To France

"Tsk. What an arrogant woman."

Back on the balcony, Alexei smirked while thinking back to the smile Dana gave him. 

"It seems I will not be bored for the time being. Fine, that victory would be my gift to you, but the next time, it won't be the same." A phone call broke the silence of the night. 

"What's Up?"

"Sir, Emergency! There was a problem with our station in France. The stock that was supposed to arrive today didn't come, and half of our clients are cancelling their orders, seems like what happened three months ago had an effect on today's problem."

I put down the wine glass and sighed "Tell the team in France that we would be conducting a Virtual Meeting in an hour. Also, prepare the papers regarding the contracts, have the PR Department prevent the release of this news or at least minimize the impact." 

I ended the call hastily and walked out of the hall without even saying goodbye to the host, I couldn't care less. I'll just send some flowers if they are offended in any way or so. 

Penthouse, Manchester

I woke up to the sound of my alarm and when I looked up to the window, the sun was already up in the sky. I still wanted to sleep a bit more, but remembering the mountain of work left on my desk that still needed my signatures and approval, I decided not to. 

'Why does morning come so fast…'

I dragged my heavy body, with my head still throbbing with headache from drinking last night, I don't even remember how I got back to the penthouse, everything was a blur, and this headache reminded me to never drink again. 

After I fixed myself, I went to the parking lot and entered my car to drive to the company, as the traffic light went red, I saw on a billboard news about Rosenthal's branch in France having a problem. 

'Well, serves him right. As long as it doesn't inconvenience us, I don't care.' I smiled. 

He was a bit of a jerk last night. He very much deserves to be dumped with so much work on this issue. As I arrived at the company, I noticed the employee's murmurings but paid no heed. I went to the elevator as usual, and the attendee was shivering while greeting me. Since everyone's reaction intrigued me, I asked a personnel who walked into the elevator with me about what was happening.

"Young Miss, Chairman Albert arrived earlier with a serious look and summoned all of the Department Heads for a meeting and hasn't been ended, it has been 3 hours since they started."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"from what I've heard, Chairman Albert specifically said for you to not interfere with this issue and would like to talk to you after the meeting."

'Why would father do that? Have I made a mistake somewhere?'

I arrived at my office and dismissed all of my staff. I started to work with the remaining documents alone in an eerie silence. Time passed by, and it was lunch. A knock on my door stopped me from looking at the documents. 

"Come in."

"Miss, the Chairman wished to see you in his office." It was my father's secretary.

"Got it. thanks, Uncle Martin." The secretary only nodded and left.

I called my secretary to come and gave her a few instructions "Go ahead and have lunch without me. Tell the others too. Also later, there is no need to wait for me. You may head home directly."

I stood up, making sure that everything had been sorted and walked towards the door, I smiled to my secretary as recompense for my rudeness earlier, 

I walked towards my father's office and saw secretary assistant Miller looking anxious. I smiled to assure him and entered the office. Everything was the same, but the atmosphere was definitely not.

"Chairman, you called for me?"

"Hm. Take a seat. I wish to discuss some things with you personally." My father motioned me to sit down on the sofa.

"Thanks." I hurriedly thanked Assistant Miller after he served the tea.

"I want you to temporarily stop overseeing the Shines Jewelry and focus on our food chain in France, your brother made another mess. I need you to clean it up." Just after I sat down, my father went straight to the point. I frowned. 

'As expected, this is about Jace.' 

"Who would be in charge of the project while I'm away? What about the team in France, have they notified that I would be taking over?" Despite my disappointment, I still politely asked my father for the details.

"Leave the project to your team for the moment. The board from France have already been preempted about your takeover, just make sure that the mess Jace had done would be solved." My father sighed and drank his newly served tea.

"Yes father, I understand." I took a drink to ease the awkwardness in the room when I heard him speak again. 

"After the matter in France resolves, you will meet and get to know Dimitri. It's time for you to get married. I already discussed this matter with your mother, and she agreed."

"Yes, father." I smiled. But a part of my heart pricked when I heard about the blind date. 

"By the way, have you heard about the Rosenthal Mines?"

"Yes, just earlier. With the new law declared by the President of France, the Jewel industry would take a hit, temporarily it will take six months. As long as the company would have the bidding and the permit, the damages are sufficient to hold." I turned serious while discussing this particular matter.

"It is good that you're aware. Have you had lunch yet?" My father asked after standing up.

"Not yet." I replied, putting my tea in the saucer.

"Let's go, your mother knew you would be departing tomorrow for France, so she booked a private restaurant for us to gather." My father looked at me for a brief moment before proceeding to walk towards the door. Assistant Miller hurriedly opened the door for the Chairman.

"Okay." I followed suit.

The car ride was silent. But I was long used to this. Ever since I was young, Father would take me and my brother to meetings and would teach us what to do, while lecturing us about our own responsibilities in the future. I rather much prefer to be my older brother who is at home and does not have a care for anything. It was kind of exhausting and boring with this repetitive life. But what can I do, my two-faced brother would create many pranks that enraged both our father and grandfather. 

As the car stopped at a red light, I turned to my father who was busy reading the newspapers and asked.

"What about Brother Jace? Will he come to?"

"No. With the trouble he caused, he was summoned by your grandfather to receive punishment. Now do not mention him, it'll make my mood worse."

"Sorry Father, I'll bear that in mind."

And silence prevailed in the car once more. It was a bit suffocating, but over the course of time, I was numb to it. Not long after, we arrived at the restaurant. The waiter recognized my father and welcomed us with a smile, he then led us to a private room where my mother was patiently waiting.

"Here you are Sir, Ma'am."

"Thanks" I replied while my father just nodded. The waiter bowed and then left.

"What took you so long?" a woman in her fifties stood up to hug me and kiss my father's cheek. Obviously, my mother.

"The meeting finished late due to some things. Never mind that, let's not discuss any work-related topics, Let's eat. Dana, why are you standing there in a daze, take a seat." my father prompted me.

"Yes, father." I pulled a chair across from my mother and sat down. 

"Dana, you should eat a lot. Look at yourself, you're so skinny it's as if the wind could take you down in one blow." 

My mother nagged relentlessly without any intention to stop while kept on putting food on my plate. Father just gave me and mother a glance before going back to eating his own steak. Mother then turned to father after noticing his silent treatment. 

"Look at you, you couldn't even say something to her about her health and all." My mother sighed and rolled her eyes at my father.

Father paused and then drank some wine before replying. "What should I say? She's a grown-up woman now, she knows what to do." 

Mother was about to retort when I spoke. "Mom it's okay. I'm not skinny or thin. My health is perfectly fine. I just had my annual full-body check-up. Besides, I always drink pills and supplements." 

But obviously, my mother was not coaxed up by my words. She huffed and started to cut her steak mercilessly.

'Poor steak'

I just smiled awkwardly and continued to eat in silence.