chapter12 'predicament'

Two weeks has come and gone and Grace was back where she belonged, behind her imported oakwood desk, buried under a massive amount of work and she loves it. she loves the challenge, the competition, the rush she felt after cracking a major deal. she love the feeling of achievement and she didn't care that love life was non-existent or the fact that her social life was built on deceit and being too faced, she didn't care that she was slowly becoming what they called a leftover woman. she is happily married to her work

it was around 11:45 p.m. and grace was still working in her office on a new project that would possibly put Tang inc on the list of top ten most successful companies in the continent, elevating them from their spot as number eight and Grace planning on pulling an all nighter.

"Grace!"

she looked up to find her father looking extremely angry and ivory was behind him trying to calm him down

"dad?" she had never seen her dad this angry before

"go home grace" her father ordered "you will go him right now and you will go straight to bed"

"but...b...but Dad"

"no buts Grace, I went to your house two hours ago but you were not around, your private number was switched off and here you are working at this ungodly hour and it turns out you have been doing this for three days straight" her father scolded in rage

" it is really important for the company"

"I don't want to hear it go home and get to bed"

she followed silently behind her father and his wife as they made their way to the packing lot. grace driver had already left so she had to hitch a ride with her father

the car was completely silent till they reached Grace's apartment building

" I need you to be at the villa by 1 p.m. tomorrow" he said nuts leaving any room for debate, grace just nodded because it would for her to keep her mouth shut "go to bed child" her father patted her head and left

grace was rarely ever scolded as a child but she was not upset when her father scolded just now, it actually warned her heart that her father would get so furious when he found out that she wasn't taking proper care of herself.

grace fell asleep with a smile on her face but when she woke up her mind began to race with different kind of thoughts

'why did dad come here?'

'what does dad want to talk about'

'could it be bad news?'

'does he have any kind of illness?'

'did Anna biological father escape from prison?'

'did he discover a mole in the company?'

different kind of thoughts came to mind, regardless of how absurd it may be but it didn't prepare her for what her father would actually say

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Grace and her father, Ivory and Anna sat at the dining table barely touching their lunch, grace was nervous, her father looked hesitant and the mother - daughter duo looked uncertain and fidgety

" when will you be getting married" Grace literally spat out the orange juice in her mouth and choked on her tongue. her father was not even asking a question, it was more like saying 'I know you're not planning on getting married anytime soon but you have to fix that'

Grace was completely speechless, she wanted to say something, anything that would get her out of this 'predicament'

'how could i not see this coming' she knew that her father had a point but she didn't want to get married and the worst part is that she did not have any valid reason to refuse getting married

" I know it feels like we have cornered you but it is for your own good, so, it either you bring a date to mine and Ivory's wedding anniversary or Ivory and Anna will fix you up with blind dates" her father continued "understood?"

"yes father" grace mumbled

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Matthew Tang watched as his daughter left the house clearly sulking.

truth be told, Grace will always be his little girl and he only wanted her to be happy

'where have the years gone' he thought

grace might look more like him but she reminded him of his first wife, his best friend and his first love. they had the same persona 'feisty and stubborn'. he loves ivory, he truly does but a part of him died when Grace's mom died.

but at the end of the day, he didn't want his little girl to be alone forever, to be sixty years old and all she will have to show is a room full of trophies and lists of Investments, he wants her to be happy with a good spouse and a roomful of little Graces

"I did the right thing, right? he asked with uncertainty

" it is for her own good" Ivory affirmed

grace always seemed to know what she wants and preferred to do things at her own pace but at this rate, Grace would be thirty years old and still single,buried under a non ending pile of work

' definitely for her own good' Matthew tang thought with conviction