Chapter 4

Hearing his words, Aylin again sits back in her chair. Still in shock.

'Did he just imply he wanted to marry me?'

"I mean that, your father is looking for a suitable husband for you, right? Who is better than me? Didn't you read the TIMES magazine issue last week? Not to brag but apparently, I am the most sought-after eligible bachelor in the society."

He smirked, and continued,

"So, I am pretty sure I can meet the standards your father has set. And I am at least a thousand times better than Bob from before."

"Tobias."

Aylin reflexively corrected him. Even though Axel didn't like how she corrected his name, he calmly shrugged,

"Well, he looked like a Bob to me. So, what do you think? Let's get married."

He had softly grabbed Aylin's hand and smiled, his dimples being highlighted. Aylin didn't push away his hand but she didn't answer as well. Her face had an unreadable expression. This made Axel slightly confused and nervous. He was becoming anxious to hear her answer.

"Sure..."

Hearing that makes Axel's face brighten for a split second till Aylin continues her sentence,

"...all those things you say about you meeting his criteria are true. It's also true that you can be the number one candidate. But you forgot one thing. You are a "Duncan". My father hates your business and has had quite an intense rivalry with your father. Maybe you can ignore all of that but my father will never."

"We can persuade him later. I just need to hear your opinion first."

"My opinion doesn't matter in the first place."

She mumbled softly, looking at her hand which he was holding. His grip strengthens softly and he retorts,

"To me, it does."

This makes Aylin feel butterflies in her stomach. It was the first time that someone said these words to her. Her eyes become watery. She was close to crying. But these were gonna be tears of happiness.

Seeing her reaction, Axel moves his hand forward to caress her hair but right at that moment, her phone starts ringing.

Both quickly avert their gazes and she answers her phone.

"Where the hell are you?! You rejected him as well? Don't you think you think too highly of yourself? What do you think you even are?!"

She gulps. It was her very dear father.

"Hello, dad."

"Don't hello me! Get home this instant! The driver must be almost there. Come back. We have a lot to discuss."

He bellowed with anger. Aylin's face suddenly drops. She knows what is about to happen. This isn't the first time that she is being threatened by him.

"Okay."

The call ends and she quickly gets up.

"What happened? Where are you going?"

"Sorry, I have to go."

She averts eye contact with him and tries to quickly pass by him but he stops her.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I just really have to go. Please."

"Was that your father on the phone?"

Her eyes flickered but she didn't confirm.

"Looks like he is a bit too protective of his daughter. I never knew he was like this."

Axel scowled, gritting his teeth.

'This isn't anything like all the reports I read. She. Her reaction. Her relationship with her father. It's all different.'

"Don't you know, I am his precious lovely daughter?"

She gave a sad smile and then left when she noticed her driver calling her.

After she left, Axel called Eric.

"You and Lexi come meet me now. In my office. I am coming. We need to talk."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night Axel again tried calling and messaging Aylin but her phone was powered off.

Even the next whole day, he was unable to connect with her phone. He then asked Eric to track her down. Later that evening Eric came with her news,

"We have tracked her."

"Where is she?"

"At a dinner."

"With who?"

"It is with Romero Castle. The heir of Aelli Groups. Apparently, it is another one of those meetings that her father has set up for her."

Axel tightened his fist and grabbed his jacket saying,

"....Let's go."

"There might be a slight issue. The restaurant is surrounded by her father's men who are all keeping an eye on them. It wouldn't be good if you approached her in their presence."

"Is that so? Well, he should know that no one can even dare to stop me from meeting her. Like I said, let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the restaurant, Aylin sat opposite to Romero. Her father had forced her to come here. What's worse is that her phone is broken. Some of the guests in this restaurant are all her father's men in undercover. They are all keeping an eye on her. But all of this isn't even the worse part. The worst part is the fact she has to actually talk to this guy. This guy is apparently the number one candidate and her father has pretty much settled this deal in his mind. He found out about her staying quiet in all of the meetings, so now she is required to talk. But she doesn't want to. Even if she has to talk, she doesn't know where to start because 5 minutes into the dinner, and this guy is already giving her the creeps. Out of all the men she met, he is the creepiest. Especially the way he looks at her.

"Oh, you look so beautiful tonight, Miss Aylin."

".....thank you."

To say she looked beautiful would be an understatement. Her father made sure to go all out with her look tonight. Wearing an off-the-shoulder, above-knee length tight black dress. Hair up in a gorgeous bun, with a few strands, loose. Wearing silver high heels and jewelry. She truly looked like a goddess. But Aylin didn't feel like one. She was never fond of such dresses that showed too much skin. Even worse, her heels made her feet ache like hell. And as a cherry on top, the way Romero was looking at her made her feel highly uncomfortable.

But she has no choice but to smile. So she gave her best business smile.

"Your hands are also so beautiful and slim."

He said, suddenly grabbing her hand which she then politely pulled back.

'Someone please get me the hell out of here.'

"What do you do to maintain a body shape like this?"

His question made her frown,

"Excuse me?"

"I am asking if you go to a gym. Just like I am an outdoor sports lover, you know."

"I see."

"But seeing how your hands are so smooth and soft, it doesn't seem like you would enjoy those types of activities."

'Okay at first his stare was making me uncomfortable, but now his words are too. What are you even trying to say, dude? I don't even want to hear it so stop talking.'

Aylin had an internal monologue in her mind, all the while nodding and giving that awkward smile. She then prayed in her mind,

'Food please come quickly. Please. When will you be here? Just come already. I don't care if it's raw, I just want to avoid talking.'

"But I guess you like to take care of your body, seeing how your feet are also pretty too."

She raises her brow at his comment. She then thought of what would be the less offensive remark to make.

"Are all you gonna talk about is my body?"

"Ah no. I was just praising you, you know. To be honest, I don't have much experience talking with girls. So I am a bit shy."

He said while shyly looking down.

This made Aylin feel like puking. She rolled her eyes,

'So this is the first time you are having a proper conversation with a girl and you decide to talk about her body? What a creep.'

"You can talk about anything else other than that."

"Got it. Then if I may say, your neck.......lace also looks pretty."

Aylin narrowed her eyes,

'He paused, didn't he? He was going to say my neck, didn't he? Oh god, someone save me. When will this end? And where is my food at? Have the chefs gone to first grow all the ingredients and then make the dishes? It's already been 10 minutes, damnit."

"haha...I see. Well, if you would just excuse me for a moment. I need to go to the washroom."

"Yes, of course."

Aylin took this chance, grabbed her purse, and went to the washroom. On the way, she swears she could feel Romero look at her back.

'If only I could punch that face.'

After that, she strolled for a while in the washroom. She then went to the hallway that led towards the main dining hall and secretly peeked at her table to see if the food had arrived or not. She was planning to go out there only when her food is there so that she doesn't have to talk. She made sure that her father's men also didn't notice her.

"Why isn't it here yet?"

She mumbled to herself when a man's voice came from behind her,

"What isn't here yet?"

Startled, she was about to scream but Axel quickly put his hand on her mouth. Seeing who the guy behind her was, Aylin calmed down and pulled him to the other end of the hallway so they can't be seen and then whispered,

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't reach your phone."

"It broke."

"Are you sure? Or maybe you're trying to ignore me?"

"No, I am pretty sure it's broken which is why I don't have it with me right now."

"I see. Then what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"You're at dinner with a pervert who can't stop ogling at you."

"That's....."

"What? Are you going to say it's not true?"

"No..it is true..."

"So is that the man your father has decided upon?"

"He's supposed to be the number one candidate..."

Aylin replied, biting her lip

"Has your father gone mad? That guy? Seriously? I think even Tony was better than him."

"Tony who?"

"Bob."

"Oh, you mean Tobias from yesterday."

"Yes, whatever."

"Hmm...then should I go with him?"

She mumbled which made Axel irritated,

He moved closer to her, as her back touched the wall and their faces were now inches apart. This made Aylin feel like she can't breathe because her heart was beating so fast.

"Are you really asking 'me' that?"

Averting her eyes due to feeling flustered, Aylin replied,

"Ah, no. I was just talking to myself out loud."

"So I didn't even cross your mind at all?"

"Huh?"

"Fine then. Go back to that creep."

"Huh? Wait...what?"

Aylin was genuinely puzzled. Sure he did cross her mind because he is always there but she wasn't expecting him to ask her that and even more so him coming so closer to her, made her feel as if her heart was going to burst.

"Did you forget? Your 'date' is waiting for you."

He said, deliberately enunciating the word date.

She, worried, looks back at the place where the hallway connects with the main dining hall. She really didn't want to go out there.

Seeing her hesitant face, Axel softly suggested,

"Do you want me to save you?"

She turns to look at him, surprised.

"How do you suppose I should save you? Do you want to run away with me? Or should I kidnap you?"

"...stop joking. This isn't the time for that."

"But I am serious though."

He replied with sincerity, which made Aylin believe that maybe he wasn't lying.

"That...."

Thinking about her father, his words did seem like an impossible dream which is why she didn't know how to answer.

"Looks like you don't want to. Well, my offer still stands. Tell me if you change your mind later on."

He turns around to walk away but Aylin grabs onto his sleeve.

"Wait!"

She exclaimed, with a hint of desperation. Hiding her face while looking down, she starts talking,

"I don't have enough courage to ask you to run away with me but...if you can....please save me...kidnap me if you want..."

Axel smiled. He put his hand forward which she holds and then he said,

"Your words are my command. Let's go."

And so, they both escaped that restaurant.

So...how do you like the story so far? I really could use some feedback. It helps a lot when I write future chapters. So please do vote, comment and share. Hope you enjoy reading! ❤️