Heather felt her heart twist with an inexplicable sense of guilt and she turned to look at Matthias in frustration. She hadn’t been mocking him earlier, but he was making it sound as though she had deemed him unworthy, and perhaps his over-the-top reaction had something to do with his fragile pride.
“Look, I don’t know why you fell for me in the first place, but I hope you can understand that we are incompatible. You know as well as I do that nothing good could ever come from such incompatibility.” She needed to cajole him by breaking things down logically, but she had a feeling that her words were falling on deaf ears.
“Does compatibility truly matter when it comes to falling in love?” Matthias retorted defiantly. Love would not be quite so infuriating if one could make a rational choice on whom to fall in love with.
“Maybe it doesn’t for others, but it does to me. It’s pointless to be in a relationship if I can’t see a future with the person. I need to know that the person is someone whom I could spend the rest of my life with,” she explained, giving him a contemplative look as she did so. Heather was more concerned about equality than she was about love—the relationship would be futile if there was a lack of compatibility between the couple, or if one of them was better than the other.
“How would you know that I’m not that person you could spend forever with? You’ve come to that conclusion before you even gave us a shot. I’m not a fickle person, Heather, and if I’ve made up my mind to be together with you, then I’m in it for the long haul.” Matthias disagreed with the reason behind her rejection of him, and he couldn’t help but feel indignant. She is convinced that forever would never work out for us and she refuses to give us a chance.
“You and I are two peas in a pod—we have far too much pride for our own good. I’d cross your line and you’d hurt my pride. Besides, we’re both too headstrong and competitive to ever make things work out between us.” Once upon a time, Heather had thought about looking for someone who shared her qualities as well but that notion was sanded down to nothing over the years, and she realized that she would much rather be with somebody who could complement her.
“If you and I are the same, then why shouldn’t we be together?” He was baffled by her argument, much like how she was by his.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m going home now,” she declared. She didn’t want to dawdle in the car either. It didn’t seem fair that she had to become collateral damage to his insanity.
Matthias, on the other hand, was adamantly clinging onto his rhetoric. He was sure that Heather had feelings for him, however little they might be, which meant that he still stood a chance with her. “I hope you’d consider what I’ve said today. Chemistry and affection are the tenets of a relationship, and you shouldn’t have to think about anything else when you make your decision,”
She merely hummed in response, impassive as she made to barrel out of the car. She could not spend another moment with him in this car, not while it was idling right outside the Langston Residence.
Matthias, too, did not stop Heather as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. She cast him a sideways glance. She had thought she knew him well enough but as it turned out, they were as good as strangers. After a series of calamitous events, she learned that there was a depth to him that she had yet to explore.
Presently, Heather straightened as she walked through the front door of her family home. Knowing that Matthias was staring at her from where he sat in the car, she refused to turn around. Out of all the possible scenarios that she had imagined might happen between them, his affection for her was not one of them.
After all, who could ever love an enemy? Her head was close to bursting and Robert appeared to have played a central part in her current predicament. At the thought of this, Heather recalled something important—she must demand an explanation from Robert for the incident today.
With that in mind, she quickened her pace and made a beeline for his study, knowing that he would be there brushing up his fine arts at this hour.
The door to the study slammed open with violent force, and a somber Heather marched into the room with the purpose of confronting her grandfather.
However, Robert was not angry at her intrusion and instead, he beamed at her as he greeted cheerily, “Heather!” Upon hearing that, she cringed, finding his disposition a suspicious one.
“You owe me an explanation, Grandpa,” she said stonily. Judging from the way he had acted earlier today, it was clear that he had plans to set her up with Matthias.
She hoped that she was reading too much into the situation but if Robert were to start putting his foot into this, things would only get messier. He had basically cleared a path for Matthias and if the latter was free to pursue her, she would only have a much harder time avoiding him.
“An explanation for what?” he asked, and she was angered that the older man was feigning innocence even now.
Irritated, she demanded, “Why did you suddenly agree to partner up with the Locke Group? And why did you invite him over in the first place?” She wanted nothing more than to leave the Langston Group at that moment.
If her family were to start working together with the Locke Group, then it would only give Matthias the chance to pester her by visiting her daily at the Langston Group under the guise of a blooming partnership.
Unable to imagine such a happenstance, Heather silently vowed to leave the company should Robert really have plans on pushing her and Matthias together.
“There’s been a change of circumstances that warrants the proposal of a partnership,” the old man answered straightforwardly, having thought of a response beforehand.
Puzzled, she pressed further, “What happened to taking advantage of the strife?” It was strange that Robert would abandon his initial plans without notice after all the time he had spent curating them, and it looked like he had made up his mind on it too.
“I’m afraid that’s no longer a viable option, seeing as we can no longer stand on the sidelines. It would be ideal for us to form an allegiance with another in the industry before the Moriartys intervene, and you know that our family could never work together with the Hart Family, which leaves the Locke Group as our next best choice,” he explained slowly. However, as well-structured and sensible as his argument was, Heather still found herself completely dumbfounded by it.
She could tell that her grandfather was hiding something beneath his elaborate reasoning, and she wanted him to be forthright with her. “Grandpa, there’s no need to beat around the bush here. I have the right to know the truth,” she urged as she marched up to him with a look of grim determination.
“The Moriartys are not easily dealt with and neither is the Locke Group. It makes sense for us to curry favor with the latter at the moment,” he replied somberly, then placed his stationery down and settled into his chair.
“The Moriartys’ stronghold is all the way in Leisfeld! I hardly think they have much say in Bradfort City,” Heather countered exasperatedly. She was beginning to think that her grandfather was being melodramatic. As things stood, even if the Moriartys had taken over the whole of Leisfeld, they still wouldn’t wield much authority over Bradfort City.
“Don’t underestimate them, Heather. They have their own enterprise in Atrigall City as well, and they’ve slowly infiltrated the Bradfort City market,” he warned, believing that Heather had little to no knowledge of the Moriartys and their formidability, which he thought accounted for her lack of fear of them.
“I’d be a fool to underestimate them, but why is it that we’ve never heard of the business empire they’ve built in Atrigall City? Surely that means they’re not as powerful as you say they are,” she protested. The subtext of her argument was clear, in that she did not believe the Moriartys were strong enough in the business world to trifle with the Langstons’ enterprise.
“That’s because there hasn’t been any word of their activities thus far and their business expansion has been kept off the grid. Nonetheless, the reality is that they’ve dominated most, if not all, of Atrigall City’s market and they’re working towards monopolizing the commercial scene there.” Robert, too, had been taken aback when he first caught wind of the Moriartys’ ruthless climb to success. While Atrigall City was comparatively smaller than Bradfort City, it was no hamlet.
“Where did you even get the intel?” Heather doubted the accuracy of this information. Which of the Moriartys have been disrupting the business circle in Atrigall City if the rest of them were thousands of miles away in Leisfeld?
“The news came from a reliable source. Don’t you trust me at all, Heather?” This was not the first time Robert had been exasperated with his granddaughter’s line of questioning. She was so inherently suspicious of everything and she would not relent until she had gotten the whole truth.
“Grandpa, even if the Moriartys are as rich and powerful as you say, could we not stand on our own against them? Must we form an allegiance with another?” Heather couldn’t help but feel as if Robert had an ulterior motive for wanting to work together with the Locke Group, and she wanted him to explain what it was rather than hear him talk about the Moriartys.
“Of course we must. We might even have to collaborate with the Hart Family as a desperate measure,” he said solemnly. He couldn’t let his guard down when it came to the Moriartys. He didn’t want to have to work together with the Hart Family either, and he wasn’t even sure if he had the courage or the humility to partner up with them.
Upon hearing this, Heather felt as though her mind had imploded. The situation was dire indeed if it could make Robert contemplate a partnership with the Hart Family. She thought about how stubborn the old man was and how he would never willingly choose to be acquainted with them. Looks like the Moriartys are a terrifying entity indeed.
“Could the Moriartys dominate Bradfort City if they wanted to?” She felt oddly frustrated and her skin prickled at the thought of Caleb’s menacing face.
“It’s hard to say, seeing as no one knows about the strength of their forces here in the city. They’re not to be trifled with, and desperate times call for desperate measures.” A dark look passed over his face as he thought about the heavy blow the Moriartys had dealt against the Langstons all those years ago. He wasn’t sure if his family could take another hit should the former choose to strike again.
Just then, Heather asked, “Why are they coming after us?” She had gone to the root of the mystery, making Robert falter. It seemed as if he had said something he shouldn’t have earlier.
He stammered, “W-Well…” He had wanted to talk to her about this the day before, but she had left so abruptly that he couldn’t get a word in with her. Now that she had asked about it, he was suddenly having a hard time composing an answer.
Finally, after a moment of hesitation, he declared, “It’s a long story, so let’s just leave this conversation for another day. Besides, it’s almost time for dinner.” It was going to be difficult for him to explain the Langstons’ feud with the Moriartys and if he were to be precise in his narrative, it would be even harder to bypass the Hart Family’s role in the whole thing.
Heather did not try to force an answer out of her grandfather as she was in no rush to learn about what had happened in the past. It must have been a dark time, one which revolved around a feud between their families, and it was likely a feud that could not be resolved even in her time.
“If the Moriartys are more foe than friend, then why were you so courteous with Caleb yesterday?” She was puzzled by how civil Robert had been the day before, particularly when it came to dealing with a supposed enemy. Unless…
“Surely you would have figured out the stakes in this whole situation,” he remarked with a meaningful smile. Putting on an act was part of the business world survival guide, and it was a common strategy for one to be civil with the enemy before striking.
Alas, Heather was not one to be humored. “Grandpa, I’ve never seen you treat anyone the way you treated Caleb, not even when you were dealing with business elites,” she pointed out, standing her ground as she tried to force him to tell the truth.
“It’s dinner time now. I’m sure the others are waiting for us to join them in the dining room,” he said, glancing at his watch. She had been the one to ignore him when he tried to tell her about the feud with the Moriartys, so he didn’t see why he shouldn’t hold out on her now that she was so desperate for the story.
However, Heather’s hand shot out and grabbed Robert’s arm before he could leave the study. “They won’t mind waiting just a bit longer, Grandpa. Just tell me what in the world is going on here.”
She tugged at his arm like a little girl asking for candy, all the while coquettish and relentless. Robert, on the other hand, gave her a look of mute despair as the both of them stood in silence. At last, with a sigh of resignation, he promised, “We’re going to need more time if you want to hear the whole story. We’ll talk about this again tomorrow, alright?”
Having thought that he would spill the details, Heather grew disappointed that he remained adamant on humoring her. Disgruntled, she pouted and eyed him with childish resentment.
“Stop pouting. You look like a duckling,” he said affectionately as he gently brushed his finger over the tip of her nose, much like how he did when she had been younger.
It was as if they had both returned to the good old days, when a single pout and puppy eyes from Heather were all it took for Robert to compromise. She had been a proud and determined child back then, foreshadowing the adult she would grow to become.
