Chapter 4 DINNER

"Marry an older brother.'' Ryan went straight to the point, even though he was sure his words would make Marcella surprised, but Ryan had thought this through.

''What do you mean... It's not April, right? There shouldn't be an April Fools' Day. Marcella laughed a little.

''I'm serious, Marcella. Marry my brother if you love me! Can you do that for me? Ryan took one of Marcella's hands and held it.

He tried to convince her that what he was doing was for the good of their relationship. Ryan couldn't possibly marry an ordinary woman who didn't have any assets. Even if he loved Marcella, his father would strongly oppose their relationship.

"Hahaha, why do I have to marry your sister? Is she crazy or gay that I have to marry her?" Marcella pulled his hand away.

''Honey, listen to me first...I'll explain everything; please listen to me.'' Ryan stood up from his sitting position and tried to approach Marcella and hug her.

''What are you trying to explain to me, Ryan hikss...hikss I don't want to marry your sister.'' Marcella once again tried to extricate herself from Ryan's embrace, but her strength would be even less when trying to fight the person she loved.

"Shut up and listen to me, baby; I'm sorry for you. But I'm asking you for a favor; you just have to pretend to be married. No need to worry; I will always be beside you. I also live in the same house later." Ryan once again tried to convince Marcella, until she had to follow his wishes.

"You don't love me?"

"To hell with love, Marcella! I love you, and even though I'm foaming at the mouth, my father is still against our marriage." Ryan stood up and grabbed his hair. He was frustrated when he heard Marcella's sobs, which he found disturbing.

"Then why would I marry your sister?"It's just as well this marriage is going to be about your father's hard feelings."

"Diego is different! He won't be opposed by my father; whoever he marries, my father will agree to it." Ryan couldn't possibly explain to Marcella what the relationship was between him and Diego.

"Marcella, you listened to me. My brother's name is Diego; he's just a sick man; if you marry him, everything he owns goes to you." Ryan approached Marcella and held her shoulders with both hands.

"Ryan, are you the man I've been with for six years?"

"Marcella, can you understand my situation? I just had to say, Marcella, I'm going to get kicked out of that house because I don't have any money. Don't you feel sorry for me?"

***

Diego came out of the company elevator. Although he wasn't the CEO of the company, Diego was its owner. Meanwhile, his father was the CEO, so Diego's job was to monitor the company's progress and participate in important meetings.

"Sir, do you want to go straight home?" Regar followed in Diego's footsteps.

"How about you go home first?" Diego turned his body to look at Regar who looked confused.

"Give me the car keys!" Diego held out his hand waiting for Adam to give him the car keys, but the man seemed hesitant as he took a long time to give them to Diego.

"Sir... I can't give you the car keys without Mr. Raymond's permission."

"Look do you work for my father? Remember who gives you a paycheck every month? Ahh, I have a way." Diego took out his cell phone and typed in a few digits of the amount before sending it to Adam's account. "Look at your phone."

Adam complied and was surprised to see a large sum of money in his account.

"Is that enough to shut you up? Go back home, or you can have fun anywhere; I'll be sure to be home before my father gets back." I took the car keys from Adam's hand and walked straight into the car, leaving the elite company parking lot reserved for the top brass.

This was the first time I'd driven my car in eight years. I don't know why seeing that woman two days ago at the movie theater disturbed my mind. Strangely, her face often appeared, and I thought I had forgotten about her. Is this a strange thing? Of course, it's strange! John, the doctor who is treating him, said that it's normal for him to forget the face of someone he just met, especially since he and that woman only met once by accident.

Then why did I remember her face so strongly? Once again, I felt like meeting her and looking into those beautiful eyes. But how do I get to meet her?

Diego gripped the steering wheel tightly as he focused his eyes forward on the road, but he still didn't know where it would take him. The car Diego was driving stopped at a red light, and his eyes immediately caught someone who stole his attention by crossing the zebra crossing. Diego's smile grew as he said he wanted to meet a woman, and she happened to pass in front of him.

"Beautiful." The compliment came out of Diego's mouth again.

The sound of a car horn made Diego realize this and immediately move the car forward to follow. The woman was walking a little further away from Diego, who was driving slowly. It turned out that the woman entered the marketplace, which finally made Diego decide to park his car a little far from the marketplace. And followed the woman into the convenience store. Although Diego didn't know what he was going in for or what he should do while he was there,

Diego walked to a shelf opposite the woman on the next shelf. Diego could see her because each shelf was only at his chest level, but she didn't seem to notice or even care about him.

To make matters worse, Diego saw her crying as she wiped away her tears several times, even though she didn't make a sound. Diego was getting more and more curious. if only his feet could step closer to the woman. But Diego still kept his boundaries by following her from a distance wherever she went.

Until the small body turned around to face Diego, who was suddenly stunned,

"Are you following me?"

"No...I'm also going to the shelf in front of you." Diego was so embarrassed that he walked forward to grab whatever was in front of him.

"Wait."

Diego's coat sleeve was held up by the woman, so he couldn't help but look back at her. although he was already very embarrassed.

"Are you sure you want to buy that? It's a sanitary napkin for women."

Diego's eyes went straight to the square pink object in his hand, and he was shocked and embarrassed when he realized what a strange object he had foolishly picked up.

"Haha, haha looks like you were wrong."

Diego was instantly awkward when he saw her laughing, even though she was still blushing.

"Damn it! Why is my heart beating so fast?" Diego said to himself as his eyes gazed at the beauty in front of him.

******

"Would you like to pay with cash or debit, Miss?" The cashier asked the woman in front of him. After the embarrassing act that happened to him, Diego took two snacks and two cans of soda.

"Cash only." Marcella opened her wallet and took out several bills that matched the amount on her shopping list.

"Let me pay." Diego put down his black card, causing the cashier and the woman in front of him to give him a strange look.

"No, let me pay."

"I don't accept any more apologies." Diego nodded his head as the cashier waited for his answer to swipe his card.

"This is mine too, please." Diego put down his mill, which was also about to be paid for.

Diego moved a little forward. Not exactly his current position right next to the woman. Diego's hand again accepted the card and the two bags of groceries, one of which belonged to him and one of which belonged to the woman. But Diego's hand also raised the two bags of groceries in his right and left hands.

"Come on." Diego turned his head slightly and smiled as he walked first towards the exit of the convenience store.

"Stop."

Diego paused at the gentle touch of her right hand though only briefly, as the shopping bags were now in her hand.

"I'm sorry I don't know who you are, but isn't what you're doing just too much?" Marcella looked sharply at the man, who was taller than he at the moment.

"How about we get acquainted...I'm Diego Maxwell, and what's your name?" Diego extended his hand first, once again out of his mind.

Diego was still waiting for his hand to be shaken. However, there was no reply at all other than the wind touching the surface of his hand. Diego quickly lowered his hand with a faint smile. It didn't matter if the woman in front of him didn't want to get acquainted with him. Diego was sure that someday the woman in front of him would look at him with sparkling eyes later.

"Thank you. ...."

Diego's hand returned to receive a few bills from the woman who had passed quickly, stopped the taxi, and drove off, leaving Diego still silent as he stared at the woman's departure.

"Unique." Diego smiled and walked casually to his car.

He wasn't angry at the way she was treating him. Diego thought that the woman's character was very different from many women he had met, and of course, this opened up Diego's mind a little bit because today, for the first time, he was the one who seemed to be more active in pursuing women. Whereas before he was in the opposite position.

***

"What a strange man!" Marcella looked down at the plastic grocery bag she had placed on her right side. And it was a good thing that she got a taxi as soon as possible; otherwise, she might still be stuck with the strange man that she remembered well and whom she had also met at the movie theater.

Marcella's eyes went back to staring ahead at how many meters away the cake shop she had subscribed to for six years was.

"Sir, I'll stop in front of the cake shop," Marcella told the taxi driver so he wouldn't miss their destination.

Marcella took out a few bills to pay for the taxi. Before her eyes finally lit up at the pastry shop that had always been her favorite place,

The bell hanging above the door made a small sound as Marcella's hand pushed it open.

"Excuse me, is the strawberry cake order for Marcella Bentley ready?" Marcella immediately asked the middle-aged woman who was a worker in this cake shop.

"Marcella Bentley, it looks like your cake is taken."

Marcella raised one eyebrow, as she sure didn't tell anyone to take her cake. "Are you sure? Can you check one more time? Maybe it's the same name but a different message." Marcella tried to be positive that it was another Marcella.

"No, lady, this is not your phone number."

"That's right, it's my phone number. .... Alright, thank you then." Marcella walked out of the cake shop feeling confused; more precisely, she was still thinking about who took her birthday cake.

"Could it have been Ryan? No! There's no way Ryan would do that; even on my birthday, Ryan often forgets about it." Marcella shook her head and chose to walk home because her apartment was not far from the cake shop.

Marcella stopped her feet again in front of a boutique that displayed a beautiful wedding dress with a simple but very luxurious design in the glass display case.

"You should marry my brother." Those words rang again in Marcella's mind.

Dinner two days ago was the worst dinner of Marcella and Ryan's entire romance. She knew why Ryan had never brought her home and introduced her to his family, because Ryan's family also had standards for their son's future wife.

Honestly, it makes Marcella's soul angry. Today, he says that his tears will no longer fall; he has prepared all the files that make Marcella more respectable. One thing that is ingrained in him is that what he gives must be balanced with what he receives.

Beep... Beep

Marbella opened the door to her apartment and immediately saw the many candles that accompanied her path. Not only that, a strawberry cake arranged with two elongated candles was seen lighting up the man, who stood with a smile on his face.

"Happy birthday to you too, you ... Happy birthday, dear."

The sound of the happy birthday song sounded messy because Ryan, who had never sung, was now doing it for her. Marcella's eyes were silent as the footsteps approached her, asking her to blow out the candles with a gesture of her eyes.

"You're doing all this? Is this one of your tricks to seduce me?" Marcella's hand took the candle and squeezed it until it shattered in her hand.

"Marcella, what do you mean?" Ryan looked sharply at Marcella; he could not accept Marcella's treatment and did not appreciate his efforts.

"Sit down. I'll come back; get rid of all this nauseating stuff!"

Ryan just stared at Marcella, who walked into her room. For some reason, Ryan thought Marcella had changed a little if she was angry with him for asking her to marry her brother Diego. Ryan's eyes again saw Marcella come in with a brown folder and sit at the dining table facing Ryan.

"You're asking me to marry your brother? I agree to all the conditions in the letter."

Ryan touched the brown folder and opened it to find several sheets of HVS paper with numbers and conditions typed on them. Ryan read all the terms written by Marcella and thought it was wrong all this time to judge his girlfriend as innocent and plain. but, after reading it, I realized that Marcella wanted the wealth to be divided into two.

"Deal." Ryan signed the agreement, and from today on Marcella is not only his girlfriend but also his work partner.

Does Marcella think Ryan is stupid? Of course not! Ryan only signed that stupid paper to get Marcella to follow his wishes for the division of the property. Of course, Ryan wanted all of Diego's property to go to him.

"You're satisfied, aren't you?" Ryan stood up and approached Marcella as his hands slowly slipped into her dress and rubbed her thighs sensually.

Ryan began to push Marcella's hair to the right side. Ryan slowly kissed the surface of Marcella's neck, biting Marcella's earlobe. Ryan even deliberately exhaled his breath harshly there because he knew Marcella was the weakest in this regard.

"Let's play, baby." Ryan's hands are now on the back of Marcella's dress, trying to pull down the resetting dress that Marcella is wearing.

"Not today, Ryan."

Just Marcella's short words can already make Ryan stop the action; he is thinking, "Isn't this yet on Marcella's period ladder, so why is Marcella rejecting it?"

"Why isn't it still on the forbidden date yet?" Ryan looked into the eyes of Marcella, who was putting the paper into the folder.

"No...I'm on my period, and the cycle can change at any time."

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Ryan seemed unsure of what Marcella was saying. Honestly, the naughty side inside Ryan had risen in rebellion, so how was he going to vent it while

"Do I have to get naked in front of you and show you that disgusting thing?"

"Then what should I do?" Ryan was almost frustrated by this.

"You look very maniacal, Ryan. Is your sister like you? Then how do I turn her down if she's hotter than you?"

"There's no way you'd be attracted to him. He's gay!" And I'm sure you'd feel weak playing with a guy as amateurish as him." Ryan was getting hotter and hotter at the thought of Marcella being touched by Diego; however, Ryan was sure Diego was gay because the man was never seen with any woman, even when looking at the sexiest woman.

"Really. Hahaha, I hope your words are not empty. Starting tomorrow, organize my meeting with my future husband, and starting tomorrow, you have to get used to calling me sister-in-law."

Ryan saw the smirk that Marcella showed, either a blow from where or a whisper from where to make Ryan look at Marcella like a woman who has two personalities now.