wasn't like he himself had any special plans for marriage, or that he had any particular person in mind. He knew, too, that if he did, his father wouldn't stand between him and his love. But he didn't, and hadn't really since he was young, to the point of rumors of him being gay even spreading. All he'd cared about was his business, and work, and so he'd never particularly balked at the idea of one day getting married to fulfil that very purpose. Just a polite marriage that will in on itself be a business deal, and a partner that fully understand that Shawn wouldn't love her, and ideally won't love him in turn. Possibly have a few heirs to continue the family line. That was his ideal picture of marriage. But he didn't see exactly what he stood to gain from this deal.
Their companies would merge, yes, and Gold Enterprises would get a new wine subsidiary which would be beneficial to them of course. But he personally, would still come out the loser in all this.
"What's in it for me?'' Shawn suddenly asked his dad. "I'll marry her, if that's what you want, but what do I get from this?" He knew from the look in his father's eyes that he understood that Shawn was talking about personal gain, and not just that of the company.
Shawn's dad said nothing.
The windows in Shawn's penthouse apartment living room were very wide. Almost floor to ceiling. It had a very nice view of Vancouver, and in the evening the artificial lights from the building and street lights lent it a lovely glow. The view was one of the reasons Shawn had chosen this particular place.
His father moved towards this very window and stood against it, sillhoutted by the light outside and the dark interior.
"I've been the chairman of G.E for over fourty years now," he began quietly, and Shawn wondered where the hell he was going with this. "I started this company, Shawn, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without your mother by my side. She was a very big help to me, even in times when I thought I might just give up on it all."
Shawn shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to another. "I know, I've heard this all before. What's the–"
"The point," his dad broke in, cutting him off, "is that I think it is finally time for me to retire." He turned around to look at Shawn, expecting his reply, but Shawn only stood there, shocked. Could his father really mean what Shawn thought he meant.
When he saw that Shawn didn't mean to speak, he continued. "I'd like you to take over for me, as my son. That is, if you're interested."
"I…" Shawn was suspicious. His dad knew how much he had coveted that post for years. "Of course I'm interested.''
"If you want it, I need to know that you're stable first." His father moved towards him, so they were now standing toe-to-toe with each other. "You will marry that girl. She's well-mannered, respectable, and intelligent. A woman of substance is greater than any treasure."
Shawn chuckled. "Are you quoting the bible?"
"It's a good book, full of wisdom."
Shawn stayed silent, considering. Of course Shawn was always going to be the president. He had proved himself beyond doubt these past few years, being featured both in twenty under twenty magazines, and in his twenties, thirty under thirty. He was even currently the third youngest most successful director in the whole country. All in all, giving the position to someone else would be the most stupid decision the old man could make. But Shawn knew his father. If he refused now, who knew when next he would get the chance. The man might even decide to stay for twenty more years just to spite him.
It seemed by all indication that Shawn had lost this match. His father's eyes twinkled with mischief. He knew he had already won.
"Fine,'' said Shawn. "I'll do it. I'll marry her."
He was expecting his father to be happy at the news, probably even congratulate him. But he just said, "Well, that's good and fine for you, but will she marry you?"
Shawn frowned. What did that mean. She had come because she wanted to marry him, did she not? Girls like her always jumped at the chance to get into his bed for even a single night, talk less of getting married.
"Of course she would," he said. "That's not a problem."
"Don't be so sure," his father said cryptically. "You clearly know nothing about women. They are prideful creatures, and no woman likes being scorned."
"So?" Shawn shrugged. Throw a little money at them and they would be fine, was it not? "That's noty problem."
"So. You are going to go apologise to her, and beg her to take you back."
"I won't–"
"You will," his father said firmly, mercilessly cutting him off, already walking towards the door, "You know what's on the line if you don't." And with that, he walked out, leaving Shawn standing alone in his apartment, fully annoyed.
He ran his hands through his black locks in frustration and sighed.
Well, he guessed he had no choice but to apologize to Miss Tiffany Dion. He hoped he wouldn't regret his choice.
Tiffany's POV The next day, Tiffany decided that it was best if she put all Shawn Gold business to the side. As she lay awake last night, she had come to the decision that she would tell her father she couldn't marry that man. The company was important to her, yes, but if the price was demeaning herself and condemning herself to a life full of misery to do it, she didn't know if it would be worth it at all. There were more things important to her than money in life, such as dignity, love, and family, and when there was a will, she believed there would always be a way. She could take a break from school, and join her father in the office. They could merge with a lesser company, and put in the work to bridge the gap. Or they could ask Mr. Gold for help that didn't involve a marriage. Even if they didn't fully merge the two companies, they could still become partners. Mr. Gold hadn't seemed like an unkind person, and afterall he was a friend of her father's. She was sure he would unders
Tiffany's POVTiffany left Freya to go for her classes alone, and made for the Principal's office. It had to be important if they'd called her right before classes began.When she got there, she greeted the secretary, a young woman in her thirties who told her to knock. Tiffany did, and a voice from inside answered her, telling her to come in.The principal, Mrs. Campbell was relatively young herself, in her forties or fifties. She always wore her dark brown hair in a low bun tied tightly behind her head, with a pair of emerald green glasses perched low on her nose. Tiffany had always liked her, and she'd liked Tiffany in turn, as a star student who was talented in other areas as well. She'd always had a smile for her in the past, but today she wasn't smiling."G-good morning ma'am," Tiffany greeted, the cold demeanour making her nervous. "You asked to see me?"The principal didn't even look up from the documents she was going through. "Yes," she said, have a seat."Tiffany sat down e
Shawn's POV Shawn couldn't believe his life.He was supposed to apologize to his so-called future wife, but here he was waiting for her to get off from fucking highschool. If it were any other person, he could have just invited them out to a business lunch to ensure that there wouldn't be any irrational behavior on their part. Social climbers were always so conscious of maintaining a good reputation, she wouldn't want to cause any problems for herself by making a scene. He could also use his lunch hour, and therefore make sure he didn't waste any of the time he needed to be productive on less important matters than soothing the pride of a spoiled brat.But no, she had to be a fucking highschooler, and now he was going to have to take out of his personal time to travel to her home in the evening."Fuck," he said out loud, into the silence of his office. He'd already had plans.Well, guess Rachel would have to do without him today.As if she had heard him think her name, his personal p
Tiffany's POVTiffany was going through notes of the classes she had missed, when a knock sounded on her door. Freya had helfully lent them to her after hearing from Timothy about what happened in the morning. Of course, neither of them knew exactly what was going on, but the mere fact that Tiffany was crying was enough cause for concern, even if they didn't know what was causing her to cry.She got off her soft bed and padded across the room in socked feet to the door. When she opened it, Mr. Gary James, the butler, was standing outside in his usual erect posture."Miss Dion," he said, "There is a young gentleman here to see you."Tiffany sighed, about to ask him for the millionth time to just address her by her name, but then the second part of his sentence caught up with her brain and she frowned in confusion."Someone is here?" she asked, "To see me?""Yes, Miss," said Mr. James.Was it Timothy? Had he come to see her because he was still worried even though she had kept telling h
Max's POV Max perked his car outside the estate, waiting.He had been following the little rich boy his boss always liked to have him follow, but there was a pretty rigorous security checkpoint at the gates that he didn't want to risk going through, so unfortunately he had to wait outside.Max lit up a cigarette while he waited, deciding he might as well use the time for recreation. He sucked in and puffed out the smoke rhythmically, all the while keeping an eye out for the black Chevvy he had been following earlier.He didn't understand what exactly was the observation his Miss had for the rich boy. So far as Max could tell, apart from being stinking rich and (unfairly, in Max's opinion) being blessed with the features of a demigod, he had nothing else going for him. He was incredibly boring and did nothing but work. Hell, in all Max's years of following him around, he had never even seen him interact with women. Perhaps he was one of them rainbow Rguys that Max had been hearing abo
Tiffany's POVTiffany followed Shawn into an Italian restaurant she had never been to before. Apparently, it was still really new, so they didn't need a long-wait reservation like most other eateries scattered around their high-end area.Aside from being annoying to her when she wanted to roll down his car windows for some fresh air, he hadn't spoken to her since they'd left the house.Now, she followed behind him, watching the taper of his broad shoulders into his narrow waist as he walked, being led to an unoccupied table in the far corner of the room by a cheerful waiter. The atmosphere was much better than the first restaurant she visited with Shawn. In fact, it was maybe a little bit too good.Tiffany looked around warily, feeling a shiver run up her spine. From the decor to the music playing, everything screamed romance. She almost cringed at how obvious it was. Almost every table they passed was occupied by pairs of lovey-dovey couples holding hands and staring into each other'
Shawn's POVShawn was actually interested in hearing these conditions his wife-to-be was talking about. Not that he was just going to take everything lying down, of course. He was going to shut it down immediately if it was something ridiculous."First," she spoke, her lips curving around the words, "If I am to agree to marry you, you are going to show me respect."Shawn sat up, a little taken aback. He had been fully expecting her to say something like 'half of your assets should be signed over to me' or something.She continued speaking. "That means no shutting down my ideas, no raising your voice at me, no belittling, no degrading comments, and absolutely no walking out on me in a public place like that stunt you pulled yesterday." The way she said 'stunt' sounded like she would like to use more colorful and less polite words to describe his actions the previous evening. Shawn almost felt like laughing again. If nothing else, then at least this girl was a bit amusing."Next," she s
Tiffany's POV:NEW ROMANCE IN BLOOM?– Shawn Gold and Tiffany Dion Spotted Together at Intimate Restaurant; D'amor!! Love is in the air, and the rumor mill is buzzing with excitement as renowned business man and one of the top three youngest directors in Canada, Shawn Gold has been spotted recently at an exclusive restaurant sharing a romantic evening with the gorgeous Tiffany Dion, the daughter of Richard Dion, Chairman and owner of Dionysus Enterprises. The young Mr. Gold, who has been known heretofore as a man with very few smiles can be seen clearly freely offering one to miss Dion! How surprising!!! With all eyes on this unexpected pairing, tongues are wagging, and speculations about their relationship status are running rampant. What could this mean for the previously speculated Gold-Smith relationship? Could we just be witnessing the start of a new red-hot romance? Or could it have been long-hidden, only now being brought to the public eye by chance? In the business world, r