Chapter 4

Adrian P.O.V

The past few days have been chaotic, as my parents' wedding anniversary is approaching. I've been busy with the arrangements for the party. It's also the day I plan to officially tell my parents about Jessica and my intention to marry her by the end of the year.

I even bought a ring for Jessica. If everything goes well, I'll propose to her at the party in front of everyone.

I looked up when I heard a knock on my office door and saw my father, James Parker, entering with a serious expression.

"How are you, son? We hardly see you these days. Your mom misses you a lot," he said, sitting on the couch.

"I've just been caught up with work, Dad. I'll definitely visit Mom today," I replied while scanning some important files.

"I need to discuss something important with you. It's about the company." I put my file down and turned to face him, waiting for him to continue.

"Since you've taken over the company, your mother and I think it's time for you to settle down. You'll be turning 26 this year, and we believe it's time for you to get married."

Hearing this, I thought it was the perfect moment to tell him about Jessica, but before I could, he continued.

"We've decided you should marry the granddaughter of Stephen D'Amario. She's the heiress of the D'Amario family. Mr D'Amario was a close friend of your grandfather, so it would be a perfect match," my father revealed with a big smile.

I was in complete shock. I couldn't imagine marrying anyone other than Jessica.

"No, Dad, I don't want to marry anyone else. I've already decided what I want in life, and marrying some heiress isn't part of it," I said angrily.

"In that case, the company will be transferred to Mr. D'Amario's granddaughter. Your grandfather and Mr. D'Amario signed an agreement that you and his granddaughter must marry, allowing the Parker and D'Amario companies to merge for mutual benefit," he said calmly.

"I'm still not marrying her. To hell with this stupid agreement!" I snapped angrily.

"Oh, son, you must marry her. If you refuse, 40% of Parker Enterprises will go to her. If she refuses, 40% of D'Amario Enterprises will come to us. If you both refuse, 50% of each company's shares will go to charity," he explained.

I heaved a big sigh, annoyed and worried about how to explain this to Jessica. Every plan I made for us seemed to be crumbling.

"I'll leave now; your mother is probably waiting for me," he said, walking out of my office.

As I pondered this new problem, my phone rang. It was Jessica. I answered, and her sweet voice came through the line.

"Hey, babe! Are you still at the office? Did you forget about our date night at my place?" she asked.

I had completely forgotten about the date night due to my busy schedule, but I quickly covered my negligence.

"Of course, love. I can't wait to see you," I said, smirking at the thought of holding her in my arms tonight.

"Alright, see you at 7 then. Bye, love you," she said.

"Love you too, babe." I hung up and went back to thinking about how to handle this marriage situation. How would Jessica react?

I immediately called my best friend, Noah. He's the COO of Parker Enterprises. We met in boarding school, and we've been best friends ever since.

I picked up the intercom and called my secretary. "Could you please ask Mr. Andrews to come to my office immediately?"

Within 10 minutes, Noah walked in. "Hey, everything good?" he asked as he sat down across from me.

"My father wants me to marry Mr. D'Amario's granddaughter, or else the company goes to charity."

"What?! No way. We've worked so hard for the company these past two years. It would all be wasted if it goes to charity," Noah exclaimed. "What about Jessica? Did you tell her?"

"Not yet, bro. I'm planning to tell her tonight," I replied, massaging my temples.

"Isn't D'Amario Enterprises owned by Neil Darrell?" Noah asked.

I immediately realized he was right. "If Neil Darrell is running D'Amario Enterprises, then the granddaughter I'm supposed to marry is Chloe Darrell," I said, connecting the dots.

"Exactly. You can talk to Jessica about this. She can easily convince Chloe to refuse the proposal since they're best friends," Noah suggested.

"That's what I was thinking. I need to get to Jessica's place now." I quickly left the office and headed to Jessica's apartment.

I arrived and rang the bell. Within seconds, she opened the door. A smile formed on my face as I saw her. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kissed me. I kissed her back passionately. Soon, we were undressed and made our way to the bedroom. After hours of being together, we finally went downstairs for dinner.

I ordered sushi since Jessica can barely cook. To be honest, she's a terrible cook—she can hardly boil water—but she's perfect in every other way, and she's all I want.

We finished dinner, talking about our day when I suddenly remembered the conversation with my dad.

"Babe, I need to tell you something important," I said, holding her hands close to my chest.

I explained the entire situation, from the marriage proposal to the merger, and the consequences if we backed out.

Before I could tell her about Chloe, she snapped at me angrily, "So you want to leave me and marry some random brat now?"

"No, babe, the only person I want to marry is you. I can't even think of marrying someone else," I reassured her.

"And this marriage won't happen. All you need to do is convince Chloe to refuse the proposal."

"Chloe? What does she have to do with this proposal?" she asked.

"She's the granddaughter I'm supposed to marry, and since she's your best friend, you can easily convince her to refuse," I explained.

A smile formed on her lips, and she hugged me tightly.

"That can be done easily. She's dating Justin now, so I doubt she'd ever want to marry you," she said happily.

"And I'll never marry or love anyone but you," I told her, pressing my lips to her forehead.