004: A Marriage for Two (I)

"We were just discussing your marriage." 

His words echoed through her mind, giving her a hard time in believing her ears.

Marriage? 

Never in her life had she ever thought of this. The day had arrived when she was going to get the talk.

"Father!" Her thoughts were interrupted by her father's raging tone. She found him to be staring back at the old man with nothing but contempt. He was obviously outraged by his act. 

"There's no need to get your blood pressure shooting high, Mathew." The old man scoffed. "I am only talking to my granddaughter about it. After all, she has the final say in this matter." 

The more he talked about it, the harder it was getting Ayal to comprehend the meaning lying under his words. There was clearly something she was missing on. What did her father know that was kept away from her?

"I have already turned the offer down. More so, you have no right to bring my daughter into any of this without my permission." Her father spoke up. He seemed to be running out of patience with each passing second. 

Ayla was struggling to process it all on her own as she kept standing in her place, rooted to the floor. Worry could be seen written all across her face. She wanted to interrupt their banter and say something for herself. But she didn't think that it would be appropriate for her to do so. She bit down on her lower lip and decided to go take the leap since she couldn't figure out another way.

"Will both of you just stop for a minute?" Drawing in a deep breath, she took a step forward. "I am standing right here, am I not?" Her eyes jumped from her father's baffled face to her grandfather's silent figure. 

She waited for any of them to speak up, but when they didn't, she decided to continue on. 

"Will either of you care to elaborate what all of this is even about?" She found her breathing getting heavier as she brought up the question. 

"That is exactly what I was trying to do." Her grandfather waved his hair in the air, gesturing to her to sit down. 

"There's no need for any explanation here, Ayla. Pretend that you didn't hear anything." Her father couldn't stop himself from interrupting in again. How could he when he knew exactly in which direction the conversation was heading in. 

"Will you stop it already, Mathew. Like I said before, the decision lies in Ayla's hand. She has the right to say no or yes in this matter just like she has the right to know about it." The old man glares in his direction for the briefest of moments before turning his attention back to the lady in the room.

Cleaning his throat a little, he began. "I don't know whether your father mentioned it to you before or not, but his business is kind of in shambles. Being the kind of man he is, he didn't bring it up before me, but I found it out." He paused for a second, allowing her to let this new information settle in. 

True to his predictions, Ayla didn't have a single clue about this. She could sense that things were a little rough back at the company based on the amount of time she saw her father spending in his study and taking care of meetings. But never had she realized that things could be this worse. She glanced towards her father only to see him avoiding her gaze. 

She didn't know what to say to him. So, she decided to let her grandfather do the talking. "Please continue." She settled down next to him as she asked him to carry on. 

"So you see, when I found out about it I decided to talk to your father. You know, to help him out. After all it's my legacy that your uncles and your father are continuing." A proud smile graced his lips. "But your stubborn father here turned me down. It was back when things were too much of a mess." 

"What about now?" Ayla couldn't help herself but intervene. "If it was a mess before, what is it now?" 

"Much more of it. A trick or two along with some loans would have saved it back when I found about it. But it's beyond salvaging right now. If things continue to be the way they are right now, I am afraid that the company will go bankrupt." The old man heaved out a tired sigh as if explaining it alone had taken a toll on him. 

"What does any of it have to do with marriage?" Her brows drew closer as the realization hit her. Didn't it all start with him talking about her marriage? What did bad business have to do with it?

She saw the old man looking towards her father, who finally decided to speak up.

"He wants you to marry in some rich family. According to him, that's going to save the company." Her father scoffed. 

"It would." The old man slammed his fists on the table, startling Ayla. "It's not some rich family, I am talking about the Atkinsons. If Ayla agrees to marry the young master of the Atkinsons, your company is not only going to survive this crisis, but it will prosper." 

"Father! Do you even know what you are talking about? How can I just ask her to marry some guys just to save my own company. You know I can never do that." Mathew shook his head before turning his attention towards Ayla who had gotten quiet. "The only reason I am ever letting her marry someone is because of love."

He waited for her reply, but didn't get any. 

"You don't have to listen to anything he is saying. He's just an old man with crazy ideas." 

"Sorry for wanting to get you out of this mess, son." The old man slammed his fists on the table once again. "And don't act all good before her. As if you didn't marry Laila for the same reason." 

His words only served as another shock to Ayla who could only question her life.