CHAPTER 4 - THE PROPOSAL PART 2

"W-Wh-What?" Katleah immediately inquired. Oh, uhoo, she was taken aback by Marco's direct offer to her.

He immediately provided her with water to drink. She confronted him again when she felt better.

"What makes you want to ruin the moment?" I nearly spit out what I was chewing. Fortunately, I immediately realized that spitting it out would be a waste, so I swallowed it all. You're attempting to annoy me, aren't you? Are you serious?" She scolded him angrily.

Although Katleah's response made him laugh a little, he quickly stopped and turned his face faithfully again.

"I'm not joking. You should marry me."

"What if I don't want to? What are your plans? You don't have any plans to kidnap me if I refuse, do you? Just because you're a billionaire and the most successful businessman in the country doesn't give you the right to order my life around. You don't have control over me." She turned down Marco's marriage proposal right away.

"She's not that naive if she's aware of my other life experiences." Marco pondered.

"Hear me out first, would ya... okay?" I know you don't love me, but we can agree that we don't have to love each other." He appeared to be regretting his last words. What if he falls in love with her?

"Marco! Do you understand what you're asking? You are asking for my freedom to love. Do I look like a Wife for Rent to you? So, what do I get if I marry you? Huh? Your puppet? Even now, you're proposing an implied demand. The kind where there's no way out but to commit to a marriage with you ". She replied, irritated.

"Katleah, that's not what I'm saying. We're getting married, but you're free to do whatever you want except fool me because I'll be a laughingstock to my business partners. I just have to do it for my father. I don't want him to look for any women I might marry out there. Even though you talk a lot, I prefer you. But I'd rather marry you than a pretender." Marco clarified to her.

"There are a lot of women there who are interested in you, Marco. Make a marriage proposal to them. I'm not the right person for you."

"If the arrow comes, I'll likely find myself falling in love." But she didn't say anything. I'm going to leave. He spoke again as she was about to stand up.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Dad only allowed me to introduce you to him this month." Marco is still attempting to persuade the girl.

Katleah turned to face him, surprised.

"Why are you still allowing your father to control your life, Marco? Can't you make your own decision? Why are you being forced to do this? You are a capable man. Do you have to give up your future because of your father's wishes? "She reminded him.

"That's right, Katleah. Because my father is dying and it was his wish for us to marry, "His tone conveyed sadness to her.

"I wish I could be angry with him, but I can't because I know he only wants his son to start a family." Is this something I want? Why would I allow my future to be locked in marriage? However, this is all he asks for, so I will abide. I'll leave it up to you. If you don't want to, I won't make you."

Despite her confusion, Katleah did not respond to him. She kept walking out the door.

When he saw the woman's reaction to him, Marco just sighed. He knows his offer surprised her, but this is how he acts. A straightforward person like him may need to learn to take his time with everything. And he needed to know how to entice a woman. He had given up hope of convincing her. He summoned the waiter and dashed out the door to catch up with the woman.

He was even more surprised when he saw her walk into his car.

After getting into his car, he turned to look at her.

"Excuse me? Why are you staring at me so intimately? Can you believe I didn't wait until I had to to make you put me in your car and drive me home? I'm not good at art. Why would I act like I cannot ride anything at the moment? Furthermore, even if I have yet to accept your offer, it is your responsibility to take me. You sent me here, so send me home as well."

Speechless. Marco remained silent. He handed her the food he had wrapped more than she had ordered earlier.

"Oh! Those are the ones you ordered and did not run out of. Didn't you say you were going to bring the extra home? So I wrapped it up." He gave the girl the plastic bags.

"Katleah flushed as she noticed the ten plastic bag wraps. "Are these the dishes she ordered earlier?" She had the impression that she was a glutton for food. She turned her head and looked out the window to hide her blush.

Marco smiled inwardly at the woman's reaction. He asked her a question. "Can you tell me where you want to be dropped off?"

"Huh? mmmmh...where am I going to sleep tonight?" Katleah, perplexed, wondered? "Please send me to the Supermall." Her response was stuttering.

Marco was taken aback by her demeanor. "Why in the supermall? Please don't tell me you're still on duty at this hour."

"Ah..hehehe. I'm not on duty right now; I'm just passing through. I'm going to purchase something." She excused herself, although she had difficulty finding a place to sleep. She's sleeping in the park for the first time tonight. But she will not tell this Madman because she doesn't want him to feel sorry for her.

Marco was skeptical of the woman's response but didn't let it show. He nodded and told the driver where to drop her off. The Maybach came to a halt outside the supermall after 10 minutes. Katleah went down and bid the man farewell.

"Bye. Thank you for dinner, "Katleah stated after getting out of the car. Before going to Mrs. Bebang's store to get her suitcase, she ensured his vehicle had left. However, there are eyes secretly followed her around.

Meanwhile, the driver maintains a steady gaze in the rearview mirror. He remembered many women surrounding his boss, but it wasn't until now that he noticed his boss seemed affected by the presence of a woman. Since they had brought the girl earlier, he seemed to be thinking about her.  He was in such a pickle when his boss's phone abruptly rang.

"We saw the woman you want us to follow infiltrating a small shop close to Forbes Park, boss. We thought she lived there, and we're curious why she left so quickly, but she's not wearing her work uniform anymore. However, she is dragging a suitcase. We followed her once more and... and..."

"And then what?" Because of the silence on the other side, he inquired irritably. He appears to want to punch him because everything he despises is delaying him. Right now, he's thinking about a lot of things. Even with Katleah, he finds it difficult to trust a woman. He had previously investigated her and discovered that she was alone in life. He saw where she was renting a house. He proposed marriage to her not out of trust but because he knew she spoke bluntly like him, and he felt lighthearted for the woman. So he follows her to confirm his suspicions. But what his staff said next took him by surprise.

"And we saw her lying down on the grass with a blanket. She doesn't appear to be planning on leaving. Boss, it appears she's going to sleep there."

"Look into what happened to her." He didn't wait for the person at the other end of the line to respond. He immediately hung up the phone. After learning the truth, Marco couldn't decide whether to be angry or sorry for the girl. He locked his gaze on his driver, who he knew had been watching him for some time.

"Bring the car back to Forbes Park," he said abruptly.