Chapter 2. Grandma's Wishes

"Are you finished with your meal?" Andrew asked, taking a napkin and gently wiping Rose's lips. "Are you impatient to taste this dessert?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm eager to hear what you'll tell me."

Andrew remained silent for a while, gazing at Rose's face. He reached for Rose's fingers with his right hand while his left hand pulled out something from his tuxedo. Rose almost screamed when Andrew revealed a small velvet box and showed its contents—a large and sparkling diamond ring.

"Rose William, will you marry me?"

The twenty-seven-year-old girl nodded, both unbelieving and extremely happy. "Yes... Yes...!"

Andrew smiled warmly again and took out the ring to put it on Rose's finger. "Marry me and give me many children."

In that instant, the happy smile vanished from Rose's face. Reflexively, she pulled her hand from Andrew's grip, making him furrow his brow and turn to look at Rose with a cold gaze.

***

Mrs Sonya was sipping her chamomile tea in the living room when she saw Andrew walking past her.

"In the next few days, I will hold a press conference to announce the CEO's position transition," Andrew's steps halted upon hearing Mrs. Sonya's voice. Since the death of his parents, he had been living with his grandmother at their home. "You should bring your future wife when that time comes."

Andrew approached and sat with Mrs Sonya on the sofa instead of heading to his room to rest. He had just returned from the office, and his double-breasted suit still felt stuffy on his body. "You don't need to worry, Grandma." Andrew reached for Mrs. Sonya's hand and gently kissed its wrinkled back.

"I don't want to go against your grandpa's wishes, Andrew. He didn't want anyone else but his descendants to lead this company. You are the only hope. I have been preparing you since your father's passing."

Andrew just smiled and looked at his Grandma with warmth. The only person in the world he treated with the utmost respect and didn't want to hurt was this woman.

"I know it sounds silly, Andrew. But your uncles at the company seem to be planning to get rid of you."

Andrew understood what Mrs Sonya was referring to: the commotion at the shareholders' meeting a few weeks ago. The incident spread like wildfire after the meeting attended by the senior members of the Jonas family. Since then, everyone who met Andrew seemed to doubt whether this young man would be the future CEO of Jonas Group.

"I told you, Grandma, you don't need to worry. I will follow everything you want." Still holding Mrs Sonya's fingers, Andrew tried to reassure her.

"I know you won't disappoint me, Andrew."

"Of course." Andrew kissed the back of Mrs Sonya's hand again, and she caressed Andrew's head, her only grandson.

"Well then, I want to take a shower and rest." Andrew got up from the sofa. "You should rest too, Grandma. It's already late."

"I said your wedding will take place before my seventieth birthday. You know that, Andrew?" Andrew had turned around, but his steps halted again upon hearing his Grandma's voice.

The promise Mrs. Sonya made to the shareholders to hold Andrew's wedding before her seventieth birthday had reached Andrew's ears, but hearing it directly from her still surprised him.

"Don't worry, Grandma," Andrew answered without turning towards her. He then continued his steps toward the bedroom.

Andrew tossed his suit and tie on the floor. The press conference to announce the CEO position transition would occur next week, and Grandma's birthday was less than two months away. After being rejected by Rose, Andrew was perplexed about which girl he would bring and introduce to all the shareholders as his future wife.

"Children?" Andrew still clearly remembered Rose's shocked expression when he proposed to her. "I... I haven't thought about having children, dear. Of course, I want to be your wife. Who wouldn't? But children, isn't it too soon? We're still young, dear. I still want to pursue my career in modelling."

Andrew decided not to put the diamond ring he had prepared on Rose's finger. All that was on his mind was to get married and have children, as expected by Mrs Sonya and the shareholders, to secure the company's future. Andrew wouldn't force it if Rose didn't want to give him that. He wouldn't push a marriage with Rose.

"Damn it!" Andrew punched the bathroom wall hard. His fingers were scraped, but he didn't show any pain.

Andrew agreed with Mrs Sonya that the shareholders' concerns were nonsense. It was absurd to think that Andrew wasn't qualified to take over the CEO position just because he didn't have any descendants yet. He had dedicated twenty-four hours of his life to the company. As the youngest CEO, Andrew had doubled the company's profits in five years. Couldn't they see all that and instead focus on his personal life?

Marriage was at the bottom of Andrew's priority list. He never expected that something at the bottom would suddenly rise to the top of the priorities and needed to be done immediately.

Andrew turned on the shower tap, and water droplets fell, soaking his hair and body. If marriage could make Mrs. Sonya peaceful and stop worrying about him, then that's what he would do. If marriage could make Mrs Sonya rest at home without being busy with the company, then that's what Andrew would do. If having children was the solution to all these problems, then that's what he would give. With Rose or any other woman, he seemed not to care.

***

Tom occasionally stole glances at his employer through the interior mirror. That morning, Andrew didn't seem like his usual self. Throughout their journey from home to the office, the young man only gazed out of the car window. Who knows what he was thinking?

Typically, at times like this, Andrew would be busy reading news online on his gadget, asking small talk to Tom about the weather, and finally asking the older man who had been the family driver for over twenty years to pick him up at the designated time.

"Young Master, I apologize if I'm being intrusive, but I'm curious about what you've been looking at outside the window all this time?" Tom finally dared to address his employer. He considered the young man as his child. Since the boy was ten, Tom had worked for Harris Jonas, Andrew's father.

"I'm looking for something, Tom," Andrew replied in a low tone.

"What are you looking for? Maybe I can help." Tom seemed enthusiastic. He sincerely wanted to assist Andrew, whatever his young master desired.

"A wife."

"What?!" Tom couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yes, you heard right, Tom. I'm struggling to find a wife."

What happened to Miss Rose? Haven't you been in a relationship all this time? Tom wanted to ask that, but he was afraid to be too forward, so he said, "If it's just a wife, Sir, you can simply pick one. No woman would refuse you."

"I don't want just any woman, Tom. I need one woman who can reassure me," Andrew said. He prepared to get out of the car because, without realizing it, they had arrived in the courtyard of the building where Andrew's office was. Two bodyguards were seen running towards their car.

"Reassure you about what?" Tom got out of the driver's seat and turned to open the door for Andrew.

"Reassure me that I am her first man." Andrew stepped out of the car, and the two bodyguards quickly flanked him, ready to escort him to the fifth floor. Andrew's office was there.

Meanwhile, Tom remained silent in his place, digesting the meaning of Andrew's words. "Oh, damn!" he finally exclaimed. "Does he mean he wants a woman who's still a virgin to marry?"

***

"Damn you, Tom! Damn you!" Mona cursed while pushing Tom's body out of her house.

"Hey, it's raining outside! You're making me wet!" Tom tried to fend off Mona's hands, hitting his body. "Show some respect. I'm your brother!"

"You damn brother! I don't care if you get wet from the rain or catch pneumonia!"

Emma Walker had just returned from campus when she witnessed her mother and uncle's argument. She hurriedly approached them.

"Hey, stop it! Both of you, stop!" she called out, attempting to intervene, but her petite body was pushed into the house instead.

Inside the house, Edward, her younger brother, seemed unfazed by the commotion caused by their mother and uncle. He was busy grabbing containers and placing them under the dripping water that seeped into almost every corner of the house. The night was creeping up, and the rain showed no sign of stopping.

"What's wrong with you two?" Emma ran to the kitchen, searching for anything that could be used to collect the leaking water. She grabbed one of the basins, looked up to find the source of the leak, and placed the basin right underneath it.

"Ed, what's going on with them?" Emma asked, but he only shrugged. Unsatisfied, Emma went outside to mediate between her mother and her uncle.

"You misunderstand, Mona!" Tom retorted.

While driving Andrew back home, Tom finally dared to inquire about the meaning of his young master's words regarding searching for a wife.

"I don't care about her background, Tom. I must be convinced that she has never been touched by another man before."

At that moment, Tom immediately thought of Emma, his niece. He was sure any man had never touched Emma. "So, Young Master, you're not looking for someone like Miss Rose?"

"Do you know a girl who fits my criteria, Tom?"

"Are you going to marry her, sir?"

"Of course! I'm serious."

Tom felt that Andrew didn't want to discuss Rose. However, he wanted to ask what happened between his master and the supermodel girl. Just a week ago, he had escorted both of them to have dinner at a fancy restaurant. Has their relationship ended?

"Really? Then I want to meet her tomorrow."

This conversation with Andrew led Tom to brave the night rain to meet Mona and convey everything. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

But instead, Tom received curses from his niece.

"You want to sell my daughter's virginity to your master?!"