FATED

CHAPTER 4: Their Talk

When Brent, Queenie, and Bernadette reached the beach house, Bernadette had given her brother and sister some privacy to talk. She stayed at the beachfront sundeck of his brother's beach house, where they could still see them. 

Brent led Queenie by the beach and then he asked her, "So what do you want to talk about, Queenie?"

Queenie had asked him straight away, "Will you have married my sister if she agreed to the deal?"

His answer was a very single, "No."

She then asked him, "Why?"

His response was, "Your sister is another man's girlfriend. I have no intention to marry her."

She inquired, "But why did you agree on the deal with my father?"

His reply was, "Because I know that it will not push through with Brianna as the bride. You see I cannot just simply declined your father. After all he is still the Governor of this state and I don't want our families to have some falling out just because I refused to help your family."

She questioned him, "Will you still help my family even if the deal will not push through?"

He told her the ugly truth, "San Carlos Electric Company will not be able to bounce back with your twin brothers still there. Your father knows such. And I already told him that I can only help your family business if I will have the control over it. I am a businessman and I will only invest on something if I know that my investment will be returned. But your father is insisting that an outsider will not be allowed to have the control the family business unless he becomes a member of the family through marriage. Your father already knows that as much as I wanted to help your family, I cannot just simply marry a San Carlos daughter if she is not fully agreeing to it. With Brianna telling me that she cannot marry me and with Kevin confronting me about backing off because of Brianna, I knew then that the deal with Brianna as the bride will not push through."

She further asked him, "But why did you still tell my father that you might reconsider the deal if one of his daughters agrees."

He said, "I took the risk because I don't want to blatantly declined your father. With Brianna not agreeing  then the next obvious choice will of course be you," then he asked her, "So what are you going to do now? It seems that your parents had resorted to you as their bargaining chip."

She gave him her answer, "I am also not sure on what to do. The electric company is the major source of income for our family. Although the family still has other businesses, the revenues were not as much as the electric company. If I do not agree then I will feel very guilty that I was not able to help."

In his mind – Then please agree with it.  He then decided  to tell her the scenario, "If you do not agree, I can still help your family but only as a business consultant. But I am not sure how your twin brothers will act on the suggestions that I will give. Plus, your electric company really needs additional funds to survive. Your Dad knows that I have no intention to invest on a sinking ship. With your twin brothers still at the company then it might not be revived even if your father finds another investor. But then you have a way out of it. You have your grandmother to protect you if you disagree with the deal."

She shared, "Yes. That is true. She told me that she will support me in whatever decision I made."

He responded, "So the choice is now yours. Should you agree on the deal then be assured that I will treat you well as my wife."

She reacted, "You have always treated me nicely so I have no doubt that you will be good to me. But why will you be willing to take this path with me?"

He told her, "Let us just say that I have grown fond of you over the years. You are beautiful and I really like your personality. Our marriage will not be just on the papers, Queenie. I have every intention to fulfill my duties and responsibilities to you as your husband but the question is – Will you be able to fulfill your duties and responsibilities to me as a wife?"

Her answer was, "I do not even know how to be a man's girlfriend. So how can I be a wife?"

He said, "I got your point."

Then she asked him, "Should I agree on the deal, what will be your expectations on me as your wife?"

He said, "I just want you to stay faithful to me and then eventually have children with me."

She had another question, "But will you also be faithful to me?"

His firm answer was, "Yes. I will be faithful to you. You will definitely be the only one."

His answer had somehow given her an overwhelming feeling and she did not know why.

What he did next had surprised her even more. He knelt down in front of her on one knee.  And so she asked him, "Why did you kneel down?"

He got a small box from his trousers' pocket and then said, "You deserve to have a formal marriage proposal, Queenie, not a business deal that your parents had conjectured." He opened up the box and a full pave canary diamond ring with a 10 carat solitary canary diamond on top enclosed with canary diamond halo.

Bernadette started videoing them from a far using her DSLR camera when her brother knelt down in front of her best friend. She could clearly see the marriage proposal that her brother was doing although she could not hear their exchange of words. She felt very happy for her best friend as well as her brother.

Brent then said, "Once you agree to wear this ring then you will be my forever girlfriend.  Then after we get married, you will be my forever wife," and so he asked her, "So, will you wear this ring? Will you agree to be my wife?"

Bernadette felt so tensed. Queenie seemed to have not responded to her brother yet. Her lips were not opening up. In her mind – What will be your decision, Queenie? Are you going to agree? Or will you decline my brother?  I did not expect my brother to make such proposal with a matching expensive diamond ring. It seems that you are not the only one who likes him. It seems that he likes you as well. He will not do this if he does not. 

Queenie then mustered her courage and answered, "Yes, I will marry you."

As Brent was putting the ring on Queenie's left ring finger, Bernadette felt like jumping and shouting for joy.

Bernadette then decided to message Lola Rosario – Lola, Kuya Brent proposed to Queenie and she accepted the ring. I will show you the video later on. 

When Lola Rosario received the message, she really felt overjoyed. In her mind – It seems that Brent really loves Queenie. I really did not expect him to go this far in convincing her to marry him.

Meanwhile, Queenie felt very warm inside as Brent touched her hand. She felt some sort of electricity coursing all throughout her veins. And then when the ring was already in her finger, Brent bestowed a lingering kiss at the back of her left palm. Such had sent her into a rollercoaster of emotions. She felt that her cheeks were blushing from everything that he had done. In her mind – Why are you making me feel so good inside, Brent? Even the ring fits perfectly on my finger. Ate Brianna's ring finger is bigger than mine. 

Brent then stood up then reached for both of her hands with his hands, looked her in the eyes, and then said, "From now on, I will be your foremost supporter and protector. As we go through this life together, be assured that I will always give you the freedom to choose and the freedom to make your own decision. There might come a time that we might disagree on some things. It is part of parcel of life anyway. So let us try our best to make this relationship work."

Her response was, "Thank you very much.  I feel very honored. I promise to always stay true to you. I will try my best to be a good wife to you and to be a good mother to our future children. You have my utmost admiration and respect." In her mind she wanted to add – And I do hope that there will also be love between us. But she did not have the courage to say it at loud.

As Brent gently caressed her left cheek with his right fingers, she felt like her heart coming out from her chest. She could clearly hear that it was beating so fast.  And when he smiled at her, she felt so giddy inside.

And then she heard him said, "I feel like I am the luckiest man in the entire world for I will not just have a beautiful wife but also a very  naïve and kindhearted one," then he told her, "Do not ever hesitate about speaking your mind in front of me, Queenie. I want to know if I am doing a great job as your friend, your boyfriend, and  your husband. Feel  free to tell me what you want and what you need."

She responded, "Yes. I will try."

Then suddenly, he drew her body much closer for a very warm embrace and then she just felt his lips touching her forehead. 

As he released her body, she heard him say, "This beach house will be our home when we're already married. Renovations are still ongoing. I brought you here today because I want you to meet the design team. You may choose your own personal space in the house. Such space will only be yours. You may also tell them your design preferences."

His words had made her think – Why do I have a feeling that you're very confident that I'll agree to marry you. You've even prepared an engagement ring. Now, you even want me to meet the design team to input my design preferences in this very beautiful beach house. Nevertheless, she replied, "Okay, I will do as you say."

He also told her, "This design team will also be in charge of renovating my penthouse in Vienburg. You have been there several times. So please also feel free to tell them the changes that you want. You may also have your own personal space there. A small office perhaps with a seating area where you can do all your writing and privately entertain your friends," he added, "I don't mind you working if we are already married but I just hope that you will prefer working from home. That way your working time can be flexible and you will be able to accompany me if I have to go to Missi or in any part of the world."

From such, she had just instinctively embraced him back with Brent's arms still around her body, "Thank you that you will allow me to work. Yes, I will prefer working from home. I will inform you with all my work plans."

Afterwards, she tried to get free on their embrace and so Brent has also loosened up his arms around her and eventually set her body free from his embrace.

Then he asked her opinion, "So what do you think of spending more time with my family  after our engagement is already announced? You can stay in our home and we can also visit this beach house every now and then. I can ask the permission of your grandmother and your parents."

She answered, "Yeah, that is possible. Bern will be starting her work in July so she will be in Vienburg most of the time. So, yes I will love to stay with them. But then I think Mom is already planning for the wedding."

He decided to tell her, "Well about the wedding. I think your Lola wants you and Brianna to have a double wedding in Ilid Cathedral," and then asked her, "So what do you think of hiring a wedding planner? That way you and Brianna can plan for the wedding by yourselves with the wedding planner to guide the two of you."

Her response was a question, "How did you know that Lola wants us to have a double wedding?"

He told her, "She talked to me last night. She knew that Brianna and Kevin will elope and get married in Missi. She also knew that your parents might ask you to marry me just to save the family business with Brianna gone. Your Lola just want to make sure that should you agree then you will be treated well by me.

She exclaimed, "Lola really did that?!"

He confirmed such, "Yeah," and then reverted to the idea of having a wedding planner, "So what do you think of having a professional wedding planner?"

Her answer was, "Yeah. It will be less stress for us," then she asked him, "Anyway, will it just be fine with you if we have a double wedding with  Ate Brianna and her boyfriend?"

He told her, "It is your Lola's lifelong wish to see her two granddaughters get married well. So it will not be a problem on my part if we will grant her wish." 

She felt like opening up to him, "My family have always valued our reputation the most even at the expense of other people. Now, in order to save the company, my parents are even willing to sell one of their daughters. My family is not perfect. They could also be vicious at times. You have uncovered the stealing that my older twin brothers had done to the company. Dad will not definitely allow you to have it out, " so she asked him, "What will then be your plan regarding them?"

He decided to tell her the terms and conditions of his agreement with her father, "Your father will temporarily sell to me his 50 % LLC interest on your family's electric company. Plus your Lola who has the control of the other 50 % LLC interest had also told me last night that she will support me. With such, I will then be the new CEO of the San Carlos Electric Company after we get married. I will then give your twin brothers two options, resign or be fired."

Queenie assumed, "They might choose to resign," and then she further told him, "But they will definitely hold a grudge on you. You need to be very cautious on them. They are my brothers and I am aware of their nasty behavior. Publicly, they are showing off good behavior but privately, they are not so good. Once we are already married. it will also mean that you have to deal with the bad and the ugly sides of my family.  My Dad might use you and your connections as  leverage for his political career. My mother might also interfere with our marriage just to make it appear to the public how rich and capable his son-in-law is. She is actually in the process of finding each of my brothers a possible match. She has chosen your family for Ate Brianna even if she knows that my sister is already in a relationship with Kevin Fortich. She might also choose a rich family for Kuya Arthur and Kuya Archie. These marriages will definitely be for our family's advantage. I am afraid of what might happen in the future. My brothers will definitely want the control over the electric company to be on them again."

He then told her, "Your father and I agreed that he will only have the 40 % LLC interest of the electric company once it is already stable and my investment had already been returned plus the interest. I will still retain  the 10 % LLC interest of your family business."

She expressed, "My brothers might not like such. It will mean lesser percentage of the LLC interest of the electric company for them in the future."

He told her, "You should not let yourself be worried about these things, Queenie. I have been working for eight years already and I have encountered so many kinds of people in the business world. We will deal with your family together."

Her response was, "How can I not be worried. Your family has always been very good to me. But with our marriage your family will be entangled to my family's mess."

He corrected her, "I will be the only one entangled to you family's mess Queenie. Bern will be in Missi by July. As for my parents, they are too occupied with my father's medication and therapy. Other than Papa's doctors, the only people they are meeting are the ones visiting them at our family residence. I had also arranged for the state-of-the-art security system for our family residence for their protection. So no one can harm them. Bern will also be very much protected while she is at Missi. No one can harm her as well. You will have the same kind of protection once we are already married. I will not allow anyone to hurt you including your own family."   

In her mind – It seems that I will not also be totally be free even if I am already married to you. I forgot that you are a very rich man and so you also have to be cautious.